ORBzine UK TV Roundup May 2001
31st May 2001 - Thursday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 3, Episode 1] Jaunt
This is the second part that concludes the story. Since most of the team have resigned or gone missing, the sceptic guy is now teamed up with the black guy who was team-manager on the other case. They investigate the reappearance of a living scientist and a pair of severed human legs that passed through the archway.
We finally get a bit of action in the show, as our heroes face off against some well-armed survivalist types.
Now And Again [Season 1, Episode
]
Reviewed in our special supplement
American Gothic [Season 1, Episode 11]
Rebirth
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
The Prisoner [Season 1, Episode 14]
Living in Harmony
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Season 1, Episode 5]
Never Kill A Boy On The First Date
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman [Season 1, Episode 17]
The Foundling
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 7]
Blood Lust
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Bionic Woman [Season 1, Episode 10]
Jamie is assigned to carry a secret code-breaking machine to a base in the Mojave desert. However, when she gets home she is told it was reported missing, and she is suspected of stealing it.
Time Tunnel [Season 1, Episode 21]
Idol of Death
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
A horror writer requests a night in a haunted house. Silly, when he could have a night with lonely blonde babe Cynthia Geary instead.
Meanwhile, the two menial slaves try to escape. The demonic McDowell has a plan to stop them.
Louise Fletcher gets her wish,to dance with her husband.
Babylon 5 [Season 2, Episode 14]
There All The Honour Lies
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
30th May 2001 - Wednesday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode 22] The Egress
The team investigate a strange stone archway. It sucks things into it [like a Stargate], and the original scientific team are either dead or murdered.
Michael Moriarty left a video for Praeger and co.
Ultraviolet [Season 1, Episode 1]
Habeus Corpus
Written by the novelist Stephen Gallager , this is the best UK SF drama in a LONG time. Our hero [Jack Davenport - This Life], a London cop, is to be best man at his friend's wedding. However, the night of the Stag do, their informant is murdered. The killer disappears, helped by the fact that he does not appear in photographs, mirrors or on videotape. Neither do his clothes, for some reason.
The groom-to-be disappears, and a group of Government Investigators [including Susannah Harker ] start asking questions about him. The hero has to choose which side he will take.
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Kevin Costner captains a USAAF bomber on a mission over Germany. Kiefer Sutherland is one of his crew, and Anthony LaPaglia puts on a phony accent as an RAF mechanic. Unfortunately the belly gunner is jinxed, and they run into trouble. Shades of Memphis Belle ensue ...
Written from an original story by Spielberg, this is just another example of his Magic Realism. The ending is just a supernatural Deus Ex Machina.
A dowdy [yet incredibly attractive] female teacher wishes she was a supermodel. Malcolm McDowell turns her into Elizabeth Rohm . In truth Ms Rohm is less spectacular than necessary: not anorexic enough to be a supermodel, but lacking the assets up-top as well.
Babylon 5 [Season 2, Episode 13]
Hunter, Prey
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
seaQuest [Season 3, Episode 7]
Equilibrium
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Wonder Woman, New Adventures of [Season 1, Episode 24]
Hot Wheels
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
29th May 2001 - Tuesday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode 21] The Endangered
A hiker is savagely attacked in the woods, and it seems a Yeti is responsible.
Michael Moriarty pops up, and his arc comes to a shocking conclusion.
Seven Days [Season 1, Episode 3]
The Gettysburg Virus
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 8]
Out Of Time
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Bionic Woman [Season 1, Episode 10]
Fly Jamie
Enemy agents stole a formula from a pacifist scientist. He entrusts it to his friend [and Jamie, his bodyguard] so the OSI will have the formula and thus the balance of power will be maintained. However, the plane crashes in the rainforest [well, it's more of a forest but it's meant to be in Brazil]. Jamie must get the messenger to safety, dodging enemy agents and venomous reptiles.
Fitzhugh and Mark are captured by a Giant scientist who has built a human-looking robot. The robot keeps behaving violently, and Mark is forced to help them find out why.
This is based on an original story by Stephen Spielberg. Bronson Pinchot [ Langoliers ] is a movie director on a horror flick. The star, dressed like a mummy, rushes off to be present when his wife gives birth. However, he runs foul of a drunken redneck played by Brion James [ Blade Runner]. He also meets the REAL mummy!
This is the 1990s version, with Malcolm McDowell [ Clockwork Orange ] instead of Ricardo Montalban [ Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan ]. The moral of the story is, be careful what you wish for. His female sidekick is Madchen Amick.
Alyssa Milano plays a babe who wants to have a relationship with her male best buddy. Mac fixes it so he never met her, so they can start on a fresh footing. However, she never took into account how much she had changed his life.
The black Police Chief from NYPD Blue [James McDaniel] is there because his son wishes that daddy was the superhero from his favourite computer game. But instead of daddy being too busy with his office work, daddy is too busy with his superhero work.
Babylon 5 [Season 2, Episode 12]
Acts of Sacrifice
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 6]
Salvation
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Today's SF films include Two-Fisted Tales,
28th May 2001 - Monday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode 20] Map To The Stars
Praeger bails Michael Moriarty out of jail and walks him home. While at Moriarty's place, he uncovers a file on a UFO abductee called Juan Mendoza. The OSI investigates his case.
Outer Limits [Season 1, Episode 3]
Valerie 23
Reviewed in our special supplement
First Wave [Season 3, Episode 9]
Skywatchers
This was reviewed in a special supplement
Someone is deliberately spreading a particularly deadly form of malaria. One of the guest-stars resembles Conrad Janis.
The hero needs a car to impress his in-laws. However, he can't run his shop and save the world at the same time. The hero's American pal gets his powers back, but turns out to be as untrustworthy as ever.
27th May 2001 - Sunday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode 19]
US Army secretly transports a prisoner who may be of extra-terrestrial origin. A Militia ambush the truck, and the prisoner goes on the run with one of the OSIR team.
Sliders [Season 1, Episode 3]
Patient Zero
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
UFO [Season 1, Episode 7]
Kill Straker!Today's SF films include Hell Mountain,
24th May 2001 - Thursday
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Season 1, Episode 4]
Teacher's Pet
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
22nd May 2001 - Tuesday
Seven Days [Season 1, Episode 1-2]
Pilot (1-2)
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 4]
Nectar
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 5] Cave of Fear
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Wonder Woman, New Adventures of [Season 1, Episode 3]
The Man Who Could Move The World
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 3, Episode 19]
The End of the Beginning
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Six Million Dollar Man [Season 5, Episode 17]
The Madonna Caper
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
17th May 2001 - Thursday
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Season 1, Episode 3]
The Witch
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
15th May 2001 - Tuesday
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 3]
Better Than Human
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
12th May 2001 - Saturday
Ray Bradbury Theatre [Season 1, Episode ] The lake
Michael Praed [Robin of Sherwood] takes his new bride to his childhood holiday home. He has a flashback to the tragic events there when he was a boy ...
The Dwarf
Megan Flowers plays a woman who falls for a dwarf.
Charmed [Season 2, Episode
]
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
seaQuest [Season 1, Episode 12]
seaWest
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
11th May 2001 - Friday
Welcome to Paradox [Season 1, Episode ]
This story is a near-future cop story. The hero's cop-car, an armoured VW Beetle, turns out to be a psychotic KITT.
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Rude Awakenings Night on Sci-Fright sees Nina dressed in a blonde wig with red basque and stockings. She introduces Dreamscape ...
The Doc is kidnapped, and a stranger confronts the hero's wife. Knowledge of the secret project has leaked out ...
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
The team are after a haunted chest. Their foe is Bill Sadler [ Roswell High ], who puts on an Oirish accent and ends up with Buffy -style Vampire makeup on his face. W. Morgan Shepherd [ SeaQuest ] pops up as a gravedigger.
To be continued ...
This is about a team of medical scientists who explore patients' dreams. The team is led by Bruce Greenwood [Double Jeopardy]. He is haunted by the ghost of his mentor, guest-star Ray Wise [ Robocop ].
This week the team try to help a young boy. The Mayor from Buffy the Vampire Slayer plays the Trickster, a demon in his head.
10th May 2001 - Thursday
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Season 1, Episode 2]
Welcome to the Hellmouth, Part II
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman [Season 1, Episode 15]
Illusions of Grandeur
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
The SF movie tonight is Stepford Wives
9th May 2001 - Wednesday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode 11] Hell Week
A pair of twins exhibit an electro-magnetic phenomenon. Could this be greater than an MRI scanner? If so, wouldn't it rip the fillings out of bystanders' teeth.
Outer Limits [Season 1, Episode 22] Birthright
A politician vows to encourage the use of super-fuel BE45.
Space Above & Beyond [Season 1, Episode 22] '... Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best
This is the climax of the show, which features the aliens' ambassador staging a dramatic double-cross. We also get to see the kiddie troopers in yet more CGI dogfights. A pity the creators never got the chance to
Babylon 5 [Season 1, Episode 14]
The Quality of Mercy
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 1]
The Journey begins
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
seaQuest [Season 2, Episode 22]
Splashdown
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Wonder Woman, New Adventures of [Season 1, Episode 17]
IRAC is Missing
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
8th May 2001 - Tuesday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode 10] The Damned
File 905209 sees a man drown in his pool, with claw marks on his throat and chest.
Yes, it's the 21st Century and we get yet more Judeo-Christian Propaganda. The only good thing about this is that it gives voice-over work to Jim Garner [Maverick], who plays God.
Now And Again [Season 1, Episode
]
Reviewed in our special supplement
We get a re-run of the very first episode. They all look so YOUNG - except John Lithgow, who looks exactly the same.
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
The B1 Bathyscaphe is attacked by Titan's giant swordfish.
Stingray [Season 1, Episode 3] The Ghost Ship
The Boss, Commander Shore, goes on a mission to find a mysterious galleon ...
Bionic Woman [Season 1, Episode 4]
Claws
Jamie stays on a ranch with a tame lion. A ferocious feline has been savaging local livestock, and the lion gets the blame. We get to see some pretty unconvincing confrontations, almost as bad as in the Victor Mature film Samson and Delilah.
7th May 2001 - Monday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode ]
File 669207 sees the OSIR investigate a crop circle. Michael Moriarty pops up as a Deep Throat type.
Wild Palms [Episode One]
Everything Must Go
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
First Wave [Season 3, Episode 6]
Still At Large
This was reviewed in aspecial supplement special supplement!
The doctors [including Tamlyn Tomita ] investigate a case of demons and possession. We see hell, where executed criminals are sent to, and when the heroes go there they are saved by an angel. This blatantly kills any pretence the show had of being scientific.
Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 1]
6th May 2001 - Sunday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode ]
A missing plane and its rockstar passenger mysteriously reappear. Also, it seems that the balding guy's hair has turned blonde. Or is that the other way round?
5th May 2001 - Saturday
Ray Bradbury Theatre [Season 1, Episode ]
Roy Kinnear plays an undertaker who takes the body of an old woman who has a face like a crumpled piece of paper.
And So Died Riabanushka
This concerns a murder investigation in a small theatre troupe, where the answers are held by a ventriloquist's dummy.
Six Million Dollar Man [Season 5, Episode 15]
Return of Death Probe [Part II]
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
4th May 2001 - Friday
Earth: Final Conflict [Season 1, Episode 9] Scorpion's Dream
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Babylon 5 [Season 1, Episode 18]
A Voice In The Wilderness [Part 1]
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
seaQuest [Season 2, Episode 19]
Dagger Redux
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Wonder Woman, New Adventures of [Season 1, Episode 13]
Light-Fingered Lady
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Today's SF films include The Boneyard,
3rd May 2001 - Thursday
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Season 1, Episode 1]
Welcome to the Hellmouth, Part I
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
The team must recover a relic from the Chinese terracotta army, the head of General Soo. The head is apparently decapitating humans and stealing their bodies. Michael Moriarty pops up to dispense some advice.
Now And Again [Season 1, Episode 16]
Everyone Who's Anybody
Reviewed in our special supplement
American Gothic [Season 1, Episode 7]
Meet The Beetles
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
The Prisoner [Season 1, Episode 8]
Dance Of The Dead
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
Babylon 5 [Season 1, Episode 21]
Legacies
This is reviewed in our special supplement!
seaQuest [Season 2, Episode
]
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman [Season 1, Episode 12]
Honeymoon in Metropolis
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
2nd May 2001 - Wednesday
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal [Season 2, Episode 6] Devolution
A female hospital patient dies in an extremely gruesome manner. The OSIR investigate a nurse who is a Goth when off-duty. Is this a case of vampirism? It turns out the hospital was involved in stem-cell experiments ...
Six Million Dollar Man [Season 5, Episode
]
Steve has a device installed in his hand that gives him a blue flash in his bionic eye when it detects microprocessors. He then goes undercover as a longshoreman [a docker], disguised with an earring and a fake moustache. In other words, this episode is like something copied from a more or less mundane and average cop show. Of note, at the start of the episode we do not see the villains kill their victim - they drive him away, and later report his demise. What a pathetic piece of anti-violence censorship!
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Today's SF films include Quintet,
1st May 2001 - Tuesday
Stingray [Season 1, Episode 24] Treasure Down Below
The Stingray crew follow a treasure map to a rocky cavern. They get held prisoner by a couple of three-hundred-year-old fish-men.
Stingray [Season 1, Episode 17] The Big Gun
An underwater race have developed a super-weapon that looks like an underwater tank. Their first target will be the west coast of the USA. Stingray's must protect the USA and then travel to enormous depths to counter-attack the enemy city.
This show [introduced by Dan Ackroyd] is about a group of paranormal investigators. This week they investigate a village filled with people who appear to be frozen in time.
This episode also features the immortal words sorry, I forgot about the bear trap.
Lexx [Season 2, Episode 9]
791
This was reviewed in a special supplement!
Today's SF films include Free Enterprise,
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