Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994) – Playing God, and Profit and Loss

Station log: stardate unknown Jim Trombetta and Michael Piller pen this Dax (Terry Farrell) episode that sees the Science Officer dealing with a Trill initiate named Arjin (Geoffrey Blake). It first aired on 27 February, 1994. Unfortunately for Arjon, Dax is nothing like the young man expects. He’s nervous, eager to please, and Dax is…

Space: 1999 (1975) – Breakaway, and Force of Life

After Star Trek, but before Star Wars, Gerry Anderson, who was responsible for such series as UFO, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Fireball XL5 took viewers around the world on an exploration of space, all on our planet’s own moon – which was jolted out of orbit by a nuclear explosion! Playing a little more cerebral…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993/1994) – Parallels, and The Pegasus

Captain’s log: stardate 47391.2 Brannon Braga pens this episode that is one of the highlights of the seventh, and final season, and also gives Worf (Michael Dorn) a fantastic story that debuted on 29 November, 1993. Returning to the Enterprise by shuttle after winning a bat’leth competition, the Klingon officer notices subtle differences aboard the…

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) – Second Sight, and Sanctuary

Station log: stardate 47329.4 Mark Gehred-O’Connell, Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe created the teleplay for this episode from a story by Hehred-O’Connell. It first aired on 21 November, 1993. It’s the fourth anniversary of the battle at Wolf 359, where Sisko’s (Avery Brooks) wife, Jennifer was killed in the Borg attack, and for…

Boyhood (2014) – Richard Linklater

To keep things fresh and entertaining with DK Canada’s fascinating The Movie Book I’ve decided to do some leaping back and forth through the book, so that there is a larger variety of film. So I leapt to the very end of the book, and the last film highlighted is Richard Linklater’s brilliant Boyhood. Filmed…

Disney’s Peter Pan: The Signature Collection

Just over three years ago, I settled in for the 1953, Disney classic Peter Pan. A film I hadn’t seen in a long time. Now, it’s time for another revisit, with the beautiful Signature Collection blu-ray transfer available from Disney today. And yes, while there is still that troubling What Makes the Red Man Red…

Seven Samurai (1954) – Akira Kurosawa

The next film recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is yet another iconic film from Kurosawa’s oeuvre. In a catalogue of films that are all exceptional, it’s tough to pick a favourite, but this may very will be mine. I love the American remake from 1960, The Magnificent Seven,  it’s…

Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) – The Witch’s Familiar, and Under the Lake

The Doctor (Capaldi) finds himself confronting a terrible choice when the cliffhanger caused by last week’s episode comes to its resolution in The Witch’s Familiar. Written by Steven Moffat, this episode first premiered on 26 September, 2015. Davros (Julian Bleach) has apparently let the Daleks destroy Clara (Jenna Coleman), Missy (Michelle Gomez) and the TARDIS….