| September 1998 | |
| Red Dwarf | |||
| Season Two UK Gold, Monday 7th, 21.00 | |||
| UK Gold has arranged another fantastic evening of comedy entertainment, with a complete showing of Red Dwarf’s second series. Widely regarded as the best by fans of the show, Season Two highlights the characters and their interaction rather than the effects. So, if you want to see a slightly different Kryten rebel against “Smeg-for-Brains”, the Cat demonstrating what happens when people give him food, Rimmer reliving his sexual exploits, the crew going back in Time and causing chaos, Holly playing an April, May, June, July and August Fool, and the whole crew Holly Hopping into an interesting encounter with themselves, tune in. Proof that remastering was never needed. (PS) | |||
| 5th-11th September |  |
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Doctor Who | |||
| Terror of the Autons: UK Gold, Sunday, 10.00 | ||||
| A
Time Lord comes to Earth to show off his levitation skills and warn the
Doctor that a rival has arrived on Earth just to make things unpleasant
for the inhabitants. So warned, the Doctor and his new assistant, Jo
Grant, find themselves taking on the Nestene Consciousness and the
plastic peril of the Autons. The first story to feature the wonderful
Roger Delgado as The Master was surrounded by huge controversy when it
was first transmitted when it was decided that evil policemen and killer
dolls, chairs and daffodils would scare all the little kiddies. In fact,
most kiddies were lapping it up. Enjoy it once more, and realize why
Terror is so good. (PS) pic
© BBC |
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| 12th-18th September |  |
 |
Babylon 5 | |
| The Coming of Shadows: Sci-Fi Channel, Tuesday, 21.00 | ||
| It won
Babylon 5’s first Hugo award for being very fab indeed, and
the accolade was well-deserved. There’s a lot going on here,
including the Centauri Emperor arriving on the station to make a public
apology to the Narn for past Centauri actions. Meanwhile, members of his
own race, as well as G’Kar, are planning his demise. All the
intricate plotting combines well, with a dash of irony thrown in as G’Kar
apologizes to Londo without realizing what is happening behind the
scenes. Beautifully written, integral to the whole story arc, and
featuring a brief guest spot by Michael O’Hare to introduce the
Rangers, The Coming of Shadows is B5 at its best, and
sets in motion an important chain of events. Unmissable. (PS)
pic © Warner Bros |
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| 19th-25th September |  |
| Max Headroom | ||
| Rakers: Sci-Fi Channel, Saturday 10.00 & 19.00 | ||
| Now
regarded as an ‘80s icon, Max Headroom is back on the
Sci-Fi Channel. Originally the computer generated host of The Max
Headroom Show in the early ‘80s, Max went on to star in the UK
produced 70 minute pilot, Max Headroom – 20 Minutes Into the
Future, which told of the stuttering digital hero’s origins.
After two years, the option for a series was picked up by Lorimar
Telepictures in America who produced two seasons of the show. When Max
first hit the UK’s screens in 1983 it was maintained that he truly
was a completely computer generated entity. However, the truth is that
Max was in fact actor Matt Frewer wearing heavy make-up. The video
recordings of his performance were then enhanced by computer. (JA) pic © UPN |
||
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South Park | |
| Mecha-Streisand: Channel 4, Friday, 23.05 | ||
| What do
you do when Barbra Streisand is desperately trying to collect all the
missing pieces of an ancient relic in an effort to turn herself into the
most powerful person on the planet? Why enlist the help of Sidney
Poitier, Leonard Maltin and Robert Smith from The Cure of course! Thus
ensues a raging battle of Toho-inspired monsters which decimates South
Park and as usual our miniature heroes are stuck in the middle. This is
a shining episode in the already glittering universe of South Park,
proving once more that it’s genius creators really don’t give
a monkeys (with four asses). (GK) |
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| 26th-30th September |  |
 |
Doctor Who | |
| The Gunfighters: UK Gold, Saturday 10.00 | ||
| One of
William Hartnell’s last stories, The Gunfighters is a
curious little Doctor Who egg around which various tall tales have grown
up. Let’s see: it was supposedly the lowest-rated story of the
time. Bzzzt – it wasn’t, not even close. It sounded the death
knell for purely ‘historical’ Who episodes. Wrong again –
it was just another example of what the incoming production team didn’t
like about said historicals. The aurally recurring ‘Ballad of the
Last Chance Saloon’ is wretchedly annoying. OK, you’ve got me
there. And the whole thing’s apparently a pile of old nonsense.
Well – it’s not. Dodgy American accents and an ‘interesting’
approach to historical authenticity aside, it’s solidly written and
produced, and plain good fun. I tell it like it is, bro. (PG) |
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| Star Trek: Voyager | ||
| Demon Sky One, Monday 20.00 | ||
| As we
head towards the end of the season, Voyager throws in some
intriguing stories. All of us Trek fans are by now well aware of
the concept of an M-class planet, one that can support human life.
Searching for an element desperately needed to work the warp engines,
the crew of Voyager come across a demon-class planet, intensely hot and
very unfriendly towards humans. When Kim volunteers himself and Paris to
obtain the substance required, the pair soon find themselves quite
literally dying to return to the ship… Some nice performances from
the cast, a clever idea and a unique and surprise ending makes for a fun
episode. Plus, it’s a good opportunity to get those First
Contact spacesuits out again for an airing. (PS) |
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Highlights by: John Ainsworth (JA), Peter Griffiths (PG), Grant Kempster (GK), Paul Spragg (PS)
| hIGH |
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