tv review
Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.
Rewatching... Star Trek: Operation -- Annihilate!
Thursday 13 April 1967 Here in 1967...actually let me recap. For those of you who've just joined (hello!), my 'gimmick' is that I'm trapped 50 years in the past, writing about all the tv I'm watching, occasionally browsing through contemporary newspapers and magazines, seeing the odd film, and looking at how it all fits together. A lot of it I've actually seen before, but some I'm genuinely watching for the first time. Sometimes (as in tonight's episode) I'm not even sure if I've seen it before or not. "Rewatching" is not always strictly true but it's a good umbrella title anyway. I'm not always accurate regarding plot minutiae, nor do I strive to be. I'm just telling it as I see it. When I feel like it I'll be able to jump forward 50 years so I can make observations about 'modern' things, or reviewing 21st century television. Don't question this, don't look for logic, just go with it.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Doctor Who: The Faceless Ones - Part 1
Saturday 8 April 1967 This one gets off to a cracking start with the TARDIS materialising on an airport runway just as a plane is taking off. There's lots of airport-related hustle and bustle, a grumpy Commandant, uniformed staff, police motorcyclists... This is so unusual for Doctor Who - really 'urban'! The Commandant has received a report about the obstruction on the runway, which has left him less than delighted, and he's sceptical when told it's a police box. I'm not sure if the Doctor and friends legging it across the runway to avoid the plane was the best idea. Wouldn't it have been better to get back inside the TARDIS and dematerialise again? Still, I'm glad they didn't as this is shaping up to be an exciting episode.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Star Trek: The City At The Edge Of Forever
"I see you've noticed the ears." Thursday 6 April 1967 Straight into the action again this week, as the Enterprise is going through some turbulence. Suddenly there's a bang and a flash at Sulu's control panel and he ends up on the floor unconscious. This looks like it's going to be a Sulu episode.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismOriginal 'Westworld' Movie Vs HBO Series
HBO's Westworld has become one of the biggest science fiction shows in recent memory—so big, in fact, that many forget that it is a reimagining of a small 1970s film. Michael Crichton's directorial debut, following the success of the film adaptation of his novel The Andromeda Strain achieved cult-classic status in the science-fiction starved early-70s.
Anthony GramugliaPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Doctor Who: The Macra Terror – Part 4
"Confusion is best left to the experts." Saturday 1 April 1967 Jamie is trapped by giant crabs (the Macra of the title) and if that's not enough he has to contend with poison gas as well. The gas is what keeps the Macra active and at the moment the supply is being maintained, under the control of Control, by Officia the official. He's actually in charge of sending people into the mines. Nobody's keeping an eye on the Doctor and Polly though, which is lucky as it enables them to mess about with the controls and stop the gas flow, thus rendering the Macra docile and saving Jamie.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Star Trek: The Alternative Factor
Thursday 30 March 1967 This one starts out very promisingly. A quite gripping prologue in which the Enterprise passes through some kind of magnetic field, and as Spock puts it, reality momentarily "winks out". We get some classic Enterprise turbulence acting this week, as the crew on the bridge do some synchronised staggering as the ship lurches back and forth. I don't think I've seen much of that (if any) in the series so far. Spock also reports that at the exact moment of this 'winking out', a man suddenly appeared on the previously lifeless planet below them.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Doctor Who: The Macra Terror – Part 3
Saturday 25 March 1967 Crabs are unlikely creatures to use as an enemy, even in a sci-fi fantasy series. I can only see glimpses, so it's difficult to tell how convincing they are but it's hard to imagine something so rigid and bulky being particularly threatening. And crabs are not the speediest of creatures so I presume one could just walk away from them briskly. But ok, these are space crabs so maybe they move like lightning. And they're rather large. Of course in the 21st century version of this programme we'll see animal-based aliens all the time: space rhinoceroses, space wasps, space pigs, space whales, space cats, space giraffes...and indeed a return of the Macra, but in 1967 this is a bit of a novelty. Ok, maybe not space giraffes.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Doctor Who: The Macra Terror – Part 2
"There is no such thing as Macra" Saturday 18 March 1967 A lot of screaming this week. In this episode I mean, not from my vicinity (I'm brave, me). Possibly the screamiest episode so far in fact.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Star Trek: Errand Of Mercy
"...we Klingons play to win" Thursday 23 March 1967 There's this race of aliens called the Klingons, and Kirk doesn't like them. They're warlike and brutal; Starfleet has just advised that negotiations with them have broken down, and ordered the Enterprise to fly to a planet called Organia and protect the inhabitants.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... The Avengers: Never, Never Say Die
"I've killed him again!" Friday 17 March 1967 Ah, one of my all time favourite episodes. A close up of a pair of smart shoes. They are soon muddy shoes and we see a tall man walking towards a main road. It's only Christopher blimmin' Lee! He steps in front of a car, is killed and in-hospital pronounced dead on arrival. Gosh, what an opening! But the prologue isn't over yet: as the medics walk away the man's feet start to twitch, and suddenly he gets up and marches out of the hospital. Zombies...on The Avengers??! That was a superb pre-title scene, and also one of my favourite episode titles.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Doctor Who: The Macra Terror – Part 1
Saturday 11 March 1967 Alright pedants, I'm not strictly watching or rewatching. This story hasn't (at time of writing) been rediscovered. So I'm listening, although I am also looking at still images.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismRewatching... Star Trek: The Devil In The Dark
"I'm a doctor not a bricklayer" Thursday 9 March 1967 As far as boldly going and seeking out of new life and civilisations goes, mankind seems to have been doing a pretty good job of it already, judging by the number of Earth colonies we see in Star Trek. This week the Enterprise crew have been beaten to a 'new life' discovery by a colony of miners who've discovered something lurking in the caves they're working in.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in Futurism