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Blake’s 7: Bounty

February 28, 2015 in Blake's 7, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

Well I guess it had to happen sooner or later, Blake’s 7 has had it’s first real dud for me in the form of Bounty. Now admittedly I didn’t give The Web the most respectable of scores but at least there I appreciated what it was trying to do and still found some enjoyment in it whereas here I just didn’t. I guess with Terry Nation having written all the episodes of the first series he had to slip up at some point and I just hope this is the only occasion as we get closer and closer to the finale. But anyway, let’s save the rest of my opinions for later in the review and instead focus on some facts. As previously stated the episode was written by series creator Terry Nation and it was also directed by Pennant Roberts. Bounty is his fourth and final directorial credit for the series and it’s rather a shame to see him go. While I’m obviously not too fond of his work on this one I still think he was a great director overall as two of his three other episodes are personal favourites of mine. For those who are interested those two episodes are Space Fall and Mission to Destiny. Also, an interesting bit of trivia in relation to this episode is that President Sarkoff’s place of residence was represented by the Waterloo Tower, a bell tower located in Quex Park in Kent. Just a quaint bit of trivia for those who are interested and for those who are more interested in the synopsis then here it is.

The episode kicks off with Blake and Cally trying to locate ex-president Sarkoff, the deposed leader of Lindor, a planet on the verge of civil war. Up until now Lindor has remained neutral but if war does break out then the Federation will more in peacekeeping forces and easily annex it. Blake and Cally then locate Sarkoff’s residence and attempt to sneak in without the Federation guards noticing. Meanwhile, the Liberator answers a distress call from another ship but ends up being hijacked by the notorious bounty hunter Tarvin, a former colleague of Jenna’s. Blake and Cally, however, have much better luck and are able to break in without detection and then head back to the Liberator with Sarkoff and his daughter Tyce. There they are tricked and Blake and Cally end up locked up with the others while Sarkoff and Tyce are held on the bridge by Tarvin. He intends to hand over the Liberator and it’s crew to the Federation in return for the thirteen million credit reward. Blake is able to escape the prison and rushes towards the bridge. Tyce pulls out a hidden gun but Tarvin stops her and the gun winds up in the hands of a reluctant Sarkoff. Blake then arrives and distracts Tarvin, allowing Sarkoff to shoot him dead. The Liberator then drops Sarkoff and Tyce off on Lindor so that Sarkoff can restore order and ensure Lindor’s neutrality.

Now one big problem this episode has is that it lacks focus. There is obviously a primary plot and a secondary plot here but which one’s which is beyond me. It almost feels like Terry Nation started writing this with just the President Sarkoff plot and then halfway through realised that it wasn’t meaty enough to sustain a whole episode so decided to add another plot in with Tarvin which feels like it could’ve sustained an entire episode on it’s own and therefor leaves that side of the story underdeveloped. A lot of the interesting stuff takes place off screen as well with the Amagon’s attack and Jenna’s apparent betrayal taking simply being explained by Avon rather than actually being seen. Sarkoff’s story line also takes up way much more time than it should’ve done and more time should’ve been left for Jenna’s betrayal which could’ve been the most interesting thing to of happened to her since the series began but is unfortunately poorly realised which also reflects badly on Jenna’s character who’s had a bit of a rough ride up to this point.

A character who hasn’t had a rough ride however is Cally and it was great to see her using her powers of telepathy again at the start of the episode. It’s nice to see her going down to the planet with Blake and getting involved with some of the action and there’s also some nice dialogue between her and Sarkoff. Actually, one of the things this episode does have going for it is the dialogue which is very good for the most part. There are some great lines between Avon and Vila at the start when they are talking about the latter’s opinion and then again towards the end when they’re both imprisoned. There’s even some nice dialogue between the Federation guards at the start and you really do get the idea that they’re not the best the Federation have to offer just from a few simple lines about a rodent and a motion-scanner. Even Tarvin has a couple of good lines but I get the feeling that they tried to make him a loveable scoundrel kind of character but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. The line about his grandmother was still enjoyable though.

To sum up, I think I’ve made it quite clear that this is my least favourite episode of the series so far but I also hope that it doesn’t come across as if I absolutely hate this episode with a passion as there is still a reasonable amount to enjoy in it. So it’s a four-out-of-ten from me and with that we can now finally move on to the next episode, Deliverance, which is the penultimate episode of series one but until then be sure to sound off your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

Tags: Hevy782
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by Firebird

Farscape : A Prefect Murder

February 25, 2015 in Farscape by Firebird

The crew lands on a planet divided by generations of clan war. After experiencing strange hallucinations, Aeryn is subliminally coerced into assassinating a clan leader. When Crichton also starts having hallucinations, they must uncover the planet’s political machinations in order to prevent more killings.

Synopsis

So, either you’re going to be screaming “OMG it’s Father Jack!” or if you’ve never seen Father Ted it will totally pass you by.

Meanwhile fans of Star Wars ought to recognise this guy.

The episode has a strange structure, jumping backwards and forwards sometimes repeating, sometimes seeing events from another point of view until the assassination actually happens.

This guy is the villain’s henchman and the one responsible for creating the bugs that control first Aeryn and then Crichton, but once they realise what’s going on our heroes prove a little harder to manipulate than he’d counted on.

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by GuestBlogs

The Seven Faces of Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora

February 21, 2015 in Dr Who, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

Tom Baker played the fourth incarnation of the Doctor for seven years and what an amazing seven years they were. And since he played the part for such a long time a lot of changes took place which means it’s hard to pin down a definitive story for his Doctor. Nevertheless, I still had to decide on a single story to represent this Doctor’s era and so after a large amount of indecisiveness I settled on The Masque of Mandragora. It comes from towards the end of his second full year as the Doctor and is Elisabeth Sladen’s penultimate adventure as the much loved Sarah Jane Smith. It is also the final story to be written by Louis Marks who had been writing for the series since William Hartnell was the Doctor and it was director Rodney Bennett’s last contribution to Doctor Who as well. I choose this story because it is probably the most balanced Fourth Doctor story as it is not as dark as stories such as Genesis of the Daleks but it’s also not as silly as others like City of Death. And now let’s not waste anymore time and move on to the synopsis.

The Masque of Mandragora begins with the TARDIS being dragged inside the Mandragora helix. The Doctor and Sarah manage to escape but end up bringing part of Mandragora with them to fifteenth century Italy. Here the Duke of San Martino has recently been assassinated by his brother Count Federico and the court astrologer Hieronymous. Now the only thing which stands in the way of Federico and the throne is the young prince Giuliano. The Doctor and Sarah both end up captured, the former by Count Federico and the latter by the mysterious Brotherhood of Demnos who intend to sacrifice her. The Doctor is accused of being a spy and sentenced to execution but is able to escape and he then rescues Sarah from the brotherhood. Hieronymous is then revealed to be the leader of the brotherhood who have been given great powers by Mandragora. Mandragora intends to use the brotherhood as it’s bridgehead on Earth so that it can send humanity back into the dark ages. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Sarah meet up with Giuliano who is concerned for the safety of his people. All three are then captured by Federico who intends to execute them but the Doctor convinces him to instead investigate the brotherhood. While doing so Federico is killed by Hieronymous and Giuliano can now safely take the throne of San Martino. The Doctor is then able to drain away Hieronymous’s power and put an end to Mandragora’s bridgehead leaving Earth safe once again.

The Masque of Mandragora is, of course, a wonderful story and a very rich period piece. The sets and costumes are amazing and it truly does feel like Renaissance Italy. But perhaps what makes it authentic most of all is the location footage which, by the way, is seamlessly edited in with the studio work. Now of course they couldn’t go to Italy on a Doctor Who budget so instead they went to the tourist village of Portmeirion in Wales which stands in beautifully. Now onto Tom Baker’s brilliant performance as the Doctor and it really is wonderful here. There were times later in his era where he had a tendency to go a bit over the top but here he is under control. Of course he has to send it up just a little to make it entertaining but it’s not done so much as to make it difficult to believe in. There’s a wonderfully alien response to the death of the count and his humour during this scene has never raised a single eyebrow. But when the Sixth or Twelfth Doctors make a callous remark then all hell is raised for some reason. Obviously there has to be a limit but I’m just trying to put it into a bit of perspective, that’s all. Now enough ranting, let’s get back to the topic at hand which is this story. Alongside Tom Baker is Elisabeth Sladen who gives a superb performance as Sarah Jane Smith. The two work so great together (although I personally prefer her alongside the Third Doctor) but they also spend a lot of this story apart which allows Elisabeth Sladen to do some interesting stuff away from Tom Baker’s shadow.

Funnily enough there is a link between this serial and the previous one we looked at as Tim Pigott-Smith who plays Marco in this also played Captain Harker in The Claws of Axos. It’s an upgraded role for him as he plays Prince Giuliano’s loyal advisor and the two have an interesting double act going on between them. But more interesting than both of them though is Count Federico who is probably the best villain of the piece despite having no powers whatsoever. It’s all down to the performance and the writing and while both are fairly strong with the other villains they all just fall short compared to Federico. It is perhaps part of the reason why the last episode isn’t as entertaining as the others due to his death at the end of part three. The other reason is probably because the ending is a bit of a mess. For some it can completely ruin the story while others won’t mind it all too much as the rest of the story is good enough to overshadow it. Nevertheless it is a rather anti-climatic end to the story and while it’s not terrible it’s just not any good when compared to the quality of the rest of the piece. Now then, let’s take a few steps away from the ending and instead talk about the monster of the piece, Mandragora itself. There’s a nice idea behind it and it’s great to have a monster which isn’t really tangible but is still deadly. The special effects used do quite a nice job and they really do give an otherworldly feel to Mandragora but the voice of Mandragora is rather dire and the laugh is too over the top to be taken seriously. Luckily, these two elements don’t have too much screen time with the primary vocal point for Mandragora being Hieronymous. He’s very much your stereotypical villain but that does not take anything away from Norman Jones’ great performance. It was also a nice twist to have him revealed as the main antagonist of the piece as well as he was originally seen as a foil for Federico but then became a so much more.

Overall, The Masque of Mandragora is a brilliant example of Doctor Who save only for the rather disappointing ending. So then, it’s an eight-out-of-ten from me and I’d say it’s definitely worth a look if you want to start exploring the Fourth Doctor’s era. Next week we’re moving into the eighties with the Fifth Doctor story Snakedance where a creature known as the Mara takes control of Tegan’s mind but until then be sure to sound off your thoughts on the story in the comments below.

Tags: Hevy782
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by GuestBlogs

Star Trek : Galileo 7

February 16, 2015 in Guest Blogs, Star Trek by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Mindless-Droid

This week’s classic Star trek episode is Galileo 7. The Enterprise is on route to Markus III with urgent medical supplies. The ship will pass close to the quasar Murasaki 312. Captain Kirk decides to stop and study the quasar over the objections of High Commissioner Ferris who tells Kirk that the medical supplies need to be delivered to Markus III within 5 days. Since they are three days away Kirk decides to go ahead with the study. Spock leads a team in the Galileo 7 shuttlecraft. Shortly after launch the ship encounters turbulence and is thrown off course losing contact with the Enterprise. The quasar makes sensors useless and Kirk must find a way to find the stranded shuttle in a vast area of space before time runs out.

The shuttle has made an emergency landing on a lone planet in the center of the quasar. Upon inspection Scotty finds that the ship has been damaged and that they have lost a great deal of fuel. Scotty finds that they will need to lose 500 pounds to achieve orbit meaning three of the team will have to stay behind. Lieutenant Boma suggests they draw straws but Spock says he will make the decision logically causing tension among the crew. Back on the Enterprise Uhura acting as science officer discovers the one planet in the area that can support life. With tension high between Kirk and Ferris the enterprise begins the search.

As two of the team conduct a scouting mission they come under attack by large cave man like giants. Latimer is killed and Gaetano is successful in driving them off with his phaser. Spock arrives and logically analyzes the situation which angers Boma and Gaetano that Spock would be so unfeeling when one of them has been killed.

On the enterprise the search grows futile as sensors are still inoperative and shuttle flyovers reveal nothing. Kirk orders wider search patterns in hope of getting a lucky find. Back on the planet the crew has lightened the shuttle by 150 pounds and with the death of Latimer this means only one person will have to stay behind. Boma enters the shuttle telling Spock that they are ready for Latimer’s funeral. Spock deems it more important for him to help in the repairs which angers Boma and McCoy as Spock is in command and it’s his responsibility. During the repairs a tube ruptures spilling the last of the fuel and making take off impossible. Scotty says they are done but Spock says there are always alternatives.

Outside loud grinding noises are heard. Boma and Spock argue on how to defend against the giants. Spock’s plan is to scare them with phaser fire. Spock Gaetano and Boma move out and use the phasers to frighten the creatures and it appears to work. They leave Gaetano on guard duty and head back to the ship. Scotty has come up with a plan to use the phaser’s energy as fuel but leaving them defenseless.

Gaetano is attacked and killed by the creatures. Spock McCoy and Boma look for him but he is missing Spock orders them back to the ship along with the phasers he will find Gaetano. Spock finds Gaetano’s body and is chased back to the ship by the creatures who start pounding it with rocks. Scotty electrifies the hull scaring them away. Boma and Spock but heads again as Boma wants to conduct the funeral for his fallen comrades. Spock relents stating as long as the creatures allow it. The Enterprise landing parties have also encountered the creatures suffering casualties. On the bridge Ferris informs Kirk that his time is running out. Kirk orders all search teams and shuttles to return. Uhura informs him the last shuttle will return in 23 minutes.

The phaser transfer is completed and Scotty tells Spock they have enough fuel to achieve orbit make it last for a few hours and enough for a controlled reentry. Spock tells Boma that they have ten minutes for the funerals and that he will assist in them. Back on the Enterprise all search teams have returned and Kirk orders a space normal speed and course to Markus III with all sensors pointing aft. On the planet the funeral is interrupted by the creatures. Spock is trapped by a boulder thrown at the crew. He orders them to leave him and take off but they free Spock and board the ship. The engines are working but they are being held down by the creature.

Spock hits the boosters and frees the ship. They achieve orbit but using the boosters has eliminated all hopes of a controlled reentry. Scotty reminds Spock of his statement that there are always alternative to which Spock says he may have been wrong. Calculating that they only have 45 minutes left Spock on an act of desperation jettisons the fuel and ignites it hopping the Enterprise will see the flare. Sulu scanning notices the flare and Kirk orders the ship back to the planet. They beam out the survivors just as the shuttle burns up in the atmosphere. As the ship heads to Markus III Kirk confronts Spock on his emotional act of desperation. Spock defends the decision as the only logical course of action left to him. Kirk bluntly asks him if he would admit to a purely emotional act to which Spock replies, “No sir.”

Another good season one episode. Lots of action and adventure on the planet. We get some insight into Spock’s character and his balancing of his human and Vulcan side. His interaction with the emotional Boma and trying to save the crew logically made for some dramatic moments. The tension of the search and the tension between kirk and Ferris is well played. I like that they made Ferris competent in this one his decisions were always aimed at saving the most lives possible. It is a nice contrast to the bumbling Starfleet bureaucrats we see in other episodes. Scotty was once again the miracle worker. We see his ingenuity here which will become his trademark. This episode also shows the relationship between Spock and McCoy which will also be played up more as the series moves on. The re-mastered version of this episode is nicely done enhancing the Murasaki quasar and the Galileo’s flare. All in all a great episode. Even though we lost several crewman no red shirts were harmed in this episode. Sort of makes you wander about all the red shirt clichés.

{Editor’s note – this is the last of the Original Trek blogs but the next episode “Squire of Gothos” was the first blog so you can continue in broadcast order by going back to it. Thanks Mindless-Droid and Siblings for a great run!}

Tags: Mindless-Droid
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by GuestBlogs

The Seven Faces of Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos

February 14, 2015 in Dr Who, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

After being exiled to Earth at the end of his Second incarnation this new Doctor played by Jon Pertwee brings more than a few changes with him. The programme is now broadcast in colour, UNIT play a much more vital role, the Doctor becomes more of a man of action and that’s just a few of the many changes which came along when the show entered the seventies. The Claws of Axos is the story I choose to represent this era of the show as it comes from the second year of Jon Pertwee’s time as the Doctor and is thus from a time when the show had decided what it wanted to be after a rather experimental first year. Alongside Jon Pertwee’s Doctor the serial also features Katy Manning, Richard Franklin, John Levene, Nicholas Courtney and Roger Delgado as Jo Grant, Mike Yates, Sergeant Benton, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the Master respectively. Now that is a rather large regular cast based upon Doctor Who’s standards but it made sense to have this set up with the involvement of UNIT as they wouldn’t change their key staff every story and it gave an almost family feel to the whole thing. In fact this group of regulars is often described as the UNIT family. Another interesting thing to note about this story is that it is the first to feature TARDIS interior scenes since Patrick Troughton’s swan-song, The War Games. It is the first of many stories to be written by the dynamic duo of Bob Baker and Dave Martin who would later to go on to create everyone’s favourite robot dog K9. The director meanwhile is Michael Ferguson who also directed our previous story, The Seeds of Death. Now before we look at the synopsis let’s talk about why I choose this story as opposed to any of the other fan favourites from this era. Simply put it’s because there is a lot going on and it rattles along at a similar pace to the new series and so I felt that it’s probably a good place to start for newer fans who want to look back at the classic series. Now then, I think now is the right time to move on to the synopsis for this story so let’s take a look at that.

Unlike most stories this one doesn’t start with the TARDIS landing on Earth but instead with a strange spaceship doing so and UNIT heading off to investigate. The beings within, the Axon’s, claim to be peaceful and have landed to refuel their ship. They also offer a gift, Axonite, which has the power to duplicate any molecule. However, they are really all part of the same entity as their ship, Axos, and it has been lured to Earth by the Master so that it can destroy drain all the energy from Earth to feed itself with. The Doctor grows suspicious of the Axon’s seemingly benign intentions and goes to investigate. Meanwhile, Chinn, an official from the ministry of defence, has his own men take over the affair and arrest those from UNIT so that he can keep all the advantages of Axonite for Britain rather than the whole world. However, Chinn’s plan is foiled and distribution of Axonite goes ahead as originally planned. Unfortunately this means that Axos can now feed on the energy of the entire planet which means the Doctor, who now knows the truth, has to race against time to stop it. He tricks both the Master and Axos and uses his TARDIS to trap them in a time-loop but while he is able to escape it the Master is too which mean he survives to fight another day. So while the Earth may be safe from Axos the Master is still at large and dangerous.

Now then, if I had to choose just one word to describe this story then it would probably have to be psychedelic. Now you should not be put off by this description as there’s a lot more to the story than just that but the scenes within Axos are very much dominated by strange effects and colours which gives them a very psychedelic feel. Luckily for those who don’t like that sort of thing (I myself don’t mind it) those scenes are few and far between. The story itself has lots of twists and turns and a lot of scenes are crucial to the overall story which is good unless you’re writing up the synopsis for it, so what you read above is a very basic outline of quite a complex story. It really does feel like writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin gave their all for this story and while some ideas don’t end up being executed so well you just have to admire the sheer ambition of them. In fact ambition is one of the key things this story has going for it, it has it in abundance. But what about the characters who inhabit this complex story that Bob Baker and Dave Martin have created. Well I think it’s on fit and proper to start of with the main character, the Doctor, who is wonderfully played by Jon Pertwee. Now while his action hero side is shown off all to much in this story his intelligence is. He has his standard outrage at the actions of a political figure which can sometimes get a bit annoying but in this story they are totally justified and Chinn is quite an irritating character anyway so he definitely deserved to be shouted at by the Doctor. That’s to say I dislike Chinn’s presence in the story, far from it in fact as his annoying nationalist views allow many of the other characters to shine. One of these characters is FBI agent Bill Filer who strikes up a nice friendship with Jo and overall I find him to be quite likeable. Now I’m not from the US so I can’t really judge his accent but I’ve heard quite a few say that it’s rather bad. It’s going to be different from person to person as to whether it puts you off his character or not, some may even find it offensive. But to me it’s not all that bad and I actually quite like the character.

The UNIT regulars however, mainly Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton, are very much pushed into the background for a lot of this story. Even Jo suffers a bit but to a much lesser extent. The Brigadier on the other hand gets a great scene where he has to make a deal with the devil and work alongside the Master to save the world. Not only that but he also has to make the choice between saving the Doctor and Jo or the world. It’s a lot of heavy stuff and Nicholas Courtney of course performs it brilliantly. Beyond this however he doesn’t get to do a whole lot but these moments are so amazing that they basically make up for it. Our final character of note is of course the Master who is superbly played by Roger Delgado, the first and (in my honest opinion) the best. Admittedly the story would probably have functioned just as well without him but it’s nice to have him there anyway, mainly because of Roger Delgado’s sublime performance who brings out the best in every actor he acts opposite. One last thing I’d like to discuss before I conclude this review is the Axon’s. They’re a very solid idea for a monster and it’s rather a surprise that they haven’t returned at all. But Peter Capaldi has said he’d like to face off against them at some point (even though Steven Moffat doesn’t seem too keen on the idea) so you never know what might happen.

In conclusion, The Claws of Axos isn’t perfect but a lot of merits and a pace similar to that of the new series. It was a tough call but I’m afraid it’s only a seven-out-of-ten from me but it’s a very strong seven and is still most definitely recommended by me, especially for those who are fairly new to the classic series. Up next is The Masque of Mandragora where the Fourth Doctor and Sarah take a trip to renaissance Italy but until then be sure to sound off your thoughts on the story in the comments below.

Tags: Hevy782
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by Firebird

Farscape : I Shrink Therefore I Am

February 11, 2015 in Farscape by Firebird

When Moya is raided by bounty hunters working for the Peacekeepers, every crew member is captured except for Crichton and Noranti. The armoured intruders shrink the captives and imprison them inside holding cavities in their torsos – if Crichton harms them, he endangers his friends as well. Finding that Scorpius is also free and on the run, Crichton teams up with him to fight off the menace, unaware that the leader of the bounty hunters has a hidden agenda.

Synopsis

Noranti doesn’t actually contribute much to the story spending most of it in a drug induced coma. Crichton comes up with several creative ways to kill the bounty hunters until only four of them are left.

In the process Scorpius is captured and discovers that the lead bounty hunter is, unknown to his followers, a Scarran.

Crichton tells the other bounty hunters and when one of them goes to check he and the other two are killed by their boss. It’s left to Crichton to take out the Scarran which he does with a battle of shrink rays and a final stomp of his boot.

The episode sees Scorpius almost a member of the crew and discussions about Moya traveling into ‘Tormented Space’.

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by GuestBlogs

Star Trek : Shore Leave

February 9, 2015 in Guest Blogs, Star Trek by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Mindless-Droid

This week’s classic Star Trek episode is Shore Leave. After a grueling three month stretch the Enterprise arrives at a planet in the Omicron Delta region. The planet seems idyllic. Sulu and Doctor McCoy taking part in a scouting survey believe it to be a great place for the crew to have shore leave. McCoy even comments that it’s something out of Alice in Wonderland. As Sulu goes to take biology samples a white rabbit appears claiming to be late followed by a young girl chasing after him.

Shore leave is authorized and as the crew prepares for shore leave McCoy reports his sighting to Captain Kirk. Spock pulling a report from Doctor McCoy stating that Kirk is in need of rest convinces him to beam down to the planet. Kirk meets up with McCoy and he shows Kirk the rabbit’s footprints. Kirk orders shore leave to be put on hold. Just then shots ring out it seems Sulu has found an antique firearm one that coincidently he has wanted for his collection. The group splits up to investigate and as McCoy and Kirk walk back to the glade were McCoy first encountered the rabbit an antenna is seen following their movements. Soon more strange things appear usually after someone has mentioned them. Kirk encounters a practical joker Finnegan from his academy days after telling McCoy about him. Don Juan appears to Yeoman Barrows who she had been thinking of. Kirk (Of course) sees an old flame.

Kirk has the landing party rendezvous at the glade where they beamed down. Meanwhile back on the Enterprise Spock has detected an energy field below the surface of the planet. It is very powerful and seems to be draining energy from the ship and disrupting communications. More things appear as people think of them a dress for Yeoman Barrow, a tiger, and a samurai warrior. Kirk reports the strange occurrences to Spock back on the ship. Spock having determined that the energy field is absorbing all power from its source uses the last of the power to beam down and report his findings to Kirk.

Back at the glade McCoy tells Barrow that she shouldn’t be afraid with a brave knight to protect her just then a knight appears and McCoy says that it can’t be real and stands his ground the knight lances McCoy and kills him after which kirk shoots the knight with the pistol Sulu found. Sulu discovers that the knight wasn’t a living being. Spock discovers that everything on the planet is made of the same cellular makeup. As they investigate McCoy’s body vanishes. A fighter plane making a strafing run kills another crewman. Spock begins to theorize that the planet is reading peoples thoughts and manufacturing them in the real world. Kirk’s tormentor from the past reappears and he chases him out into the country side. After a brief fight Kirk is knocked unconscious. Kirk comes to and finally gains the upper hand on Finnegan and asks him what he is doing here to which Finnegan replies he is being exactly what Kirk expects him to be.

Spock shows up asks Kirk if he enjoyed the fight. Kirk realizes that he did indeed enjoy it. Spock theorizes that thoughts are being read and manufactured as real things. The landing party regroups at the glade and Kirk orders everyone to stand at attention and not even think. Just then a caretaker appears and explains that they had not realized that the Enterprise crew didn’t understand what the planet was made for and that his race built it for their amusement. McCoy reappears unharmed and explains that they have an amazing manufacturing center underground where they can do anything. The caretaker explains that his people built all this for amusement and invites the crew to stay and enjoy themselves. Kirk authorizes shore leave for the crew.

This was one of those fun episodes. You pretty much can figure out what is happening especially with the antenna showing up and everyone’s thoughts becoming real. We get a little back story on Kirk from his academy days. This is also another of those episodes with an interesting alien culture that you wish you could learn more about even though they don’t even get a name in this one. No red shirts were harmed in this episode and if they would have been the caretaker would have fixed them up.

Tags: Mindless-Droid
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by GuestBlogs

Blake’s 7: Breakdown

February 7, 2015 in Blake's 7, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

As we continue our look back on Blake’s 7 we reach Breakdown, an episode which guest stars prolific film actor Julian Glover as a villainous surgeon called Kayn. Many will probably recognise him best from Indiana Jones and Star Wars where he played Walter Donovan in The Last Crusade and General Veers in The Empire Strikes Back. But that’s not all. He also appeared in the film version of Quatermass and the Pit as well as multiple Doctor Who stories. Other credits to his name include James Bond and most recently Game of Thrones so as actors go he’s certainly done a lot, especially in terms of cult television and film. Shifting focus back onto the episode itself, Terry Nation is once again at the helm in terms of writing and Vere Lorrimer has returned to direct his third story after previously working on the third and sixth episodes Cygnus Alpha and Seek-Locate-Destroy. Vere Lorrimer has previously managed to attract Brain Blessed to the role of Vargas in Cygnus Alpha so he seems to do a good job when it comes to casting big names but unfortunately his directorial decisions are often rather bland and simple which isn’t bad but instead just means that there’s more work for the actors to do to keep the viewers interested. Luckily they’re also backed up by a strong script so let’s look at that now with an overview of the plot.

Breakdown itself begins with Gan’s behavioural limiter implant malfunctioning which causes him to attack the rest of the crew. They manage to subdue him and diagnose what’s wrong with him. Unfortunately, they have no way of helping him alone and therefor must find help elsewhere. Avon suggests the neutral medical facility XK-72 and after traversing a dangerous sector of space they manage to arrive safely. Once there they meet a surgeon named Kayn who soon works out that they are fugitives and summons the Federation. Blake must then force Kayn to complete the operation as the enemy closes in. With the operation complete, Kayn is returned to XK-72 just as Federation ships arrive. They open fire but Blake is able to manoeuvre the Liberator out of the way and the blast instead strike XK-72, destroying it. Blake and his crew then make a swift exit and easily manage to outrun the Federation ships. Gan is then welcomed back by the rest of the crew and they then head off to continue their crusade elsewhere.

It’s another good episode in my opinion, definitely lifted by the presence of Julian Glover. But as his brilliance is pretty much self-explanatory I’m not going to go on about him. Instead I’m going to talk about Gan who has been missing out on the limelight for far too long now. When I started watching this episode I thought it was going to centre around Gan and while I guess it did in one way it just wasn’t the way I’d hoped for. I guess the best way to describe it would be that while Gan is centre stage the spotlight is anywhere but. Similar to Avalon in the previous episode, Gan is treated as more of a plot device to drive the story forward than a character in his own right. He only really gets one proper scene as himself and the rest of the episode he spends either in a savage state or unconscious. But while Gan misses out in this episode some other characters are given a chance to shine. One of these is Cally who we get to see a more caring side of and we even get to see signs of an almost sisterly relationship between her and Jenna.

However, the character who is perhaps in the spotlight the most is Avon who almost abandons the crew of the Liberator in this episode. However, even when he’s doing so he’s not simply selling them out but is instead trying to make sure they get away safely. Eventually he does decide to return to the Liberator when Kayn’s interference causes things to become quite uncomfortable for the crew of the Liberator which proves that he has grown rather attached to his new friends even if he doesn’t like to show it. The episode also reveals that Avon has a number of boltholes scattered around the galaxy for him to find sanctuary in if things get too hot for him with the crew of the Liberator. It says quite a bit about his character that he has these but it says even more that he was willing to give one of these up to save the life of Gan. Speaking of Gan, he’s not the only thing that’s lacking in this episode as there is also a distinct lack of humour here. Now obviously I didn’t come into this expecting a slapstick comedy but I was expecting a little more than what I got. The only funny line I can think of is Vila’s one about being afraid of nothing and that’s rather feeble compared to a lot of the other stuff he’s come out with. Vila does get a serious moment though when he threatens Kayn which is nice to have.

In conclusion, Gan may still be missing the attention that he now desperately needs but that doesn’t mean this is a poor episode. Breakdown is a nice little episode which develops some characters nicely and I’d give it a seven-out-of-ten for those reasons. We’re also now nearing the finale of the first series and next up with have an episode intriguingly titled Bounty but until then be sure to sound off your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

Tags: Hevy782
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by Firebird

Farscape : John Quixote

February 4, 2015 in Farscape by Firebird

Chiana and Crichton are sucked into a game world ruled over by a virtual Stark, who sends Crichton on a quest to ‘Kiss the Princess’. To escape the game, they are forced to battle old friends and enemies in fantastic guises. Meanwhile, aboard Moya, Scorpius escapes and brings the crew under his control.

Synopsis

Another of the totally weird ones and a good excuse to welcome back a whole raft of departed characters. Obviously there’s Stark who’s bearing a major grudge against Crichton but we also see Peacekeeper tech Gilina, Jool, Crais (as an Ogre) and right near the end Virginia Hey returns as the real Zhaan.

Also thrown into the mix we get a Crichton version of Max Headroom. Bonus geek points and likely a big give away of your age if that means anything to you.

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The Nexus Route

Monthly Archives: February 2015

Blake’s 7: Bounty

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

Farscape : A Prefect Murder

The Seven Faces of Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

Star Trek : Galileo 7

A Guest Blog by Mindless-Droid

The Seven Faces of Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

Farscape : I Shrink Therefore I Am

Star Trek : Shore Leave

A Guest Blog by Mindless-Droid

Blake’s 7: Breakdown

A Guest Blog by Hevy782

Farscape : John Quixote

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