Categories
Other Space

Finale

Other SpaceThe alien with which the crew has just made contact isn’t bringing alien technology to usher in a new era of cooperation. The tear in the fabric of space and time that looms ahead won’t bring the Cruiser and its crew home to Earth. Natasha can’t have a physical body, so she can’t interact with Kent. Stewart can’t stand to let an opportunity to learn about an alien species go by, and resigns as the Cruiser’s captain, learning Karen in command. And that giant alien spaceship coming through the rift, hundreds of times bigger than the alien spaceship the crew has already seen? That just can’t be good.

Watch this at the official sitewritten by Owen Ellickson
directed by Matt Sohn
music by Orr Rebhun & Erica Weis

Other SpaceCast: Trace Beaulieu (A.R.T.), Neil Casey (Kent Woolworth), Eugene Cordero (Michael Newman), Joel Hodgson (Zalian Fletcher), Conor Leslie (Natasha), Bess Rous (Karen Lipinski), Karan Soni (Stewart Lipinski), Milana Vayntrub (Tina Shukshin), Sarah Baker (Alien), Sherry O’Connor (A.R.T. Puppeteer #2)

Notes: Intended to be a cliffhanger leading into a second season, Finale instead marked the end of Other Space’s run on the short-lived Yahoo! Screen service, a video-on-demand platform with original programming intended to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Paul Feig has hinted that there are still possibilities for a second season, though no outlets – either broadcast or streaming – have shown any open interest in picking up Other Space.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Movies

Kung Fury

Kung FuryImbued with ancient knowledge of the martial arts, Kung Fury is the best beat cop on the streets, but refuses to take on a new partner because of the grisly fate that met his last partner. But when Adolf Hitler travels to 1985 to claim Kung Fury’s power for himself, hoping to become the Kung Fuhrer in the process, Kung Fury decides to return the favor. With the help of the world’s greatest hacker, Kung Fury travels back in time to stop Hitler from coming to the future. But even the best beat cop on the streets will have to meet a few powerful friends – and his maker – before he can take on the leader of the Third Reich.

See it now!screenplay by David Sanderson
directed by David Sanderson
music by Mitch Murder, Lost Years, Patrick Oberg, Christoffer Ling, Highway Superstar, Betamaxx, and David Hasselhoff

Cast: David Sanderson (Kung Fury), Jorma Taccone (Adolf Hitler), Steven Chew (Dragon), Leopold Nilsson (Hackerman), Andreas Cahling (Thor), Per-Henrik Arvidius (Chief / voice of Thor), Erik Hornqvist (Triceracop), Frank Sanderson (voice of Triceracop / Cobra / Dinomite), Eleni Young (Barbarianna), Helene Ahlson (Katana), Yasmina Suhonen (voice of Katana), Magnus Betner (Colonel Reichstache), Bjorn Gustafsson (Private Lahmstache), Eos Karlsson (Red Ninja), David Hasselhoff Kung Fury(HOFF 9000), Klas Trulsson (Police Officer), Mikael Liljeholm (Police Officer), Victor Lindgren (Police Officer), Mattias Andersson (Police Officer), Martin Gardenalm (Police Officer), David Sundqvist (Police Officer), Mattias Colin (Police Officer), Niklas Bjuhr (Police Officer), Hannes Sigrell (Police Officer), Marc Stromberg (Street Thug), Sebastian Sahin (Street Thug), Robin Arvidsson (Street Thug), Tobias Drews (Nazi Experimenter), Bepper Starbrink (Nazi Experimenter), Mats Mossing (Nazi Experimenter), Anette Bergstrom (Nazi Experimenter), Julian Maroda (Boombox Dude), Jason Blalock (Arcade Dude), Hjalmar Ekstrom (Arcade Dude), Joel Dunkels (Guy with Telephone), Sandra Nendos (Boombox Girl), Emilia Bystrom (Don’t Look Back At Explosions Boombox Walker)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
Star Trek Star Trek Continues Star Trek Fan Films

The White Iris

Star Trek Continues

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate not given: Captain Kirk, on behalf of the Federation, delivers a new planetary defense grid to a word just joining the Federation. But during the ceremonial handover of the control console, a member of a dissident faction attacks and seriously wounds Kirk. Dr. McCoy reluctantly administers an experimental, little-tested drug to save Kirk’s life, but the captain begins to have hallucinations of several of the women he has fallen in love with on his journeys – all of whom died as a direct result of being in Kirk’s company. Neither McCoy nor Spock can adequately explain these visions. Worse yet, the new Federation member world’s rival neighboring planet begins to launch an all-out attack…and the newly-delivered defense grid controls are useless until Kirk unlocks them with a special password, which he has not been able to remember since he was injected with the experimental drug.

Watch Itteleplay by James Kerwin & Chris White & Vic Mignogna
story by Vic Mignogna & Chris White
directed by James Kerwin
music by Andy Farber
additional music by Vic Mignogna

Cast: Vic Mignogna (Captain Kirk), Todd Haberkorn (Mr. Spock), Chuck Huber (Dr. McCoy), Chris Doohan (Mr. Scott), Colin Baker (Amphidamas), Nakia Burrise (Nakia), Adrienne Wilkinson (Edith), Tiffany Brouwer (Miramanee), Gabriela Fresquez (Rayna), Marina Sirtis (Computer Voice), Sarai Duenas (Mirmanee’s Child), Grant Imahara (Sulu), Kim Stinger (Uhura), Wyatt Lenhart (Chekov), Michele Specht (McKennah), Kipleigh Brown (Smith), Steven Dengler (Drake), Cat Roberts (Palmer), Liz Wagner (Nurse Burke), Chris Gore (Eretrian Dissident), Robert J. Sawyer (Science Officer), Peter Cunniff (Chalcidian Councilman), Larry Hastings (Chalcidian Councilman), Abigail A. Rodriguez (Yeoman), Kayla Iacovino (Science Crewman), Christian Unger (Science Crewman), Stephen Cevallos (Crewman), Abe Duenas (Crewman), Brian Ground (Crewman), Stephanie Hall (Crewman), Donald Huston (Crewman), Ralph M. Miller (Crewman), Al Murack (Crewman), Brandon A. Sharpe (Crewman), Michelle Siles (Crewman), Hayley Warner (Crewman), Andrew Wendt (Crewman)

Star Trek ContinuesNotes: Guest star Colin Baker was the sixth Doctor to star in the BBC’s venerable time-traveling sci-fi series Doctor Who (arguably the only genre franchise to rival Star Trek for longevity). While there have been several Star Trek/Doctor Who casting crossovers in years past, Baker is the first Doctor to appear in anything Star Trek related. Adrienne Wilkinson played Eve, the adult daughter of Xena: Warrior Princess, in the final two seasons of that series.

The women hallucinated by Kirk appear in the following episodes:

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Sense8

Limbic Resonance

Sense8Across the world, eight people begin having vivid visions of a woman in the last moments of her life – the last moments before she takes her own life before her pursuers catch up with her. In Chicago, in London, in Mumbai, in Seoul, in Kenya, and elsewhere, eight otherwise unconnected men and women witness the suicide as if they were there. Then they begin seeing each other, or momentarily seeing things from one another’s perspectives, with no explanation for why this has started to happen. A Chicago cop, rattled by a recent experience on his beat, sees a DJ from London appear in the abandoned church where they both realize the suicide occurred. But every vision and every shared experience ends, sometimes leaving them stranded in desperate situations…and with inexplicable new perspectives.

Just before she takes her own life, the woman named Angelica is confronted by two men – one who knows she must remain in hiding, the other who is looking for her. Both men will be looking for the others, whose awakening awareness of one anothers’ presence has just begun.

Order the DVDswritten by The Wachowskis & J. Michael Straczynski
directed by The Wachowskis
music by Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer
additional music by Gabriel Isaac Mounsey and Ethan Stoller

Cast: Aml Ameen (Capheus van Damn), Doona Bae (Sun Bak), Jamie Clayton (Nomi Marks), Tina Desai (Kala Dandekar), Tuppence Middleton (Riley Blue), Max Riemelt (Wolfgang Bogdanow), Miguel Angel Silvestre (Lito Rodriguez), Brian J. Smith (Will Gorski), Freema Agyeman (Amanita), Terrance Mann (Mr. Whispers), Anupam Kher (Sanyam Dandekar), Naveen Andrews (Jonas), Daryl Hannah (Angelica), Max Mauff (Felix), Ness Bautista (Diego), Joseph Mawle (Nyx), Paul Ogola (Jela), Christian Oliver (Steiner), Matt Stokoe (Jacks), William Burker (Deshawn), Felicia Fields (Head Nurse), Margot Thorne (Sara Patrell), Maxwell Jenkins (young Will), Katrin Sara Olafsdottir (young Riley), Edward Ashley (Nocker), Chichi Seii (Shiro), Margaret Akech (Older Woman), Godfrey Ojiamo Muyungi (Passenger), T.K. Kitana (Hawker), Sylvester Groth (Sergei), Marina Weis (Sergei’s Wife), Matthew Burton (Dunkle), Rainer Reiners (Priest), Viola Meinecke (Teacher), Bernhard Schutz (Anton), Rafaela da Silva (Natalie), Lenius Jung (young Wolfgang), Georg Ebinal (Steiner’s Bodyguard), Ari Brickman (Director), Cassandra Sanchez Navarro (Nun), Arnoldo Picazzo (Padre), Rocio Garcia (Key Makeup Artist), Jeronimo Best (Assistant Director), Ki-Chan Lee (Joong-Ki), Heon Tae Jeon (Yuen Tan-Wu), Hana Hwang (Sun’s Assistant), Sean Dorsey (Sean), Jamison Green (Jamison), Shawna Virago (Shawna), Tina D’Elia (Dyke #1), Jeanette Aguilar (Dyke #2), Max Kelly (Dyke #3), Tino Rodriguez (Green Fairy), Virgo Paraiso (Purple Fairy)

Sense8Notes: Created by the Wachowski siblings (The Matrix trilogy, Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending) and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Crusade, Jeremiah), Sense8 was pitched to traditional cable outlets before landing at Netflix, which expanded the show’s ten-episode order to twelve at the showrunners’ request. All twelve episodes premiered on June 5th, 2015 via Netflix’s streaming service, the latest of several major series to bypass existing broadcast and cable channels altogether. This was Straczynski’s first TV project since his frustrating experiences working on Jeremiah for MGM; he had worked chiefly in movies (Thor, World War Z, Changeling) and major comics titles in the interim. Naveen Andrews was previously one of the stars of Lost, while Freema Agyeman had traveled aboard the TARDIS as Martha Jones in Doctor Who. Daryl Hannah has a long list of big-screen credits, including several genre movies (Blade Runner, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man), while Brian J. Smith was one of the stars of Stargate Universe.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Sense8

I Am Also A We

Sense8Officer Will Gorski’s growing obsession with the site of the suicide he experienced is interrupted by a visit from the Department of Homeland Security, briefing the Chicago PD on the presence in Chicago of a dangerous man known as Jonas Maliki. No information is provided about why he is wanted, so it’s a huge surprise to Nomi when she spots Jonas staring intently at her at a LGBQT pride parade, causing her to fall from the back of a motorcycle. The hospital only allows Nomi’s birth family to see her, denying her girlfriend Amanta’s requests to see her. Nomi’s mother – who insists on called Nomi by her male birth name – reveals that a growth has been found in Nomi’s brain, a growth that the doctors feel must be removed immediately. Jonas appears to Nomi, telling her that she must not allow the surgery to happen. Around the world, Riley, Lito and Kala each face their own personal crises, trapped by society’s expectations or more direct dangers. Jonas appears to Gorski, telling the rookie cop that what he thinks he knows about Jonas is wrong.

Order the DVDswritten by The Wachowskis & J. Michael Straczynski
directed by The Wachowskis
music by Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer
additional music by Gabriel Isaac Mounsey and Ethan Stollar

Cast: Aml Ameen (Capheus van Damn), Doona Bae (Sun Bak), Jamie Clayton (Nomi Marks), Tina Desai (Kala Dandekar), Tuppence Middleton (Riley Blue), Max Riemelt (Wolfgang Bogdanow), Miguel Angel Silvestre (Lito Rodriguez), Brian J. Smith (Will Gorski), Freema Agyeman (Amanita), Terrance Mann (Mr. Whispers), Anupam Kher (Sanyam Dandekar), Naveen Andrews (Jonas), Daryl Hannah (Angelica), Purab Kohli (Rajan Rasal), Ness Bautista (Diego), William Burke (Deshawn), Sandra Fish (Janet), Anfonso Herrera (Hernando), Erendira Ibarra (Daniela), Adam Shapiro (Dr. Metzger), Ron Dean (Duke), Cedric Young (Friend #1), Danny Goldring (Friend #2), Howie Johnson (Miller), Larry Clarke (Police Captain), Kevin R. Kelly (Agent Stiles), Maxwell Jenkins (young Will), Eddie Martinez (Convenience Attendant), Darshan Jariwala (Manendra Rasal), Natasha Rastogi (Priya Dandekar), Huzane Mewawala (Daya Dandekar), Mita Vasisht (Sahana Rasal), Shruti Bapna (Devi), Amy Mubul (Anja), Max Mauff (Felix), Wanja Gotz (Thug), Avantika Akerkar (Aunty Ina), Dilnaz Irani (Lab Co-Worker #1), Palomi Ghosh (Lab Co-Worker #2), Rene Azuela (Cristina), Annie Munch (Teagan), Tara Mallen (Day Nurse), Hanna Dworkin (Surgical Nurse), Masahin Munor (Lola)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Rebels Season 2 Star Wars

The Siege Of Lothal

Star Wars: RebelsIn the wake of their escape from Mustafar, Hera, Kanan and the Ghost crew have finally joined the larger Rebel Alliance, taking part in numerous space battles with Phoenix Squadron at their sides. But Kanan is uneasy about the militarization of the Rebellion, longing to get back to Lothal to help people one-on-one. A distress signal from Lothal’s governor – a known Imperial sympathizer – shocks the rest of the group into agreeing with him. But Minister Tua is no longer in charge on Lothal: Darth Vader has arrived to take control of the situation, including a plan to trap the Ghost crew. As Kanan and his crew try to leave Lothal in one piece, Vader catches up to them, and Kanan and Ezra have to fight a Sith Lord for the first time, with barely-survivable results. Even once they escape, they’re not free of Vader’s clutches yet – and when Ahsoka reaches out with the Force to try to identify the pursuing Sith, she is horrified by what she finds.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Henry Gilroy
directed by Bosco Ng and Brad Rau
music by Kevin Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steven Blum (Zeb / Alton Kastle / Imperial Technician #2 / Stormtrooper Commander), David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Keone Young (Commander Sato / Imperial Technician / Imperial Technician #3), James Earl Jones (Darth Vader), Sam Witwer (The Emperor / W1-LE / Imperial Technician), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), Dee Bradley Baker (Old Jho / Stormtrooper #3 / Phoenix #3 / Admiral Konstantine / Rebel Technician), Kath Soucie (Minister Maketh Tua), Matthew Wood (Phoenix #1 / Stormtrooper / Stormtrooper #3 / Imperial Captain)

RebelsNotes: An hour-long “movie”, The Siege Of Lothal serves as something of a new pilot for Rebels, recasting the Ghost crew as a band of star warriors rather than a group of resistance fighters tied to Lothal. Several more months passed before the rest of the second season began to air, with this adventure being aired as a stand-alone event.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Movies

Pixels

PixelsSuburban pre-teens Sam Brenner, Ludlow and Cooper cross paths in 1982 at an arcade video game tournament. Sam’s natural knack for detecting the games’ movement patterns makes him a hot contender for the top spot, but in the finals, he loses to Eddie, a rude, crude kid who has bestowed upon himself the nickname “Fireblaster.”

The sting of being merely second place haunts Sam throughout his life; he stumbles through a series of unambitious tech jobs, and during his latest gig as an audiovisual installer, he hits on one of his clients, an attractive (but divorced) suburban mom who turns out to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Navy. They cross paths again when Sam is summoned to the White House; his old buddy Cooper is now the President of the United States, and needs Sam’s video game expertise when a mysterious attack on a military base at Guam bears striking similarities to the enemy attack patterns of the video game Galaga. Ludlow, now a shut-in conspiracy theorist, emerges with what he believes is a message from an alien race: they have seen a transmission of the 1982 arcade tournament, along with other samples of Earth culture of the 1980s, and have interpreted it as a declaration of war. Earth has now lost a battle and lost one “life”; two more losses mean game over for the planet. Eddie, serving time for fraud, is sprung from prison and offered a pardon by Cooper if he can help Sam and Ludlow defend Earth with their gaming skills. Another attack on Earth is lost, and the 1982 arcade champions must now reunite to save the planet from repeated waves of attacks that take the form of now-out-of-date game scenarios.

screenplay by Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling
based on the short film by Patrick Jean
directed by Chris Columnus
music by Henry Jackman

Cast: Adam Sandler (Brenner), Kevin James (Cooper), Michelle Monaghan (Violet), Peter Dinklage (Eddie), Josh Gad (Ludlow), Matt Lintz (Matty), Brian Cox (Admiral Porter), Sean Bean Pixels(Corporal Hill), Jane Krakowski (First Lady Jane Cooper), Dan Aykroyd (1982 Championship MC), Affion Crockett (Sergeant Dylan Cohan), Lainie Kazan (Mickey Lamonsoff), Ashley Benson (Lady Lisa), Denis Akiyama (Professor Iwatani), Tom McCarthy (Michael the Robot), Tim Herlihy (Defense Secretary), Jackie Sandler (President’s Assistant), Jared Sandler (White House Junior Aide), William S. Taylor (Navy Secretary), Rose Rollins (White House Press Secretary), Tucker Smallwood (CIA Chief), Serena Williams (herself), Martha Stewart (herself), Allen Covert (Abusive Citizen), Bill Lake (NY Police Commissioner), Mark Whelan (Colonel Devereux), Dan Patrick (White House Reporter #1), Robert Smigel (White House Reporter #2), Steve Koren (White House Reporter #3), Sadie Sandler (Lemonadie Sadie), Sunny Sandler (Sweet Scout Girl), Hannah Covert (Arcader Choir Girl), Abigail Covert (Classroom Scout Girl #1), Sienna James (Classroom Scout Girl #2), Shea James (Classroom Scout Girl #3), Chris Titone (Soccer Player), Jonathan Loughran (White House Gate Guard), Toru Iwatani (Electric Dream Factory Repairman), Anthony Ippolito (13-year-old Brenner), Jared Riley (13-year-old Cooper), Andrew Bambridge (13-year-old Eddie), Jacob Shinder (8-year-old Ludlow), Jack Fulton (Little Boy on London Street), Kevin Grady (Samurai Gamer), Bridget Graham (Cyber Chick #1), Jocelyn Hudon (Cyber Chick #2), Margaret Killingbeck (Old Woman in London Apartment), Ron Mustafa (Indian Teenage Boy), Meher Pavri (Indian Teenage Girl), Annika Pergament (News Reporter), Lamont James (SEAL #1), James Preston Rogers (SEAL #2), Bola Olubowale (SEAL #3), Rob Archer (SEAL #4), Mark Sparks (Fighter Pilot), Steve Wiebe (DARPA Scientist), Sara Haines (TV News Anchor), Derwin Phillips (Secret Service Man #1), Michael Boisvert (Secret Service Man #2), Colleen Reynolds (Abusive Citizen #1), Jimi Shlag (Abusive Citizen #2), Emily Jenkins (Abusive Citizen #3), Sistah Lois (Sergeant Cohan’s Mother), Andrew McMichael (Arcade Employee), Gary Douglas (DC Valet), Eric Trask (Warden), Susie McLean (Press Person), Daryl Hall (himself), John Oates (himself), Matt Frewer (Max Headroom)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

End Of The Line

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and his companion, Constance Clarke, arrive at a train station that seems to be in a strange limbo. A train car full of passengers finds nothing amiss with this situation, but when it becomes obvious that something out of the ordinary is happening, their reactions range from the kind of indignation reserved for an everyday traffic delay to something far worse. The Doctor and Constance quickly discover that not everyone aboard the train is what or who they seem to be. Neither is the train station, which serves as a nexus between multiple realities. Someone aboard the train is here to break down the barriers that keep those realities separated, unless the Doctor can stop them.

written by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Howard Carter

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Miranda Raison (Constance Clarke), Anthony Howell (Tim Hope), Chris Finney (Keith Potter), Ony Uhiara (Alice Lloyd), Hamish Clark (Norman), Maggie Service (Hilary Ratchett)

Notes: Maggie Service can be heard in nearly episode of the BBC2 sci-fi sitcom Hyperspace, as the inordinately cheerful voice of the ship’s PA system.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Red House

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, traveling in the company of Charlotte Pollard, arrives on an island populated by werewolves; there are werewolves in law enforcement and there are werewolf refugees as well. Charley is captured for the local constables and taken to meet “Doctor Pain”, while the Doctor is surrounded by the refugees and begins planning to help them free Charley and themselves. “Doctor Pain” is Dr. Paignton, a scientist seeking a way to permanently reverse the lycanthropy that has taken hold on the island, but she doesn’t believe Charley’s claims to be human. Fortunately, Paignton’s porter is a Time Lord, operating undercover, and he frees Charley from Paignton’s psychic extractor. He warns Charley that the Doctor is embarking on a course of action that could lead to genocide, and sets her free to warn him. As the werewolves take over Dr. Paignton’s facility, a last-ditch failsafe protocol is set into motion: nuclear missiles from the planet’s mainland will “neutralize” all life on the island unless the Doctor can stop them.

written by Alan Barnes
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Howard Carter

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charlotte Pollard), Michael Jayston (The Valeyard), Ashley McGuire (Sergeant), Andree Bernard (Dr. Paignton / Constable), Rory Keenan (Ugo), Jessie Buckley (Lina), Kieran Hodgson (Arin / Dennis)

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Stage Fright

Doctor WhoThe Doctor brings Flip to Victorian London, where he plans to take her to Henry Gordon Jago’s theatre, only to find it closed – and Jago at the pub. Jago can afford a drink, though, because he has a new benefactor – a mysterious producer and self-appointed leading actor who has swept into London with a new show that overpowers its audience with emotion. Professor Charles Litefoot, on the other hand, is glad the Doctor is here to help him solve a string of mysterious murders, all of the victims aspiring actors. The Doctor is alarmed to see that the murder victims are dressed as his past companions, and that the theatrical extravaganza booked in Jago’s theatre consists of re-enactments of his past regenerations. When he discovers that the would-be theatre impresario is named “Mr. Yardvale”, the Doctor is sure he’s walking into a trap…of his own design.

written by Matt Fitton
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Howard Carter

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Lisa Greenwood (Flip), Christopher Benjamin (Henry Jago), Trevor Baxter (George Litefoot), Lisa Bowerman (Ellie Higson), Michael Jayston (The Valeyard), Andree Bernard (Susie/Sylvie), Lizzie Roper (Bella)

Notes: Star Wars is a part of the entertainment landscape in the Doctor Who universe; Flip uses the “Dark Side of the Force” analogy for the explanation of the Valeyard relative to the Doctor, though when she says she loved Jar Jar, even the Doctor finds its difficult to let her off the hook. (Poor Jar Jar.) Jago & Litefoot, stars of their own Big Finish audio spinoff series, are well acquainted with the Doctor in both his fourth and sixth incarnations; they first met the sixth Doctor in Voyage To Venus, continued traveling with him in Voyage To The New World, and encountered him again in the all-star audio saga The Worlds Of Doctor Who.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Last Adventure: The Brink Of Death

Doctor WhoIn the blink of an eye, the familiar, curly-haired, colorfully-clothed form of the Doctor’s sixth incarnation vanishes, replaced by the gaunt face of the Valeyard. The TARDIS travels onward, and Mel notices nothing.

The Doctor finds himself trapped in the Matrix, the repository of all Time Lord knowledge, as a fading echo of his own consciousness – the fate of all Time Lords when they meet their final death. A young Time Lady, Genesta, has found him in the Matrix and is able to reinstate his corporeal form, but he has very little time until even that is erased. The Valeyard has found a way to do what he hoped to do at the Doctor’s trial: to eliminate the Doctor and his future incarnations, and take the Doctor’s place. The Doctor can prevent this from happening with the time he has left, but only at the cost of bringing about events that will cause his next regeneration.

Order this CDwritten by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Howard Carter

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush), Michael Jayston (The Valeyard), Liz White (Genesta), Robbie Stevens (Coordinator Storin / Nathemus 1), Susan Earnshaw (Lorelas / Nathemus 2), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor)

Notes: Past Big Finish adventures have shown the Valeyard to have a near-obsession with rewriting the Doctor’s past, including (also in The Last Adventure box set) Stage Fright and the Doctor Who Unbound story He Jests At Scars… Though billed as the sixth Doctor’s regeneration story for Big Finish’s purposes, there had already been two regeneration stories for the sixth Doctor in print, the BBC Books novel Spiral Scratch, and the posthumously-finished charity novel Time’s Champion, co-written by the late Craig Hinton. All three tell, naturally, completely different stories, and in any case, while this plants an endpoint for the sixth Doctor in the audio world, it’s certainly not an end to Colin Baker playing the Doctor for Big Finish.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
3rd Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Prisoners Of The Lake

Doctor WhoUNIT is called in to an underwater archaeological site, where a team of scientists and other experts are investigating surprisingly advanced ancient ruins on a lake bed. But the ruins aren’t why Captain Mike Yates is there; he’s there to look into a number of missing artifacts from those ruins. The director of the project is surprisingly uncooperative, while Mike finds a more receptive ear among the scientists and dive teams. While he’s there, Mike witnesses the discovery of technology among the ruins, a find which he reports immediately to UNIT – and to the Doctor. The Doctor and Jo arrive promptly, and begin taking an active part in the investigation of the “ruins”, which the Doctor theorizes is a crashed spacecraft. The vehicle is guarded by statue-like robots capable of exerting deadly force. The scientists working on the project are now more determined than ever to get past these defenses to discover what’s inside the ship. The Doctor warns that perhaps the robotic guardians aren’t there to fend off scavengers from Earth, but may be there to protect Earth from what’s aboard their ship…

written by Justin Richards
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Jamie Robertson

Cast: Tim Treloar (The Doctor / Narrator), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Carolyn Seymour (Freda Mattingly), Robbie Stevens (Johnny Repford / Director Pennard / Statue / Prosecutor), John Banks (Chief Dastron / Lt. Macintyre / UNIT Operative / Archaeologist)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
Movies

The Martian

The MartianAres III, the third manned mission to Mars, is cut short by the approach of a severe Martian dust storm whose winds pose a serious risk of toppling their escape vehicle. The crew is ordered inside, but flying debris lowers visibility to zero, and strikes the crew’s botanist, astronaut Mark Watney. Believing Watney is dead, Commander Lewis and her crew blast off from Mars, leaving Watney behind. But Watney isn’t dead: impaled by debris, which also damaged his spacesuit, he makes it back to the crew’s abandoned habitat dome and performs an emergency surgery on himself. He then turns his attention to survival: the Ares IV mission isn’t scheduled to arrive for another four years, so he has to be able to eat, breathe, drink, and stay safe until then. His skills are uniquely suited to growing food, but no one has ever grown crops on Mars. In the meantime, it’s weeks before NASA realizes Watney is still alive, and months before they alert the returning Ares III crew to this news…but it will still be years before Watney can be rescued, if he can stay alive on Mars that long.

screenplay by Drew Goddard
based on the novel by Andy Weir
directed by Ridley Scott
music by Harry Gregson-Williams

The MartianCast: Matt Damon (Mark Watney), Jessica Chastain (Melissa Lewis), Kristen Wiig (Annie Montrose), Jeff Daniels (Teddy Sanders), Michael Pena (Rick Martinez), Sean Bean (Mitch Henderson), Kate Mara (Beth Johanssen), Sebastian Stan (Chris Beck), Aksel Hennie (Alex Vogel), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Vincent Kapoor), Benedict Wong (Bruce Ng), Mackenzie Davis (Mindy Park), Donald Glover (Rich Purnell), Nick Mohammed (Tim Grimes), Chen Shu (Zhu Tao), Eddy Ko (Guo Ming), Enzo Cilenti (Mike Watkins), Jonathan Aris (Brendan Hatch), Gruffudd Glyn (Jack), Naomi Scott (Ryoko), Geoffrey Thomas (U.S. President), Yang Haiwen (Chinese Flight Director), Narantsogt Tsogtsaikhan (Wen Jiang), Brian Caspe (Timer Controller), Matt Devere (Satcon), Mike Kelly (Launcher Interface), Szonja Oroszlan (Launch Control), Greg de Cuir Jr. (Capcom), Mark O’Neal (Guidance), Peter Linka (Telemetry), Declan Hannigan (Comms), Peter Schueller (NASA Break Room Worker), Waleska Latorre (Vincent’s Secretary), Frederik Pleitgen (CNN Reporter), Nikolett Barabas (Reporter 1), Karen Gagnon (Reporter 2), Lili Bordan (Reporter 3), Charlie Gardner (Robert Lewis), Nora Horich (Vogel’s Wife), Kamilla Fatyol (Marissa Martinez), Yang Liu (Chinese Translator), Xue Xuxing (Ming’s Secretary), Richard Rifkin (JPL Store Man), Nicholas Wittman (JPL White Room Worker), Balazs Medveczky (JPL White Room Worker), Ben O’Brien (JPL Pathfinder Team), Scott Alexander Young (JPL Pathfinder Team), Jason Ryan (JPL Pathfinder Team), James Dougherty (JPL Pathfinder Team)

Mars Pathfinder in The MartianNotes: The Mars Pathfinder mission and its Sojourner rover were launched in 1996, and landed in July 1997, arguably becoming the first space mission widely followed on the internet. Sojourner was the forerunner to the rovers that now explore the real Martian landscape.

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Eleven

Doctor WhoThe Eleven, a Time Lord criminal who still hears all ten of his murderous prior incarnations as voices in his head, is brought to justice and returned to Gallifrey by the Doctor (in his seventh incarnation). Too dangerous for any normal imprisonment, the Eleven is confined to cold stasis.

The eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka, freshly escaped from their latest crisis, find that the TARDIS is out of their control, recalled to Gallifrey. The Doctor is tersely greeted by both an appointee of the High Council and the head of the Celestial Intervention Agency, reluctantly working together. Their goal: to recapture the Eleven, who escaped from confinement while being interviewed by a student from the Time Lord academy. Liv Chenka is able to spot the Eleven, thanks to his cloaking abilities being keyed to fool the senses of other Time Lords, but not humans. The Eleven tries to install himself as Gallifrey’s ruler in the absence of the President, but what he really wants is the President’s access to Gallifreyan relics of considerable power. His primary interest is in something called the Regeneration Codex, about which little is known, even by other Time Lords. Leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake across Gallifrey’s Capitol, the Eleven steals a TARDIS and leaves for Earth. All too familiar with this course of action, the Doctor is deputized by the Time Lords to retrieve the Eleven at any cost.

Order this CD written by Matt Fitton
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Ramon Tikaram (Castellan), Caroline Langrishe (Lady Farina), Bethan Walker (Kiani), Robert Bathurst (Cardinal Padrac), John Banks (Captain), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor)

Notes: The Omega Vault is mentioned, first cited in The Day Of The Doctor (2013) as the storehouse of the Time Lords’ most powerful weapons, though the Eleven seems to be particularly partial to the Sash and Rod of Rassilon, which are relics invested upon the sitting President of Gallifrey (The Deadly Assassin, 1976, and The Invasion Of Time, 1978). Flavia’s tenure as President is mentioned as well; she took office following the Doctor’s hasty retreat from being elected to that office in The Five Doctors (1983). Also mentioned are the current President, Romana, and her policy of allowing students from other time-sensitive species attend the Academy on Gallifrey; these events play out in the spin-off audio series Gallifrey.

Timeline: after Eye Of Darkness and before The Red Lady; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Red Lady

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Liv arrive in London in the 1960s, expecting to find the Eleven or some sign of him. The Doctor pays a visit to the National Gallery, where he finds that a mysterious stone tablet dating back to ancient Greece, and a mysterious collection of artwork bequeathed to the Gallery after the death of its reclusive owner, has the experts stymied. One of those experts, Helen Sinclair, is none too pleased to find that the Doctor and Liv Chenka have broken into her office, but she’s even more shocked when a colleague – who has been obsessing over the collection of paintings – is killed. When the Doctor examines those pictures, he notices something that Helen’s unfortunate colleague reported: there’s a woman with red hair in each one, and she seems to be moving, as if to summon him. Liv notices something similar about another of the paintings, but sees nothing unusual about the one the Doctor is examining. The Red Lady is calling to each of them…and if they keep looking at her, she can escape from the paintings and dominate their minds forever.

Order this CD written by John Dorney
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo Acosta

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), Caroline Langrishe (Red Lady / Rachel), David Yelland (Walter Pritchett), John Voce (Albert Kennedy / Professor)

Timeline: after The Eleven and before The Galileo Trap; before Night Of The Doctor

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green