Day: December 23, 1967

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Classic Season 05 Doctor Who

Enemy Of The World

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS materializes in the Australian surf in the future, and the Doctor excitedly tries to get Jamie and Victoria to help him build a sand castle or two. When a hovercraft teeming with armed guards appears, though, the time travelers become less relaxed – especially when the hovercraft starts firing at the Doctor in particular. The time travelers are rescued when a helicopter piloted by a woman named Astrid appears, offering them a ride back to her base, but the Doctor and his friends are no safer there. Astrid works for a man named Giles Kent, who says he’s leading a resistance movement against the ruthless dictator known as Salamander – a man who looks exactly like the Doctor. Kent wants the Doctor to impersonate Salamander in an effort to discredit and topple the man’s corrupt regime, but the Doctor is certain he hasn’t been told the whole story. When Kent also hatches a plan that involves Jamie and Victoria going undercover, the stakes are even higher. But can Salamander’s opponents prove that he is the monster that they say he is? And do they even know the whole story?

written by David Whitaker
directed by Barry Letts
music not credited

Guest Cast: Henry Stamper (Anton), Rhys McConnochie (Rod), Simon Cain (Curly), Mary Peach (Astrid), Bill Kerr (Kent), Colin Douglas (Bruce), Milton Johns (Benik), George Pravda (Denes), David Nettheim (Fedorin), Patrick Troughton (Salamander), Carmen Munroe (Fariah), Gordon Faith, Elliott Cairnes (Guard Captains), Bill Lyons (Guard), Reg Lye (Griffin), Andrew Staines (Sergeant), Christopher Burgess Doctor Who(Swann), Adam Verney (Colin), Margaret Hickey (Mary), Dibbs Mather, Bob Anderson, William McGuirk (Guards)

Note: Considered “lost” for decades following a purge of videotape and film stock in the BBC’s archives, all six episodes of Enemy Of The World now exist thanks to the 2013 discovery of 16mm film copies in a broadcast transmitter hut in Nigeria.

Broadcast from December 23, 1967 through January 27, 1968

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Night Gallery Season 1

Room With A View / Little Black Bag / Nature Of The Enemy

Night GalleryRoom With A View: Ailing eccentric Jacob Bauman is confined to his bed, waited on by a butler and a nurse. “Mr. B” pries into his nurse’s private life to a degree that makes her a little uncomfortable, but he tries to put her at ease by reminding her that he’s the perfect confidant since he rarely speaks to anyone. She admits to some jealousy when her boyfriend looks at other women, and Bauman starts planting the idea in her head the she should act on that jealousy.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Hal Dresner
directed by Jerrold Freedman
music by Robert Prince / series theme by Gil Melle

Night GalleryCast: Joseph Wiseman (Jacob Bauman), Diane Keaton (Nurse Frances Nevins), Angel Tompkins (Lila Bauman), Morgan Farley (Charles), Larry Watson (Vic)

Little Black Bag: Disgraced and discredited, William Fall was once a medical doctor, but is now an alcoholic shambling from alleyway to alleyway. After an argument with a fellow homeless alcoholic, he discovers a medical bag in a trash can. A chance encounter with a Puerto Rican woman and her dying child gives Fall a chance to try out his lucky find. But he discovers it’s no ordinary medical bag: it’s from the year 2098, and its instruments seem to guide even Fall’s shaky hands to cure the child. The rush of resuming his calling as a healer thrills Dr. Fall…but his drinking buddy, who has followed him around as he heals people of everything from arthritis to cancer, sees only dollar signs, even over Fall’s dead body.

Night Galleryteleplay by Rod Serling
based on a story by C.M. Kornbluth
directed by Jeannot Szwarc
music by Robert Prince

Cast: Burgess Meredith (Dr. William Fall), Chill Wills (Heppelwhite), George Furth (Gillings), E.J. Andre (Charlie Peterson), strongArthur Malet (Ennis), Eunice Suarez (Puerto Rican Mother), Marion Val (Puerto Rican Girl), Johnny Silver (Pawnbroker), C. Lindsay Workman (1st Doctor), Matt Pelto (2nd Doctor), Robert Terry (Dr. Nodella), Ralph Moody (1st Old Man), William Challee (2nd Old Man)

The Nature Of The Enemy: A tandem lunar landing mission involving two American spacecraft goes horribly wrong, as one of the vehicles crashes during descent. The press focuses on the crashed ship’s final transmission, during which its doomed pilot said his lander was under attack. In Houston, an impatient flight director named Simms tries to defuse the near-panic over that transmission while maintaining communication with the crew of the surviving lander. They report that the wreckage of their sister ship has been fashioned into something resembling a mouse trap…which only makes sense if the moon is made of cheese after all.

Night Gallerywritten by Rod Serling
directed by Allen Reisner
music by Gil Melle

Cast: Joseph Campanella (Simms), Richard Van Vleet (Space Man), James B. Sikking (1st Reporter), Jason Wingreen (2nd Reporter), Albert Popwell (3rd Reporter), Jerry Strickler (Man)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 2 Space: 1999

The Lambda Factor

Space: 1999A member of the medical staff is killed in a mysterious phenomenon that also lays waste to the storage section of Moonbase Alpha’s sick bay. Commander Koenig irritably orders Verdeschi to begin an investigation, and continues to snap at his crew when an unusual object is spotted ahead of the moon’s position in space. And Koenig isn’t the only one exhibiting unusual behavior – other crew members are experiencing it, and even equipment – ranging from most of the Eagles, and a power generator in a room that Alan mysteriously becomes trapped in. Now Verdeschi feels he’s investigating a murder and systematic sabotage. But when various crew members begin exhibiting apparent signs of telekinesis, the scope of Tony’s investigation widens considerably. And while all of this is taking place, the unknown orb of energy draws closer until it engulfs the moon itself.

Order the DVDswritten by Terrance Dicks
directed by Charles Crichton
music by Derek Wadsworth

Guest Cast: Tony Anholt (Tony Verdeschi), Nick Tate (Alan Carter), Zienia Merton (Sandra Benes), Deborah Fallender (Carolyn Powell), Jess Conrad (Mark Sanders), Anthomy Stamboulieh (George Crato), Michael Walker (Carl Renton), Gregory de Polnay (Peter Garforth), Lydia Lisle (Sally Martin), Lucinda Curtis (Tessa), Dallas Adams (Sam)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Jason Of Star Command Season 1

Victory Of Star Command

Jason Of Star CommandSurrounded by energy clones of Dragos, Jason and Nicole have to outthink their enemy. Dragos believes they’re both trying to escape, but Jason stays behind and hides to sabotage Dragos’ ship from within and face him in a final battle. Dragos’ unmanned drone ships launch an all-out attack on Star Command, and Star Command drains its energy reserves putting up a fierce fight. It’s now up to Jason to defeat Dragos before any further damage is inflicted, but Dragos isn’t giving up without an escape plan.

Order this series on DVDwritten by Don Heckman
directed by Arthur H. Nadel
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael and Horta-Mahana

Jason Of Star CommandCast: Craig Littler (Jason), Sid Haig (Dragos), Susan O’Hanlon (Capt. Nicole Davidoff), Charlie Dell (Prof. E.J. Parsafoot), James Doohan (Commander Canarvin)

Notes: The fairly impressive space battle scenes reveal that Star Command/Space Academy can defend itself quite adequately. This brings the first season of Jason Of Star Command to a close. Where these short episodes, averaging 11 minutes each, shared a broadcast time slot with Tarzan and the Super 7, the next season would expand Jason’s adventures to a full half-hour time slot with new stories and new cast members. James Doohan would not return for that second season, returning instead to his post aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (though he’d keep Commander Canarvin’s moustache even after re-enlisting with Starfleet).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 2 Star Blazers

Leader Desslar: The Vengeful Demon!

Star BlazersDesslock unleashes a swarm of starflies – spaceborne firefly-like beings – near the Argo, which has stopped so the crew can conduct repairs. The crew is fascinated by the starflies and take them aboard, unwittingly infecting the Argo with a metal-eroding virus devised by Desslock. When this revelation is followed closely by an attack by Gamilon fighters, it confirms Wildstar’s suspicion that his old adversary is still very much alive and well. With Gamilon and Comet Empire forces closing in, the Argo is left defenseless.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 2 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Chris Latta (Sgt. Knox), Lydia Leeds (Trelaina), Chris Latta (General Dire), Chris Latta (Captain Gideon), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Season 16 Doctor Who

The Power Of Kroll

Doctor WhoArriving on the third moon of Delta Magna, the Doctor and Romana are forced to leave K-9 in the TARDIS as they explore the swampy marshes in search of the fifth segment. The Doctor runs afoul of human miners who seem to have mistaken him for the notorious gun runner Rohm Dutt, while Romana is abducted by the displaced indigenous population of Delta Magna. Dubbed the “swampies” by the employees of the human mining colony, the natives have contracted with Rohm Dutt for weapons and training, hoping to boost their fight to free themselves from servitude to the human interlopers. The swampies worship Kroll, an enormous, squid-like being measuring almost five miles across, though the miners don’t believe a word of it…until it appears. When the Doctor and Romana learn that Kroll isn’t holding the fifth segment, but is the fifth segment, to say that they have a large problem on their hands is a bit of an understatement.

Order the DVDDownload this episodewritten by Robert Holmes
directed by Norman Stewart
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Neil McCarthy (Thawn), Philip Madoc (Fenner), Grahame Mallard (Harg), Glyn Owen (Rohm Dutt), John Leeson (Dugeen), Terry Walsh (Mensch), Carl Rigg (Varlik), John Abineri (Ranquin), Frank Jarvis (Skart)

Broadcast from 23 December 1978 through 13 January 1979

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Blackadder Specials

Blackadder’s Christmas Carol

BlackadderOn Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Blackadder is visited by the Spirit of Christmas. Seeing that Ebenezer is such a good person (no, really!), the Spirit decides to show him scenes of his ancestors’ shameful behavior. A view of how horrid his predecessors were leads Ebenezer to wonder what the future holds for him…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
based on “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Ebenezer Blackadder / Lord Edmund Blackadder / Mr. Edmund Blackadder / Grand Admiral Blackadder), Tony Robinson (Mr. Baldrick / Baldrick / S. Baldrick / Commander Baldrick), Stephen Fry (Lord Melchett / Lord Frondo), Hugh Laurie (The Prince Regent / Prince Pigmont), Miranda Richardson (Queen Elizabeth I / Queen Asphyxia XIX), Robbie Coltrane (The Spirit of Christmas), Jim Broadbent (Prince Albert), Miriam Margolyes (Queen Victoria), Patsy Byrne (Nursie / Bernard), Denis Lill (Beadle), Pauline Melville (Mrs. Scratchit), Philip Pope (Lord Horatio Nelson), Nicola Bryant (Millicent), Ramsay Gilderdale (Ralph), David Barber (Orphan), Erkan Mustafa (Orphan), David Nunn (Orphan), Martino Lazzeri (Boy)

Notes: The principals from the casts of Blackadder II (minus Tim McInnerny) and Blackadder the Third (minus Helen Atkinson-Wood) reprise their roles for the flashback sequences.

Nicola Bryant is best known to sci-fi fans (especially guys who hit puberty around 1985) for her portrayal of Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown on Doctor Who.

Robbie Coltrane returns in a kindly role, following his menacing portrayal of Dr. Samuel Johnson in the Blackadder The Third episode Ink and Incapability.

Jim Broadbent and Miriam Margolyes appear together, re-uniting the duo from The Queen of Spain’s Beard episode of The Black Adder. Margolyes also appeared in Blackadder II (Beer).

This is the only full Blackadder series or special not to feature Tim McInnerny.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey