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Buck Rogers Season 1

Ardala Returns

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyOn a deep space patrol with Twiki, Buck is captured by the Draconian flagship. Princess Ardala and Kane have hatched a plan to replace Buck with a robot copy programmed to emulate Buck’s personality. The copy is armed with a bomb and sent back to Earth in a “stolen” Draconian fighter; when Wilma encounters the robot Buck, he tells her that he escaped in the Draconian fighter but Twiki didn’t make it. When the robot returns to Earth, it tries to detonate the bomb the first time it’s in the same room with Wilma, Dr. Huer and Dr. Theopolis – and only Wilma’s quick reflex to destroy the robot saves the day. In the meantime, aware that their plan has failed, Ardala and Kane set about trying to make a more accurate, undetectable copy of Buck. And Buck is unaware that his every cunning escape attempt is being studied to make his robot clones deadlier in a fight. Can Buck taint his robotic replicas by dulling his survival instincts?

Order the DVDswritten by Chris Bunch & Allan Cole
directed by Larry Stewart
music by Johnny Harris

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Pamela Hensley (Princess Ardala), Michael Ansara (Kane), H.B. Haggerty (Tigerman), James Emery (Pilot), Betty Bridges (Technician), Bob Minor (Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Series

Episode 11 (Fit The Eleventh)

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: Secondary PhaseMomentous events are afoot on Brontitall as Arthur and Lintilla (and a couple of her five billion or so clones) discover a layer of ancient shoes beneath the planet’s surface. This proves Lintilla’s theory that Brontitall may have once been a shoe-based economy, eschewing every other sector of commerce in favor of the production, marketing and sale of footwear. Meanwhile, Ford and Arthur have rather haphazardly made their way to the planet’s surface via bird, where they find a graveyard of spacecraft – including one which still seems to be in good working condition.

Order this CDwritten by Douglas Adams
directed by Alick Hale-Munro
music by Paddy Kingsland

Cast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Stephen Moore (Marvin / Pupil), David Tate (Eddie / Compu-Teach / Commentator), John Baddeley (Bird Two / Foot Warrior), Rula Lenska (Lintilla), Mark Smith (Hig Hurtenflurst)

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Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Series

Episode 12 (Fit The Twelfth)

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: Secondary PhaseArthur, Lintilla, Marvin, Lintilla and Lintilla are trapped, pinned down by Brontitall Foot Warriors, but they get an unexpected bit of help from a number of clones all named Allitnil, all of whom are quite taken with Lintilla. Meanwhile, Ford and Zaphod make their way into the still-viable derelict, discovering that the crew is in suspended animation – at least until they awaken. But they’re suddenly removed from Brontitall by Zarniwoop, the man about whom Zaphod left himself a message. Together with Arthur, they meet the man who’s supposedly running the universe. And when he reveals that it was, in fact, Zaphod who ordered the demolition of the Earth, no one expects Arthur Dent to do what he does next.

Order this CDCast: Peter Jones (The Voice of the Book), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect / Priest), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Stephen Moore (Marvin / The Man in the Shack), David Tate (Eddie / Allitnils), Rula Lenska (Lintilla / Stewardess), Ken Campbell (Poodoo), Jonthan Pryce (Zarniwoop / Autopilot)

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Battlestar Galactica (Classic Series) Season 2 (Galactica: 1980)

Galactica Discovers Earth

Battlestar Galactica (original)The beleaguered Battlestar arrives at Earth, a full generation after having received the planet’s location. But there are two problems: the Cylons are still in pursuit of Galactica, and somewhat to the crew’s surprise, Earth (in the year 1980 A.D., by its time scale) isn’t even remotely capable of withstanding a Cylon attack. Adama’s grandson Troy (who spent his childhood with the nickname “Boxey”) and Lt. Dillon remain on Earth as their ship departs Earth once more in an attempt to divert the Cylons from the defenseless human race. A plan emerges to give the human race a higher order of technology to defend Earth from the Cylon onslaught, but there is disagreement over how much technology should be given to a race which is just as likely to destroy itself. And one member of the Council of Twelve decides to take matters into his own hands, traveling back in time to arm the people of Earth with advanced weaponry…but he may be handing dangerously sophisticated technology to precisely the wrong players in Earth’s history.

Season 2 Regular Cast: Lorne Greene (Commander Adama), Kent McCord (Captain Troy), Barry Van Dyke (Lt. Dillon), Robyn Douglass (Jamie Hamilton), Patrick Stuart (Dr. Zee), Herbert Jefferson Jr. (Colonel Boomer), Fred Holliday (Brooks)

Order the DVDsDownload this episodewritten by Glen A. Larson
directed by Sidney Hayers

Guest Cast: Robbie Rist (Dr. Zee), Richard Lynch (Xavier), Robert Reed (Professor Mortinson), Christopher Stone (Major Stockwell), Sharon Acker (Secretary), Richard Eastham (General Cushing), Albert Paulsen (?), Louis Turenne (?), Michael Strong (?), Pamela Susan Shoop (Ms. Carlyle), Vernon Weddle (First cop), David Moses (Second cop), Brion James (Willy), Mickey Jones (Donzo), Duncan Mackenzie (First pilot), Bruce Douglas (Second pilot), Eddie Firestone (Derelict), Frank Downing (First guard), Don Maxwell (Second guard), Ted Gehring (Sheriff), Curt Lowens (German commander), James R. Parkes (Walt Griffin), Bruce Wright (Aide), Adam Starr (Willy Griffin), Missy Francis (Little girl), Todd Martin (Third German), John Zenda (Cop), Erik Holland (Second German officer), Eric Forst (First German officer), Hank Brandt (Colonel), Duncan Mackenzie (Third guard), Jonathan Williams (Second guard), Paul Brown (Fourth guard), Ray Duke (Newspaper boy), Doug Hale (Air Force Major), Billy Jacoby (Tucker)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 3

Dawn Of The Gods

Blake's 7Orac, curious about an unusual black hole, takes control of the Liberator and swings her too close. The ship is swallowed up by the black hole, and it is discovered that this particular black hole is indeed unusual because it is artificial constructed by an outcast “god” from Cally’s home planet of Auron who seeks a powerful ship, brilliant slaves – and Cally.

written by James Follett
directed by Desmond McCarthy
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Sam Dastor (The Caliph), Terry Scully (Groff), Marcus Powell (The Thaarn)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Martian Chronicles, The

The Martians

The Martian ChroniclesNovember 2006: Colonel Wilder flies a solo return mission to Earth, hoping to find survivors or some remnants of civilization, but nuclear war has wiped out the birthplace of the human race. The only surviving humans now live on Mars, and no further supply missions from Earth are coming. Wracked with guilt, Wilder returns to Mars.

As the human settlers eke out a meager existence trying to live off the Martian land, though some are seemingly oblivious to Earth’s fate. Wilder lands near the home of a brilliant scientist who, in despair, has turned his talents toward recreating his dead family members with robots. Returning to the Martian ruins that drove Spender mad, Wilder encounters a Martian – or perhaps a recorded message from one – who urges him to make peace with the destruction of Earth and accept that people from Earth are the new Martians.

teleplay by Richard Matheson
based on the novel by Ray Bradbury
directed by Michael Anderson
music by Stanley Myers / electronic music by Richard Harvey

Cast: Rock Hudson (Colonel John Wilder), Gayle Hunnicutt (Ruth Wilder), Bernie Casey (Maj. Jeff Spender), Christopher Connelly (Ben Driscoll), Nicholas Hammond (Arthur Black), Roddy McDowall (Father Stone), Darren McGavin (Sam Parkhill), Bernadette Peters (Genevieve Seltzer), Maria Schell (Anna Lustig), Joyce Van Patten (Elma Parkhill), Fritz Weaver (Father Peregrine), Linda Lou Allen (Marilyn Becker), Michael Anderson Jr. (David Lustig), Robert Beatty (General Halstead), James Faulkner (Mr. K), John Finch (Christ), Terence Longdon (Wise Martian), Barry Morse (Peter Hathaway), Nyree Dawn Porter (Alice Hathaway), Wolfgang Reichmann (Lafe Lustig), Maggie Wright (Ylla), John Cassady (Briggs), Alison Elliott (Lavinia Spaulding), Vadim Glowna (Sam Hinston), Richard Heffer (Capt. Conover), The Martian ChroncilesDerek Lamden (Sandship Martian), Peter Marinker (McClure), Richard Oldfield (Capt. York), Anthony Pullen-Shaw (Edward Black), Burnell Tucker (Bill Wilder)

Notes: Producer Milton Subotsky was one of the founders of ’60s British horror powerhouse Amicus Films, which also released the two ’60s big-screen adaptations of Doctor Who starring Peter Cushing. (Since the Amicus name was associated so closely with horror films, a fictitious production company called AARU Films was credited for the Doctor Who films.) Amicus also released the first filmed adaptation of the Tales From The Crypt comics, predating the HBO series by 17 years.

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Buck Rogers Season 1

Twiki Is Missing

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyAn unusual asteroid composed of frozen oxygen is being escorted to Earth by a squadron of fighters under Wilma’s command. Though hardly a routine operation, the plan is to maneuver the asteroid through a precisely calculated window in Earth’s atmosphere shield to replenish the planet’s air. A slight miscalculation would cause it to miss the window – and the oxygen would heat up and ignite explosively, laying waste to Earth’s surface. On another asteroid, corrupt mining magnate Kurt Belzack is growing infuriated with his miners’ demands for adequate rest and humane treatment. When they send a union representative to negotiate, Belzack unleashes the powers of three lovely psychokinetic women to eliminate him. A spy on Earth relays information to Belzack about a robotic drone that could do the work of Belzack’s miners without pay, food, or rest. One possible drawback is that the drone has an unquestioning loyalty to one man – and neither Twiki nor his “owner” are likely to cooperate.

Order the DVDswritten by Jaron Summers
directed by Sigmund Neufeld, Jr.
music by Herbert Woods

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Eddie Benton (Stella), John P. Ryan (Kurt Belzack), David Darlow (Pinchas), Janet Bebe Louie (Clare), Eugenia Wright (Dawn), Ken Letner (Oto Anad)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 3

The Harvest Of Kairos

Blake's 7Servalan’s new right-hand man and tactical advisor takes Tarrant on in a battle of strategy in space and on foot on the deadly planet of Kairos, but Avon’s obsessive search for an elusive new weapon hinders the Liberator crew’s efficiency – but saves them in the end.

written by Ben Steed
directed by Gerald Blake
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Andrew Burt (Jarvik), Frank Gatliff (Dastor), Anthony Gardner (Shad), Charles Jamieson (Guard), Sam Davies (Carlon), Christopher Douglas (First Leader, Third Leader), Hywel David (Interceptor Captain, Second Leader)

Notes: In a 1986 interview with Time Screen magazine, Paul Darrow said that this episode was “the one that made Jan Chappell decide to leave.”

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Buck Rogers Season 1

Olympiad

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyBuck is invited to fly an authentic 20th century Olympic flag at the 2492 Olympics on behalf of the Earth Defense Directorate, and takes Twiki and Dr. Theopolis along with him to the games. Buck finds that the Olympics have changed in 500 years, however – simple events have become mind-boggling, gravity-defying feats, and some of the off-world contestants have unusual customs, including one young man who refuses to speak to Buck and then appears to experience severe pain. A young woman competing in the astrosledding event gives Buck a taste of high-speed orbital racing, but also uses the isolation of her sled pod to plead for Buck’s help in freeing her and her boyfriend, the young man who demanded that Buck leave him alone, from the stranglehold their manager has on them. She officially requests asylum, and Buck gets approval from Dr. Huer before proceeding. But in doing so, he’s put himself in the crosshairs of a manager who intends to keep his athletes – or kill them before they can defect.

Order the DVDswritten by Craig Buck
directed by Larry Stewart
music by J.J. Johnson

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Nicolas Coster (Allerick), Judith Chapman (Lara Teasian), Barney McFadden (Jorex Leet), Paul Mantee (Karl), Elgin Baylor (Athlete), Anthony Davis (Athlete), Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson (Athlete), Carlos Palomino (Athlete), Jerry Quarry (Quarod), Bob Seagren (Rand Sorgon), Paul Coufos (Zogan), John Zee (Satrap)

Notes: This episode’s guest stars have years of professional football, basketball and boxing experience, including real-life Olympian Thomas Henderson, who was on the U.S. basketball team in the 1972 Olympics. Former boxing champ Carlos Palomino had a later brush with science fiction as well – he helped to train actor Robert Beltran for the Star Trek: Voyager episode The Fight, which involved Chakotay boxing with an alien.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 3

The City At The Edge Of The World

Blake's 7Vila is bullied by Tarrant into assisting an unknown party on Keezarn, a remote planet, in exchange for some weapons crystals needed on the Liberator. The unknown party shortchanges Tarrant, sending a bomb instead, which is what Avon anticipated. As he and Cally teleport down to rescue Vila, the thief discovers that he is to be working for a criminal known as “Bayban the butcher” – a man with a reputation for mayhem “second only to Blake” (a comment to which Bayban himself reacts badly). Bayban wants Vila to break into an impossible door, which is what Vila does, taking Bayban’s attractive gunhand with him. They discover an infinite-range teleport system that sends them to the planet the real people of Keezarn are destined to reach and there Vila discovers the type of crystals Tarrant needed. On returning to Keezarn, they find that Avon and the others have captured Bayban’s forces. Vila has a chance to go off with Kerril or return to the Liberator – and then Bayban himself prepares to destroy the city.

written by Chris Boucher
directed by Vere Lorrimer
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Colin Baker (Bayban), Carol Hawkins (Kerril), John J. Carney (Sherm), Valentine Dyall (Norl)

Notes: This script was written by Chris Boucher especially for Michael Keating when Keating’s young daughter, watching an earlier Blake’s 7 episode, turned around and told her father his character was stupid! It also set the stage for a rematch between Paul Darrow and Colin Baker in the arguably forgettable 1985 Doctor Who story Timelash.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Buck Rogers Season 1

A Dream of Jennifer

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyWhile shopping with Twiki for the components of an authentic 20th century hot tub, Buck thinks he spots a familiar face. He tries to follow her, but loses track of her and then sees her again at a spaceport the next day. Buck’s friends grow concerned about his insistence on looking for the woman who resembles his 20th century girlfriend Jennifer, but they help him track her down to the city that Buck once knew as New Orleans. When Buck does finally have a change to talk to her, she warns Buck that someone is trying to harm him – moments before two masked attackers pull a gun on both of them. Buck learns that the woman he has been following was the bait in a trap laid especially for him by a group of aliens who want him to destroy a shipment of Earth weapons to an allied world – a world these aliens are at war with. They threaten the woman’s life if Buck doesn’t cooperate, so he reluctantly goes along with the plan – but what he doesn’t expect to find is that Dr. Huer has sent Wilma along with the arms shipment to ensure its safe arrival.

Order the DVDswritten by Michael Bryant
directed by David G. Phinney
music by John Cacavas

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Paul Koslo (Commander Reeve), Gino Conforti (Sylvie), Mary Woronov (Nola), Anne Lockhart (Jennifer), Jessie Lawrence Ferguson (Lt. Hekoff), Cameron Young (Toby Kaplin), Shawn Michaels (Supervisor), Dennis Haysbert (Guard), Marsha Merchant (Clerk), Mitchell Young-Evans (Mime)

Notes: Anne Lockhart is the daughter of June Lockhart, who played the matriarch of the Robinson clan on Lost In Space. If you listen closely after Buck is turned away from the spaceport boarding gate, “Captain Christopher Pike” is paged on the P.A. system. Also, Dr. Huer reveals in this episode that he is a widower. Guest star Mary Woronov would later take over the role of Na’Toth – very briefly – in the second season of Babylon 5.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 3

The Children Of Auron

Blake's 7Cally’s twin sister, Zelda, sends out a telepathic distress signal when the planet Auron is ravaged by a plague which has, in fact, been unleashed on the pacifist Aurons by Servalan in an attempt to capture the Liberator and its crew.

written by Roger Parkes
directed by Andrew Morgan
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally, Zelda), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Rio Fanning (Deral), Ric Young (Ginka), Jack McKenzie (Patar), Beth Harris (CA Two), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (CA One), Sarah Atkinson (Franton), Michael Troughton (Pilot Four-Zero)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Buck Rogers Season 1

Space Rockers

Buck Rogers In The 25th CenturyDr. Huer lets Buck in on a troubling piece of information – the hottest band in the galaxy, Andromeda, seems to be spawning acts of violence among its young audience. An Earth Defense Directorate spy has infiltrated Andromeda’s interstellar road crew as their sound engineer, but when he’s discovered by Andromeda’s manager, he pays for it with his life. Even more disturbingly, Andromeda operates from a former military space station now known as MusicWorld, and the band’s manager, an ex-researcher named Lars Mangros, has written classified papers on a potential new method of mind control. Huer manages to get Buck a slot as a presenter for Andromeda’s next concert, a galaxy-wide broadcast which could wreak massive havoc with young people on hundreds of worlds. On MusicWorld, Buck discovers that Mangros is indeed planning to hide a mind-controlling frequency within the sound waves of Andromeda’s music, turning the galaxy’s youth into a mindless fighting force. Buck alerts the band to this plan, and they refuse to go ahead with the concert – and are promptly locked away, along with Buck. Now the only weapon Buck has is his cunning – and rock ‘n’ roll.

Order the DVDswritten by Chris Bunch & Allan Cole
directed by Guy Magar
music by Johnny Harris

Cast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Jerry Orbach (Lars Mangros), Judy Landers (Joanna), Nancy Frangione (Karana), Leonard Lightfoot (Cirus), Jesse Goina (Rambeau), Paul LeClair (Tarkas), Richard Moll (Yarat), Jeff Harlan (Mark), Cynthia Lear (Elaine), Mitch Reta (Technician), Joseph Taggart (Security man)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 3

Rumours Of Death

Blake's 7Avon sets out to avenge the death of his lover, Anna Grant. He kidnaps a Federation “prison psychologist” (torturer) whom he believes is responsible for her execution, but information gained from that encounter leads Avon and the crew back to Earth in a raid on Servalan’s mansion – which has been taken by a rebel group already – where Avon discovers that Anna was never killed…nor was she ever, in fact, alive.

written by Chris Boucher
directed by Fiona Cumming
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), John Bryans (Shrinker), Peter Clay (Chesku), Lorna Heilbron (Sula, Anna), Donald Douglas (Grenlee), David Haig (Forres), Philip Bloomfield (Balon), David Gillies (Hob)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Blake's 7 Season 3

Sarcophagus

Blake's 7After visiting a derelict alien “tomb-vessel,” Cally is inhabited by the soul of a long-dead creature who begins to take her shape, draining her of her energy, and takes over the ship and, one by one, the crew – except for Avon, the one member of the crew who is determined not to surrender into slavery. But the alien possessing Cally has predicted Avon’s presence and his resistance.

written by Tanith Lee
directed by Fiona Cumming
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac)

LogBook entry by Earl Green