TV Gold

This relates to this... http://raretelevision.com/all-rare-dvds-1/the-man-from-atlantis-1977-dvd-339.html

I wonder how many of us can cast our memories back thirty-two years and fondly recall a pre-Dallas appearance by actor Patrick Duffy as the mysterious aquatic stranger in the 1977-1978 action adventure series “Man From Atlantis”. I was recently browsing through the rare television website catalogue when I was surprised to come across this childhood favourite and, as part of my December 2008 purchasing budget, following on from my previous satisfactory purchases of 80s romantic comedy “Electric Dreams” and two series of BBC series “Spender”, I decided to ‘take the plunge’ (sorry I couldn’t resist the pun!) and ordered a copy of this five disc title. Now of course I’m aware that the subject of Atlantis has cropped up prior to this television series in classic Doctor Who, most notably during Patrick Troughton’s 1966 “The Underwater Menace” story and then through the Doctor, Jo and the Master’s visit to this lost continent during the latter stages of Pertwee 1972 six-parter “The Time Monster”. In addition lets not forget the late 70s movies “Warlords of Atlantis” and the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me”. However Patrick Duffy’s television character, known as Mark Harris seems to me to be a far more innocent, childlike individual than other more threatening interpretations of Atlantian inhabitants that I’m aware of. Now some people may find that Patrick’s performance is rather leaden alongside other cast in this series particularly in the pilot episode however I personally feel its totally in keeping with the naive alien nature of this character whom is quite clearly, if you’ll forgive the analogy ‘a fish out of water’ as he struggles to come to terms with the lifestyles of present day America. That aside he indeed presents a ‘fine figure of a man’ and at this point in his career is in excellent physical condition, perfect for a character whom spends most of the time in only his swimming trunks! This short lived series I believe still has a slight cult tv following aspect to it and I vaguely recall back when it had its initial UK transmission having paperback copies of both the first (pilot episode) and second (Death Scouts) stories, great shame that I haven’t kept them as they would have been ideal viewing companions now!

Initially I only made a cursory look at all five discs and the contents vary from two ‘feature length’ programs to five episodes which although can selected individually from the menu do infact run concurrently when viewed rather than returning you back to the initial selection at the end of each story. Despite the materials great age and no digital restoration of the prints being done this ‘bootleg’ copy of the series is surprisingly good with only occasion hiss and crackle most notably when a scene concludes. This is of course a minor blemish that you’ll soon overlook such is the fascinating opportunity to see a seemingly long forgotten television series which without the commendable service of the rare television company you certainly won’t otherwise see. Although I much prefer official release titles with attractively designed covers, remastered prints and the potential of extra special features on offer I’m currently extremely disappointed with the current and forthcoming film and television releases coming from official retail labels which invariably, in my opinion, from schedules printed in various magazine, seem to continually ‘rake over the same old material’ without offering any really appealing new surprises. Although it’s a much more simplified package from rare television the immense variety of surprising titles you’ll find on their website certainly, in my opinion, continues to embarrass the lack of imaginative vision that more mainstream labels currently offer. As a most satisfied customer I can well recommend ordering from rare television and supporting a company whose catalogue will provide many a surprise for those people whom are seeking more diverse titles than you’ll find from official retail labels.

…and now lets dive below the waves, slip back in time to the late 70s and try to get a feel for want “Man From Atlantis” is like leading off with some observations from me…

Disc One : episode one – “Pilot episode” (1:35:57)
This feature length series pilot episode I believe can effectively be broken down in three distinct phases. The first being ‘discovery’ as following a violent storm a man, his son and their dog are taking a nocturnal stroll along a beach somewhere in America when they discover the body of a man washed up on the shore. Further to asking his son Jodie to phone for an ambulance we then witness the hospital emergency room staff attempting in vain to resuscitate the man. I guess it’s when they notice the strange pigmentation of his eyes, the webbing on his hands and x-ray of his chest that they attempt to contact the young attractive blonde haired sea biologist Doctor Elizabeth Merrill whom is currently attending an informal get-together at a friend’s house. She makes her apologies and on reaching the emergency room immediately takes charge of the care of the patient and soon makes an amazing discovery when conducting a bronchial examination. She then insists that they release their patient into her care and departs the hospital and with her charge on board the ambulance rushes across town heading towards the sea front. It’s an iconic memorable moment when still wearing her white medical coat she wades into the water pushing the man around hoping that this environment would have resuscitative properties. There’s definitely something rather unsettling and somewhat spooky when the man looks back at her conveying such an cold alien persona.

The second phase of ‘research’ then kicks in with the US Navy now taking an interest in the man. Under the supervision of Doctor Merrill they learn a lot about his physiology and Elizabeth presents their findings (e.g. how he tires easily and that his health deteriorates after twelve hours out of the water) to a General in a darkened lecture hall at the Naval Undersea Centre. Whilst they talk the man escapes from the Centre and spends some time wandering the streets nearby. Naturally it’s a strange environment for him causing much anger from car drivers and his puzzlement continues when he observes a strange globe shaped clown face of a drive through restaurant with a disembodied voice insistently asking ‘can I take your order?’ His interest in this edifice is distracted by the ringing of a payphone nearby and drawn by the sound he enters the cabinet, picks up the receiver and accidentally closes the door on himself. He immediately looses interest in the phone and with palms outstretched he has a feeling of being trapped before a young child opens the door. It’s a fairly small sequence but it’s important in establishing the distinct alien nature of this character on land. Elizabeth’s briefing with the General is further followed up by determining his speed and agility when the now named Mark Harris lines up alongside a dolphin and the two of them compete in a race to the other side of the pool. The reward for the winner is a fish held aloft by a man standing at the top of a ladder attached to the side of the structure. We first get to see Mark’s unique flopping swim technique as he eases ahead of his aquatic competitor before leaping up to easily snatch the fish to signal his victory. Next they pressure test Mark in an enclosed tank and at every incremental increase we witness cans designated with 18,000 ft, 24,000 ft and 30,000 ft crushed as each depth is reached whilst Mark quite unaffected by what is going on looks on impassively and totally unconcerned.

Now the third phase of this story which you can consider as ‘mission’ finds the General wanting to use Mark Harris in a locate and recovery operation when a US Navy two man submarine known as ‘Seaquest’ goes missing in the Harmony Ridge. One of the crew of this vessel is Commander Phil Rock whom Doctor Merrill met at the party earlier in the story and they clearly have a strong well established friendship which underlines her shock at his loss and adds to her motivation to persuade Mark to help them. After misunderstandings and a degree of mistrust Mark eventually agrees to the General’s request and, after 33 mins of the entire story elapsed he finally speaks by saying ‘yes to the Admiral’. Mark and Elizabeth then drive to the quayside where the dive ship ‘Elk River IX 501’ is moored (something that is further acknowledged in the closing credits by the caption ‘The producers gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance furnished by the Department of Defence, the Department of the Navy and the officers and men of the dive ship “ELK RIVER” – IX 501 during the making of the film’). On board, under the pretence of testing some new equipment Mark goes down, fully suited up, with fellow diver Ernie Smith to 200 ft. It’s here that Elizabeth talks with the Navy diver attempting to prepare him for the shock of the ‘special equipment’ that Mark is testing however you gotta laugh when Ernie turns round and finds that he fellow diver has completely shed his suit and breathing equipment. He stares wide eyed as now only wearing his distinctive yellow shorts Mark zooms off straight down and out of sight eventually reaching the bottom of the trench which lies 36,000 ft from the surface… a total of seven miles! In this darkened environment Mark observes a four pod linked submarine making its way towards the side of a mountain. As a circular hole opens a length of landing lights begin to pulse in a flight path configurative way as if guiding the craft in. Having swiftly followed it inside with inches to spare before the door closes he keeps a discrete distance behind the occupants as they depart the craft and walk along curved metal lined corridors with inlaid centrally mounted lighting panels decorated by the odd porcelain figurine. The four scientists encounter a couple of ladies sitting at a desk and their protestations are swiftly silenced when these ‘receptionists’ place wristbands on the new arrivals. A similar object is subsequently placed on Mark’s wrist although for him there is no effect leading to the man in charge of the establishment to step forward. The rather overweight slightly balding shabbily dressed man known as Doctor Schubert with grizzled beard and a distinct American deep south inflection is played by the late Victor Buono (whom sadly died in 1982), an actor probably best known as playing King Tut in the 1960s Batman TV series. With his plan to engineer a global war by the firing of nuclear weapons stored in submarines spread across the globe through an electronic signal you got to say this is certainly verging on a premise that wouldn’t look totally out of place in a James Bond film. In fact, in my opinion, Schubert’s undersea environment and outlook on exploiting the resources of the ocean more closely associates this with the similar ambitions of Stromberg as featured in the 1977 film “The Spy Who Loved Me”. This feature length opener is highly effective in establishing the lead character’s unique identity and exploring the potential for subsequent underwater adventures as indicated with Mark’s first (and certainly not last!) encounter with the evil, determined Schubert. Credit is also due to Fred Karlin whose incidental music score for this pilot is largely soothing and admirably contributes in drawing the viewers interest into the mystery of Mark and his first mission for the Navy.

Onto watching second feature length episode tonight...

Watched IMO a rather muted overly padded third episode last night but in the meantime here are some thoughts from me about the second story...

Disc One : episode two – “The Death Scouts” (1:36:33)
After a brief introductory piece of narrative matched with images from the pilot story this second feature length slice of aquatic adventure launches with the sight of a strange conical object rising out of the ocean floor. Its alien nature is later corroborated by mention of a sighting of a strange light streaking across the late nighttime sky which then plunges under the water at this point in the ocean. Up on the surface a small motor launch containing three people holds station over the area a short distance from a much larger pleasure craft. The wetsuit wearing couple laugh and joke with their guide about the tranquil sun drenched setting before a strange dark dye discolouration spreads across the water around their boat. Reaching out they painfully discover that it has rendered an electrical charge to the water. Suddenly sickly green coloured arms reach up and pull the wet suit attired figures into the oceanic depths.

Now after the obvious establishing ‘shake down’ pilot this second offering sets up a familiar core identity for the series. Doctor Elizabeth Merrill has persuaded Mark Harris to join her at the ‘Foundation For Oceanic Research’ (or F.F.O.R. for short) whose headquarters building, in my opinion, conveys an old colonial feel replete with surrounding tall white picket fence and topped off by a period style lighthouse type tower. We are introduced to Elizabeth’s colleague, Director Simon Millar and their budget conscious boss C.W. Crawford. Their main craft of choice is the Cetacean, a powerful high tech submarine which presumably was retained at the end of the pilot episode having rescued the scientists from Schubert’s underwater base. The primary ‘centre of operations’ of this sub is of course the main bridge, a capacious command centre with its upwardly slanted multi slabbed light panelled ceiling similar to a spider’s web. The grey floor is flecked with similarly angled yellow lines which intersect at the central imposing helm console, a structure that in its almost vertical large slab like appearance is not entirely dissimilar to that which you’d find in the NASA space shuttle. Around the sides of the room are various banks of instrumental panels with only the main pressurised door and a view screen breaking up the operational functionality of the room. Of course with later series like ‘Seaquest DSV’ this may all seem rather basic but, for me at least, it still retains a certain high tech modern aspect to its design.

Now flipping back to the plot and down on the seashore coming out of the waves lapping in the two wet suit wearing figures make their way into the land however they are clearly not (as later revealed) relaxed easy going tourists Dily Bruce and Charles Jameson whom we’d previously witnessed. Their movements now are lacking any natural fluidity and the couple emit an occasional communicative whimpering sound. Nearby a couple of men are throwing a Frisbee around when the article accidentally lands at the ground near to the new arrivals. Unwilling to let go of this strange newly arrived piece of circular plastic they are reticent to give it back to the owner whom becomes insistent that he regains his property. This results in the wetsuit wearing couple joining arms and rendering an electric shock sufficient to knock the man, and then his friend, to the ground! We then watch them leave the beach and wander around the town, clearly bewildered by humans whom eat dead fish and use, as per the salesman, clams as units of barter. Back at the F.F.O.R. two young boys visit with a strange rock the found on the beach. Doctor Millar examines it and discovers that contains strange oval cells and that the object is radioactive. This is in addition to their being advised of the Coast Guard’s interest in the area and the strange disappearance of the tourists. After an initial investigation of the area Elizabeth and Mark return to their base and eventually climb aboard the Cetacean and set a course for the B Sierra trench for a more detailed examination of the area. It’s during their return that Mark leaves the sub and enters the conical structure for the first time. In the darkened gloom amidst walled surfaces decked out with occasional geometric triangular shapes the less defined slow moving figure of Mark discovers a small piece of stone on the floor that features the same design that features on his yellow trunks. Now back with the wetsuit wearing pair strolling around the seafront businesses and our pair happen upon a hot tub supplier and a rather annoying pushy salesman. Our monosyllabic duo totally ignore him and climb into a nearby relaxing container. For me the most noticeable fault with this generally enjoyable tale is at this point in the story with the pretty lame dialogue spouted by actors Tiffany Bolling and Burr DeBenning as the possessed pair. However I guess the writer of this script probably though it was appropriate for the alien characters. Shortly after their time in the hot tub Mark has his first encounter with the pair although any hope of a meaningful conversation is summarily cut short thanks to the unwelcome arrival of a Police car and its insistent officer. Feeling threatened despite Mark’s attempts to alleviate their fears they once more join arms and render an electric shock sufficient to slam our series lead against a nearby wall before diving off a nearby bridge and swimming out to the safety of the open sea. Thanks to the restorative effect of seaweed Mark makes a rapid recovery and makes his way back to the B sierra trench and with the Cetacean in close proximity he manages to overpower and return both of the strangers to the sub. At this point some of the mystery about them is revealed including the man’s name of Zos and the woman’s of Leola. Naturally with military interest in the pair their potential threat means they are taken away from the F.F.O.R. and locked up against Mark’s wishes leaving our series lead to feel ultimately betrayed by Elizabeth and his friends. It’s quite a poignant memorable sequence where Elizabeth, with Simon standing with her, look out to the rocky outcrop at the waters edge from the building’s tower and watch as Mark takes a moment to look up in their direction before he is gone from sight. Unbeknownst to the F.F.O.R. regulars Mark later visits Leola and speaks with the woman in her cell where she tantalisingly reveals her origins which she believes she shares with Mark and asks for the rock that the young boy had found. However it ultimately turns out to be a weapon and their subsequent escape from their confinement is just what Elizabeth needs to help convince Mark that he has been so easily mislead into believing that he is indeed the same as Zos and Leola. Watching “The Death Scouts” I guess you’ll notice a passing similarity between this, Space 1999 second season story “The Exiles” and Star Trek Next Generation fifth season story “Power Play” although this aquatic adventure has enough originality to help it to sufficiently differentiate it from other series offerings. As well as establishing a more familiar core series identity for the show it also offers an intriguing central plot premise mystery that although may have the occasional scripted fault is nevertheless an enjoyable well told feature length adventure.

Was watching episodes four and five last night... whilst four was a cracking good story five IMO seemed rather predictable athough fairly topical in the stories threat so obviously third offering from this series was only a temporary blip...

anyway some thoughts on that third feature now I think...

Disc Two : episode three – “Killer Spores” (1:36:28)
On board the Cetacean the F.O.R. regulars receive a phone call from the Joint Space Agency whom request that they pick up a wayward space probe that lands in the ocean closest to their current position. All straightforward at this point however this piece of space hardware has somehow returned with 6 ½ oz’s of something that the J.S.A. cannot identify. As the probe comes into proximity of the Cetacean it emits a screaming noise heard by all onboard the sub. The craft’s scanning equipment can’t decipher what exactly has returned from space so Mark elects to swim over to its resting position on the ocean floor. Heeding the cautious warnings of his friends he discretely swims around the object and then states that apart from noticing ‘small blue coins made of nothing’ over its surface he believes the probe is safe to bring aboard. Admittedly this third feature length offering, under the title of “Killer Spores” certainly exhibits worthy promise of an intriguing mystery I feel it is delivered in such an overtly leisurely pace that I feel it’s premise has been extended beyond its natural length. A clear case in point has got to be following his becoming infected by the spores Mark Harris forcefully states that he feels cold and after deterring Miller from turning off the lab light (so as to see where the spores are) and roughly throwing Elizabeth across the room he storms out of the building, commandeers a car and heads off at high speed. We then have a lengthy chase sequence, apparently at speeds in excess of 100mph across country culminating in our aquatic hero ditching the car and walking out into the open desert at the end of Dune’s Road. Elizabeth and Miller follow him into the arid landscape and once they find him collapsed and gasping a hastily arranged Police helicopter is pulled in to airlift him away from the dunes. A rapid cross-country flight concludes over a hotel swimming pool where the stretcher containing Mark is dropped into the water with Elizabeth diving after him. In a way this sequence of the concerned Doctor attempting to resuscitate her still breathing patient is a direct throwback to the nocturnal sequence in the pilot story. Whilst both pleasing and helping to remind viewers of the fragile nature of our aquatic series lead it does, to a degree, feel like trading on past scripting glories. Admittedly this all helps to indicate the evil intents of the alien spores however this lengthy sequence still smacks of an attempt to extend the natural length of this script. When you think about it “Killer Spores” bears a passing similarity with the Season One ‘Star Trek : Next Generation’ story “Lonely Among Us” with also has an ‘aliens possessing humans when accidentally abducted from their natural home’ premise. In the latter stages of this story the spores turn their attention on inhabiting humans so as to better learn about them however unlike with Mark their victims invariably exhibit subsequent white emotionless faces shortly after these aliens have departed. Having left the F.O.R. building we initially see a traffic guard standing in the middle of a busy road intersection blowing his whistle and then two elderly chess players in the park suddenly becoming overtly hostile towards each other. Once again there is a sense of more scene padding with Mark, Elizabeth and Miller driving around attempting to locate and stop these flying spores that only Mark can see. The scenes at the Carlyle hotel further eat up more time as we watch a lady shouting in the restaurant, a man whistling in the lobby and restaurant and a man throwing clothes off a rack in the hotel lobby. There was another man laughing in the lobby and then another man in the restaurant talking great delight in spraying another man’s face with whipped cream before all of these people became blank faced emotionless figures once the spores depart. I guess the most amusing bit of this story for me has got to be Pamela, the F.O.R. secretary acting in a playfully drunk state with C.W. Crawford when the straight laced director attempts to retain a professional demeanour whilst talking with a J.S.A. General whom is insisting in the return of the probe. Another point worth noting is the sequences where Mark is reflecting on Miller and Elizabeth’s heightened concerns about the dangers that the spores present to humanity. We first see Mark standing by the waters edge down on the beach at dusk and then later sitting cross-legged on the ocean floor in a meditative stance. Naturally Elizabeth, Miller and the rest of the F.O.R. staff are not immune to becoming possessed by the spores and as expected we eventually see everyone become white faced emotionless puppets on board the Cetacean. With about 12 minutes left of the story the spores finally make their one and only vocal contact with Mark and through the vocally treated Elizabeth it’s a worthy spooky séance style conversation with hands joined over the glass table. Undoubtedly after the enjoyable immediate exciting adventure on offer during the series pilot and “Death Scouts” stories this third “Killer Spores” offering will undoubtedly feel like a bit of a let down. It definitely suffers from excessive padding however the central premise is reasonably strong and intriguing despite the relatively imperceptible alien threat offered by the aliens. Not a total disaster but it’s hardly one that will live that long in viewers memories!

Regarding this 'raretelevision' title there's really no clear indication on where this material was sourced from other than the creation was done during 2005. However at the end of "Killer Spores" I was surprised to hear a 'Sky One' announcer state that 'there will be more from The Man From Atlantis next week, meanwhile next on Sky One we have Robin of Sherwood'. None of these three feature length episodes have any channel idents on the screen and apart from this there is no indication as to which channel it's been recorded. You might now be lead to believe that the entire series has been recorded from Sky One however you'd certainly be dead wrong as, for the fourth and fifth episodes there are more broadcasting surprises in store! But from me at least, that's for another day...

Six and Seven last night, a couple of good episodes with excellent picture and sound, but the stories had aspects that I felt weren't properly resolved but I'll come back to comment about those in due course.

In the meantime thoughts from me about episode four...

Disc Two : episode four – “The Disappearances” (1:09:33)
Although noticeably shorter than the preceding three offerings this fourth story gradually develops into a cracking good mystery adventure presenting Mark and the F.O.R regulars with the realistic danger of a committed group of individuals whom will stop at noting to achieve their aims. It begins slowly enough with Mark collecting samples from the ocean floor which he then returns to the Cetacean for Elizabeth and Miller to examine. Meanwhile we watch a smart suited man identified as Dick Stoneman meeting the arrival of a large sea plane which delivers his ‘colleague’ Jane Smith. The pair drive off in Dick’s open-top Mercedes sports car with the driver saying to his passenger that their ‘research project’ will soon be enhanced by the anticipated forthcoming recruitment of Elizabeth Merrill. Back at the F.O.R. base C.W. introduces Dick and his assistant Jane to Elizabeth and shows the pair around their facilities with Dick’s assistant lingering in the laboratory. It is here that she observes Mark sitting in a large tank playfully touching a large fish as part of his communication research. It is clear at this meeting that Jane is obviously smitten with our series lead. It seems that Dick Stoneman is an ocean research scientist whom seeks Elizabeth’s help in evaluating a new boat he has bought and the following day she arranges to meet him at the end of a seaside pier. Close by Mark wanders various beachfront amusements with our series lead trying an automated palm reader (the device tells that Mark is shy and retiring) and then expressing puzzlement at distorting mirrors. This is certainly reminiscent of the pilot story where our water breathing series lead is suitably baffled by a drive through restaurant clown face and ringing payphone. Anyway whilst Mark is otherwise distracted Elizabeth meets with Stoneman where she is forcibly coerced down a gangway towards a waiting boat. Whilst she struggles against Dick’s associates Mark rushes in and makes a futile attempt to prevent her kidnapping. He is knocked out and dragged off towards a nearby shed into which he is locked in. Once again there is that ‘fish out of water’ vulnerability to Mark and it doesn’t take too long before he is all gasping and purple faced. There is a touching moment where a seal climbs up onto the jetty and futilely attempts to gain the attention of passing tourists. It is eventually left to C.W. and Miller the following morning to find Mark and having forcibly opened the door our series lead stumbles out of his confined environment and falls into the life giving water at the jetty’s edge. Fully restored to health he then joins his F.O.R. colleagues whom talk with a recently arrived FBI agent investigating the activities of Dick Stoneman, an individual whom has a number of aliases and has generated an amount of paperwork regarding his nefarious activities. Amongst the contents of the file there is a drawing of a stretch of coastline which Mark recognises and the word ‘Felicitios’ which puzzles the F.O.R. trio. However back at their base Miller eventually makes the connection between this word and an old captains log from the 1880s. It actually refers to an obscure island in the Southern Brazilian ocean… so it’s then a long sea voyage for the Cetacean. Meanwhile Elizabeth is shuttled from the seaplane into the beach of this island where she, Dick and his associates then make their way to a large disused shack. This is merely a façade which gives way to a lift down to an underground base where the self-assured Doctor Mary Smith, a resolutely intractable young woman wearing a headband scarf cordially welcomes their new arrival. After extending every courtesy to Elizabeth she then instructs the staff to escort her to ‘the spa’, a dark red lit, twee music chamber where the waters used have a strangely pacifying quality on all those whom enter. I guess you find a mild passing similarity with this environment with that which was created for ‘the love boutique’ as featured in the “Logan’s Run” feature film. It’s worth mentioning that there’s no doubt that in additional casting, “The Disappearances” is ‘one for the ladies’ as the Doctor Smith’s henchmen are all well developed muscle bound men whom you certainly wouldn’t pick an argument with! Looking at the group’s main control room and it certainly looks like that which you’d find in a nuclear power station with the same slab sided instrument panels lining the surrounding walls in addition to the main terminal desk. Naturally when the Cetacean arrives on the scene Mary is suitably astonished but retains her composure by launching a torpedo which then sticks to the side of the sub in a leech like manner. Now sadly it around this mid point in the story that an element of horizontal picture disruption begins which although noticeable is fairly minor and does, to a degree, lessen over the remainder of the story. Another thing worth mentioning about this title is of course occasional wondering of its recorded source. Well for this fourth story you’ll notice a couple of ‘WPWR-TV 50 Chicago’ station idents cropping up and a couple of announcers in the closing credits telling us about ‘tomorrow night’s TJ Hooker’ show and other series they have on offer. Returning to the danger that the Cetacean faces and yeah it’s a pretty good exciting sequence with Mark removing the attached torpedo before Doctor Smith explodes it. Following this Mark and Millar go to the beach shack where they are then taken prisoner and on their arrival at the underground base are both escorted to ‘the spa’. Naturally Mark is unaffected by the pacifying waters however you gotta laugh at the subsequent performance of Elizabeth and Millar whom give a classical music recital with our female lead singing in German whilst her colleague accompanies on the piano! For me although a ‘slow burner’ which leads off in a fairly routine manner it quickly develops into a much more satisfying tale about a group of rebel scientists attempting to journey to the stars of Epsilon Eradarni for a new life. After a fairly low key third story this brings ‘The Man From Atlantis’ back to delivering the much more satisfying slice of dramatic fantasy entertainment I’ve now become used to.

...and for episode five I'd like to say...

Disc Three : episode five – “Melt Down” (47:39)
As the second season opener there are a few things that are immediately apparent when viewing “Melt Down”. Firstly we’ve got a new title sequence which more prominently features Mark Harris, now clearly in command of the Cetacean seated at the new centrally located wraparound control station. Other system areas on the bridge also look a bit more defined than last year with bigger command chairs for the crew all of which, including Mark and Elizabeth wear the new F.O.R. navy blue jackets. The entrance to the undersea base has also undergone a slight upgrade with the mountainside aperture now a spiral opening which delivers the sliding gantry onto which the Cetacean lands before being retracted in. There is a futuristic circular brightly lit embarkation tunnel leading to an adjacent office primarily used by C.W. although noticeable by his absence it looks like Elizabeth’s colleague Millar has, like the former captain of the sub, not survived the season two upgrades. There are no horizontal picture problems with this episode however I personally found it significantly darker than preceding offerings on this title. Yes indeed we’ve got a couple of channel idents cropping up during this story… this time for an American broadcaster in Cleveland! As to the story what better way to launch this new run than a return for pilot story villain Mr Schubert whom we first see here chatting with his uppercrust butler Trubsure regarding his current ‘piece of mischief’ instigated by ‘SEA MAJOR’, a division of Schubert Enterprises Ltd. In this instance his interest is in melting the polar ice cap up in the Arctic Ocean, something that seems rather topical considering our current ecological concerns. Basically Schubert’s fascination for our aquatic series lead remains as he issues the ultimatum of his ‘dropping the oceans to their natural level in exchange for Mark Harris’. Anyway the F.O.R. eventually track the source of the rise in water levels to the Chukchi sea, a region of the Arctic Ocean where our regulars find a large phase shifter device emitting microwaves to melt ice. Mark, exhibiting a new ability, uses his own sonar to ultimately destroy this device however this naturally results in the area quickly refreezing much to the peril of the Cetacean. Whilst they dive to the bottom to escape Mark heads for the surface and having punched through he reluctantly is pulled from the water by a rope ladder lowered from a helicopter containing Schubert. Our overweight bearded villain intimates that ‘he only wants to study Mark’ and although there is undoubtedly some credence to this as typified by the multitude of wires attached to our series lead’s body and head in the final scenes Schubert has no intention of stopping his melting of the ice despite feeding a false television news report to Mark to help convince him to stay. The cultured and pompus aspect of Schubert is clearly evident in this story with his finely attired dining table complemented by four male stringed instrument musicians playing classical music to accompany his meal, something that he later joins in with by use of cello. To further placate Mark, Suchbert even assembles a collection of garden furniture arranged in a tasteful homely manner in a large indoor pool and its certainly strange seeing our yellow trunked lead subsequently relaxing on the settee idily flicking through a magazine. There are a couple of pleasant cameo appearances during this story by a young actress playing a concerned seafront food stall trader whom confronts our innocent series lead down at the waters edge. Generally a fairly unremarkable premise adequately delivered with a few welcome deft touches of character development and humourous note. Pleasant enough but it certainly can be considered as being a promising start to this second season!

Very impressed with the intriguing concept for the eighth episode helped by a couple of guest star cast members last night although the ninth episode seemed rather uninspiring in it's premise although I thought it was satisfactorily executed.... But enough of what of this weeks viewing I'd like to talk about last weeks pairing beginning with this...

Disc Three : episode six – “The Mudworm” (47:47)
Back with Mr Schubert and his loyal assistant Brent whom we first see at the start of this instalment occupied in the attempted rescue of a piece of research equipment. However, at a depth of 21,000 ft down, this crawling worm like device is determinedly resisting all advances to attach a towing tether to it. This object is an elongated box like structure replete with rubber tubed arms finished off with claw like hands and bears a passing similarity to other robotic creatures like for example the scuttling beings seem rushing back to the sand miner out in the deep desert of the 1984 feature film “Dune”. Schubert’s research tool apparently cost him $7 million and is commonly referred to as a ‘mudworm’ which he later says, to Mark and the crew of the Cetacean, is made up of the acronym of Mobile Underwater Device Oceanic Research Module (no I also don’t know where the ‘W’ went in this!). Naturally the mudworm soon presents a danger to shipping and the Navy call in the F.O.R. team to investigate, just as Schubert expected. Arriving in the area our heroes are initially puzzled by the mechanical crab like object which is scuttling along the ocean floor in front of them. The Navy’s decision is to destroy it by torpedo however final tracking and guidance of the projectile reverts to the Cetacean at 3000 ft. As it nears its target the mudworm uses laser pulses from its conical periscope structure to stop and attempts to redirect it back to the F.O.R. craft! Thankfully our heroes survive this danger and ‘like a Spanish matador confronting an angry bull’ Mark swims out and renders it inoperative. This is not the end of the story as, being aware of its capture, Schubert waits until they rise to 12,000 ft on their return trip before activating the recall device. I thought this sequence where it slowly begins to move, panicking sub crew before tearing its way out of the room and on towards the airlock reasonably effective. Now the purpose of mudworm’s search of the deep distant ocean depths was to locate an extremely rare K7 substance of which only 21 oz are known to exist in the entire world. The mission is indeed successful and in the belly of the beast it holds 13 oz’s of a substance believed to enable Schubert to gain control of all world missiles. I suspect there is an unexpected side effect of prolonged exposure to K7 for the mudworm whom develops its own consciousness, independence and, as Mark later discovers when he makes his final confrontation with the device, a reasoning intelligence. It’s worth noting a pleasing humourous cameo by a pushy Rutledge Encyclopaedia salesman whom, whilst walking along a cliff path towards the F.O.R. base fervently attempts to convince Mark of the inherent values of collecting the entire 24 volume set of his product as well as a custom made bookcase to contain them. Our innocent, naive series lead is more than happy to just take the free single volume and firmly but politely turns down the offer of collecting the following 23 volumes which would have cost him $42.95 per book! Also worth noting is the new launch procedure for Cetacean where the sub is wheeled along on a rolling cradle through the circular opening aperture before being released to rise up into the ocean. Personally it makes me feel that the F.O.R. don’t trust their crew to safely pilot the craft to and from their docked position inside the mountain like they were doing in the four feature length first season stories. However I guess this change in procedure adds to the heroic cult status of the series regulars and their amazing submersible. Now a word on attempting to spot the source of this material and you’ll notice a couple of channel idents for WDZL 39 of Fort Lauderdale in Miami which also leads to an extremely truncated end credits. In contrast to the preceding episode this sixth tale, under the title of “The Mudworm” presents a much brighter clarity to the picture of a story which is reasonably entertaining although doesn’t rise above a usual formulaic approach in story telling that usual American television drama series follow.

Watching these is like revisiting part of my childhood and I really love the opportunity to see it again thanks to those nice people at raretelevision!

I'm a little puzzled how Mark talks to the F.O.R. sub via the monitor as he's clearly underwater (i.e. you can see his hair swishing in the water) but anyway some thoughts from me about the next story...

Disc Three : episode seven – “Hawk of Mu” (47:01)
Another research experiment for Schubert and Brent for this seventh story where our troublesome white lab coat wearing duo are fiddling with banks of technical equipment as the attempt to influence a strange subterranean object. Located deep in its labyrinthine surroundings a large slightly bulbous porcelain hawk bird statue starts pulsing with light. The eventual result of Schubert’s technical meddling leads to a total electrical shutdown of everything in an 80 mile area which prompts the interest of the F.O.R. team to investigate. Having located the island concerned Mark subsequently swims into narrow fissures below its shores and discovers a dimly light series of caves. Having grabbed a nearby flaming torch he makes his way to the statues location and, having observed strange hieroglyphics above its resting position, returns to the Cetacean to inform his colleagues of what he has found. He later returns to the cave with Elizabeth where he says that the strange writing translates as an invocation to the Hawk god of what to do after he emerges in the afterlife. Although becoming temporarily trapped in the cave they do eventually return to the surface with the statue which they return to the local ‘Prescott Museum’ where Schubert and Brent later visit and gaze avariciously at the object of their desire. Schubert attempts to coerce Mark to work for him and steal the statue but the direct approach of one of his associates romantically flirting with him fails. We then have Mark rescuing a ‘damsel in distress’ when she rather unconvincingly falls off a small boat close to shore and calls for his assistance in preventing her from drowning. It then transpires that Juliet is infact Schubert’s daughter whom soon becomes smitten with our aquatic series lead. Schubert eventually steals the statue from the museum with out Mark’s help however Juliet and Mark attempt to take it back from her father at his large country house climbing into to her room in what she believes is like a ‘reverse elopement’ type sequence. However on their entrance Schubert is waiting with the Police whom then arrest Mark and take him down to the local station where he is locked up. Again Schubert attempts to gain Mark’s compliance as a new employee by insisting on marriage to his daughter. Mark naturally does not agree to this although Schubert says he can be patient as our ‘fish out of water’ is clearly beginning to feel the effects of a lack of H2o. Mark and Juliet subsequently stage a mock ‘pillow’ fight in the cell and get the police to turn on the nearby water hose with obvious restorative strength effect on our series lead. Once again you’ve got the ‘WDZL 39’ Miami, Fort Lauderdale ident and aside from a mild sound crackle about eight minutes from the end this is another marvellous picture and sound quality offering from this raretelevision title. With its mystical plot aspect rounded off by the statue turning into a real eagle which Mark physically tackles down on the beach this is a very enjoyable reasonably intriguing slice of ‘Man From Atlantis’.

Back for some more...

Disc Three : episode eight – “Giant” (46:14)
The opening titles of this eighth instalment give way to the sight of a stone wall being broken by a seemingly powerful figure intent on capturing the wet suit wearing man located close by. Out in the deserted rocky landscape we then watch this towering ‘giant’ man wearing old fashioned clothes and hat give chase from the fleeing clearly terrified individual whom makes his way towards a period styled well. Having secured air tanks to his back he climbs into the shaft and, still clutching his back of small gold rocks, begins to make his way carefully down towards the water below. However his pursuer grabs the rope being used for this decent and begins to shake it violently ultimately leading to the man to fall unassisted below the water, seemingly to his death. Taking the part of this lumbering powerful lead story character viewers will notice the familiar features of American basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabbar (an actor whom is probably best known as co-pilot Roger Murdock in the 1980 classic comedy movie “Airplane!”) whose presence gives excellent believable credence to this mysterious foe from another parallel dimension. Yes the main premise of this story, quite a good one in my opinion, is that the mining/prospecting activities that this giant, later identified as Thark, is involved in is causing the evaporating of water from our world into his by use of a powerful whirlpool. Naturally this occurrence brings our F.O.R. team to the area where they initially discover a rate of 7.34 litres of water disappearing from our oceans. If unchecked our F.O.R. team believe this danger could lead to the total alteration of the Earth to an arid desert world! Swimming near to the whirlpool Mark discovers the wetsuit wearing figure lying lifeless close by and returns him to the Cetacean. When the man revives it soon becomes apparent that he is a likeable untrustworthy thief/con artist rouge called Muldoon. In the subs sick bay there is a pleasing scene where he attempts to scam Mark when he attempts to teach our series lead the appeal of playing poker for money or any other item of value, something that despite his undoubtedly naive nature Mark gains the upper hand. Anyway Muldoon later escapes from the F.O.R. sub and Mark eventually tracks him to a bar in the nearby Medusa Bay where our crook, with a mild Irish vocal inflection attempts to brag to the lady customers of his purported wealth. Seeing Mark entering the establishment Muldoon clearly feels that this law biding individual is clearly ‘cramping his style’ and arranges a good old ‘knock down drag out’ fight, a useful diversion whilst he sneaks out the back way. However beyond the confines of the bar he then runs into Thark whom, using a small handheld tracking device, snatches back the bag of small gold rocks before throwing Muldoon through the nearby window before returning back home. Naturally the Police are called to stop the disturbance (which apparently resulted in $6000 in damages) and our likeable rouge ends up behind bars although Mark attempts to gain his help in reaching the parallel dimension where he hopes he can stop the whirlpool. Naturally Elizabeth continues to be suspicious of Muldoon despite his attempted flirting with our F.O.R. marine scientist before he and Mark, both wearing diving oxygen tanks, leave the Cetacean. Although there is danger in ascending the shaft the pair do eventually enter the parallel world via the well where Muldoon leads Mark to a large residential shack. It is here where, whilst hidden in the roof of the structure Mark ascertains Thark’s miner/prospector status and it leads him, with Muldoon in tow, to a wooden channel located in a rocky outcrop nearby. It’s an amusing notion when Mark says to Muldoon ‘there is water here but you can’t see it!’ especially when the pair look down into the wooden channel where a large quantity of gold rocks can be seen at the bottom. Obviously Muldoon’s greed takes over but Mark holds him back saying that the current would cut him to pieces which seems difficult to realise when you can’t actually see the water to which he believes is there. It’s not hard to work out that here is the cause of Earth’s oceanic loss and the resolution of this story is played out in an expected and satisfactory manner replete with the ultimate fate of Muldoon. In a second season that predominately features appearances by Mr Schubert “Giant” is a pleasing dramatically engaging surprise that for me is definitely one of the most satisfactory offerings that the “Man From Atlantis” series has offered up.

Uniformly good picture and sound quality seems to be prevelant for most episodes now although maybe a couple of episodes like episodes nine and ten the picture is a tad too bright...

Disc Three : episode nine – “Man O’War” (46:32)
Reaching episode nine we find Mr Schubert and his loyal assistant Brent return and find the rotund bearded character apparently short of funds. In his beachfront property located at the end of a seaside pier Schubert provides a home to his genetically created monster, a 10ft carnivorous jellyfish whom later kills a great white shark and eats it (the skeletal remains are discovered on the beach later in the story). Of course there is always a danger with creating a larger than normal version of a natural aquatic creature but in my opinion this story just about gets away with it. It’s especially successful, without giving too much away about the plot, in its later clasping attack of Schubert and Brent which could be likened to the third Doctor’s tussle with the Nestene in the Season Seven classic series Doctor Who story “Spearhead From Space”. With this little aquatic nasty he intends to engage in a little bit of extortion by unleashing it around the waters at the nearby Barens Landing resort. It is here that a 38 mile long distance international swimming competition is being held and through a ransom note created (in the typical old fashioned way) from press clippings he demands $1 to be paid to him to prevent him from disrupting the event with his vicious jellyfish. That essentially is the main premise of this tale, making it hardly that dramatically engaging compared with other stories I’ve watched so far. However let’s not summarily discount “Man O’War” because there are some very pleasing aspects to this ninth series offering like for example the extensive location filming giving the production a worthy believable filmic quality. As co-ordinator of the event C.W. finds himself dealing with an irritating Indian official whom unfortunately wears a light turban which can sadly be likened to the bathing caps some of the swimmers are wearing later in the story which lessens the believable credence of this characters ethnic origins. Attempting to whip up some enthusiasm amongst viewers and spectators alike you’ve got TV reporter Blaise Mullen however despite his stereotypical vocal delivery I personally thought he looked a lot like the actor Burt Reynolds and kept wondering if he was going to descend into a “Smokey and the Bandit” type ‘good ol boy’ type persona! Also worth a mention is the brief cameo by Leo, a rather snobby owner of a seafront upper class restaurant whom takes great exception to Mark’s casual merely swimming trunk wearing persona and prevents our series lead from speaking with the dining C.W. and Elizabeth. Mark eventually tracks the jellyfish to its owners and it is here that Brent uses a knockout gas gun on our hero whom awakens to find himself handcuffed to a chair. He then starts to emit a whining cry sound and shortly afterwards the house is rocked by something rather large in the water nearby. Another worthy communicative skill for our unique series lead. Although the premise is hardly dynamic and in my opinion able to carry the entire length of the story there are some pleasing deft addition touches of character cameos and location filming that help elevate “Man O’War” but this is hardly a memorable offering.


Hope to come back next week with some thoughts on episodes ten and eleven which I think are definitely at alternate edges of the story telling spectrum...

Interesting that yesterday (17th March 2009) was series lead Patrick Duffy's 60th birthday! Now back to some more episodic thoughts with this...

Disc Four : episode ten – “Shootout At Land’s End” (46:40)
We open this tenth offering on a ranch out in the American countryside where two men are talking quite acrimoniously about the fate of Charlie whom one individual, identified as his brother, Mr Washburn, asserts was gunned down, shot in the back by Luke Jones. Luke’s brother, Billy resolutely defends his honour by rejecting Washburn’s arguments and casting serious doubts on his ability to successfully testify at trial as to the veracity of what he had seen. It is only when the black waistcoat, arm bands and hat wearing figure turns round that we realise that we’ve got an old fashioned doppelganger type premise here with the man being the spitting image of Mark Harris! Anyway Billie is prevented from further threatening Washburn as across the open area a young woman, Belinda brandishes a shotgun and approaches the hired gun and her father. Billy takes the hint and seemingly departs however he suddenly appears riding around the nearby house and having put down the shotgun, he makes a grab for Belinda to steal a kiss from the fiery young woman. Belinda obviously resists and reaches for the gunslingers knife and taking it from its belt holster she plunges the implement in Billy’s left shoulder. Strangely this injury is suddenly felt by Mark Harris on board the Cetacean, the vessel currently in the area on a mission of asserting whether a nearby volcano is likely to be going critical. Because of this Mark leaves the sub intent on locating whatever caused his sudden pain and eventually comes ashore where he proceeds towards the Washburn ranch. Naturally he is mistaken by Belinda for Billy however her initial hostility melts away when she fails to spot the wound that she inflicted with the gunslingers knife. Once her father is also convinced Mark is loaned a horse with which to ride into the nearby settlement of Land’s End to search for his alleged ‘brother’. However the Washburn’s are first intent on having ‘a bit of fun’ with the new arrival as the beast they give Mark is a regular ‘bucking bronco’ and we see our series lead getting thrown out of the ringed corral. Undeterred by his unceremonious treatment Mark dusts himself down and calmly goes up to the horse and, as typifies this character, has ‘a quiet word’ with the animal, something that he later says is the same way he placates dolphins! Meanwhile in one of the upper rooms of the local saloon Billy Jones is relaxing in a tub of a room belonging to Miss Carla, clearly a ‘lady of easy virtue’ whom is susceptible to the charms of the smooth-talking gunslinger. However their time together is cut short when senior villain of the story Clint Holister comes knocking on the door causing a rapid departure by Billy up through the attic of the premises. Having ridden into town Mark does eventually confront Billy and it’s certainly a strange sight to watch the two men talking initially in the privacy of a nearby livery stable. Mark, as innocently naive as ever, attempts to convince Billy that he is his brother and tells him of the wonders of the Cetacean and its mission of researching the oceans of the world. However Billy is an unscrupulous character and sets out to switch places with our series lead, donning the yellow trunks for his swim back to the sub. Naturally Elizabeth’s suspicions are initially aroused when Mark is unable to verbally communicate via the monitor. It gets worse when he gets onboard with his odd verbal and physical mannerisms really giving the game away, most notably when CW comes through on the radiotelephone which really spooks the impostor. Miss Carla pops up once more, driving a period styled pony and trap when she meets and gives a ride to Mark, much to the considerable consternation of Holister whom observes the pair driving off from behind a nearby tree. Mark had previously had an encounter with the senior villain of the story when Holister had attempted to enlist the ‘supposed’ gunslinger in the permanently silencing of Daily Sentinel newspaper editor Metcalf whom had written a front page story saying that Luke Jones should be hanged. Throw in a typical gunfight from street buildings between good and bad guys and you’ve got all the makings of a familiar western. Taken on its own this seems reasonably entertaining western fare however when considered against other ‘Man From Atlantis’ script offerings this wild west adventure does seem a bit jarring. If that’s what you like then this is fine however I personally felt it is a rather clumsy way of shoehorning the genre into this aquatic series much to the detriment of the usually fine aquatic storylines we’ve had up to this point. Elizabeth and the Cetacean crew are sadly sidelined for much of this which for me only goes to highlight the flaw in this tale. Yeah there is much fun to be had from the doppelganger element especially the subtle changes in actor Patrick Duffy’s performance to differentiate Billy and Mark and there is a welcome split screen effect of having both characters in the same shot about four and a half minutes from the end. However this really doesn’t, in my opinion, sufficiently save “Shootout At Land’s End” from relegating it to begin considered the weakest offering the series has offered.

Was watching 12 and 13 last night both of which are derived from literary fiction but I won't mention my opinions of these two at this point. Instead here are some thoughts from me about the next episode that I watched last week that I was mighty impressed with!...

Disc Four : episode eleven – “Crystal Water, Sudden Death” (46:29)
For the eleventh story we find, on board a submarine the familiar overweight figure of Schubert gazes intently beyond his two piloting staff at the waters beyond displayed on the screen. Standing alongside him Brent has finally been replaced by a Mr Havergail a much more assertive, strong willed individual played by the familiar persona of ‘Star Trek : Deep Space Nine’ Odo character actor Rene Auberjonois. Schubert’s objective on this occasion is the acquisition of special crystals which have the ability to control radio airwaves around the planet. From the locator instruments onboard his craft he believes he has found these crystals however there is an impenetrable barrier ahead leading him to once more surreptitiously enlist the services of Mark Harris and the F.O.R. team to realise his ambitions. Back at their base CW visits Mark whom he discovers in a water filled tank alongside Baxter, a seal that had arrived at the F.O.R. with a broken flipper. CW is considerably impressed with Mark’s ability to heal the animal but that really wasn’t the main reason for seeking out our series lead. Apparently Elizabeth has been detecting strange seismic disturbances in an area in the mid pacific, south of the Hawaii chain and he’d like Mark to accompany the Cetacean to investigate. Now after the relative disappointment of the previous story “Crystal Water, Sudden Death” is a truly stunning return to form of the type of fascinating dramatically engaging aquatic stories I’ve come to expect from such an innovate and enjoyable series. Arriving in the area the Cetacean is similarly prevented from approaching the barrier that had prevented Schubert’s craft so Mark elects to leave the sub and swim over to the area to investigate on his own. We witness Mark encounter a ball like light blue forcefield membrane that he carefully touch examines before suddenly discovering a way through. He manoeuvres himself through and then bizarrely falls in and down onto an elevated rocky outcrop. As he stands there, taking a moment to slip on his light protecting sunglasses, he surveys the lush rocky landscape which appears slightly blue tinted in contrast. Picking his way down to a nearby pool he suddenly encounters a white faced, tight white outfit wearing figure whom converses in a strange clicking sound. There is some brief attempt to converse before another similar attired person, clearly male, suddenly appears close by and from his elevated position he raises a crystalline object which instantly paralyses Mark. Our series lead eventually persuades him that he is not a threat and they appear to initially take him at his word, escorting Mark to a nearby structure which clearly has some sort of religious significance for the people whom live here. It’s very noticeable that this fairly androgynous species have a rather ungainly, precise way of movement particularly evident when, in large numbers they escort Mark inside. Within the structure these white figures make their way to sit on benches located diagonally parallel to a central large yellow box like alter type structure which dominates the room. With Mark designated to stand in front of this, one of the white coloured people, an individual wearing a small necklace defining this person as the leader, raises a crystal controlling device to should height. Mark is instantly encased in a blue laser box with a flying dot buzzing around his body causing considerable pain whilst he is questioned as to his purpose of visiting them. Meanwhile Schubert and Havegail make their way into this underwater world and have been observing Mark’s progress amongst the indigenous people. They eventually make their presence known by entering the shrine and gain the compliance of the white figures by use of an ultraviolet light torch device, the use of which appears to totally bind Mark when used on him! It’s a great tense development but you just know that this impediment wasn’t going to be permanent and as expected he later confirms to one of the local people he infact has a protective membrane in his inner eye that saved his sight. He engineers a means of escaping Schubert’s work party whom are collecting the crystals and returns to the Cetacean with an example of this valuable resource for his colleagues to study. Actually he only gives them half the rock as the remainder he then uses to place in the transmitter dish located on the side of Schubert’s submarine. This is a wondrously imaginative script which adds more mystery throughout like for example when Mark later opens up the back of the central alter and finds steps leading down into caves below their settlement wherein lies a considerable collection of crystals in one of the caverns. “Crystal Water, Sudden Death” is further embellished by marvellously composed incidental music which I feel effectively conveys the alien environment where most of this story is played out. It’s worth noting that in addition to the more forthright, outspoken Havergail, Schubert has considerably more employees to call on for this story as he attempts to realise his latest mad scheme. The only minor blemish I can think of is that, once again, Elizabeth and the Cetacean crew are completely sidelined whilst Mark has his adventures amongst the indigenous lifeforms and Schubert’s band of baddies within the confines of Kilburrow Deep. Despite this “Crystal Water, Sudden Death” is definitely one of the best ‘Man From Atlantis’ stories and well worth repeated occasional viewings!

Hope to come back for some more soon...

with best wishes!

Watched the penultimate pairing of this series on Tuesday evening with some surprising guest stars which challenge your memory!

Meanwhile some more episodic (and release) thoughts from me with this...

Disc Four : episode twelve – “The Naked Montague” (52:40)
Mark and the Cetacean crew are involved in performing seismic scans of an area of ocean when our series lead detects, primarily from the sudden decrease of fish, a sudden violent tremor. Once the considerable shaking of the sub has subsided Mark swims out to the area once more and whilst investigating an opening of a fissure is apparently trapped under a rock fall. All standard stuff so far but then in the very next shot we, bizarrely see the inert figure of our yellow trunk wearing character lying next to a large ornate fountain set in the midst of a rustic village square. It is only when two men approach that it soon becomes apparent from their elaborate apparel that we are now astonishingly in the Italian renaissance of the 14th century! This twelfth scripted offering under the appropriately titled “The Naked Montague” (a title derived from their description of the unclothed Mark) is essentially an authentically costumed retelling of the classic William Shakespeare classic “Romeo & Juliet”. Credit has got to offered for the ingenious way in which Mark’s arrival and subsequent desire to return to the ocean and his F.O.R. friends has been woven into the literary play. Despite donning period garb of everyday finerary and later a monks habit there is still the innocent outsider element to Mark Harris with his search leading him to the local Friar, Lawrence whom tells of fish that are found flopping in sea water in the square and then of a dark grotto located on Capulate land. Having already inadvertently incurred the displeasure of Capulate citizen Tybalt we then have a reasonably exciting swordfight involving Mark and Romeo against the main protagonist of the piece. This is a worthy staged incident that ultimately results in the death of Tybalt and the, albeit temporary, imprisonment of Mark and Romeo. Fifteen minutes from the end of the story Mark does eventually return to the Cetacean where Elizabeth casts doubt on the reality of where he has been although by providing a sample of the Friar’s potion that simulated death in Juliet Elizabeth’s argument seems a lot less certain. For me it is that aspect of whether what Mark has experienced was ‘fact or fiction’ that is the most intriguing aspect to “The Naked Montague”, a gentle enough central premise that again relegates the F.O.R. sub team to the periphery of the action. Naturally the concern for their trapped friend, best conveyed through Elisabeth’s vocal emotions with CW on the radiophone, is very palpable for viewers and leads to sub navigator Jomo donning a diving suit and swimming out to the area where he disappeared. Back at base it’s interesting to see CW demonstrating a slight aptitude for foreign languages by briefly speaking in Russian to a Soviet friend whom has access to an experimental submarine dredger which our F.O.R. director hopes to persuade him to divert to the area where Mark is trapped. Naturally Mark does eventually return and eight minutes from the end we see he, Elizabeth and CW talking about the sad nature of the “Romeo & Juliet” story whilst walking along the F.O.R. base transit tube. “The Naked Montague” is an intriguing premise of depositing our series lead in the midst of such an established literary classic and costumes, set dressing and acting I believe admirably convey the tragic nature of this Shakespeare play that I guess most people will have encountered during a school English lesson. Although lacking the dramatic action packed punch you’ll find elsewhere in the “Man From Atlantis” series this a commendable stab at serious drama within the franchise which is certainly worth your attention. Now of course to the age of the material you’ll get the odd picture fallout and yes you’ll notice the occasional vertical lining in particular around the 25 min mark during Mark’s sword fight with Tybalt but for me at least it doesn’t overtly distract from the story. However what I do find utterly incomprehensible, and something that I think raretelevision should have taken greater care with is that the overall timing of 52:40 is incorrect. The actual length of “The Naked Montague” is 46:25, the remainder is a static disc menu image which really should have been omitted in the transfer to saleable DVD discs.

Tuesday was also significant for me as that was the same day that I received my DVD boxset copy of a series that I'll be dipping in on a weekly basis once I've polished off "THe Man From Atlantis". All I'll say at this point is that it is a British series and leave you guessing as to what it may be.

Because in the meantime some thoughts about the other story I watched last week...

Disc Four : episode thirteen – “C.W.Hyde” (48:39)
Standing at a clear Perspex board secretary Sarah, pen in hand is marks the map at the coordinates one hundred and thirty-six degrees west, twenty-seven point three degrees south as dictated by CW Crawford whom relates them from his telephone call. Basically the F.O.R. have been contacted by the Navy, whom have lost a joint Navy/CIA deep water robot submarine probe at about 35,000 ft down at the point so indicated. They request the F.O.R. to use the Cetacean to find an retrieve the device and basically that effectively sidelines Mark, Elizabeth and the sub crew for the majority of the story. This is because this thirteenth story is another tale taking its inspiration from the literary world in this instance going back to Robert Louise Stevenson’s 1886 tale “The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde”. Setting things up CW walks into the lab where Mark and Elizabeth are talking about a red coloured enzyme from a rock fossil that exhibits unusual properties that requires further study. However locating the probe cuts this short however before CW departs the room he picks up his cup of coffee that just happened to rest below the receptacle containing the enzyme which conveniently had been dripping into his beverage. Back in his office our F.O.R. director goes through the hairy changes you’d expect and a less than honourable CW emerges. This is initially indicated when he grabs all the money that had been collected for Madeline Rosin, an accounting employee soon to be married. We then see him frequent a nearby old style bar where he encounters Lou Calendar, a shady gangster and later, having reverted back to his familiar self, in the bed of ‘gangster’s moll’ Bel with CW all understandably sheepish and innocently embarrassed at being there. Back with the F.O.R. sub and Mark eventually locates the probe but discovers that the projectile contains an explosive charge for which he needs a disarming code which CW was to get from Washington. However with the director clearly ‘not himself’ he is, atypically absent from the office for most of the time that the search and recovery mission is going on. Eventually Lou Calendar and his associates discover CW’s true identity and turn up at the F.O.R. base and attempt to seize the recovered probe replete with attempted drowning of Mark in a tank of water with obvious results. I’m sorry but somehow I really can’t get too excited about this thoroughly disposable offering which has little to save it from being one of those “Man From Atlantis” stories that I am extremely unlikely to revisit too often. That’s no disrespect to CW Crawford actor Alan Fudge whom gamely takes centre stage in this story in a script that offers little, in my opinion, in the way of an acting challenge. There are a few vertical lining dropouts on the picture particularly at the very end but generally picture and sound quality are of a reasonably acceptable level considering the considerable age of the material. There are a couple of occasional 36 channel idents appearing diagonally over the left corner and like the previous story an American announcer exhibits considerable enthusiasm about what is coming up over the next few hours on their channel. I’d also like to point out that once again the ‘total episode length’ of 48:39 is misleading and that “C.W.Hyde” does actually last 46:51 with the same static disc menu image appearing something that raretelevision should have removed during the transfer to saleable DVD discs.


Anyway I'll be thinking about the penultimate pairing over the weekend, that is if I'm not overly distracted by the new Formula One Season back on the BBC where Jenson Button, at the wheel of the new Brawn GP might (fingers crossed!) have a particularly good Australian GP. Go, go go Jenson!!!

Well I've now seen all this series has to offer by watching the 16th & 17th stories last night and rather feel it went out with a wimper rather than a bang. Anyway some thoughts from me about one of the couple that I was watching last week...

Disc Four : episode fourteen – “Scavenger Hunt” (47:06)
We open down on the beach amongst the rocks for this tale where a primitive tribe are making an offering to their god. Amongst the grass skirt and necklace wearing savages the ‘high priest’ type figure, a character known as Kanja is portrayed by an actor that I guess most viewers with a reasonable amount of cult television viewing experience will soon identify. His large tall muscular figure coupled with a gravely sounding resonance to his voice should help you make the connection to actor Ted Neely’s previous appearance in the Star Trek Original Series first season story “What Little Girls Are Made Of?” as the pale skinned menacing servant of Roger Corby. Anyway back to the story and from the recesses of a nearby cave a thin two headed scaly sea horse being in humanoid form shambles towards the collective worshipers. Kanja presents a young girl, known as Tiwee whom tentatively offers in her outstretched hands eggs for each of the beast’s heads before being led away to the creatures layer. In the darkened recess of the cave the green reptile lifeform encounters someone familiar to regular series viewers. Yes after his pleasing debut in eighth episode “Giant” the likeable conman rouge Jake Muldoon is back and is here seemingly profiting on both the locals revered worship of the beast which he calls ‘Oscar’ and his ‘pet’s’ ability to scavenge from the waters surrounding the island. Tiwee rather than being fated to being offered as human sacrifice to Oscar now becomes another of Muldoon’s own ‘personal harem’ of lovelies whom we see at one point playing down by the waters edge together. So what connects Muldoon’s activities with the F.O.R. you may ask? Well back at their base we watch CW briefing Mark and Elizabeth regarding six United Nations special canisters that were supposedly safely buried 34,000 ft (approx 6 ½ miles) down in the Philippine Trench. However three days prior to CW’s briefing one of these canisters was found on the beach of an island called Panoon where a child was seemingly innocently playing with it obviously unaware of the hazardous nature of what it contains. Naturally Mark and Elizabeth board the F.O.R. sub and set course for the Cholo islands which according to what is mentioned in the script, was apparently discovered in 1751 by Captain Cook. Meanwhile back on the island, and down by a more open section of beach we witness a conversation between two young native men, one of which is the son of high priest Kanja whom have been diving all morning in the hope of locating a mythical giant pearl supposed to located in deep water off the shore of the island. Whilst his friend conveys caution about continuing their search the chief’s son says that as such a noted descendant he should dive deeper than most. Although he confidently leaps into the water from the side of an elevated cliff he soon gets into difficulty once far below the surface and it is only with the timely intervention of Mark Harris that his life is saved. Rather than loose faith with his father he subsequently alludes to Mark trying instead to drown him leading our series lead to being tied to a pole ready to be sacrificed to Oscar. Supposedly a tense sequence leading into what would have been a broadcast commercial break you just knew that Mark was never in any real danger and as this episode progresses you’ll no doubt join with me in finding Oscar a rather sweet inquisitive pet than anything overtly threatening. Oscar infact, as we later learn, is instrumental in returning Muldoon to our reality by transporting our likeable rouge through an artificially created vortex (something that’s difficult to realise on a meagre television series budget). Generally a pleasant relaxed offering the main suspense ultimately centres around the tribe’s eventual loss of faith on the creature leading to the burning of Muldoon’s cave containing Oscar and Tiwee. Mark and Muldoon attempt a rescue of them plus the last canister via a ‘back door’ entrance by the moving of a rock covering the old ceremonial opening. “Scavenger Hunt” is a reasonably inoffensive pleasant enough story which together with the welcome return of Muldoon also benefits greatly I feel from the mystical incidental music theme which is particularly used to great effect during certain scenes featuring Oscar. Rounding off with an expected resolution for Muldoon and Oscar it’s also a pity that Elizabeth and the Cetacean crew are once again kept away from the action thanks on this occasion due to the barrier surrounding the island.