Categories
7th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Settling

Doctor Who: The SettlingThe Doctor, Ace and Hex arrive in Ireland, 1649, to the sound of thunder…only it’s not thunder. The TARDIS has brought the time travelers to Drogheda, just before Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army raze the town to the ground, and there are almost no survivors. The Doctor befriends a pregnant widow named Mary, after sternly telling Ace and Hex not to get involved in historical events. But when the moment comes, Hex and Ace take up arms alongside the Irish. Ace is injured in battle, and Hex is captured by Cromwell’s forces. Hoping he can change history and prevent another massacre like Drogheda, Hex becomes Cromwell’s personal advisor, trying to steer him toward more humane treatment of prisoners, civilian and otherwise. Hex tries to get Cromwell to be more concerned with how history will see him. As the Doctor tries to help Mary bring a new life into the world, Hex is helpless to watch as his best efforts only ensure that Cromwell will continue carving a bloody path through history at Wexford.

Order this CDwritten by Simon Guerrier
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Clive Mantle (Oliver Cromwell), Roger Parrott (Doctor Goddard), Hugh Lee (Fitzgerald), Clare Cathcart (Mary), Ian Brooker (Colonel Sinnott)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Big Finish Spinoffs Doctor Who Gallifrey The Audio Dramas

Imperiatrix

Gallifrey: ImperiatrxiLeela receives news that Andred has been found murdered in the chambers of the Chancellery Guard. Leela intends to claim the Sevateem right of vengeance, but Romana needs her friend to continue serving as the acting Castellan, not a bloodthirsty killer. That’s only the latest in a series of violent incidents, including a bombing of the Time Lord Academy, targeting the alien students. Inquisitor Darkel, now openly challenging Romana’s presidency, can’t resist suggesting to the Gallifreyan public that if Romana can’t ensure that the presence of aliens at the Academy can’t be maintained without violence, then the aliens should be sent home. Romana sets Leela and K-9 on the trail of the bombers, while also assigning Coordinator Narvin of the Celestial Intervention Agency to investigate. But what Romana doesn’t know is that Narvin is working with Darkel to secure the Inquisitor’s rise to the presidency. Romana continues to consult in secret with the being known as Pandora, but continues to insist that she won’t go down the path that Pandora says in inevitable. Leela’s K-9 finds evidence of another bomb at the Academy just before it explodes; Guard Commander Hallan closes the blast doors before K-9 or many of the alien students can escape. Romana raises Gallifrey’s defensive transduction barriers and puts the planets on a war footing. Darkel calls for a public, and openly broadcasted, debate in the High Council, and Romana agrees…but she has something in mind other than than the orchestrated open debate that Darkel is planning. And naturally, Romana only has the best interests of Gallifrey and the Time Lords at heart…even if that means that the freedom to disagree with her policies is about to become a thing of the past.

Order this CDwritten by Stewart Sheargold
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Lalla Ward (President Romana), Louise Jameson (Leela), John Leeson (K-9), Lynda Bellingham (Candidate Darkel), Sean Carlsen (Coordinator Narvin), Michael Cuckson (Commander Hallan), Robin Sebastian (Commentator Antimon), Jenny Livsey (Student Galadina), Nicholas Briggs (Gold Usher), Daniel Hogarth (Nekkistani Ambassador), Conrad Westmaas (Nekkistani Emperor)

Notes: K-9 has worn the Coronet of Rassilon before, in the 1977 TV adventure The Invasion Of Time; that story also established the transduction barriers surrounding Gallifrey.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 02

The Impossible Planet

Doctor WhoThis time, the TARDIS has gone too far – so far into the future that it doesn’t know when or where it is. The Doctor and Rose do a bit of exploring and find that they’re on Sanctuary Base 8, a human outpost built on a planet whose stable orbit around a massive black hole isn’t just improbable, but should be absolutely impossible. Ancient writing on the base’s walls is so old that even the TARDIS’ gift of translation can’t help the Doctor decipher it. The bedraggled human crew – including an officer who has had to step uncomfortably into a command role following the death of the expedition’s captain – has found that some source of power under the planet’s surface is keeping it at a safe distance from the black hole. Entire star systems fall past the planet and into oblivion, but inexplicably, the planet itself remains; but even then, the base isn’t completely safe, as earthquakes rattle their delicate habitat (and one particularly violent tremor seems to swallow the TARDIS whole, trapping the Doctor and Rose on the base). The small human crew is supplemented by a servile race called the Ood, who don’t seem to object to working for the humans. A member of the base’s crew begins hearing voices, and then finds that he’s covered with the same symbols as the alien writing. The Doctor joins a foolhardy expedition beneath the planet’s surface, hoping to find out for himself what’s keeping the planet in place – but that’s a question that everyone there may soon regret asking.

Download this episodewritten by Matt Jones
directed by James Strong
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Danny Webb (Mr. Jefferson), Shaun Parkes (Zachary Cross Flane), Claire Burnbrook (Ida Scott), Will Thorp (Toby Zed), Ronny Jhutti (Danny Bartock), MyAnna Buring (Scooti Maniska), Paul Kasey (The Ood), Gabriel Woolf (voice of the Beast), Silas Carson (voice of the Ood)

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 02

The Satan Pit

Doctor WhoThe Ood, under the control of the one they refer to as the Beast, close in on Rose and the crew of Sanctuary Base 8, while the Doctor and Ida Scott are stranded beneath the surface of the planet. The Doctor makes a reckless jump into the pit they’ve discovered there – a literal leap of faith – while Rose helps the survivors of the Sanctuary Base marshal their resources to save themselves. In the pit, the Doctor finds the Beast – its body, chained forever in the pit, rages aimlessly, seemingly unable to communicate with him. Little does Rose know that the Beast also is on the base with her – its disembodied intelligence inhabits the body of a young archaeologist, quietly helping the Ood whittle the crew down to just two men and Rose. But the crew manages to shut down the telepathic field controlling the Ood and, leaving the Doctor and Ida for dead (over Rose’s objections), they flee the base in their only escape vehicle. Now, unless the Doctor and Rose take decisive action without being able to contact one another, the Beast’s mind may escape into the civilized center of the galaxy to build its new army.

Download this episodewritten by Matt Jones
directed by James Strong
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Danny Webb (Mr. Jefferson), Shaun Parkes (Zachary Cross Flane), Claire Burnbrook (Ida Scott), Will Thorp (Toby Zed), Ronny Jhutti (Danny Bartock), Paul Kasey (The Ood), Gabriel Woolf (voice of the Beast), Silas Carson (voice of the Ood)

Notes: The Doctor mentions Draconia and Daemos as worlds that have an image of the beast. The third Doctor met the Draconians in 1973’s Frontier In Space, and have continued to feature in Doctor Who print fiction and video productions; the latter is an interesting choice since it’s the homeworld of Azal, a demonic creature who the third Doctor battled when it posed as the devil in 1971’s The Daemons; the Beast seen here might have been a much older and more powerful Daemon, or something else entirely.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 02

Love & Monsters

Doctor WhoElton Page’s path has been crossed by the Doctor on more than one occasion, but in the past couple of years the encounters have come with more and more frequency. Trying to find out what it all means, Elton meets a blogger named Ursula, who has seen the Doctor in person. The two of them become good friends, eventually finding out that there are others who share their fascination with the Doctor and the TARDIS, but their tight-knit group – which Elton names LINDA (the London Investigation ‘N’ Detective Agency) – evolves beyond that interest, giving all of its offbeat members a place to call home. That is, until Victor Kennedy arrives on the scene. With seemingly limitless resources, and an unusually intense interest in the Doctor’s whereabouts, Kennedy begins assigning “homework” to Elton, Ursula and their friends. Some of the members of LINDA stop attending meetings without a further word, and finally Elton speaks up, refusing to do Kennedy’s bidding any more. But when Kennedy reveals his true identity – a creature who absorbs not just the minds but the physical mass of its prey – Elton realizes that it may take the Doctor to save him again. But every time the Doctor appears in Elton’s life, terrible things happen – and even this occasion will be no exception.

Download this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Dan Zeff
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Peter Kay (Victor Kennedy), Marc Warren (Elton Page), Shirley Henderson (Ursula Blake), Simon Greenall (Mr. Skinner), Moya Brady (Bridget), Kathryn Drysdale (Bliss), Paul Kasey (The Hoix), Bella Emberg (Mrs. Crook)

Notes: The author of this guide happens to agree with Elton that you can’t beat a bit of ELO. “Mr. Blue Sky,” excerpted repeatedly in the episode, originally appeared on the 1977 album Out Of The Blue, as does “Turn To Stone” (heard in the Tyler household), while LINDA’s song of choice is “Don’t Bring Me Down,” from Discovery (1979). The Abzorbaloff was created by William Grantham, a young Blue Peter viewer who participated in a competition during the first season to create a monster that would feature in the series itself. LINDA – not the same group, mind you, but the Liverpool Investigation ‘n’ Detective Agency – was originally invented in an episode of the children’s show Why Don’t You?, written by Russell T. Davies during his tenure as a producer on the show (1988-92).

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 02

Fear Her

Doctor WhoRose and the Doctor arrive in London just in time for the running of the torch to open the 2012 Olympic Games. But a pall hangs over the perfectly ordinary neighborhood where the TARDIS has materialized: posters for missing children, all of them having disappeared in the space of the week, are everywhere. An elderly woman named Maeve claims to feel an evil presence in the neighborhood, and seems to have known, just before each child disappeared, that they were about to vanish. A woman named Trish keeps a close eye on her daughter Chloe, not out of fear that she’ll disappear next, but out of fear that Chloe may be behind what’s happening. The Doctor and Rose come to that conclusion too, discovering that something evil is exerting its influence, having taken over Chloe’s body. But can they stop more people from disappearing – possibly even the entire human race – and restore Chloe’s true personality?

Download this episodewritten by Matthew Graham
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Nina Sosanya (Trish), Abisola Agbaje (Chloe), Edna Dore (Maeve), Tim Faraday (Tom’s Dad), Abdul Salis (Kel), Richard Nichols (Driver), Erica Eirian (Neighbour), Stephen Marzella (Police Officer), Huw Edwards (Commentator)

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Something Inside

Doctor Who: Something InsideThe Doctor, Charley and C’rizz find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison whose occupants call it the Cube. The Doctor and the TARDIS are snatched away, leaving Charley and C’rizz to hide in the darkness with a trio of desperate prisoners. Once recruited to by psychically augmented to help their world win a war, the “prisoners” have now been banished to a Cube, as their recruiters can’t find a way to deactivate or control their psychic powers. Something called the brain worm stalks the Cube, killing its victims after burning out their minds. The prisoners insist that the Doctor vanished because he was the brain worm’s last victim. Charley refuses to believe it – and then C’rizz disappears, leaving her at the mercy of her fellow prisoners. The Doctor, however, isn’t in the clutches of the brain worm. He’s held prisoner, tortured and interrogated to Rawden, the man who operates the Cube and keeps the prisoners captive. And Rawden is just as worried about the brain worm as his prisoners are…

Order this CD written by Trevor Baxendale
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Joseph Fox

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley), Conrad Westmaas (C’rizz), Steven Elder (Rawden), Ian Brooker (Mr. Twyst), Liz Crowther (Tessa), John Killoran (Gordon Latch), Louise Collins (Jane)

Timeline: after Time Works and before Memory Lane

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 02

Army Of Ghosts

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Rose pay a visit to Jackie, only to find that ghosts are walking the surface of the Earth – and Jackie claims that, after the initial shock wore off, no one’s been worried about it much and the apparitions have become a fixture of everyday life, appearing at regular intervals. Ever skeptical, the Doctor rigs up a device to “trap” one of the ghostly figures, which elicits an almost violent reaction from his prey. He finds the source of the power that’s enabling the “ghosts” to appear, narrowing it down to a place known as the Torchwood Institute. Inadvertently bringing Jackie along, the Doctor and Rose go to investigate Torchwood, but the Doctor is startled to find that not only is his arrival expected, but Yvonne Hartman, the director of Torchwood, knows who he is and that he seldom travels alone. Once again accidentally bringing Jackie along instead of Rose, the Doctor learns Torchwood’s mandate: to secure alien technology (including the TARDIS) and repel alien threats (a category into which they apparently feel the Doctor belongs), not for the good of the world, but to restore Britain to its imperial glory days. In the depths of Torchwood’s secret headquarters, a strange sphere has been the subject of intense study – radiating no heat or energy, it doesn’t appear to exist, and yet there it sits. The Doctor recognizes the sphere as a voidship, a vehicle capable of traversing parallel dimensions, and warns that it’s an extremely dangerous artifact. Equally dangerous, he warns, are the “ghost shifts” Torchwood is deliberately setting into motion. Deep within the Institute, a force from another universe begins to take over Torchwood, even taking control of the ghost shifts. They are the Cybermen created by John Lumic, and they’re not alone – every ghost seen in every city and country in the world is one of their soldiers, and if they can figure out how to increase the energy of the next ghost shift and bring the legions of ghostly Cybermen into corporeal existence, their takeover of Earth will be complete.

Except that the Cybermen aren’t the only ones trying to take over.

Download this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Graeme Harper
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Yvonne Hartman), Raji James (Dr. Rajesh Singh), Freema Agyeman (Adeola), Hadley Fraser (Gareth), Oliver Mellor (Matt), Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell), Hajaz Akram (Indian newsreader), Anthony Debaeck (French newsreader), Takako Akashi (Japanese newsreader), Paul Fields (Weatherman), David Warwick (Police Commissioner), Rachel Webster (Eileen), Kyoko Morita (Japanese girl), Maddi Cryer (Housewife), Derek Acorah (himself), Alistair Appleton (himself), Trisha Goddard (herself), Paul Kasey (Cyberleader), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices / Cyber voices), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek operator), Nicholas Pegg (Dalek operator), Stuart Crossman (Dalek operator), Anthony Spargo (Dalek operator), Dan Barratt (Dalek operator), David Hankinson (Dalek operator)

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 02

Doomsday

Doctor WhoJust as the Cybermen flash into existence all over the Earth, a new threat erupts from the voidship – a group of Daleks, known to the Doctor as a particularly dangerous bunch called the Cult of Skaro, emerge with an unknown device of Time Lord origin called the Genesis Ark. The Daleks are fiercely protective of the Ark, but despite its origins, the Doctor has no idea what it is. The Cybermen aren’t the only visitors from a parallel world: Mickey Smith, Pete Tyler and the soldiers of an anti-Cyberman resistance force have tracked their prey to this world, but now find themselves outgunned as the Daleks and Cybermen launch a full-scale war against each other, with the human race trapped in the middle and Torchwood powerless to fight back. Worse yet, the Genesis Ark is activated and reveals its Time Lord nature: bigger inside than out, it is a prison for millions of Daleks captured during the Time War, who join the fight that’s laying waste to the entire Earth. The Doctor works out a plan to send both of the alien armies back into the void. But even if he can save the world, this time he may not be able to save Rose – and even if her newly (if awkwardly) reunited family saves her, her TARDIS traveling days are numbered.

Download this episodewritten by Russell T. Davies
directed by Graeme Harper
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), Shaun Dingwall (Pete Tyler), Andrew Hayden-Smith (Jake Simmonds), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Yvonne Hartman), Raji James (Dr. Rajesh Singh), Paul Kasey (Cyberleader), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices / Cyber voices), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek operator), Nicholas Pegg (Dalek operator), Stuart Crossman (Dalek operator), Anthony Spargo (Dalek operator), Dan Barratt (Dalek operator), David Hankinson (Dalek operator), Catherine Tate (the Bride)

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Season 10 SG-1 Stargate

Flesh and Blood

Stargate SG-1Vala gives birth aboard the Ori cruiser, but before she can hold the baby, the child is whisked away at a Prior’s orders. A few hours later, Tomin tells her that she will be allowed to see the girl, who has already aged the equivalent of years. In order not to provoke a direct confrontation with the Ancients, the Ori have put as much of their knowledge as the human body can hold into the child, who will lead the Ori forces in our galaxy. The child knows that Vala does not believe in the Ori, but hopes to convince her otherwise. She accepts the name that Vala gives her, Adria, and tells Vala that the Ancients are lying. The Ori do ascend their followers, and the Ancients are the ones who sap the energies of humans in order to destroy the Ori.

The Ori ships have left the wreckage of the battle behind, and the survivors struggle to regroup. Carter is still stranded in her EVA suit. Mitchell wakes up aboard a fighter he managed to launch right before the Korolev was destroyed. The Odyssey is limping along, but the Asgard beaming technology is out of commission. Teal’c makes contact with the Odyssey, right before the Lucian representatives on his ship capture him and demand that the Odyssey surrender. Since the Lucian mothership also lacks weapons, it’s not much of a threat for now. Mitchell pilots the Odyssey through a manual pickup of Carter. A scan of the black box from the Korolev confirms that someone used the rings to transport before the ship exploded, giving them hope that Daniel survived.

That hope turns out to be justified, as Daniel contacts Vala aboard the Ori ship. They hatch a plan to try and take Adria off the ship and turn her against the Ori, but Vala’s husband has other plans. Gen. Landry discusses the situation with Woolsey, who says the IOA is considering bringing the Atlantis ZPM to Earth to power the Antarctica defenses. Landry thinks this may be a too-little-too-late solution, and asks Bra’tac to send ships to the battle site to assess the situation. Bra’tac arrives in time to counter a pair of Lucian reinforcements. Carter and Kvasir get the beaming technology working in time to grab Teal’c before the Lucians destroy their own wounded ship. Bra’tac announces that he is heading for Chulak, where the Ori fleet is launching a ground invasion. The rest of SG-1 goes with him to look for Daniel and to try and find a weakness in the Ori ships. In the face of almost hopeless odds, Mitchell plans for a tactical retreat in order to regroup, but Bra’tac seems intent on a noble death.

Season 10 Regular Cast: Ben Browder (Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell), Amanda Tapping (Lt. Col. Samantha Carter), Christopher Judge (Teal’c), Claudia Black (Vala Mal Doran), Beau Bridges (Gen. Hank Landry), Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson)

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Robert C. Cooper
directed by Will Waring
music by Joel Goldsmith
main title theme adapted from music by David Arnold

Guest Cast: Tony Amendola (Bra’tac), Matt Glave (Col. Emerson), Robert Picardo (Richard Woolsey), Eric Steinberg (Netan), Martin Christopher (Maj. Marks), Garry Chalk (Chekov), Tim Guinee (Tomin), Emma Cooper (Adria – 4 Years Old), Jodelle Ferland (Adria – 7 Years Old), Brenna O’Brien (Adria – 12 Years Old), Bruno Verdoni (Lucian Alliance Officer), Gwenda Lorenzetti (Nursemaid), Apollonia Vanova (Russian Weapons Officer), Doug Abrahams (Prior), Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Walter Harriman)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Season 3 Stargate Stargate Atlantis

No Man’s Land

Stargate AtlantisThe Daedalus launches its fighters to slow the Wraith hive ships down before they begin their trip to Earth’s galaxy, but fighters are lost – including Sheppard’s – and Daedalus herself takes a severe pounding and limps back to Atlantis as the Wraith go into hyperspace. The Wraith won’t be able to jump from the Pegasus Galaxy to Earth in one shot, though – they’ll have to stop at a point just outside the Pegasus Galaxy to recharge before pressing on the attack. With only a narrow window in which to launch another attack, Dr. Weir orders Colonel Caldwell to take the Daedalus back into action, knowing full well that the ship and her crew stand little chance of surviving. She also orders Orion, the commandeered Ancient ship (whose systems still haven’t been thoroughly studied), to join the battle. But then Weir finds herself under attack from another front – the International Advisory Oversight summons her back to Earth. At the SGC, they accuse her of having created the problem, and of endangering Earth to try to cover her backside; with the Ori problem taking up all of Earth’s resources, no more help can be offered. When Atlantis contacts the SGC to confirm final orders from Weir, she puts her career – and Earth’s survival – on the line to order Caldwell to commence his attack as planned while the Wraith are within reach. While McKay and Ronon Dex struggle to break free from their cocoons aboard a Wraith ship, Michael finds that his own kind no longer trust him. When Michael discovers that Sheppard has tagged along by attacking his 302 fighter to the hull of a hive ship, he offers to give the humans an advantage – but trust in Michael is at an all-time low on Sheppard’s end of things too.

Season 3 Regular Cast: Joe Flanigan (Major John Sheppard), Torri Higginson (Dr. Elizabeth Weir), Rachel Luttrell (Teyla), Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett), David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay), Jason Momoa (Ronon Dex)

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Martin Gero
directed by Martin Wood
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Connor Trinneer (Michael), Robert Picardo (Richard Woolsey), Kavan Smith (Major Lorne), Tamlyn Tomita (Shen), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka), Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Walter Harriman), Brahm Taylor (Wraith Guard), Scott Heindl (Wraith), Christopher Heyerdahl (Halling), Andy Maton (Chapman), Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Caldwell), Beau Bridges (General Landry), Andee Frizzell (Hive Queen), Kirby Morrow (Daedalus Tech), Angelique Naude (Young female scientist)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Eureka Season 1

Pilot

Eureka U.S. Marshal Jack Carter is transporting his runaway daughter Zoe back to Los Angeles when she claims to see herself in a car driving the other way. Distracted by the argument, Carter winds up swerving off the road. He and Zoe walk into the nearby town of Eureka, which turns out to be anything but your typical small town. Eureka is the home of Global Dynamics, a company established during the Cold War to give America’s best scientists the opportunity to develop new breakthroughs. The result is a city full of geniuses and leaders in their fields, living with technology beyond the everyday. Even Henry Deacon, the town’s mechanic (among other jobs) is a brilliant scientist. Jo Lupo, the deputy sheriff, is a former Army Ranger. The local bed and breakfast is owned by Beverly Barlowe, a psychotherapist to world leaders. Dogcatcher Jim Taggart is a “wildlife containment specialist.” Allison Blake, the Department of Defense’s liaison to Eureka and General Dynamics, enlists Carter’s help after he solves a missing persons case that does not involve any actual missing persons but does involve a missing section of a mobile home. One of Eureka’s scientists has been working on his own private experiment, and the result is odd bubbles in space-time that swallow up and transport objects. As the distortions grow, Carter proves himself indispensable to the investigation – maybe a little too indispensable for his tastes.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Colin Ferguson (Jack Carter), Salli Richardson (Allison Blake), Debrah Farentino (Beverly Barlowe), Joe Morton (Henry Deacon), Jordan Hinson (Zoe Carter), Ed Quinn (Nathan Stark), Erica Serra (Jo Lupo), Matt Frewer (Jim Taggart)

written by Andrew Cosby & Jaime Paglia

directed by Peter O’Fallon

Guest Cast: Maury Chaykin (Sheriff Cobb), Greg Germann (Warren King)

Note: Ed Quinn does not appear in the pilot.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 10 SG-1 Stargate

Morpheus

Stargate SG-1Daniel determines that Morgana Le Fey may be connected to Merlin’s anti-Ancient device; he speculates that Morgana might have been another descended Ancient who feared the potential of Merlin’s weapon and therefore tried to hide it. Daniel also uses the legend of Sir Gawain to help narrow the search for the three lands that Arthur supposedly traveled to in his search for the Grail. He finds a gate address in one of the books recovered from Merlin’s library in Camelot. SG-1 gets a go to explore the planet, but Vala must remain behind. Even though Landry is inclined to let her work with SGC because of her past sacrifices and her connection to Adria, Vala must pass a psychiatric exam in order to assuage any concerns from the Pentagon.

On the planet, SG-1 discovers a village that seems deserted – until they find a couple deceased in their beds. A medical officer gates in to examine the bodies, with two officers who have not had time to rest from their last mission. The team heads into nearby caves to explore, but finds nothing. They decide to call it a night and head home, until they realize that one of the escort officers has fallen asleep – and isn’t waking up again. The doctor confirms that they are all affected by some kind of mysterious condition, one that ensures that if they fall asleep, they won’t wake up. Even worse, the condition is making all of them even more tired.

At SGC, Vala’s efforts to outwit the psych test only dig her in deeper. More and more frustrated, she begins to think there is no chance that she will pass. Woolsey arrives with an offer from the IOA – the advisory council is not sure that SGC is being fully open about their operations. So the IOA is prepared to ensure that Vala passes the examination . . . if she agrees to report back to the IOA on the goings-on of the Stargate program.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
directed by Andy Mikita
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Robert Picardo (Richard Woolsey), Benjamin Ratner (Dr. Hutchison), Toby Berner (Grimsby), Patrick Gilmore (Ackerman), Robin Mossley (Dr. Reimer), Chris Bradford (Medical Technician)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 3 Stargate Stargate Atlantis

Misbegotten

Stargate AtlantisA Wraith hive ship jumps out of hyperspace and approaches Atlantis – but it’s under the control of Colonel Caldwell and Colonel Sheppard, who have used Dr. Beckett’s retrovirus to revert the ship’s Wraith to a human state. They’re settled on a planet without a gate, but Beckett insists on staying with them to ensure that they’re healthy. Michael is also given a new dose of the retrovirus, reverting him to his fully human form and robbing him of his memory again. In the meantime, Dr. Weir is returned to Atlantis with the IOA’s Woolsey in tow, still investigating her command and looking for any reason to relieve her of it. When he learns that Weir’s crew has effectively created a new species, Woolsey may have found the reason he’s looking for. But as Beckett discovers, the reverted Wraith aren’t going to stay human for long.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
directed by Martin Wood
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Connor Trinneer (Michael), Robert Picardo (Woolsey), Scott Heindl (Merrick), Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Walter Harriman), Brahm Taylor (Lathan), Christopher Heyerdahl (Halling), Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Caldwell), Andee Frizzell (Wraith Queen), Colin Corrigan (Lone Human Wraith), Kavan Smith (Major Lorne), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Eureka Season 1

Many Happy Returns

Eureka Carter settles into his new job as sheriff of Eureka and his new home inside an old bunker – now an experimental smart home. Allison’s estranged husband Nathan Stark returns to Eureka to take over Global Dynamics. At Walter and Susan Perkins’s funeral, Carter and others notice a strange electromagnetic disturbance, which turns out to be only the second strangest event at said funeral when Susan Perkins shows up in Eureka wondering why her parents were told she was deceased. All tests confirm her identity, and eventually Carter and the others piece together the truth. Walter and Susan split up when he first was offered the chance to go to Eureka, but unwilling to completely let her go, he cloned her and gave the clone memory implants that made her believe she was Susan. As the real Susan tries to decide whether to step into the clone’s life – including the child that’s been left behind – the electromagnetic disturbances continue. There may yet be one more reunion in the offing.

written by Jaime Paglia and Andrew Crosby
directed by Jefery Levy

Guest Cast: Jennifer Clement (Susan Perkins), Rob LaBelle (Walter Perkins)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer