Lost Tapes

Max HeadroomA yearly festival surrounds the return to earth of debris from fallen broadcast satellites. Edison and Theora get out of the control room to join Blank Reg and Dominique for the festivities, a much-needed diversion as a new censorship body has just notified Edison of his on-air “transgressions” of what has now been deemed good taste. But even off duty, Edison can’t help but stumble across a story, when a Metrocop raid hits a nearby home and a man is arrested for showing pirated educational programs to children. A street performer is also picked up by the Metrocops…acting in conjunction with Network 23’s new censor agents. The woman’s daughter is rescued by Edison, who tries to launch a “live and direct” investigation into the night’s events. But if the censors block Edison’s broadcasts, will anyone ever learn what really happened…or, for that matter, will anyone ever be allowed to learn anything again?

teleplay by Adrian Hein and Steve Roberts
story by Colman Dekay & Howard Brookner
directed by Victor Lobl
music by Michael Hoenig

Guest Cast: W. Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg), Hank Garrett (?), Lee Wilkof (?), Sharon Barr (?), Concetta Tomei (Dominique), Laura Carrington (Francis), Mike Preston (Drago), John Durbin (Metrocop Chief), Rick Lieberman (Metrocop), Guyy Christopher (Drago’s henchman), Peter Crook (Blank Bruno), Ainslee Currie (Mink), Lewis Dauber (Blank Tracher), Richard Lion (Orville), Jason Zahler (Doc Friendly), Melissa Behr (Festival queen), Ed Trotta (Bresson), Larry Cortinas (Man on motorcycle)

Notes: This episode yields numerous interesting tidbits – Blank Reg can’t read (despite him touting the virtues of reading “old-fashioned” books in an earlier episode), and Murray is divorced with one daughter. This was the final episode produced, and shows a few hints of changes that might have stuck in future episodes: Bryce acting as Edison’s controller in Theora’s stead, and Theora and Murray being far more involved in the action. This episode did not air during the series’ original broadcast run and only appeared later in syndicated packages.

LogBook entry by Earl Green