September 17, 2025 • 52 mins
Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating watch Star Trek: Enterprise's "Rogue Planet", clash with alien hunters, and ponder The Song of Wandering Aengus.
Each week, we explore and celebrate the lives that the Star Trek universe has forever changed. From former and future cast and crew members to celebrities, scientists, and astronauts whose personal and professional journeys have been affected by the franchise, we sit down and dive deep with a new friend, laughing and learning from their stories. Sit back, grab a drink, and join our hosts, Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer, as we get geeky in The D-Con Chamber.
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Each week, we explore and celebrate the lives that the Star Trek universe has forever changed. From former and future cast and crew members to celebrities, scientists, and astronauts whose personal and professional journeys have been affected by the franchise, we sit down and dive deep with a new friend, laughing and learning from their stories. Sit back, grab a drink, and join our hosts, Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer, as we get geeky in The D-Con Chamber.
Let's get social!
📘 Facebook: The D-Con Chamber
📸 Instagram: @thedconchamber
🐦 Twitter: @thedconchamber
⏰ TikTok: @thedconchamber
🌐 Website: https://thedconchamber.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-d-con-chamber--6181422/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The show has been done with car It's the count.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Trekky's and Trekkers. Welcome
back to another watch episode of the Decon Chamber. I'm
your co host Dominic Keating joined as always with my
with my best see mister Connor Steer, my fellow co host.
We're going to discuss episode eighteen, which is Rogue Planet,
(00:35):
which was written by Chris Black. The story the teller story,
the play was by Our story was by Rick Berman
and Brannon per usual. An interesting little sort of addendant
to this, this was an original uncredited idea by Andre
Bilmnis that we should come across something like an end
(00:58):
planet slash rogue plan and it but Chris wrote the teleplay.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Here for a second that Alan Croker directed this.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
When Alan Croker directed it, God bless Alan. He's a
lovely chap and always did a good job with us.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And uh and it's a very interesting one.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I I liked it a lot, and the you know,
the the the adding in of the poem at the
end was was rather beautiful. Yeah, and that was apparently
Rick's idea. So without further ado, let's let's get to
the top. Of the of the piece, and there's trip
(01:36):
taking David Bailey photographs. I don't know if many people
will get that reference. He was a very famous photographer
in the eighties in London, you know, whenever and when
when anyone back in the old days actually had a
camera and was taking their time taking a picture of
the table of you know whatever, Who do you think
you are? David Bailey?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Anyway, he was very famous in his day.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But there you are taking stills of the captain that
will then go back to Earth and be painted into
a portrait.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Is curious to me how they intro into an episode. Yeah,
I mean, this could not be more random.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
No, it couldn't really. Rather, I mean the camera itself
dates our show. That camera at the time, I think
I had a slightly smaller one, but those digital cameras
were like you know the thing then.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Well, yeah, kids will look out that and go what
is that?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I know, it's like a breeze block. I liked it
because I had a denim jacket, not unlike some of
the shirt I'm wearing today, and it had a smaller
pocket than this. And I bought one of the first
ones from Fries Electronics. Oh yeah, with my new star
Trek money and it because it could fit in my
gene jacket pocket and uh, it'd be stylish. That was
(02:57):
very stylish. The thing about it was was this this
this is my story with with tech stuff in general,
and it hasn't changed much. You would then plug it
into your computer and apparently all the photographs would come
up and you could download them to your computer. But
for the love of God, if that actually happened the
(03:19):
same way twice when you plugged it in, it was
I mean it literally took me to my knees. I mean,
it just wouldn't you know. It was you had to
trick it into into finding those photographs in the bloody
tiny little block camera.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Anyway, you're like a cooler for technology.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
No killing me. I mean, if it's it's extraordinary. It's
a rather nice, uh you know, sort of comical scene
to start it all off. And then we'd come across
or I think it's Anthony Spots the rogue planet.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
It's a rogue.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A planet that's broken out of it all a bit.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
A very dark, imposing looking thing called Da Kalaa. It
was on stage nine and as we've said many times affectionately,
and then as Planet Hell and this one was a
bit Planet hellish. I do remember that it had a
lot of that full as Earth. Do you remember they used.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
To oh everywhere, We'd.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Be breathing that in all day long and it would
literally get everywhere.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Remember also like when they build those like rock walls
out of foam before.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
They had them, you know, they had obviously had over
the years of Star Trek, you know production they had
you know, I've seen I can actually tell I've seen
other shows and go, oh we used that wall.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I remember being slammed up against that set.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
But it was pretty amazing every week that you would
go into and the whole of Stage nine would just
be transformed into another playground.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And this was this was no exception.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It was a beautifully constructed set and remarkable really for
the fact that it was so dark.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And yet you.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Could still sort of see everything. And Marvin rush Our
DP Hannus l liked ourselves all the time with those flashlights.
That was another sort of you know, flash lit by
the cast episode.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I remember at one point in the episode where I
even wrote that in a note, I said, find your light.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I wasn't helping you. Let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I guarantee there's one.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
There's one scene there where I'm about to leave and
we must appropriate.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
We probably did it a couple of times because.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
At one point, just before I leave, I lean in
a little bit, catch some light, and then I go away.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I'm sure light before you leave the scene?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yes, right, where are you going to? But it was
a beautifully crafted set and nicely lit as it were,
shadowly lit from above, but mostly by us.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So we go to this road.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Planet because we're, you know, adventurers, and we detect that
there's some sort of biosigns on the planet, but we
can't figure out whether they're humanoid.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
No evidence of humanoid life.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
And we get down there and what do we find.
We find a campsite and I love the way Scott
walks into that campsite. Anyone harm Hello? Anybody home?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
We're just from the site next door.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah. Have we already had prior to that? Have we
had the the Eagle Scout you know, Dick Dick competition?
It's rather funny, that, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
How many Merit badges twenty eight?
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, twenty six, that's not bad stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And Malcolm out strips him by a couple it's twenty
six to twenty eight. He's already got his creepy Crawley
eagle scout badge.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
We spin any more creatures like that and we'll learn
our exo biology badges.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Actually, I already have that one. That was rather amusing.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
That was a good piece of digitizization.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yes, it wasn't there. There was some lovely stuff there.
The They spend a bit of money on this one
with the CGI, bearing in mind it was so expensive
in our day before.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
We is a road planet possible.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
It's one that's bust away from our from its sun,
and it's so it's it is in complete darkness.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Makes me wonder about gravity.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Uh yeah, and it's what is in orbiting?
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Is it just it's just you know, spinning around in space?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Right, anyway, so we we meet the campers.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Yeah, the the ESCA.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Everything's fine. These are the Esca.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
There are another humanoid species with the nose and you
know bridges lovely beautifully played by.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Three wonderful actors. Connell O'Farrell played Burzan, What are you
doing under Gallam? Keith Zarabajka played Damn Rous.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
My name is Damros Ye had that very deep voice
a voice voice.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, and he played He used the voice to good effect.
And then dear Eric Pierpoint, who played Shirat.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
We have to drink of something since we came back
empty handed, who then came back in season four and
played my controller, Agent Harris for section thirty one.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
What I want to talk about is Lieutenant Reid.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
He's done good work for us over the years.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Don't be too hard on it was just following my orders.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
He did four episodes as my controller that stretched my
loyalty to the captain in that final season. He was
lovely and he's a lovely actor. They were all great
fun to work with.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I believe Connor was in our show again.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
We were well known for using you know, they were
well known for using actors over and over again. And
then a lovely performance from Stephanie Niznik as the Wraith
You're speaking English, need you to understand? And the girl
from the poem The Wandering Angus by Yates.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
Song of the Wandering Angus. She's someone I imagine as
a child, the elusive woman from the poorn.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I'm not especially familiar with Yates and Byron and that
Ilka poet.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
I had a period of time when I was into
them and then I sort of lost my interest.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, I mean, I have to say that some of
the language is difficult and you really have to you
need cliff notes to fully understand or having read it
at school or university.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Otherwise. It is.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
It is. It's very lyrical, and it's often you know,
uses a lot of Greek mythology references and stuff like
that that you either know about what you don't and
if you don't know about it, it's it's like it's like.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Reading in the foreign language half the time.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Yeah, I read a lot of Byron and I think
probably Yates around the time, but I was doing Arcadia
because it does sort of put you in a romantic place. Yeah,
but it is it's difficult to read.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
I mean, my favorite one is the shortest one.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Of Byron's, which is she Walks in Beauty.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
And there's more two of it. It's like four lines.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
It's four lines, but it is a beautiful I liked that,
and I think this was Chris Black, No, it was
it was it was Rick Berman's idea to use his
imaginations of his having read that poem as a younger man.
The Captain and his imaginations of what that girl would
look like, and that the wraith who are shape shifters
(11:54):
would appear to him as as that deep imagination from
say as ago. It was, and she played it beautifully.
She was a nice performance. And I like the fact
that she you know, I don't know what you call
it wraith English. I don't want to harm you, not, Jonathan.
(12:16):
It was a rather cute too, the fact that she
did speak English, but it was a bit wraith y.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, it was. Uh. And and and we discovered that
they're hunting them.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
Do you know why they come.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
To hunt to hunt us, Jonathan?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
We are what they prize above all else.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Well, yes, not initially.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
It's you know, it seems that they're they're just good
old good, you know, good old boys from Tennessee on
a hunting trip to a strange you know, hunting field planet.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Preserve the color.
Speaker 6 (12:53):
Our last states that we're allowed to hunt here for
four days each year and we have to leave.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
And he was off in wait decades for a chance
to come here.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
That their culture is several generations.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, and they're hunting the Dagen and we there, we
are scoffing down on Dajen meat. Which is some sort
of pig like looking creature.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Trajan meat is one of life's great pleasures.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
They did find some money on this on the CGI
because we saw them a few times.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
The Dagen's. And then it sort of transpires that Malcolm.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
It's the first time we ever saw those green night
optical glasses. We never used them again. I can't I
don't be using them again, and they were quite sort
of effective, especially against their full on red ski goggles.
And so it transpires that Malcolm gets himself invited or
(13:52):
half invites himself to go out on one of these
hunting trips with them. I wonder if I might join
one of your hunts. Apparently Chris Black really likes my delivery.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Line, I promise I won't kill anything.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So I don't really remember really thinking hard about how
I was going to say the line, but it was
definitely apparently Chris Black just absolutely adored it.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Really the the the sort of.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
What was the what would be the ambiguity of whether
you know I would do or do not kill something,
kill it or screw it. So, yeah, I get to
go out on this on the on the hunting trip,
and and clearly something's afoot I mean, it's it's rather
(14:43):
nice the way Croaker directed them, that the hunters, because
you look, you get a sense pretty early on that
not as all as it seems, and that there's some
rather something, some dark force at work here that we
that you're we're not clear about, but we're privy to
(15:04):
and uh and there's some there's something to be uncovered,
and it's it is rather nicely done.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
They lead me off. They you know that, I think
it's damn rous.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Keith Zarabajka and and Eric Pierpoint go off in search
of the wraith that they think they've seen. They have
a way of of identifying the wraiths because they are
tricky shape shifting things. They can turn into rocks, they
can turn into trees. But the one way they can
(15:37):
they've they're hunting techniques have figured out how to find
them is when they're frightened, they emit some sort of
chemical pheromone and a chemical discharge that their sensors can pick.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Up, those those red goggles can pick up.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
Yes, exactly, I'm afraid they made a chemical signature. Our
scanners have been modified to detect it. It gives us
an advantage.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
So and that that factors him obviously later in the story.
So I'm led off on the wild goose chase in
search of what we think is the Dajen piglet, while
the other two go in search of the wraith and
and nearly find her. It's later that night when we're
back at camp and Scott starts to hear he stays
(16:28):
up late, and he starts to hear the siren call
of this wraith appearing to him as he walks into
the jungle beyond the campsite ground.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Hello, someone there.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Jonathan, And there she is.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
It's a nice shot, actually that that's slightly long shot,
that croaky yeah, yeah, And he can't decide. He's pretty sure,
you know that he's not hallucinating.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
I wasn't hallucinating, cap'n.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It doesn't make any sense. And then that's backed up
later by the fact that there are no hallucinogens on
the planet.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
There are no psychotropic compounds here.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I wasn't hallucinating, unlike Ronsen Caves when you all went mad.
So he's pretty he's pretty sure that there's something down
there and he just can't figure out. In the recesses
of his mind, he knows, he knows this girl, this female.
(17:39):
He can't figure out how he knows her, but he
knows she's not unfamiliar to him.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
There was something about her height. I've seen her before.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
And that's rather beautiful. I thought, is there a discussion
when he sees her the second time?
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Would you would you have come?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Would you have come to me if I'd been a
scantily clad man? And there was that to Paul to
Paul says that.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Paul says that, with respect, captain, I wonder if you
would be so determined to find this apparition if it
were a scantily clad man.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
That was pretty yeah for the time, Yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Just left hanging.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, yeah, I mean that really jumped out.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I thought that was pretty good too.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
It's funny how you know, just a small comment like
that can infuse itself into the hole of the show. Yeah,
you know, you look at it differently then you might
be thinking that.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
But yeah, would yeah, if it had been I mean
in the original series, it might well have been. I mean,
they weren't shy of putting, you know. Yeah, young men
in toga type costumes, makeup and full eye and make up,
carrying a heart. So one of the hunters I think
(19:06):
it's Damrous is wounded, and we bring him back to
the ship to.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Look after his wounds and heal him.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
We've got a doctor on board our ship. I've a
learned him to stand by.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
We're prepared to deal with injuries here. Captain, you need
him for the hunt. Their doctor can help. We only
have two more days, and it's at that time that
Flox finds out that there is a chromosomal flux that
he's that within the wound, and he's isolated those cells.
The cells are in a state of chromosomal flux. They're mutating.
(19:43):
It's as if they are trying to change into something
but can't quite figure out what. And he starts studying it,
which will play out later in sort of act four.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
It's amazing how Flox is. He's able to find all
this stuff out on for planets.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
You know, he is, you know, and it's it's it's yeah,
I mean, he's John's performance.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
It grows on me more and more each time I
watch him. He's doing so little but doing so much.
I found cellular residue in the wound. It clearly doesn't
belong to this gentleman. I assume it must have come
from the animal with mold him. It's that breezy, you know,
almost Taoist sort of delivery.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
You know that he's like he's.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Like a blade of grass just flowing in the in
the intergalactic wind, and nothing's going to Actually, there's occasionally
you'll see in his face that that's wrong. He you know,
there is a there's there's definitely an opinion there.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
But most of the time it's.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Like live and let live, and yeah, it's nicely done.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
He works one day that week he worked there.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
One day he sitting at home and the check still gone.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
The check still.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, lucky live.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
So it turns out, yes, that the Esca have gone
to this planet for hundreds of years, generations. There's a
little story that Damrus tells about his father and his
friends being chasing a group of these wraiths into a
dead end you know, canyon, and only the father and
(21:34):
two of his friends got out alive. Yeah, you know,
I mean, like we're meant to feel sorry for you.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
I mean, they drove a group of wraiths into a
blind canyon. My father was sure that they had them.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Come on, you know, you know, an archer says, even
as we're tucking down on Dage and me. You know,
hunting animals in this fashion for sport went out of
style and fashion on planet Earth. You know, over one
hundred years ago.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Hunting went out of style on Earth over one hundred
years ago. That doesn't mean we don't appreciate your hospitality.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
You know, thinking that.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Do you remember this was the time when the Internet
was sort of getting going and you were seeing images
of rich dentists, you know, killing lions and whatever in
Africa and holding up the you know, the head of
the carcass, proudly kneeling down with their guns. Do you
remember that. I mean, it was doing.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
It became a thing.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
It really became a thing.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
It went viral.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
You know. I have to say, I cannot understand. I
just don't even understand what the thrill of shooting a
beautiful wild animal from one hundred and fifty yards away
with rifle or high powered rifle. I just what is Well,
(23:01):
I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
If you if you kill it, you eat it.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, yeah, agreed, you know, yeah, agreed. So anyway, but
they've been coming hundreds of years. This is part of
their culture, and it's the race thereafter because because they're
they're tricky to hunt. They're telepathic, they can read your thoughts,
(23:26):
they can shape shift into anything else, much like the
Sulaban and the changelings from the Founders, and and as usual,
you know, once we get wind of the fact that
these are sentient beings, you know, in true Star Trek fashion,
(23:47):
we stick our noses in. They sound like intelligent sentient
beings that the.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Way you or I would measure intelligence.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
That's not right. That's just not right. So Flow is
instructed to see what he can do, and rather craftily,
he comes up with the with the cells that he
has at his disposal, he comes up with a sort
of masking chemical signature that he can you know, furnish
(24:17):
the wraiths with that that mask their fearful pheromonial you know, discharge.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Can you find a way to mask that chemical that
would shield them from the hunter scans?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
I'll start right away.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
I thought that was a clever hook.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, it was. It was a clever hook because it's
it doesn't stop the hunters going there to pursue their
you know, centuries old tradition, but it just makes their
their job of actually killing the wraiths that much harder,
if not impossible.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Well, not all.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
It gives the Wraith and opportunity to be pre of
proactive in terms of the defense.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Did you give the others the masking agent? He'll keep
you safe.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
You attack a couple of those guys every now and then,
they're going to be coming back less and less.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, and that's when we find out that that, you know,
the image that she the Wraith takes on the woman,
the woman from the poem, the wandering angus. He archer
figures it out that that's who she is, and it's
really lovely.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
When she said don't forget me, don't forget me, Yes,
that was beautiful.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
That was beautiful, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, there was another line, never stop seeking what seems unattainable.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Never stop seeking it seems unattainable.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
That really jumped out at me. Yeah, I mean so, yes,
this was a real planet. In this planet hell, we
used to call it real Stage nine show. It was.
It was really well photographed and not easy to do.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
To move the camera around a lot, and Alan was
very good at that.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
He certainly was good at building tension, you know, because
it could it could have been a very tricky episode.
It could have been boring frankly, but he always you know,
kept the tension going, particularly on the hunts that you
know there was danger and uh yeah, he's he was
(26:39):
a clever director, Alan.
Speaker 8 (26:42):
Was that was that our first time one on nine
could well have been actually, well, no, I'm trying to think.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I think there was oh no, when we go when
we first wear the EV suits in that episode and
they're all hanging upside down in those sort of caskets.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
That was certainly Stage nine.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Unexpected was partly done on Stage nine.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, I'm just looking at the.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
First time working with Alan and I always loved working
with him. He made the environment so calm, he did,
and maybe it's the Canadian in him.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Was he Canadian?
Speaker 3 (27:27):
You know?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I wasn't didn't remember that or you know.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
And he had done he had done Voyager.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
I don't know if he had done Deep Space nine
as a director, but he did probably fifteen for us
or more.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Right, all right, he did a lot, didn't he. I mean,
he was almost going to do now I'm reminding myself,
he was going to do our pilot. He and somehow
Jim Conway became available and Rick preferred that for some reason.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
But I remember friends. They were friends, right.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I mean the directing a pilot, of course, is that
since you're directing the pilot and setting the tone, you
get paid as that director every episode that show ever,
does you do?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I mean, yeah, you direct the pilot and it runs
seven years or four.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
You you do? You cash out on that one.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
It was a nice story and in it had sort
of you know, tenets of real star trek and you know,
the evocative nature of using the poem as a backdrop
to who this, who this, this sentient species were was
really nicely done. I think underestimated. I mean, I hope
(28:57):
he doesn't watch this because he might umbrage, but I
think I underestimated ricks input into the show. I kind
of thought he was just running the day to day
economics of it, and I think he was much more.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I think he actually was much more involved in the.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
What you'd call the creative process.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
And there was certainly never any not a frame got
past him without approving it, but definitely no.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And I think that's where the sort of you know,
maybe where my misunderstanding of what his role was, because
you'd hear these sort of odd stories that you know,
you know, if once we were on red alert or something,
and you'd cut to the bridge and if the red
lights weren't flashing in concert with each other from one
(29:52):
cut to the other, he'd hit the roof right.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
And that his eye was so sort of you know, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I have a feeling that tuned.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
In the first season, he was much more a part
of the writing.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Mm hmm, you know he would. He came down during
Shuttle Pod one because.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
He was so uh, you know, rightly, so proud of
of what had had come out, and we saw him
a lot more in season one than we saw him afterward.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
I think also the Star Trek the movie.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, there was shot Nemesis next door which brought him down,
and you know, Shuttle Pod one.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
He was really proud of the fact that this was
this this two hander in space.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
And when we met, when he came around, he had
Sir Patrick Stewart in tow and uh.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
That was really that was an honor, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I mean, do you remember, I mean, it was pretty
cool to have for an actor of such status come
and see us on set.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
And that's when I mean.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I've told this story a thousand times, but that's when
Rick pulled me aside and said, well, you know, I
had your photograph on my desk for a year and a.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Half, and you know I remembered you.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
From your guest star audition for Voyager and you were great,
and we just didn't want to waste you on a
arms like and you're like, stay it again, Rick, Well,
I'm like, you're give me a call.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Do you know what those eighteen months were?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Light? Mate? You know, I was scrabbling to get a
gig and all the time, I you know, I could
have been you know, chilling out and relaxing, going big
ones coming.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
That's right, Spending money you don't have.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Yeah, well, gosh nos. As an actor, I learned that
we've all learned that lesson, do not spend the money
until the cash the checks cashed, and even then be
careful how much of it you spend.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
And whenever you buy a non refundable flight ticket, you're
going to get.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
A job.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Often as not.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I mean, it is the Sod's law of it, isn't it.
You book a holiday a non refundable flight and that
audition that you thought you did rather poorly at, that's
the one that they ring up and go, we can't
wait wait when can we you know, two days from now? Yeah,
I know, isn't that the case?
Speaker 4 (32:35):
You know, speaking of Sir Patrick coming on the set,
we had some pretty cool guests come on, Bill Gates.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I mean, you know, yeah, I was telling that story
the other day.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
I mean that was the day.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
You know that doom buggy I've got that I brought
over from England, the Electric Blue. It was my kick
about car in London that I bought with disposele income
from the sitcom Desmonds. I did, and I you know,
I had no idea what I was doing, but I
sent that car through the Panama Canal thinking it was
going to be my La Core because you know what
(33:12):
doom bug in La.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
I mean, everybody's got one.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
It rained for I came two days after the North
Throge earthquake and it rained. Not only was La in
flames and the ten was down, amongst other things, but
it rained for six weeks straight. At that period of time,
back in the days when we actually used to have
a rainy season, this car had a best this sort
(33:40):
of flimsy tarpaoling roof that you could just about stretch
and get clipped on. But if you drove above sixty
it would fly off. And I mean that was like
it was like I was driving around LA and like
in a fish bowl.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Was much opportunity, did you it was?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Honestly, I mean I had no idea. I pushed that car.
I've said it many times. Pushed that car, much like
my career around Los Angeles for seven years. It was
only because it's now a Trader Joe's. But the DMV
on the corner of Vine that used to be the
Hollywood DMV, and there was a really lovely Armenian lady
(34:23):
in there that was a Star Trek fan who recognized
me when I was trying to get this car legal,
street legal, and she without her, it still wouldn't be,
I'm sure, but she managed to turn, you know, talk
to some people, give me some paperwork, and it all
ended up with me getting an appointment to go to
(34:45):
the Smog Impact Center in downtown LA at like five
forty five in the morning before going to work one morning.
So I went down there. It passed the smog impact
test and I.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Was like, God knows how or why that is how.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
There is another story on one of my auditions going
to Babylon Fire going up from Malibu from that commune.
I was living on with surfer Larry, who was the
guy that lived in the in the commune room next
door to mine.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
He came along for the ride and we were going
up the one on one.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
We had to go all the way over to It
was Glendale somewhere up there, Pasadena Way, and people were
like waving at us in the doom buggy, and then
we were waving back, and then someone was like, and
I look behind me and flames were licking the whole engine.
(35:43):
The oiler caught fire. I arrived at that audition absolutely
like a drown rack covered in oil. You got out
of the car and we got We pulled over at
some point and put it out. Yeah, and but we
got and got the car started again. Well, I did
get to the audition, but I just looked. I must
(36:03):
have looked like, you know, dreadful. I don't understand why
I didn't get that one. Anyway, So I drive to
work after the smog impact and there's a hub, there's
a kerfuffle, and I get I'm in my trailer and
it's a knock at the door. Damn it, darling, get dressed,
getting get in the uniform, come to the bridge India.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
I said, we got plenty of time. I'm early.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
He does not get in there, get in there.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
So I'm.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Puloma togs putting boots on, walking there. And who's standing
on the bridge but Bill Bloody Gates And there you are.
You didn't even get in truth, Connor Treneer style. He
didn't get his uniform. And you're standing there in your
in your robe, in my bathroom, in your bathrobe. There's
a picture here. And I was right on the shelf there,
(36:52):
and before we knew it, We've got Bill Gates in
the catcher's chair, Scott standing behind him, and no one
quite knew. And I started actually then I took charge
and I said, Joe lean you leaned, you kneel down
on one side of him. I'll kneel down on the
other side of him. Connie you stand there, Anthony, you
stand there. John wasn't there, I guess that day. And
(37:12):
photographer loved it, taking all the shots. And I'm kneeling
down there with Bill Gates right here, and I sort
of sat under my breath. I really don't believe my
life these days. Yeah, half an hour ago I was
down at the smog impact Center in downtown LA. And
now I'm kneeling down next to the richest man in
(37:32):
the world. They were some days, aren't they?
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Who looked like a kid in a candy story?
Speaker 2 (37:39):
He did, didn't he? He was absolutely He was very charming,
quite shy, apart from when he's going to take over
your company and then, but it was. It reminds me
of a story of my neighbors across the street here
who no longer lived there. But I went to a
barbecue there once and there was a young couple there
who would The girl had written the film Legally Blonde,
(38:06):
and her boyfriend was Paul Allen's personal assistant, and he
told me we weren't long into shooting the show, but
he told me, oh my god, you dominate keating from anybody.
Oh my god. Let me tell you head's roll. If
Paul can't download the latest episode of Enterprise wherever he
(38:30):
happens to be in the world, Head's roll.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
I love that, Okay, I mean the.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
Other thing, you know, We had a hockey player named
Luke Robotime's a very good friend of Scott's.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
He brought, yeah, sort of echoes your story. He brings
he brings the Stanley Cup with you.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
They just went I didn't even know what it was then,
to be honest, really had no idea what this cut was.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
And I got to host it and I was like,
when else am I going to have a chance to
do something like this?
Speaker 3 (39:00):
How amazing?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Wasn't it amazing?
Speaker 3 (39:03):
It really was.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
They were healthy in days.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
I think I was thinking this as we were talking,
that when there are multiple guest stars, there seems to
be less for us to talk about because there's almost
less that we're doing.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yes, I mean, I, I mean, I was quite pleased
with this. This is the beginning of Malcolm becoming something
of the action man and uh, you know, elbowing him
his way out into that that filling those boots and
uh and and and a rhinous of humor was written
(39:40):
into the episode. For me, that was nice. That's uh,
you know that it's particularly being a brit you know,
I could lend myself to that sort of you know,
dry delivery, particularly you.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Know in the in the.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Eagle Scout penis enlargements means, yeah, that's.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
True, that's true.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
You your part is evolving and fleshing out.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
The old thing is I did one night at the
Scouts in England and I told my mum not doing
that I did one night as a scout. Yeah it was.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
I was like, I told mom, it's not for me.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
I was a Scout for a couple of years.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
I was a Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
I don't know what I didn't care for about it.
I can't remember. Could have been the not tying, it
was all too complicated. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
I just remember going, it's not for me.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
You were boy Scouts.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
I was an Eagle Scout.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Hum so was that?
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Yes, on that note, but a good episode, I mean,
a solid Star Trek episode. I think it was, you know,
and they spent some money on the c G I
you got to see you know, you saw the Wraith
actually as a sort of slivery sluggy thing.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Say that, you know.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
I you know, in the revisiting of these episodes, I
keep looking for a real stinker and I am not
seeing one.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
No, yeah, not really, No, I mean, it's it's just it's, uh,
what do I want to say? I mean, I think
I think, you know, we we were just stemied by
the fact that you know that they've gone to the well.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
So many times.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
It's an odd thing. It's It is an odd thing,
isn't it, Because twenty five years later, it would seem
now that Star Trek is a forever thing, and that
they're always going to find enough of an audience to
warrant the production that you know, costs and making the show,
(42:00):
and the fact that they can now you know, target
that audience, you know, so succinctly, given that it's on
a streaming service rather than a network that relies on
advertising money, that is extremely helpful to them.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yes, and also.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
Those shows came off of the heels of very successful
jj Abrams movies.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
The new shows, I'm saying, and our.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Show in the season had an absolute that tanked. Yeah,
what's it called? The one with Tom Hardy, Oh Nemesis
an upward trajectory. We were slowly.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
No agreed, Yeah, that film really was a stinker. That
was a Favoriteis Stuart Baird, who had edited so many
of the other movie is I think, and if not
the TV shows too. But you know, he he had
advocated for him to direct one of these films and
(43:12):
this was his debut, and.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
I don't think he asked for a lot of help.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
I mean, I am only telling what I've heard on
the grape Vine as it were. But it was yeah,
it was yeah, not a great not a great one,
and it's a I mean yeah, I guess. You know,
the fact of the matter is that if you want
to watch Star Trek now and you don't and you
don't do it illegally, you have to sign up to
(43:43):
the streaming service and there's the money there. You know,
it's a guaranteed paid production. Whereas ours was always reliant
on well are the advertising against it? Numbers weren't you know,
it was all about the numbers. Numbers were never awful.
I mean, I don't think we once or twice we
(44:04):
might have dipped below three million, but we were.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Just as voyager and they were the same as they were.
You know, they didn't get another I think it was
more audience, but you know, we kept the we kept
the subscriber.
Speaker 2 (44:17):
The network now relied on this show, and the other
one that they were touting was Veronica Mars, which I've
said many times always just just really irritated me that
they tried to tell us that Veronica Mars was a
breakout hit and we we killed them every week with
them in the numbers, they and they you know, pushed
(44:40):
and pulled us around, like you know, from Pillars to
Post you could never guarantee which day we were actually
going to air on and by the time we got
to Sunday night, that was kind of the death Knoll.
Speaker 4 (44:52):
And yeah, but I mean again, it is curious because god,
what is the show?
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Three of them?
Speaker 4 (45:02):
They play Angels, Charmed, No, the guys. It just ended
a few years ago. Oh what's that called Creation does Convention?
Speaker 2 (45:12):
So everyone, everyone who's watching this now is screaming it at.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
But that show nowhere near our numbers?
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (45:26):
It went for like nine years.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I know, and it's but but all the all the
all the all the ladies show up to I mean
there's you know, every two million of them.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Show up to the conventions.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
I'll tell you what I will end on this because
I this is not usually my usual fair. But we
went to see in three D at the Imax Theater
in Universal City Walk the Fantastic Four on Friday afternoon,
and you know what, it's bloody good? Is it? It's
(45:59):
really bloody good.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
I have to say.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
The production value is extraordinary. I love it. It's it's
it's this crazy, weird mix of you know, authentic fifties.
You know they've got they don't they can't say greyhound buses.
They think they're called swordfish. But you know, all the
cars are fifties, the crowd look fifties. It's all beautifully done.
(46:27):
But the technology that the Fantastic Four have is retro
fifties but also really cool new stuff too, And but
it feeds in really well that the mapping of it
is extraordinary. The performances are great. Pedro Pascal who literally
(46:48):
it's probably never at home at the moment. I mean,
he's in everything you turn on. He's wonderful in it.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
He anchors it beautifully. Vanessa Kirby's terrific.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
Sky. He played one of the dodgy Caesars in the
New Gladiator movie. He's really good as the fireball Man.
And the other guy that plays the corn Flakes monster,
the thing, yeah, the thing. They're all terrific. And you know,
(47:21):
the humor that they try and inject into these films,
which I always tend to find falls flat on its face.
In this instance, actually it really it really rings true,
and they know it's occasionally hilariously funny. It's got the
cutest baby you'll ever see in it. And that baby's
going to college on this film. I'll tell you that much.
(47:44):
But I was, and in three D I was like, okay.
There's usually a fifty minute mark where I'm like yeah,
and I didn't really get it. Yeah, I was like, no,
I'm And there was a point in the hour and
twenty mile where I'm like, okay, I mean I'm in
(48:05):
your story.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
Well that's that's good to know. We've thought about seeing it.
We saw. It's just now out in the theaters. It's
a horror film with David franco Oh and his real
life life.
Speaker 3 (48:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
I didn't know they were married. I didn't, no idea. Yeah, yeah, anyway. Yeah,
but I heard them on the radio the other day
talking about it. And they developed it together, didn't.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
They They did?
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, I think it might have written it Franko.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Yeah, it's an interesting movie.
Speaker 3 (48:41):
All right. That's what I heard.
Speaker 2 (48:42):
That they're glued together, aren't they. They're like like, have
to win?
Speaker 4 (48:46):
Yeah, yeah, and the creek factor works.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
But it's also he's funny.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
Is he he's funny?
Speaker 4 (48:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (48:55):
I don't mind.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
He's a good actor.
Speaker 3 (48:57):
Yeah, without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
All right, Well, we've bled, we've led this enough.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
I would go. I would advocate, go and see The
Fantastic Four and see it in three D at the
Imax theater in Universal in there are primary seats about
not halfway back, about a third back, sit in the middle,
and you really get immersed in the hole in the
whole shebang screen, the whole. Yeah, I mean I was impressed.
(49:30):
I mean I I mean, oh probably. Do you remember
when we went to see Dunkirk in in Imax at
the three D?
Speaker 1 (49:41):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
Within twenty seconds I went, oh, jeez, this is going
to be dreadful.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
And we're stuck in the middle.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Yeah, it was. We might have to edit that bit out.
He lives around the corner.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
I mean, I can hear you now.
Speaker 3 (49:58):
I see him from time to turn. His new film.
He's got one coming out, hasn't he?
Speaker 4 (50:05):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (50:07):
Is it Troy?
Speaker 2 (50:09):
It's it's something like The Peapalese Wars.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
No, it's a it's the isn't it.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
It's The Odyssey well done, which I.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Think, what's the uh?
Speaker 2 (50:22):
And it's starring I think Burtnell. What's his name, that
Chap something Burtnell, who's been in sort of supporting and
everything for the last two years. He did the second
did the accountant. He's the brother in the accountant and accountant.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
To John Bereenthal Dohn Berethorpe.
Speaker 2 (50:41):
He's I think. I think I didn't because he shaved
his head. But I think he's got, He's finally found,
he's got. I think this is his big one demons
in it too, is he?
Speaker 3 (50:52):
All right? So there's that, like Matt always like Matt.
All right, we've wandered on.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode and our remembrance
and reminiscences of it and reads, Yeah, go read some yates.
I might actually do the same because I don't know
that poem The Wandering Angus spelled a E N g
U S and I thought it was about a cow fish, right, yeah,
(51:26):
fish is it is an angus? A fish A N
the u s.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
I think he says it in the scene it's a
fish or a bird.
Speaker 2 (51:32):
I think it's a fish.
Speaker 5 (51:34):
The man in the poem catch us a fish.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
It turns into a beautiful woman.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
Well, anyway, till the next time. We hope you're enjoying
these watch parties and yeah, get used.
Speaker 9 (51:49):
To them, all right, everybody, stay, stay, stay
Speaker 2 (52:26):
Sta
The show has been done with car It's the count.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Trekky's and Trekkers. Welcome
back to another watch episode of the Decon Chamber. I'm
your co host Dominic Keating joined as always with my
with my best see mister Connor Steer, my fellow co host.
We're going to discuss episode eighteen, which is Rogue Planet,
(00:35):
which was written by Chris Black. The story the teller story,
the play was by Our story was by Rick Berman
and Brannon per usual. An interesting little sort of addendant
to this, this was an original uncredited idea by Andre
Bilmnis that we should come across something like an end
(00:58):
planet slash rogue plan and it but Chris wrote the teleplay.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Here for a second that Alan Croker directed this.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
When Alan Croker directed it, God bless Alan. He's a
lovely chap and always did a good job with us.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And uh and it's a very interesting one.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I I liked it a lot, and the you know,
the the the adding in of the poem at the
end was was rather beautiful. Yeah, and that was apparently
Rick's idea. So without further ado, let's let's get to
the top. Of the of the piece, and there's trip
(01:36):
taking David Bailey photographs. I don't know if many people
will get that reference. He was a very famous photographer
in the eighties in London, you know, whenever and when
when anyone back in the old days actually had a
camera and was taking their time taking a picture of
the table of you know whatever, Who do you think
you are? David Bailey?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Anyway, he was very famous in his day.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But there you are taking stills of the captain that
will then go back to Earth and be painted into
a portrait.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Is curious to me how they intro into an episode. Yeah,
I mean, this could not be more random.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
No, it couldn't really. Rather, I mean the camera itself
dates our show. That camera at the time, I think
I had a slightly smaller one, but those digital cameras
were like you know the thing then.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Well, yeah, kids will look out that and go what
is that?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I know, it's like a breeze block. I liked it
because I had a denim jacket, not unlike some of
the shirt I'm wearing today, and it had a smaller
pocket than this. And I bought one of the first
ones from Fries Electronics. Oh yeah, with my new star
Trek money and it because it could fit in my
gene jacket pocket and uh, it'd be stylish. That was
(02:57):
very stylish. The thing about it was was this this
this is my story with with tech stuff in general,
and it hasn't changed much. You would then plug it
into your computer and apparently all the photographs would come
up and you could download them to your computer. But
for the love of God, if that actually happened the
(03:19):
same way twice when you plugged it in, it was
I mean it literally took me to my knees. I mean,
it just wouldn't you know. It was you had to
trick it into into finding those photographs in the bloody
tiny little block camera.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Anyway, you're like a cooler for technology.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
No killing me. I mean, if it's it's extraordinary. It's
a rather nice, uh you know, sort of comical scene
to start it all off. And then we'd come across
or I think it's Anthony Spots the rogue planet.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
It's a rogue.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A planet that's broken out of it all a bit.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
A very dark, imposing looking thing called Da Kalaa. It
was on stage nine and as we've said many times affectionately,
and then as Planet Hell and this one was a
bit Planet hellish. I do remember that it had a
lot of that full as Earth. Do you remember they used.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
To oh everywhere, We'd.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Be breathing that in all day long and it would
literally get everywhere.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Remember also like when they build those like rock walls
out of foam before.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
They had them, you know, they had obviously had over
the years of Star Trek, you know production they had
you know, I've seen I can actually tell I've seen
other shows and go, oh we used that wall.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I remember being slammed up against that set.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
But it was pretty amazing every week that you would
go into and the whole of Stage nine would just
be transformed into another playground.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
And this was this was no exception.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It was a beautifully constructed set and remarkable really for
the fact that it was so dark.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And yet you.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Could still sort of see everything. And Marvin rush Our
DP Hannus l liked ourselves all the time with those flashlights.
That was another sort of you know, flash lit by
the cast episode.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I remember at one point in the episode where I
even wrote that in a note, I said, find your light.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I wasn't helping you. Let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I guarantee there's one.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
There's one scene there where I'm about to leave and
we must appropriate.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
We probably did it a couple of times because.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
At one point, just before I leave, I lean in
a little bit, catch some light, and then I go away.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I'm sure light before you leave the scene?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yes, right, where are you going to? But it was
a beautifully crafted set and nicely lit as it were,
shadowly lit from above, but mostly by us.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So we go to this road.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Planet because we're, you know, adventurers, and we detect that
there's some sort of biosigns on the planet, but we
can't figure out whether they're humanoid.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
No evidence of humanoid life.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
And we get down there and what do we find.
We find a campsite and I love the way Scott
walks into that campsite. Anyone harm Hello? Anybody home?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
We're just from the site next door.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah. Have we already had prior to that? Have we
had the the Eagle Scout you know, Dick Dick competition?
It's rather funny, that, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
How many Merit badges twenty eight?
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, twenty six, that's not bad stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And Malcolm out strips him by a couple it's twenty
six to twenty eight. He's already got his creepy Crawley
eagle scout badge.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
We spin any more creatures like that and we'll learn
our exo biology badges.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Actually, I already have that one. That was rather amusing.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
That was a good piece of digitizization.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yes, it wasn't there. There was some lovely stuff there.
The They spend a bit of money on this one
with the CGI, bearing in mind it was so expensive
in our day before.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
We is a road planet possible.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
It's one that's bust away from our from its sun,
and it's so it's it is in complete darkness.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Makes me wonder about gravity.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Uh yeah, and it's what is in orbiting?
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Is it just it's just you know, spinning around in space?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Right, anyway, so we we meet the campers.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Yeah, the the ESCA.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Everything's fine. These are the Esca.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
There are another humanoid species with the nose and you
know bridges lovely beautifully played by.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Three wonderful actors. Connell O'Farrell played Burzan, What are you
doing under Gallam? Keith Zarabajka played Damn Rous.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
My name is Damros Ye had that very deep voice
a voice voice.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, and he played He used the voice to good effect.
And then dear Eric Pierpoint, who played Shirat.
Speaker 7 (09:05):
We have to drink of something since we came back
empty handed, who then came back in season four and
played my controller, Agent Harris for section thirty one.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
What I want to talk about is Lieutenant Reid.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
He's done good work for us over the years.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Don't be too hard on it was just following my orders.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
He did four episodes as my controller that stretched my
loyalty to the captain in that final season. He was
lovely and he's a lovely actor. They were all great
fun to work with.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I believe Connor was in our show again.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
We were well known for using you know, they were
well known for using actors over and over again. And
then a lovely performance from Stephanie Niznik as the Wraith
You're speaking English, need you to understand? And the girl
from the poem The Wandering Angus by Yates.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
Song of the Wandering Angus. She's someone I imagine as
a child, the elusive woman from the poorn.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I'm not especially familiar with Yates and Byron and that
Ilka poet.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
I had a period of time when I was into
them and then I sort of lost my interest.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, I mean, I have to say that some of
the language is difficult and you really have to you
need cliff notes to fully understand or having read it
at school or university.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Otherwise. It is.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
It is. It's very lyrical, and it's often you know,
uses a lot of Greek mythology references and stuff like
that that you either know about what you don't and
if you don't know about it, it's it's like it's like.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Reading in the foreign language half the time.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Yeah, I read a lot of Byron and I think
probably Yates around the time, but I was doing Arcadia
because it does sort of put you in a romantic place. Yeah,
but it is it's difficult to read.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
I mean, my favorite one is the shortest one.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Of Byron's, which is she Walks in Beauty.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
And there's more two of it. It's like four lines.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
It's four lines, but it is a beautiful I liked that,
and I think this was Chris Black, No, it was
it was it was Rick Berman's idea to use his
imaginations of his having read that poem as a younger man.
The Captain and his imaginations of what that girl would
look like, and that the wraith who are shape shifters
(11:54):
would appear to him as as that deep imagination from
say as ago. It was, and she played it beautifully.
She was a nice performance. And I like the fact
that she you know, I don't know what you call
it wraith English. I don't want to harm you, not, Jonathan.
(12:16):
It was a rather cute too, the fact that she
did speak English, but it was a bit wraith y.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, it was. Uh. And and and we discovered that
they're hunting them.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
Do you know why they come.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
To hunt to hunt us, Jonathan?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
We are what they prize above all else.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Well, yes, not initially.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
It's you know, it seems that they're they're just good
old good, you know, good old boys from Tennessee on
a hunting trip to a strange you know, hunting field planet.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Preserve the color.
Speaker 6 (12:53):
Our last states that we're allowed to hunt here for
four days each year and we have to leave.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
And he was off in wait decades for a chance
to come here.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
That their culture is several generations.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, and they're hunting the Dagen and we there, we
are scoffing down on Dajen meat. Which is some sort
of pig like looking creature.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Trajan meat is one of life's great pleasures.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
They did find some money on this on the CGI
because we saw them a few times.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
The Dagen's. And then it sort of transpires that Malcolm.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
It's the first time we ever saw those green night
optical glasses. We never used them again. I can't I
don't be using them again, and they were quite sort
of effective, especially against their full on red ski goggles.
And so it transpires that Malcolm gets himself invited or
(13:52):
half invites himself to go out on one of these
hunting trips with them. I wonder if I might join
one of your hunts. Apparently Chris Black really likes my delivery.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Line, I promise I won't kill anything.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So I don't really remember really thinking hard about how
I was going to say the line, but it was
definitely apparently Chris Black just absolutely adored it.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Really the the the sort of.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
What was the what would be the ambiguity of whether
you know I would do or do not kill something,
kill it or screw it. So, yeah, I get to
go out on this on the on the hunting trip,
and and clearly something's afoot I mean, it's it's rather
(14:43):
nice the way Croaker directed them, that the hunters, because
you look, you get a sense pretty early on that
not as all as it seems, and that there's some
rather something, some dark force at work here that we
that you're we're not clear about, but we're privy to
(15:04):
and uh and there's some there's something to be uncovered,
and it's it is rather nicely done.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
They lead me off. They you know that, I think
it's damn rous.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Keith Zarabajka and and Eric Pierpoint go off in search
of the wraith that they think they've seen. They have
a way of of identifying the wraiths because they are
tricky shape shifting things. They can turn into rocks, they
can turn into trees. But the one way they can
(15:37):
they've they're hunting techniques have figured out how to find
them is when they're frightened, they emit some sort of
chemical pheromone and a chemical discharge that their sensors can pick.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Up, those those red goggles can pick up.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
Yes, exactly, I'm afraid they made a chemical signature. Our
scanners have been modified to detect it. It gives us
an advantage.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
So and that that factors him obviously later in the story.
So I'm led off on the wild goose chase in
search of what we think is the Dajen piglet, while
the other two go in search of the wraith and
and nearly find her. It's later that night when we're
back at camp and Scott starts to hear he stays
(16:28):
up late, and he starts to hear the siren call
of this wraith appearing to him as he walks into
the jungle beyond the campsite ground.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Hello, someone there.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Jonathan, And there she is.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
It's a nice shot, actually that that's slightly long shot,
that croaky yeah, yeah, And he can't decide. He's pretty sure,
you know that he's not hallucinating.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
I wasn't hallucinating, cap'n.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It doesn't make any sense. And then that's backed up
later by the fact that there are no hallucinogens on
the planet.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
There are no psychotropic compounds here.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I wasn't hallucinating, unlike Ronsen Caves when you all went mad.
So he's pretty he's pretty sure that there's something down
there and he just can't figure out. In the recesses
of his mind, he knows, he knows this girl, this female.
(17:39):
He can't figure out how he knows her, but he
knows she's not unfamiliar to him.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
There was something about her height. I've seen her before.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
And that's rather beautiful. I thought, is there a discussion
when he sees her the second time?
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Would you would you have come?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Would you have come to me if I'd been a
scantily clad man? And there was that to Paul to
Paul says that.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Paul says that, with respect, captain, I wonder if you
would be so determined to find this apparition if it
were a scantily clad man.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
That was pretty yeah for the time, Yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Just left hanging.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, yeah, I mean that really jumped out.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I thought that was pretty good too.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
It's funny how you know, just a small comment like
that can infuse itself into the hole of the show. Yeah,
you know, you look at it differently then you might
be thinking that.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
But yeah, would yeah, if it had been I mean
in the original series, it might well have been. I mean,
they weren't shy of putting, you know. Yeah, young men
in toga type costumes, makeup and full eye and make up,
carrying a heart. So one of the hunters I think
(19:06):
it's Damrous is wounded, and we bring him back to
the ship to.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Look after his wounds and heal him.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
We've got a doctor on board our ship. I've a
learned him to stand by.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
We're prepared to deal with injuries here. Captain, you need
him for the hunt. Their doctor can help. We only
have two more days, and it's at that time that
Flox finds out that there is a chromosomal flux that
he's that within the wound, and he's isolated those cells.
The cells are in a state of chromosomal flux. They're mutating.
(19:43):
It's as if they are trying to change into something
but can't quite figure out what. And he starts studying it,
which will play out later in sort of act four.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
It's amazing how Flox is. He's able to find all
this stuff out on for planets.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
You know, he is, you know, and it's it's it's yeah,
I mean, he's John's performance.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
It grows on me more and more each time I
watch him. He's doing so little but doing so much.
I found cellular residue in the wound. It clearly doesn't
belong to this gentleman. I assume it must have come
from the animal with mold him. It's that breezy, you know,
almost Taoist sort of delivery.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
You know that he's like he's.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Like a blade of grass just flowing in the in
the intergalactic wind, and nothing's going to Actually, there's occasionally
you'll see in his face that that's wrong. He you know,
there is a there's there's definitely an opinion there.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
But most of the time it's.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Like live and let live, and yeah, it's nicely done.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
He works one day that week he worked there.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
One day he sitting at home and the check still gone.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
The check still.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, lucky live.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
So it turns out, yes, that the Esca have gone
to this planet for hundreds of years, generations. There's a
little story that Damrus tells about his father and his
friends being chasing a group of these wraiths into a
dead end you know, canyon, and only the father and
(21:34):
two of his friends got out alive. Yeah, you know,
I mean, like we're meant to feel sorry for you.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
I mean, they drove a group of wraiths into a
blind canyon. My father was sure that they had them.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Come on, you know, you know, an archer says, even
as we're tucking down on Dage and me. You know,
hunting animals in this fashion for sport went out of
style and fashion on planet Earth. You know, over one
hundred years ago.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Hunting went out of style on Earth over one hundred
years ago. That doesn't mean we don't appreciate your hospitality.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
You know, thinking that.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Do you remember this was the time when the Internet
was sort of getting going and you were seeing images
of rich dentists, you know, killing lions and whatever in
Africa and holding up the you know, the head of
the carcass, proudly kneeling down with their guns. Do you
remember that. I mean, it was doing.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
It became a thing.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
It really became a thing.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
It went viral.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
You know. I have to say, I cannot understand. I
just don't even understand what the thrill of shooting a
beautiful wild animal from one hundred and fifty yards away
with rifle or high powered rifle. I just what is Well,
(23:01):
I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
If you if you kill it, you eat it.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, yeah, agreed, you know, yeah, agreed. So anyway, but
they've been coming hundreds of years. This is part of
their culture, and it's the race thereafter because because they're
they're tricky to hunt. They're telepathic, they can read your thoughts,
(23:26):
they can shape shift into anything else, much like the
Sulaban and the changelings from the Founders, and and as usual,
you know, once we get wind of the fact that
these are sentient beings, you know, in true Star Trek fashion,
(23:47):
we stick our noses in. They sound like intelligent sentient
beings that the.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Way you or I would measure intelligence.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
That's not right. That's just not right. So Flow is
instructed to see what he can do, and rather craftily,
he comes up with the with the cells that he
has at his disposal, he comes up with a sort
of masking chemical signature that he can you know, furnish
(24:17):
the wraiths with that that mask their fearful pheromonial you know, discharge.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Can you find a way to mask that chemical that
would shield them from the hunter scans?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
I'll start right away.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
I thought that was a clever hook.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, it was. It was a clever hook because it's
it doesn't stop the hunters going there to pursue their
you know, centuries old tradition, but it just makes their
their job of actually killing the wraiths that much harder,
if not impossible.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Well, not all.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
It gives the Wraith and opportunity to be pre of
proactive in terms of the defense.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Did you give the others the masking agent? He'll keep
you safe.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
You attack a couple of those guys every now and then,
they're going to be coming back less and less.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, and that's when we find out that that, you know,
the image that she the Wraith takes on the woman,
the woman from the poem, the wandering angus. He archer
figures it out that that's who she is, and it's
really lovely.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
When she said don't forget me, don't forget me, Yes,
that was beautiful.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
That was beautiful, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, there was another line, never stop seeking what seems unattainable.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Never stop seeking it seems unattainable.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
That really jumped out at me. Yeah, I mean so, yes,
this was a real planet. In this planet hell, we
used to call it real Stage nine show. It was.
It was really well photographed and not easy to do.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
To move the camera around a lot, and Alan was
very good at that.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
He certainly was good at building tension, you know, because
it could it could have been a very tricky episode.
It could have been boring frankly, but he always you know,
kept the tension going, particularly on the hunts that you
know there was danger and uh yeah, he's he was
(26:39):
a clever director, Alan.
Speaker 8 (26:42):
Was that was that our first time one on nine
could well have been actually, well, no, I'm trying to think.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I think there was oh no, when we go when
we first wear the EV suits in that episode and
they're all hanging upside down in those sort of caskets.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
That was certainly Stage nine.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Unexpected was partly done on Stage nine.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, I'm just looking at the.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
First time working with Alan and I always loved working
with him. He made the environment so calm, he did,
and maybe it's the Canadian in him.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Was he Canadian?
Speaker 3 (27:27):
You know?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I wasn't didn't remember that or you know.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
And he had done he had done Voyager.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
I don't know if he had done Deep Space nine
as a director, but he did probably fifteen for us
or more.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Right, all right, he did a lot, didn't he. I mean,
he was almost going to do now I'm reminding myself,
he was going to do our pilot. He and somehow
Jim Conway became available and Rick preferred that for some reason.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
But I remember friends. They were friends, right.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I mean the directing a pilot, of course, is that
since you're directing the pilot and setting the tone, you
get paid as that director every episode that show ever,
does you do?
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I mean, yeah, you direct the pilot and it runs
seven years or four.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
You you do? You cash out on that one.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
It was a nice story and in it had sort
of you know, tenets of real star trek and you know,
the evocative nature of using the poem as a backdrop
to who this, who this, this sentient species were was
really nicely done. I think underestimated. I mean, I hope
(28:57):
he doesn't watch this because he might umbrage, but I
think I underestimated ricks input into the show. I kind
of thought he was just running the day to day
economics of it, and I think he was much more.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I think he actually was much more involved in the.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
What you'd call the creative process.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
And there was certainly never any not a frame got
past him without approving it, but definitely no.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
And I think that's where the sort of you know,
maybe where my misunderstanding of what his role was, because
you'd hear these sort of odd stories that you know,
you know, if once we were on red alert or something,
and you'd cut to the bridge and if the red
lights weren't flashing in concert with each other from one
(29:52):
cut to the other, he'd hit the roof right.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
And that his eye was so sort of you know, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I have a feeling that tuned.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
In the first season, he was much more a part
of the writing.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Mm hmm, you know he would. He came down during
Shuttle Pod one because.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
He was so uh, you know, rightly, so proud of
of what had had come out, and we saw him
a lot more in season one than we saw him afterward.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
I think also the Star Trek the movie.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, there was shot Nemesis next door which brought him down,
and you know, Shuttle Pod one.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
He was really proud of the fact that this was
this this two hander in space.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
And when we met, when he came around, he had
Sir Patrick Stewart in tow and uh.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
That was really that was an honor, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I mean, do you remember, I mean, it was pretty
cool to have for an actor of such status come
and see us on set.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
And that's when I mean.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I've told this story a thousand times, but that's when
Rick pulled me aside and said, well, you know, I
had your photograph on my desk for a year and a.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Half, and you know I remembered you.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
From your guest star audition for Voyager and you were great,
and we just didn't want to waste you on a
arms like and you're like, stay it again, Rick, Well,
I'm like, you're give me a call.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Do you know what those eighteen months were?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Light? Mate? You know, I was scrabbling to get a
gig and all the time, I you know, I could
have been you know, chilling out and relaxing, going big
ones coming.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
That's right, Spending money you don't have.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Yeah, well, gosh nos. As an actor, I learned that
we've all learned that lesson, do not spend the money
until the cash the checks cashed, and even then be
careful how much of it you spend.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
And whenever you buy a non refundable flight ticket, you're
going to get.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
A job.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Often as not.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I mean, it is the Sod's law of it, isn't it.
You book a holiday a non refundable flight and that
audition that you thought you did rather poorly at, that's
the one that they ring up and go, we can't
wait wait when can we you know, two days from now? Yeah,
I know, isn't that the case?
Speaker 4 (32:35):
You know, speaking of Sir Patrick coming on the set,
we had some pretty cool guests come on, Bill Gates.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I mean, you know, yeah, I was telling that story
the other day.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
I mean that was the day.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
You know that doom buggy I've got that I brought
over from England, the Electric Blue. It was my kick
about car in London that I bought with disposele income
from the sitcom Desmonds. I did, and I you know,
I had no idea what I was doing, but I
sent that car through the Panama Canal thinking it was
going to be my La Core because you know what
(33:12):
doom bug in La.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
I mean, everybody's got one.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
It rained for I came two days after the North
Throge earthquake and it rained. Not only was La in
flames and the ten was down, amongst other things, but
it rained for six weeks straight. At that period of time,
back in the days when we actually used to have
a rainy season, this car had a best this sort
(33:40):
of flimsy tarpaoling roof that you could just about stretch
and get clipped on. But if you drove above sixty
it would fly off. And I mean that was like
it was like I was driving around LA and like
in a fish bowl.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Was much opportunity, did you it was?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Honestly, I mean I had no idea. I pushed that car.
I've said it many times. Pushed that car, much like
my career around Los Angeles for seven years. It was
only because it's now a Trader Joe's. But the DMV
on the corner of Vine that used to be the
Hollywood DMV, and there was a really lovely Armenian lady
(34:23):
in there that was a Star Trek fan who recognized
me when I was trying to get this car legal,
street legal, and she without her, it still wouldn't be,
I'm sure, but she managed to turn, you know, talk
to some people, give me some paperwork, and it all
ended up with me getting an appointment to go to
(34:45):
the Smog Impact Center in downtown LA at like five
forty five in the morning before going to work one morning.
So I went down there. It passed the smog impact
test and I.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Was like, God knows how or why that is how.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
There is another story on one of my auditions going
to Babylon Fire going up from Malibu from that commune.
I was living on with surfer Larry, who was the
guy that lived in the in the commune room next
door to mine.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
He came along for the ride and we were going
up the one on one.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
We had to go all the way over to It
was Glendale somewhere up there, Pasadena Way, and people were
like waving at us in the doom buggy, and then
we were waving back, and then someone was like, and
I look behind me and flames were licking the whole engine.
(35:43):
The oiler caught fire. I arrived at that audition absolutely
like a drown rack covered in oil. You got out
of the car and we got We pulled over at
some point and put it out. Yeah, and but we
got and got the car started again. Well, I did
get to the audition, but I just looked. I must
(36:03):
have looked like, you know, dreadful. I don't understand why
I didn't get that one. Anyway, So I drive to
work after the smog impact and there's a hub, there's
a kerfuffle, and I get I'm in my trailer and
it's a knock at the door. Damn it, darling, get dressed,
getting get in the uniform, come to the bridge India.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
I said, we got plenty of time. I'm early.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
He does not get in there, get in there.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
So I'm.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Puloma togs putting boots on, walking there. And who's standing
on the bridge but Bill Bloody Gates And there you are.
You didn't even get in truth, Connor Treneer style. He
didn't get his uniform. And you're standing there in your
in your robe, in my bathroom, in your bathrobe. There's
a picture here. And I was right on the shelf there,
(36:52):
and before we knew it, We've got Bill Gates in
the catcher's chair, Scott standing behind him, and no one
quite knew. And I started actually then I took charge
and I said, Joe lean you leaned, you kneel down
on one side of him. I'll kneel down on the
other side of him. Connie you stand there, Anthony, you
stand there. John wasn't there, I guess that day. And
(37:12):
photographer loved it, taking all the shots. And I'm kneeling
down there with Bill Gates right here, and I sort
of sat under my breath. I really don't believe my
life these days. Yeah, half an hour ago I was
down at the smog impact Center in downtown LA. And
now I'm kneeling down next to the richest man in
(37:32):
the world. They were some days, aren't they?
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Who looked like a kid in a candy story?
Speaker 2 (37:39):
He did, didn't he? He was absolutely He was very charming,
quite shy, apart from when he's going to take over
your company and then, but it was. It reminds me
of a story of my neighbors across the street here
who no longer lived there. But I went to a
barbecue there once and there was a young couple there
who would The girl had written the film Legally Blonde,
(38:06):
and her boyfriend was Paul Allen's personal assistant, and he
told me we weren't long into shooting the show, but
he told me, oh my god, you dominate keating from anybody.
Oh my god. Let me tell you head's roll. If
Paul can't download the latest episode of Enterprise wherever he
(38:30):
happens to be in the world, Head's roll.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
I love that, Okay, I mean the.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
Other thing, you know, We had a hockey player named
Luke Robotime's a very good friend of Scott's.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
He brought, yeah, sort of echoes your story. He brings
he brings the Stanley Cup with you.
Speaker 2 (38:50):
They just went I didn't even know what it was then,
to be honest, really had no idea what this cut was.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
And I got to host it and I was like,
when else am I going to have a chance to
do something like this?
Speaker 3 (39:00):
How amazing?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Wasn't it amazing?
Speaker 3 (39:03):
It really was.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
They were healthy in days.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
I think I was thinking this as we were talking,
that when there are multiple guest stars, there seems to
be less for us to talk about because there's almost
less that we're doing.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yes, I mean, I, I mean, I was quite pleased
with this. This is the beginning of Malcolm becoming something
of the action man and uh, you know, elbowing him
his way out into that that filling those boots and
uh and and and a rhinous of humor was written
(39:40):
into the episode. For me, that was nice. That's uh,
you know that it's particularly being a brit you know,
I could lend myself to that sort of you know,
dry delivery, particularly you.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Know in the in the.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Eagle Scout penis enlargements means, yeah, that's.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
True, that's true.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
You your part is evolving and fleshing out.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
The old thing is I did one night at the
Scouts in England and I told my mum not doing
that I did one night as a scout. Yeah it was.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
I was like, I told mom, it's not for me.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
I was a Scout for a couple of years.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
I was a Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
I don't know what I didn't care for about it.
I can't remember. Could have been the not tying, it
was all too complicated. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
I just remember going, it's not for me.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
You were boy Scouts.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
I was an Eagle Scout.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Hum so was that?
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Yes, on that note, but a good episode, I mean,
a solid Star Trek episode. I think it was, you know,
and they spent some money on the c G I
you got to see you know, you saw the Wraith
actually as a sort of slivery sluggy thing.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Say that, you know.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
I you know, in the revisiting of these episodes, I
keep looking for a real stinker and I am not
seeing one.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
No, yeah, not really, No, I mean, it's it's just it's, uh,
what do I want to say? I mean, I think
I think, you know, we we were just stemied by
the fact that you know that they've gone to the well.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
So many times.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
It's an odd thing. It's It is an odd thing,
isn't it, Because twenty five years later, it would seem
now that Star Trek is a forever thing, and that
they're always going to find enough of an audience to
warrant the production that you know, costs and making the show,
(42:00):
and the fact that they can now you know, target
that audience, you know, so succinctly, given that it's on
a streaming service rather than a network that relies on
advertising money, that is extremely helpful to them.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yes, and also.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
Those shows came off of the heels of very successful
jj Abrams movies.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
The new shows, I'm saying, and our.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Show in the season had an absolute that tanked. Yeah,
what's it called? The one with Tom Hardy, Oh Nemesis
an upward trajectory. We were slowly.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
No agreed, Yeah, that film really was a stinker. That
was a Favoriteis Stuart Baird, who had edited so many
of the other movie is I think, and if not
the TV shows too. But you know, he he had
advocated for him to direct one of these films and
(43:12):
this was his debut, and.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
I don't think he asked for a lot of help.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
I mean, I am only telling what I've heard on
the grape Vine as it were. But it was yeah,
it was yeah, not a great not a great one,
and it's a I mean yeah, I guess. You know,
the fact of the matter is that if you want
to watch Star Trek now and you don't and you
don't do it illegally, you have to sign up to
(43:43):
the streaming service and there's the money there. You know,
it's a guaranteed paid production. Whereas ours was always reliant
on well are the advertising against it? Numbers weren't you know,
it was all about the numbers. Numbers were never awful.
I mean, I don't think we once or twice we
(44:04):
might have dipped below three million, but we were.
Speaker 4 (44:06):
Just as voyager and they were the same as they were.
You know, they didn't get another I think it was
more audience, but you know, we kept the we kept
the subscriber.
Speaker 2 (44:17):
The network now relied on this show, and the other
one that they were touting was Veronica Mars, which I've
said many times always just just really irritated me that
they tried to tell us that Veronica Mars was a
breakout hit and we we killed them every week with
them in the numbers, they and they you know, pushed
(44:40):
and pulled us around, like you know, from Pillars to
Post you could never guarantee which day we were actually
going to air on and by the time we got
to Sunday night, that was kind of the death Knoll.
Speaker 4 (44:52):
And yeah, but I mean again, it is curious because god,
what is the show?
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Three of them?
Speaker 4 (45:02):
They play Angels, Charmed, No, the guys. It just ended
a few years ago. Oh what's that called Creation does Convention?
Speaker 2 (45:12):
So everyone, everyone who's watching this now is screaming it at.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
But that show nowhere near our numbers?
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (45:26):
It went for like nine years.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I know, and it's but but all the all the
all the all the ladies show up to I mean
there's you know, every two million of them.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Show up to the conventions.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
I'll tell you what I will end on this because
I this is not usually my usual fair. But we
went to see in three D at the Imax Theater
in Universal City Walk the Fantastic Four on Friday afternoon,
and you know what, it's bloody good? Is it? It's
(45:59):
really bloody good.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
I have to say.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
The production value is extraordinary. I love it. It's it's
it's this crazy, weird mix of you know, authentic fifties.
You know they've got they don't they can't say greyhound buses.
They think they're called swordfish. But you know, all the
cars are fifties, the crowd look fifties. It's all beautifully done.
(46:27):
But the technology that the Fantastic Four have is retro
fifties but also really cool new stuff too, And but
it feeds in really well that the mapping of it
is extraordinary. The performances are great. Pedro Pascal who literally
(46:48):
it's probably never at home at the moment. I mean,
he's in everything you turn on. He's wonderful in it.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
He anchors it beautifully. Vanessa Kirby's terrific.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
Sky. He played one of the dodgy Caesars in the
New Gladiator movie. He's really good as the fireball Man.
And the other guy that plays the corn Flakes monster,
the thing, yeah, the thing. They're all terrific. And you know,
(47:21):
the humor that they try and inject into these films,
which I always tend to find falls flat on its face.
In this instance, actually it really it really rings true,
and they know it's occasionally hilariously funny. It's got the
cutest baby you'll ever see in it. And that baby's
going to college on this film. I'll tell you that much.
(47:44):
But I was, and in three D I was like, okay.
There's usually a fifty minute mark where I'm like yeah,
and I didn't really get it. Yeah, I was like, no,
I'm And there was a point in the hour and
twenty mile where I'm like, okay, I mean I'm in
(48:05):
your story.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
Well that's that's good to know. We've thought about seeing it.
We saw. It's just now out in the theaters. It's
a horror film with David franco Oh and his real
life life.
Speaker 3 (48:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
I didn't know they were married. I didn't, no idea. Yeah, yeah, anyway. Yeah,
but I heard them on the radio the other day
talking about it. And they developed it together, didn't.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
They They did?
Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, I think it might have written it Franko.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Yeah, it's an interesting movie.
Speaker 3 (48:41):
All right. That's what I heard.
Speaker 2 (48:42):
That they're glued together, aren't they. They're like like, have
to win?
Speaker 4 (48:46):
Yeah, yeah, and the creek factor works.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
But it's also he's funny.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
Is he he's funny?
Speaker 4 (48:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (48:55):
I don't mind.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
He's a good actor.
Speaker 3 (48:57):
Yeah, without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
All right, Well, we've bled, we've led this enough.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
I would go. I would advocate, go and see The
Fantastic Four and see it in three D at the
Imax theater in Universal in there are primary seats about
not halfway back, about a third back, sit in the middle,
and you really get immersed in the hole in the
whole shebang screen, the whole. Yeah, I mean I was impressed.
(49:30):
I mean I I mean, oh probably. Do you remember
when we went to see Dunkirk in in Imax at
the three D?
Speaker 1 (49:41):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
Within twenty seconds I went, oh, jeez, this is going
to be dreadful.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
And we're stuck in the middle.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Yeah, it was. We might have to edit that bit out.
He lives around the corner.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
I mean, I can hear you now.
Speaker 3 (49:58):
I see him from time to turn. His new film.
He's got one coming out, hasn't he?
Speaker 4 (50:05):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (50:07):
Is it Troy?
Speaker 2 (50:09):
It's it's something like The Peapalese Wars.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
No, it's a it's the isn't it.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
It's The Odyssey well done, which I.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
Think, what's the uh?
Speaker 2 (50:22):
And it's starring I think Burtnell. What's his name, that
Chap something Burtnell, who's been in sort of supporting and
everything for the last two years. He did the second
did the accountant. He's the brother in the accountant and accountant.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
To John Bereenthal Dohn Berethorpe.
Speaker 2 (50:41):
He's I think. I think I didn't because he shaved
his head. But I think he's got, He's finally found,
he's got. I think this is his big one demons
in it too, is he?
Speaker 3 (50:52):
All right? So there's that, like Matt always like Matt.
All right, we've wandered on.
Speaker 2 (50:57):
Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode and our remembrance
and reminiscences of it and reads, Yeah, go read some yates.
I might actually do the same because I don't know
that poem The Wandering Angus spelled a E N g
U S and I thought it was about a cow fish, right, yeah,
(51:26):
fish is it is an angus? A fish A N
the u s.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
I think he says it in the scene it's a
fish or a bird.
Speaker 2 (51:32):
I think it's a fish.
Speaker 5 (51:34):
The man in the poem catch us a fish.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
It turns into a beautiful woman.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
Well, anyway, till the next time. We hope you're enjoying
these watch parties and yeah, get used.
Speaker 9 (51:49):
To them, all right, everybody, stay, stay, stay
Speaker 2 (52:26):
Sta
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