Star Trek Marathon XVI

Star Trek Marathon XVI
Season 3 Disk 2

Spectre of the Gun
Beaming down to a world which had refused them access the inhabitants are not happy and who could blame them, the Federation like many of our nations take little notice of others when their own interests are at stake. The Melkotians create a scenario from Kirk's mind and it's the Gunfight at the OK Coral which will be the means to punish the invaders. This is an excellent of an episode made to a very very tight budget but with lots of imagination and talent.

Day of the Dove
A Federation colony is destroyed with no evidence of who had committed the act of violence, soon a Klingon vessel appears with what appears to be an ongoing firefight onboard, survivors are beamed aboard and the failing ship destroyed for safety reasons. The alien entity now on the Enterprise proceeds to effect the minds of the crews and pits them against eachother using primitive weapons.

For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky
A world within an asteroid is on a collision course for a Federation colony, investigating this "ship" McCoy who has been diagnosed with a fatal illness falls in love with the leader of her people who accepts that she will lose him within a year but considers it a fair trade. McCoy discovers the holy book aka operating manual  but is it too late to save himself and the world of his new people?
One of the classic Trek episodes and if nothing else deserves a medal for the episodes title, Katherine Woodville plays Natira a natural beauty and a great performance.

The Tholian Web
The Enterprise investigates the loss of the USS Defiant and when the dead ship is discovered crippled after being captured within a dimensional rip the Enterprise has to stay to recover Kirk who has phased out of our reality. Then the Tholians arrive who claim this space and begin to entrap the ship in an energy web and if completed the Enterprise will be lost. A good solid episode but the dynamic between McCoy and Spock just felt totally wrong for a third season story, far more suited to an early first season.

Plato's Stepchildren
A people blessed with strong telekinetic powers who had spent time on Earth during the peak of the Greek culture desire McCoy to stay with them to provide medical care for the odd time they needed it, they threaten Kirk and Spock as well as the crew with their powers which have run amok and use pain and humiliation to aid their cause. This episode is of course the one that went down in US telly history as having the first interracial kiss, a milestone for it's time but without that a fairly below average episode.

Extras
Previews

Fringe: Season 5 Promo 3

Looks like it ain't going to be all plain sailing:)

Indiana Jones : Limited Collectors Edition

Now this is a thing of beauty but then again the standard Blu-ray package is a decent product, around £16 difference which makes it's very tempting but I've already pre-ordered the standard release and will probably stick with it. Still this looks gorgeous:)

• Amazon UK
• HMV
• Play
• Zavvi

Star Trek Marathon XV

Star Trek Marathon XV
Season 3 Disk 1

Spock's Brain

A young woman beams on board the Enterprise and proceeds to stun everyone and has her devious way with Spock, when the crew awakens Spock is found in sickbay minus his brain!!! You know the story is rather silly or maybe just not given enough time and effort to flesh out the story to make it less cheesy given the limitations imposed on season 3 by the studio.

The Enterprise Incident

Kirk orders the ship into the Romulan Neutral Zone where it is captured, given his erratic behaviour the Romulans accept the acts of one man as not being a cause for war but intend to keep the ship and eventually free the crew. Unbeknown to everyone but a select few this is all a huge ruse to steal the cloaking technology used by the Romulans while they are distracted with their prize. To save money the Romulans have conventionally started to use Klingon designed ships in addition to the warbird seen in Balance of Terror.

The Paradise Syndrome

On beaming down to a world threatened by an asteroid the landing party discover a small native American culture is thriving, in addition a strange obelisk with alien writings seems to stand guard over these people and then they misplace Kirk. Faced with intercepting the asteroid Spock and McCoy return to the ship and ultimately damage the power systems which allows the episode to give Kirk the time to fall in love, marry and potentially become a father before tragedy strikes. 

This is a cracking little episode, resources may have been tight but the production value is top notch and while there is a large plot hole you can overlook it because it's damn good episode.

And The Children Shall Lead

A dead colony with only the children left seemingly unperturbed by the deaths of their parents and a legend of an ancient evil which used to dominate this sector of space. I couldn't help but think a firm hand or even phaser set to stun would have resolved this episode so much quicker, not one I will re-watch anytime soon.

Is There No Truth In Beauty

A very alien ambassador from a race known for their skills at navigation requires an aide with superb mental barriers to interact with humanoids who otherwise would go mad upon looking at the ambassadors form visits the ship. Diana Muldaur returns to play a new role as Dr. Miranda Jones a telepath who has had Vulcan training but hides a secret. A clever idea with a true alien life form and some background on the Vulcan culture.

Extras

Previews

Gatecast 146 "Chimera"

While we still have a lot to do in the background to get us pretty much back to where we were early June (pre godaddy renewal and the loss of itunes support) but we are getting there and while we are certainly losing listeners the shows will continue to be released weekly.

Gatecast Website
Gatecast RSS Feed

So this week we offer up Stargate SG1 Season Seven Episode Fifteen "Chimera" in which the Goa'uld Osiris returns to Earth in search of the information required to find the Lost City of the Ancients.

Running in tandem and thanks to the events from the episode "Grace" Sam in finally opening herself up to more intimate encounters and Pete Shanahan a friend of her brothers is making a great impression, Sam goes all girly and they share a romantic date and a few things not normally on the menu:)

Malarious

Worth every penny:)

Star Trek Birthdays

While there are always going to be Trek cast and crew who are celebrating their birthdays every single day of the year today August 19th is a little special. 
The late great Gene Roddenberry was born this day back in 1921 (he passed Oct 24th 1991) and left a legacy that will live with the human race for as long as we create and tell our stories. To add spice to the 19th we also celebrate the birthdays of Diana Muldaur who guest starred in TOS (twice) and in the third season of TNG. Johnathan Frakes also shares this special day, he stood tall all through the seven seasons of TNG as well as appearing in DS9, Voyager and Enterprise (less said about that one the better) as well as the Next Gen movie series. He now works behind the camera directing within the tv market such shows as Leverage and Burn Notice.

Gene Roddenberry IMDB
Roddenberry.com

Diana Muldaur IMDB

Johnathan Frakes IMDB

Gatecast Still Down, Ba'al suspected!

It has been discovered that in one last final act of defiance Ba'al and his minions planted a devious and diabolical piece of code into The Gatecasts core programming and when the centennial updatecame round (last Tuesday) all hell broke loose. Still deep in the proverbial and seriously contemplated starting from scratch but as of right now should have something ready for tomorrow or I may be putting too much pressure on techno panda Alan.

This weeks podcast is done and dusted, it's shorter and rougher then it should be but I really need to spend more time on the website and gets the feeds/itunes up and running. It may end up that it doesn't get posted this week or more specifically today even though I pride myself on the regular Saturday release schedule:) I guess I could put it on youtube, that means everyone would get to listen rather than some other audio links/sites and then it will also be in the RSS when it eventually gets sorted.
This should not have been this difficult:)

Star Trek Marathon XIV

Star Trek Marathon XIV
Season 2 Disk 7

The Ultimate Computer

A new computer system (M5) is installed in the Enterprise with the goal to take over all functions and in turn reduce the crew requirements to bare bones and to test the system war games are held but the M5 is a little too "human" in it's thinking and defends itself with full force.

A clever man v machine episode with some serious casualties, like Picard and the Borg you wonder how Kirk and the M5 were viewed after the events in the episode.

Bread and Circuses 

Kirk, Spock and McCoy are captured by guards of a culture based on Rome and in this culture slavery and the empire never fell complete with televised "specials" and combat to the death gladiatorial games.

They discover the former captain of the SS Beagle presented most of his crew for the "games" to secure his survival and comfort in this world. Lots of action and quips as swords ring and a rebellion by slaves gains momentum.

Assignment Earth

Using slipshot time travel techniques the Enterprise returns to Earth of the mid 20th century to discover how the human race were able to survive the cold war nuclear arms race but are surprised by a visitor from another world with no qualms about interfering. An excellent episode which mixed real footage to give the time travel ep some depth, shame about the fashions but Gary 7 was an interesting character and this was being used as a back door pilot for a show centred on him.

Extras

Previews

Favourite Moments

Writers Notebook - DC Fontana

Life Beyond Trek

The Great Trio

Divine Diva

Enhanced Visual Effects Credits

Season two once again had plenty of strong episodes but also it's fair share of the more cheesy and preachy but the underlying strength of the show remains. The Kirk, Spock and McCoy trilogy is well established now but as had often been remarked the price was the marginalisation of the other regular cast members including the new edition Chekov.

Still a very good season of scifi and the new visuals are wonderful to behold.

Sci-Fi Songs by John Anealio

Star Trek: TOS Soundtrack Collection- Behind the Score

To sum up "Oh My!"

Tribbles Ep 1 "Tribble Truck'n To Comic-Con"

Star Trek Marathon XIII

Star Trek Marathon XIII
Season 2 Disk 6

Return To Tomorrow
Answering a distress call the landing party discover centuries old intelligent entities housed in fancy globes, these "people" want to occupy the crews bodies so they can build androids and return to the corporeal world but once they get a taste it's difficult to play nice.
Diana Mulder plays Dr Ann Mulhall she later returned to Trek in season 3 and then TNG as Dr Pulaski.

Patterns Of Force
The Enterprise visits Ekos to investigate the disappearance of the Federation cultural observer John Gill only to find a culture constructed upon the Nazi model but on a planetary system scale where one world looks down on another. An in your face episode in terms of delivering the message but actually works quite well.

By Any Other Name
The Enterprise is captured by Kelvans who want to return to Andromeda their own galaxy, they came to the Milky Way as a vanguard/recon group to decide if our galaxy was suitable as a new home. Kirk breaks out the charm and well he could woo the universe if required:)

The Omega Glory
The loss of the USS Exeter uncovers a culture being manipulated by that ships Captain who has used weapons technology to kill thousands of the natives enemies. Convinced he is infected with a virus that will kill but if processed bring almost eternal life Captain Ronald Tracey is willing to go to any lengths even killing Starfleet personnel.

Extras
Previews
Designing the Final Frontier

Escalator by Zoochosis

Excellent choice of accompanying music and beautifully shot, surprisingly not smutty either and the ending different:)

Star Trek Marathon XII

Star Trek Marathon XII
Season 2 Disk 5


The Gamesters of Triskelion
Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are transported off the Enterprise onto a world where they are pawns in a series of combat scenarios for the entertainment of highly evolved beings. Kirk seduces his handler and then turns the tables on the "brains" in an uber wager. A fun episode, cheesy and some questionable fight sequences but still a lot of fun. Angelique Pettyjohn played Shahna.

A Piece of the Action
Investigating the impact on a culture which had been contaminated by a human spaceship 100 years previously the Enterprise discovers a world which has embraced the Chicago gangster based society and the "boss" wants more weapons to consolidate the planet under one rule. Surprisingly Kirk is up for the final result but not the means to get there.

The Immunity Syndrome
The Vulcan crew of the USS Intrepid are killed by a creature that lives in deep space and Spock feels their deaths. The Enterprise rushes to the scene and finds itself in danger of suffering the same fate until Spock risks his life to save the ship and his crew.

A Private Little War
An episode which mirrors the events in the Vietnam theatre as the Klingons and Federation look to manipulate a weaker culture in the hopes of expanding their own agenda and goals, one of the more preachy stories of the show. Scifi once again proves how useful a genre is to get touchy subjects into the mainstream.
Nancy Kovack plays the driven and devious Nona.

Extras
Previews
"To Boldly Go..." Season 2

Star Trek Marathon XI

Star Trek Marathon XI
Season 2 Disk 4

The Trouble With Tribbles

Now this is unusual, the whole of this blu-ray disk is devoted to the Tribbles with the TOS episode, the DS9 follow up and the animated episode. The disk is packed with extras such as PIP features, commentaries and documentaries with interviews a plenty.
The episode itself is one of my favourites and an out and out comedic story with some hints of menace from the Klingons who may be exploiting the terms of the Organian peace treaty. Kirk is the butt of many a joke and we see perhaps the beginning of Shatner using his own self as the lynch pin for a humorous scene, this evolves eventually to his excellent work in Boston Legal and well his everyday public persona.

Trials And Tribble-ations
This was television magic, taking the original TOS episode and working in some of the characters from DS9 in such a manner that it was almost seamless. The story which focused on the investigation of the time slip also gave the episode a practical framework which added weight to what was like the original a fun episode. Dax looked absolutely stunning in the traditional red yeoman's uniform, it was made for a tall woman:)

Extras
Previews
Commentaries
Starfleet Access Episode
More Tribbles, More Troubles
Trials and Tribble-ations
Uniting Two Legends
An Historic Endeavour
Trek on Blu-ray

Enterprise Under Construction

Maybe one day the human race will be building interstellar vessels and even though the image is very evocative it's going to be done in orbit but maybe not with welding torches;)