ORBzine - UK TV Roundup October 2005
31st October 2005 - Monday - Hallowe'en!
Star Trek: VGR [Season 4, Episode
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Infinite Regress
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Peter Benchley's Amazon [Season 1, Episode 18] The White Witch
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Hammer House of Horror [Season 1, Episode 1]
The Witching Time
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Hammer House of Horror [Season 1, Episode 13] The Mark Of Satan
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Belfast Festival
A trio of Belfast intellectuals, or the nearest thing available, contrasted a pair of horror films recently shown in Belfast. One was the drive-in screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) , the other was the early 1960s Japanese offering, Onibabah .
TCM was written off as schlock, and slated as having no socially redeeming qualities. Just men abusing women, they said. Offensive to feminists, they said. In this reviewer's opinion, the all men are bastards and all women are victims view *IS* the feminist stance!
Onibabah, featuring two female leads, was barely mentioned. One of the comentator complained that it was too slow. Another responded that at least it felt real, while TCM was fantasy. Ironic, since Onibabah contains hints of Magic Realism, while TCM was partly inspired by real-life serial-killer Ed Gein!
The Spence Bros: Movie Mavericks
This is a 40-minute documentary from BBCNI. The Spence Bros are what are these days referred to as guerilla film-makers. Unlike Robert Rodriguez , they live in Comber, County Down, and have been making movies since the 1950s. At an average of 2 a year, they have made almost 100 films!
In the 1950s they made Gothic romance/horror films. In the 1970s they switched to science-fiction. They enjoy the Genre because it can let the imagination run wild, especially in the use of camera shots, SPFX and make-up that would not be used in more conventional drama.
The Films of the Spence Brothers
We get 3 short films by the Spence Bros, with a foreword presented by Joe Lindsay. The average running time is just under 20 minutes.
A small redneck town is midwest USA is confused when a meteor lands nearby. The acting, props and so on are quite convincing, especially when you consider it was a zero-budget film!
Running time: 30 minutes
This is a science fiction piece, an homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey . An astronaut lands on a desert world.
Running time: 5 minutes
Brady, an Oirish farmer, tries to outsmart a Leprechaun.
Running time: 10 minutes
Today's SF films include Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday and Rosemary's Baby
30th October 2005 - Sunday
Relic Hunter [Season 3, Episode 19]
Pandora's Box
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Hex [Season 2, Episode 6]
With A Little Help From My Friends (2)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Enterprise [Season 4, Episode 5]
The Forge
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Star Trek: TNG [Season 5, Episode 13] Conundrum
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Star Trek: TNG [Season 5, Episode 12] The Masterpiece Society
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Today's SF films include Channel 4's showing of Audition & Earth Vs The Spider (2001)
29th October 2005 - Saturday
Star Trek: TNG [Season 5, Episode 11] Violations
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Charmed [Season 7, Episode 10]
Someone to Witch Over Me
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Robin of Sherwood [Season 3, Episode 11]
Rutterkin
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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The Perfect Scary Movie
This is a 2-hour Channel 4 documentary narrated by Alexander Armstrong.
It starts with a look at Monster movies from Nosferatu in the 1920s, the 1950s Hammer films, 1967's Night of the Living Dead , 1983 video release of Evil Dead .
Next we look at the Body Horror/Science Fiction efforts exemplified by Alien, The Fly
Religion-based horror is explored: Wicker Man, Exorcist, The Omen . Next comes the haunted house, exemplified by The Shining
Finally we see Psychokiller films, influenced by Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre .The modern sub-genre is teen-slasher films like Hallowe'en, Nightmare on Elm Street ...
We get a few interviews with the usual kind of people - psychologists, academics and film critics. There are also interviews with a wide variety of horror film celebrities - John Carpenter, John Landis, Joe Dante, Tobe Hooper, Sean S. Cunningham, Roger Corman , Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright [ Shaun of the Dead ], Jenny Agutter, Emily Booth, Ingrid Pitt, Veronica Cartwright, Heather Langenkamp , Bruce Campbell [ Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep , Robert Englund [ Nightmare on Elm Street ], Alice Cooper [Wayne's World], prosthetics expert Rick Baker and novelist James Herbert .
Channel 4 are currently running a Hallowe'en season. The following movie is introduced by SciFi fan Bill Bailey!
Today's SF films include Channel 4's showing of Halloween H20 . RTE showed The Astronaut's Wife & The Omen ITV 1 had Silence of the Lambs while ITV 3 had Lost World: Jurassic Park 2 . Ravenous also got a showing.
28th October 2005 - Friday
Alias [Season 3, Episode 5]
Repercussions
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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27th October 2005 - Thursday
Missing [Season 2, Episode 13]
Truth or Dare (part 2)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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The Real "Silence of The Lambs"
This is a Channel 4 documentary about the making of the 1950s American serial killer, Ed Gein. He inspired the villains of 3 classic horror films - Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence of The Lambs . The true story is even stranger (and more twisted) than fiction!
Channel 4 are currently running a Hallowe'en season. The following movie, a dramatisation of the Ed Gein story, is introduced by SciFi fan Bill Bailey!
Today's SF films include Ed Gein
26th October 2005- Wednesday
Stargate Atlantis [Season 2, Episode 2]
The Intruder
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Medium [Season 1, Episode 8]
Lucky
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Curse of The Omen
This is a Channel 4 documentary about the making of the 1970s horror classic, The Omen . A series of unexplained events, including fatal accoidents, plagued the film's production.
Interviewees include SF critic Kim Newman.
Channel 4 have decided to make a night of it. The following movie, a similarly-themed occult thriller, is introduced by SciFi fan Bill Bailey!
Today's SF films include Lost Souls
25th October 2005 - Tuesday
The 4400 [Season 2, Episode 6]
As Fate Would Have It
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Stargate SG-1 [Season 9, Episode 3]
Origin (3)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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24th October 2005 - Monday
Peter Benchley's Amazon [Season 1, Episode 17] The Pale Horseman
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Hammer House of Horror [Season 1, Episode
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Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Today's SF films include The Librarian: Quest For The Spear
23rd October 2005 - Sunday
Hex [Season 2, Episode 5]
With A Little Help From My Friends (1)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Enterprise [Season 4, Episode 4]
The Augments
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Star Trek: TNG [Season 5, Episode 11] Hero Worship
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
22nd October 2005 - Saturday
Robin of Sherwood [Season 3, Episode 10]
The Pretender
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Charmed [Season 2, Episode 10]
Heartbreak City
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Charmed [Season 4, Episode 17] Saving Private Leo
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Charmed [Season 6, Episode 14] Legend of Sleepy Halliwell
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Charmed [Season 4, Episode 9] Muse to My Ears
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Charmed: Behind the Magic
To celebrate 100 eps of the show, this half-hour behind-=the-scenes documentary was made. There are lots of interviews, not just with the cast and Producers but also with the journalists and celebrity-watchers who tell us about all the behind-the-scenes rumours.
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Andromeda [Season 3, Episode 6]
Slipfighter the Dogs of War
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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21st October 2005 - Friday
Alias [Season 3, Episode 4]
A Missing Link
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Today's SF films include Trucks
20th October 2005 - Thursday
Missing [Season 2, Episode 12]
Truth or Dare
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Today's SF films include Gemini Man and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1996)
19th October 2005 - Wednesday
Stargate Atlantis [Season 2, Episode 1]
The Siege (Part III)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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18th October 2005 - Tuesday
X-Files [Season 5, Episode 19]
Folie A Deux
A stressed-out telemarketing worker thinks his boss is a giant insect that turns people into zombies. Of course, he is the only one who can see this. Mulder, equally stressed-out, is sent to investigate.
The FBI are remarkably inept in this ep. The local field agent phones Mulder's mobile number when he KNOWS it will expose Mulder to a dangerous gunman. Scully barely responds to the many predicaments Mulder ends up in - she isn't shocked when he's probably been killed, and doesn't attempt to get proof to whether he's delusional or correct. And Mulder, supposedly a psychology expert, refers to Stockholm Syndrome as Helsinki Syndrome!
The 4400 [Season 2, Episode 5]
Suffer The Children
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Stargate SG-1 [Season 9, Episode 2]
Avalon (part 2)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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17th October 2005 - Monday
X-Files [Season 5, Episode 17]
All Souls
Scully is called in by her local Catholic priest. A crippled teenage girl died mysteriously, possibly struck by lightning. But as she investigates, Scully discovers disturbing supernatural explanations for what's going on. Since she's still recovering from the death of her daughter, she's especially vulnerable.
It's nice to see Scully get to do lots of investigating. Mulder is there for backup work, and also to promote a scientific answer to things. Even the Catholic church dismisses the supernatural explanations - they don't officially acknowledge those particular books, you see. If the superstition was Vatican-recognised, of course, then things would be different!
Strangely, Mulder doesn't mention Alien Abduction or anything like that. Maybe he's losing his touch!
Peter Benchley's Amazon [Season 1, Episode 16] Home
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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16th October 2005 - Sunday
Hex [Season 2, Episode 4]
Ella Burns
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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15th October 2005 - Saturday
Robin of Sherwood [Season 3, Episode 9]
Adam BelL
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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14th October 2005 - Friday
Alias [Season 3, Episode 3]
Reunion
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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13th October 2005 - Thursday
Missing [Season 2, Episode 11]
Mr Nobody
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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12th October 2005 - Wednesday
Star Trek: VGR [Season 4, Episode
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Vis-A-Vis
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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11th October 2005 - Tuesday
X-Files [Season 4, Episode 21]
Zero Sum
CSM gets Skinner to cover up a suspicious death. However, things spiral out of control for the Deputy Director. He finds himself framed for murder, like someone in a Hitchcock film.
Can Skinner outwit Mulder? And if not, will the ultra-paranoid Mulder trust the duplicitous Skinner or turn him in to get closer to The Truth.
Scully is in hospital with brain cancer. CSM promised to heal her. Can he? Will he?
One other question. In a previous ep, Skinner lived 19 floors up in a hi-rise apartment block. Now he seems to have a house in the suburbs instead. How did he get it? And also, how did he find out where CSM's dingy flat is?
The 4400 [Season 2, Episode 4]
Weight of the World
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Stargate SG-1 [Season 9, Episode 1]
Avalon (part 1)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Today's SF films include Highlander
10th October 2005 - Monday
X-Files [Season 4, Episode 16]
Unrequited
Skinner, Mulder and Scully are assigned to protect a US Army General. The assassin is a Vietnam-era MIA, who can disappear as if he turns invisible!
It's ironic that Mulder is hunting a man who, like himself, is a victim of a US Government conspiracy seeking to reveal the TRUTH(tm).
Peter Benchley's Amazon [Season 1, Episode 15] Escape
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Today's SF films include Jeepers Creepers and Mission To Mars
9th October 2005 - Sunday
Today's SF films include The Bunker
8th October 2005 - Saturday
Alias [Season 3, Episode 2]
Succession
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Robin of Sherwood [Season 3, Episode 8]
The Betrayal
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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7th October 2005 - Friday
6th October 2005 - Thursday
Star Trek: VGR [Season 4, Episode
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Prey
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Missing [Season 2, Episode 10]
Pop Star Story (a.k.a. Pop Star)
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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X-Files [Season 4, Episode 14]
Memento Mori
Scully discovers she has brain cancer.
Mulder attempts to uncover a conspiracy.
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Charmed [Season 6, Episode 21]
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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5th October 2005 - Wednesday
X-Files [Season 4, Episode 13]
Never Again
Scully goes off on a solo mission again. She keeps a Russian hoodlum under surveillance, and gets mixed up with divorced man [Rodney Rowland - Space: Above and Beyond ].
Unfortunately, Mr Rowland's new tattoo is coloured with ergotamine dye. This causes him to halucinate that Jodie Foster 's voice is telling him to kill people!
Scully kicks ass! It used to be that Mulder always dropped his gun. Now, the villains corner Scully alone, and she takes them out single-handed!
Charmed [Season 6, Episode 20]
A Wrong Day's Journey into Right
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Star Trek: DS9 [Season 6, Episode ] The Reckoning
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Today's SF films include Revelation
4th October 2005 - Tuesday
X-Files [Season 4, Episode 12]
Leonard Betts
A paramedic is decapitated in a RTA. Later, his headless corpse walks out of the morgue. Previously we had a fat-sucker, this time we have a cancer-eater!
The problem with this story is, beyond corpse-stealing and lying in a job application, there's no real crime for the FBI to investigate here. Worse, their meddling forces the man they're hunting, a man who has committed no serious crime, to attempt several murders! The poor guy just wants to avoid being dissected by MIBs. After all, the cigarette-smoking man would love to get his hands on someone who can detect cancer!
Arc-wise, we discover that Scully may have cancer!
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Medium [Season 1, Episode 10]
The Other Side of the Tracks
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
Medium [Season 1, Episode 5] In Sickness And In Adultery
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Dead Zone [Season 3, Episode 4]
Cold Hard Truth
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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The 4400 [Season 2, Episode 3]
Voices Carry
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Today's SF films include Die Another Day
3rd October 2005 - Monday
Peter Benchley's Amazon [Season 1, Episode 14] The Finding
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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X-Files [Season 4, Episode 11]
El Mundo Gira
One of the great advantages of moving the show from Vancouver to LA is that they can set stories in more southerly areas. Like the Mexican border, for example.
A mexican immigrant woman dies in mysterious circumstances. Her brother-in-law is arrested, and the dynamic duo investigate.
The superstitious immigrants claim that the suspect is El Chupacabra - Which Scully once jokingly referred to as that Mexican goat-sucker thing.
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2nd October 2005 - Sunday
Hex [Season 2, Episode 3]
Spiral
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Today's SF films include Curse of the Cat People
1st October 2005 - Saturday
Alias [Season 3, Episode 1]
The Two
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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Robin of Sherwood [Season 3, Episode 6]
Crom Cruach
Reviewed in our special supplement here!
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