Reviews

The crew of the Seaview battle deadly amphibians' intent on taking over the world...just another day then!

The Seaview is being thrown around by strange pressure impacts and while the helpless crew are unaware of the cause the viewer is given a preview of some darn-right angry looking amphibians lurking on the sea floor with a huge cannon causing trouble!

Nelson sends Crane the Chief and Kowalski to investigate in the flying sub (you know it makes sense) It isn't long before they are attacked by the same pressure impacts that hit the Seaview (naturally) Nelson for some reason insists on Crane giving a radio blow by blow account of the damage while Crane is battling to keep control! As you have guessed the flying sub is soon stranded on the bottom and Kowalski volunteers to swim outside and release the mechanical arm that has been jammed open and will prevent them leaving. Around this time Crane spots one of the amphibians through the front windows but it soon disappears before the other two have a chance to see it. Kowalski seems to be randomly swimming round rather than working underneath the sub and it isn't long before he's attacked and abducted by the amphibians (his own fault). Crane and the Chief are about to spring into action when the leader of the amphibians swims up through the hatch and starts barking orders at them and arrogantly informing them they are inferior and to be used and discarded (sounds like a civil servant)

In a nut shell the amphibians consider themselves technologically and mentally superior to humans but they still need the Seaview's reactor to help free their race that are trapped in some sort of grotto beneath the sea floor. (everyone wants the reactor from the Seaview, if it had been diesel powered, they wouldn't have had half this trouble!)

Basically, this is a season four "monster of the week" episode.... But that said I have always liked it. The amphibian costumes are really funky, the story rattles along nicely and Del Monroe does a good job acting as he is "taken over" and starts to transform into a nasty amphibian (its voyage, someone has to be taken over) This episode also demonstrates a voyage classic sub plot moment. Nelson once again quickly builds a "device" in his lab to combat the problem! Thank goodness he has a well-stocked laboratory!! Oh, and whatever gadget he makes always neatly disposes of the enemy and leaves no blood and guts up the bulkheads! All tidy in a puff of smoke! On the same subject, Nelson (not for the first time) decides to murder the presumably unconscious amphibians by giving them another dose of his device rather than capture them.

Good fun to be had here. Del Monroe takes the credits here as he turns a little fishy.

The Seaview is tracking a harmless meteor shower which is due to land in the ocean some 2 miles from their current position. All seems to be going well and they count 8. Kawalski announces the meteors have changed course and will impact on Seaview! Crane orders an emergency dive but Seaview is still struck and holed by the objects, luckily the automatic hull repair seals the holes.

After getting things back under control the chief brings one of the objects up to the control room, it looks like a 70mm shell but is red in colour and has no markings (totally stupid of the chief to bring the object into the nerve centre of the sub and to make it worse he's got it in a plastic bucket!)

The object soon opens and gas pours out which is made 10 times worse by Crane picking up the bucket and wafting the gas with it. Soon everyone is unconscious and Seaview is out of control. (Naturally) Oddly Crane comes round first and together with the Chief they take the controls and get things back in order.

Nelson and Crane retire to his lab to carry out tests on the object, as a safety procedure they lock themselves in the lab and keep the mike open. The object is impervious to the diamond drill and strong acid. They then decide to take an x-ray but this does not penetrate the object.

Suddenly the object opens on its own and an electrical discharge of some kind shoots out of it but Nelson and Crane are unharmed. Nelson (with the aid of a magnifying glass) spots tiny equipment inside and concludes it's a miniature space ship. He doesn't want to go any further before reporting his findings to General Haynes. Nelson reports his suspicions to a disbelieving Haynes and then rather quickly tells him it's an alien invasion of some kind and the target is a mothballed atomic storage base called SATO 6. (At this point Nelson and no real evidence it was an invasion)

Nelson gets the go ahead to proceed to Sato 6 at full speed to investigate and he also orders the flying sub to take off and deliver the object in the lab to General Haynes. (we see the flying sub take off and then Chip comes up from the nose hatch?? Bit of a goof)

Things take a decidedly sinister turn when Nelson retires to his cabin to presumably tuck into his sandwiches only to discover a very old (and thought dead) friend eating them for him! The man is Sam Garitty and he's dressed in world war two uniform. Nelson isn't really taken in by this and soon unmasks Garitty as an alien from the miniature space ships. Garitty knocks Nelson out with an electrical discharge and then disappears in a big cloud of smoke and sparks.

Back in the control room the computer has gone haywire and seems to be printing out all manner of random figures. Chip finds Nelson in his cabin and brings him round and they head to the control room. Things seem to be hopeless when all controls seem to lock and Seaview scrapes along a nasty looking rock formation (you know the one) and rests on the bottom at crush depth... Nelson orders that all power aboard the ship be cut. This seems to do the trick and they very carefully take the sub back up from crush depth and restore normal depth and speed.

Nelson decides to form a "combat party" as he calls it and head to Sato 6 in flying sub to save time. Not missing another chance to get himself killed he tells Chip and Crane to fire nuclear missiles at the base if they receive his destruct signal. (Why nuclear missiles?? Normal ones would surely do? and the destruct alerter looks like a Christmas decoration)

It's a pity they couldn't have used a different undersea base for Sato 6 rather than one that's been used a few times already. I take it the base extends deep into the rock face?

Once Nelson arrives he quickly informs Crane that the aliens are in the base, all the lighting and ventilation systems are on. The revised plan is to fire the nukes at the base if they don't hear from him in 10 minutes..... This gets Crane a little uneasy. The base seems to have three main corridors or banks as they are called and Nelson decides to foolishly divide his forces and split up.... he takes one corridor the Chief and a crewman in red take another and a crewman in blue takes one. (you know where this is going)

The poor chap in blue is called Peters and he hasn't gone very far when he hears a strange electrical noise and two burly crystal headed figures appear round the corner. Despite holding his ground and firing at them repeatedly he is quickly killed. Nelson and the others hear this rumpus and come running only to discover his body. Nelson seems to give a little snort and announce he's dead and they will come back for him (i bet he forgot)

The three reach the main control room and discover the alien still assuming the appearance of Sam Garrity. Garitty plays it cool and states they come in peace and explains they are aliens and only intended this as a pit stop to replenish their energy (no mention of the crewman they just murdered) The base needs a correct combination to reactivate it and Nelson is one of only 6 who has this. Garitty can read his mind but the combination is too well hidden in Nelsons brain. (Naturally)

While Nelson is chatting to Garitty the crewman dressed in red tries to make a grab for the destruct lever but his cover is blown by Nelson giving the game away with his eyes (thanks Harry) Garitty quickly kills him in a puff of smoke. Nelson just has time to activate the destruct signal on Seaview before he is rendered unconscious by Garitty.

Crane with much hesitation orders the torpedoes loaded but there is a problem with the control panel it seems to be alive with electricity. Kawalski cuts the main power so they can fire manually (note his rubber gloves disappear after he cuts the wire and goes to put his mask back)

Despite the delay two torpedoes are fired at Sato 6 but Garitty makes sure they explode way before they reach the target. Garitty then ups the stakes and has Seaview pulled straight towards Sato 6, despite Crane cutting all power this doesn't work.

Back in Sato control room Garitty puts a stop to Nelson and the Chiefs meddling by surrounding them in a heat field (shower curtain) and warns them that they will be roasted unless they stay where they are and even gives them a mini demo of the consequences.

Having arrived in the Sato airlock Crane and four others arm themselves and head off into the complex looking for the Admiral. Crane has site plans so i think we have to assume Sato is a truly huge complex. They run into trouble and as normal guns seem useless but instead of killing them Garitty suspends them and they end up looking like shop dummies.

While the coast is clear Nelson takes a risk and bursts out of the heat field and is about to pull the lever to destruct the Sato reactor when one of the crystal heads shows up and starts throwing him about. Sharkey breaks out of the heat field to join in the rumpus but the two seem to be losing the fight when all of a sudden the crystal head disappears in a puff of smoke.

Garitty shows up and has Crane brought in still frozen. He explains to Nelson that there are a huge amount of alien crafts on their way and unless he starts the complex the aliens will come as destroyers.... Nelson gives in. Crane is unfrozen and Nelson tells him that Sato is going to be reactivated and he needs specialist equipment from locker B in Seaview's reactor room. Crane stalls so Nelson is sharp with him.

Back on Seaview Chip and Crane are in the reactor room. Locker B was a tip off from Nelson and it contains radiation guns (very handy things?) Crane quickly works out that the aliens weakness must be radiation as the capsule they x-rayed in the lab opened due to the rays. Wasting no time they charge two cylinders for the guns using the reactor. Crane stands behind a shield and wears gloves while chip has no protection at all. Crane then simply wipes the cylinders before handing them to chip! (This show never even tried to be a tiny bit realistic when it came to the subject of radiation)

Chip and Crane don't bother asking for anymore crewman and armed with the radiation guns they storm the base. They soon kill a crystal head and burst into the control room. What happens next is a huge punch- up, although Garitty seems to stop them before things really get started they manage to come out fighting again. During the rumpus Nelson boots Garitty onto his own homing device which promptly kills him! Soon the rest of aliens disappear. All that's left of Garitty is his world war two cap.

Back on Seaview Nelson and Crane watch the rest of the alien ships hot footing it away into space. Nelson then explains he worked out radiation was the aliens one weakness when his watch broke during his fight with one of them and even the radium dial was enough to kill it. (I'm sure he would have thought of something anyway)

I've always enjoyed this episode. The idea of the space ships being miniature was original and i didn't really have a problem with the alien's true or partly true appearance. The idea that the leader assumed the appearance of a long dead friend of the Admirals was quite chilling. Warren Stevens as usual is totally bankable in his role, nice job. The concept of having a mothballed abandoned atomic doomsday base sitting silently on the ocean floor was superb; i just wish they could have tweaked the set a bit more, even if it was just a matte shot of a seemingly endless corridor or something.

The Seaview comes face to face with a long dead U-boat Captain seemingly still on patrol...



While mapping the sea-floor the crew of the Seaview detect a large wreck and stop engines close by to take a look (their first mistake). The wreck is that of a first world war U-boat - U 444. The model effects are superb here! The wreck is brilliantly depicted festooned with corrosion and has a gaping hole in one side... Nelson is interested in the wreck and wants the position marked so he can return at a later date. Suddenly Seaview loses all power and is dead in the water...all the control room equipment has also given up the ghost (no pun) If that was not strange enough the wreck of the U-boat slowly starts to rise from its resting place and comes level with the helpless Seaview's observation windows! This would be unnerving enough but then Riley suddenly picks up a sound coming from the U-boat.... Richard Basehart delivers the line "a sound from a dead ship" in such a way to give you chills. The hulk then disappears in a cloud of bubbles and a clearly unnerved crew resume their duties. Director Sutton Roley used extreme close ups and brilliant camera angles which really made this scene a winner.

The run of unexplainable happenings carries on occurring when first Nelson finds out the U444 was sunk no where near the position they found her and then a lone survivor is discovered drifting miles from any shipping lane.... The man is brought to the conning tower hatch and once again another clever use of angles and lighting is used. Crane and Morton are looking up at the Stranger when all of a sudden, the main lighting goes out and the red emergency light kicks in...this happens all while we are looking at the ship wrecked survivors face staring down into the control room from above.... very eerie. The lone survivor introduces himself as Captain Krueger and claims his freighter was rammed and sunk by the same U-boat the Seaview witnessed. (for some reason Nelson and Crane think this ridiculous even though they had witnessed the same hulk) Alfred Ryder who plays the part of Krueger is brilliant here, he is creepy but polite, sinister but friendly - very well done. Nelson and Crane don't really buy into Krueger's story all that much and they extend him every courtesy but still place a guard at his cabin door.

The rest of the episode is a war of wills, Nelson vs Krueger. Krueger confides to the Admiral that he wants him to shoot Crane so he can take over his body and live again - sounds naff but it is well played out. Krueger bides his time and sets about unnerving the crew by appearing and disappearing at various times, he also changes the controls and puts the Seaview off course. Another mournful scene comes when the crew think they have killed Krueger and set about burying him at sea... it's an eerie little service with swirling fog and a chilling wind (you end up longing for scenes like this by season four!)

The end comes when Krueger boards his ghost U-boat and starts an attack run on the Seaview, it's very well done and the end is both touching and a little creepy!

Top notch work here, the model U-boat is great, the directing is spot on and makes brilliant use of the regular cast and guest star. Ryder would return in the sequel to this episode (plus another outing in a different role) I have never been that keen on the sequel - simply because it takes things away from this episode. If you're looking for a great season two episode with superb acting and a decent story then look no further!

The luckless crew of the Seaview find themselves caught up in the curse of the flying Dutchman...

This episode starts with the long-suffering flying sub being brutally attacked by scary looking orange lightning. Onboard Admiral Nelson and a navy commander called "Van Wyck" are on a scouting mission to find out why several navy ships have disappeared without trace in the area. Nelson has to deliver a mini karate chop to Van Wyck to calm him down and prevent him seizing the controls in a panic...however things soon take a dangerously bizarre twist (naturally) when the pair of them see an ancient square rigger floating Infront of them - which wastes no time in downing them with cannon fire!

After the opening credits Nelson and Van Wyck wake up and discover all controls dead and the radio not sending (as normal) However...even more mysteriously there seems to be an uncharted island close by. Nelson decides to get his rubber raft out and investigate, after a little scoffing about what use looking over the island would be Van Wyck agrees and gives a sinister smile...(surely this week's guest star isn't going to turn out to be a villain?) The island quickly gives up its dark little secret in the form of a small cave with a written curse at its portal- conveniently discovered by Van Wyck. Once inside the Admiral almost gets his Barnet parted permanently by a sword booby- trap that falls from the ceiling. A chilling discovery then comes in the form of a cobweb festooned skeleton complete with a dagger in its ribs- again conveniently pointed out by Van Wyck. Nelson (never one to be superstitious) pulls the dagger from the skeleton and in doing so becomes the recipient of a curse delivered in a disembodied voice! The pair quickly leave the cave as a sudden rock fall threatens to entomb them.

Back on the shore Van Wyck starts to humour Nelson and deny anything other than a slight rock fall took place. Nelson decides to hold onto the dagger and surmises one of them is losing contact with reality and then curtly announces they are heading back to the flying sub. After oddly discovering the radio and all equipment is now in good order Nelson radios in his findings and then heads back to Seaview.

Ok, the next scene (in my opinion) is in the top 10 voyage moments) Nelson climbs up the ladder from the flying sub birthing area and is traumatized by what greets him. The whole control room crew are now either represented by skeletons or have been turned into them! There they sit and stand at their posts... to make matters worse the red emergency lighting is on which only adds to the eeriness. Soon Nelson is backing up in disbelief but a bony hand on his shoulders has him spinning round and promptly passing out when confronted by a skull staring at him!

The rest of the episode plays out with the Seaview and its crew labouring under the curse of the Flying Dutchman. At first Captain Crane thinks Nelson has gone off his rocker and cancels several of his orders to contact the outside world. Van Wyck has fixed the controls so Seaview will sail in a giant circle until the end of time - as he puts it. The chief discovered this when he catches him fiddling about with the controls in the circuitry room and gets himself clobbered (naturally the circuitry room was unlocked and unguarded as usual) Eventually Crane believes Nelson after he himself sees the square rigger flying Dutchman through the periscope just before getting attacked by it! In the midst of being thrown about and the ship in danger Crane tells Nelson they should go to his cabin and talk it over (any Captain would go for a chat at a time like this yeah?) Crane gets more proof Nelson wasn't fibbing when he gets "taken over" by the dagger and tries to stab Nelson with it (naturally) A classic voyage stunt-double punch-up is soon in full swing and just when Crane seems to be winning the chief just happens to enter into the rumpus and starts attacking Crane (again naturally)

Things end up on the ocean floor as Nelson decides to embark on a deep dive in the bell. Obviously, he decides to go alone even though he knows a lunatic ghost is after him. Predictably the cable snaps and Nelson is left low on air and stranded. Van Wyck decides to keep him company and appears beside him. Here we learn that Van Wyck is the original first- mate of a ship that sailed hundreds of years ago called the "Amsterdamer", after he and the other crew mutinied and took the Captain to the cave on the island they stabbed him with the dagger and received a curse from the Captain's dying breath..... The only way Van Wyck can be free from the curse is to pass it onto someone else, but that person had to have been to the island and removed the dagger from the skeleton of the Captain.

Eventually the diving bell's cable is retrieved thanks to some really cool mechanical grab hands in the flying sub that are adroitly worked by the chief. Once safely back in the missile room there is another huge rumpus, despite Van Wyck being susceptible to karate chops on two occasions in this episode curtesy of Nelson (who else) he now seems to have gained the strength of 10 people! Van Wyck eventually falls on his own dagger during more of the Seaview being thrown about by turbulence after a missile was fired at the island. Van Wyck himself returns to a skeleton and the danger is over.... until another guest star turns up next week!

A really good season four-episode (as they go) Warren Stevens as usual is brilliant, although he is given little to work with, he still makes Van Wyck as believable as possible...for voyage! I enjoyed this take of the "Flying Dutchman" story or legend? It was refreshing to have a guest star onboard Seaview who did not want to take over the world, wasn't an alien or after nuclear weapons! Van Wyck simply wanted to free himself from the curse and disappear to wherever murdering first-mates go to! The idea of the Seaview becoming the new "Flying Dutchman" if he had been successful with his plan was thought provoking! Let's forget about how a man who lived hundreds of years ago could impersonate a modern navy commander and be sent on search mission....hmmm Enjoy.

There is nothing new about the old dark house routine...the family members gathering on a stormy night and some hidden treasure in the mix...

The House in Nightmare Park, however, manages to escape the cliché and turns out to be perfect...I wouldn't change anything about the film.

Struggling ham actor and general vain coward Foster Twelvetrees is invited to give some of his "inimitable renditions" (as he calls them) at a remote Gothic country mansion by head of the family Stewart Henderson (Ray Milland)

After being dumped some distance from the house and his bags thrown at him Foster makes his way to the sinister looking mansion. We are shown how well Foster copes with scares when he hears a scream and takes off like a scalded cat. Also note some very good lighting and close ups with the lightning effects as Foster firsts sees the house. Very well done. Ray Milland is faultless in his portrayal of Stuart Henderson. Some of his looks of disbelief at Foster's acting are priceless.

What ensues for the rest of the film is an amazing blend of comedy (sometimes subtle sometimes blatant) superb camera work and lighting and of course first class acting from all concerned. Another star of the film that must be acknowledged is the interior set used. The imposing Oakley court was used for the exterior shots so the interior had to be equally intriguing. The film is set in 1907 and the interior of the Henderson home captures the faded charm of the recently ended Victorian era. The wall paper, carpets, fire places all pay tribute to this era as well as conveying it in a slightly run down format. The well worn look has been very well dealt with. Finishing touches such as damp running down the wall near Foster's bedroom at to the effect. The Henderson family having spent a number of years in India have converted to the Hindu faith and brought back statues of the goddess Kali. This aspect worked very well and added a new dimension.

Things don't get any easier for our cowardly hero Foster as more of the Henderson family turn up in the middle of the night under mysterious circumstances, a bed ridden Henderson is discovered..Or is he? , and to top it all a deranged old lady hidden in the attic offers him tea and then tries to end his ham acting career with a meat clever. Some excellent comic moments are shown between Hugh Burden as Reggie Henderson and Howard. Reggie takes an instant dislike to Foster and a series of mini stand offs come and go. These range from a battle over the last egg at breakfast (complete with antique silver in true mansion style) to Foster being called a swine endlessly. Another attempt on Foster's life comes in the form of a third Henderson brother named Ernest. Ernest and his wife Agnes are more switched on than Reggie and I dare say a lot more murderous. After quickly working out Foster is the key to finding a missing fortune in diamonds they try to bump him off with an injection of poison to the gums! Ernest is posing as a dentist while actually a vet! Kenneth Griffith turns in a top notch performance as Ernest if a bit short on air time.

The Henderson family and their "dance of the dolls" routine is a mix of the bizarre with hilarity and sinister over tones added. The camera work is again top notch and you get the effect like looking in the back of the spoon.

I first taped this film many years ago on VHS late one night. It never seems to be shown on TV so I had a long wait until it was realised on DVD. The wait was worthwhile. The quality is excellent; visually it looks like it was made yesterday. Director Peter Sykes had already directed a hammer horror film prior to The House In Nightmare Park so you get his amazing use of odd camera angles and creepy lighting shown off to the max. I don't believe the horror element would have worked as well if a director with no horror film experience had been hired. Sykes also does another brilliant thing... He keeps Frankie Howard's performance from getting to over the top and too full of ooooo aaaaa's the balance is great. I once read that Howard thought this was his best film. I certainly believe it is.

I hope you enjoy this film as much as I do; it seems to have a timeless charm. Ps, spare a thought for poor Foster Twelvetrees as he's left alone on his newly acquired bleak estate digging for diamonds. I wonder if he ever found them.

A man about as oriental as a pearly king, terrible acting and atrocious plot....yep it's the new avengers alright. This episode makes you feel so sad for the classic black and white episodes. The trio have incurred the wrath of a powerful oriental drug Barron called Soo Choy ( a fat bad actor with eye make- up and a silly voice)

Soo Choy has them lured onto his country estate by way of a plane crash. Although the crash wasn't intended naturally Steed, Purdy and Gambit all survive (as you do when a jet aircraft plunges into woodland) Soo Choy then deploys his highly trained guards to track them down.... you can tell the how adroit they are at stalking people because of the expert way they all shout and scream orders as they comb the woodland..why not go the whole hog and play the trumpet too.

Lots of silly shots of Gambit playing action man and making weapons out of branches. Trust me it's toe curling.

Look out for Stuart Damon at the start of this episode but look fast because he's dead 3 minutes later. This might have something to do with the way they all just stroll over to a drug operation with "10 minutes to go"

Ps jamesraeburn2003 regarding your review. Did you not pay attention to the very start of this episode? Soo Choy had his estate in East Anglia not China. When Larry Lamb drove down the road in the Land rover he passed a huge sign with something like welcome to East Anglia and how it's one of the most beautiful counties or something. This was the same estate where the plane crashed.

This episode makes my voyage world go round!

Nelson breaks the seal on his orders in his cabin and after a superficial read he looks disgusted.

It transpires that a top notch crew have installed a live neutron bomb in silo 4 and Seaview has to deliver it to a test site some considerable distance away. Nelson at this point only let's crane in on this and tells him to proceed to the test site at full speed.

Things don't stay under control for long (do they ever?) The silo with the neutron bomb is leaking radiation. Kowalski and the chief check it out and a blameless Kowalski causes havoc when he tries to pry open the inspection panel on said silo.

After the leak is detected things take on an eerie air. There is a Pentagon missile specialist on-board but he's disappeared...his cabin is searched and the only trace of him is his luggage. (Check out his tatty suitcase, I guess Pentagon specialists don't earn much)

A minor fault in the circuitry room almost turns into a disaster because the crewmen who should have been on watch there have either left their posts or vanished...

Chip Morton has a hair raising experience in the control room. After ordering a slight course correction while studying the plotting table he gets no reply so turns round to discover the whole control room abandoned...

Worse follows and poor luckless Kowalski is the recipient again. Crane orders him to search for the Pentagon specialist. (Thanks to reused footage he does this fully armed!) While searching the corridors he turns a corner only to discover that the two men with him have vanished! Trying to stay calm he uses the mike to inform crane and chip but he's cut off mid sentence and the mike is left swinging against the bulkhead making a tapping noise.

Lots of tense and darn right cereal moments play out in this episode. At one point Nelson thinks he sees Crane sat in the pilot's seat in the flying sub. The image is like looking in the back of a spoon. Very effective.

Terry Becker puts Chief Sharkey through his paces in a well acted scene. After not being able raise anyone in the entire submarine he starts to lose his cool. This culminates in Sharkey ripping the guts out of the crew's quarters! The final straw came when discovered hot cups of coffee on the table indicating someone was either there, had just vanished or was hiding from him.

Towards the end of the episodes the odd happenings evolve into strange swirling lights all around and the frustrating feeling of walking in a dream is experienced by Nelson, Sharkey, Crane and Kowalski.

Eventually Nelson (with the president's permission) fires the neutron bomb into the sky and it explodes. The bomb had been threatening to go off the entire episode and as a result Nelson had spent most of his time working on it in the missile room. (This involved fannying about with a screwdriver)

By this time Nelson had already aired his suspicion that the leak from the silo was having an effect on their minds and as a direct result they were seeing things that were not there.

The episode is finished off with a brief explanation of the events and the crew head for home. (Hope the leaking fumes have no long term effects.. Radiation does tend too..)

Definitely in my top 10 episodes. Refreshing to have no rubber monsters and the crew don't end up getting knocked out every 10 minutes.

Real thumbs was achieved by the lighting which was always perfect on voyage anyway. A large portion of this episode was filmed with the red emergency lighting on. If you couple that with disappearing crew then it's a winner.

Richard Basehearts son has a brief line in this episode. I do hope he didn't mind his son disappearing along with the crew.

Not one of my favourite episodes at all. As soon as you see the infamous "white Gorilla" you know it's only a matter of time before its running wild on Seaview. That coupled with some totally ridiculous plot holes (even by voyage standards) makes you yearn for a series two classic.

Here's a very brief rundown.

A doctor friend of Nelson's is working on a device that seems to be really good at sending a "white" gorilla of its head. Quite why he decided to use this monster and extremely rare gorilla as a test subject is hard to fathom.

Unfortunately he has picked up a scheming assistant along the way named Brock. He's a sly cunning selfish man who wants all the glory of the new device for just one person..Him!

As Nelson and Sharkey make their way to the Doctor's forest camp in the flying sub Brock decides to make his move. He plants a homing device on the Doctor and then activates the device so the gorilla will attack him. The gorilla wastes no time in being alerted and the doctor is helpless but just to make sure Brock tips him over in his chair. (He's a real beauty)

In a nut shell Brock thinks Nelson will let the experiment die with the Doctor leaving him free to "rediscover" it and claim all the credit and cash. Unfortunately the Doctor was a friend of Nelson's and he's determined to carry on his work and make sure he gets the credit awarded posthumously. This leaves Brock secretly fuming and almost like in an episode of Columbo he ends up committing more crimes to hide the first. These include kidnap, murder, attempted murder and almost destroying Seaview by letting the Gorilla run wild on-board.

A scene of total farce comes when they have the gorilla tied down in a cage in the missile room.(Some very obvious lines from Patterson so we are all aware how powerful the gorilla is)

Brock slopes into the missile room looking guilty as hell and tells the guard he's just checking. The guard obligingly turns his back on Brock who then lands him a truly monumental blow with a wrench.

Then we learn that Brock is "apparently" fully trained on the procedures of firing torpedoes aboard nuclear submarines. He stuffs the guards body into a torpedo tube operates the controls perfectly and shoots the body out into the ocean.

The biggest gripe is to do with poor Captain Crane!

Crane is absent from the bulk of this episode. It transpires that he knew Brock at some point in his past and would have told the Admiral what a toe rag he was. Brock ambushes him in the corridor (there always empty) and somehow gets the better of him in a fight! I doubt Brock could of achieved this especially with all the experience Crane has of punch ups!

The result is Crane being trussed up like a turkey and his unconscious body being hidden so well by Brock (a total stranger to Seaview) that not even the rest of the crew could find it!

I supposed the gorilla is done as well as possible but still looks fake.

The one true star of this episode is Woodrow Parrfey who was ironically a decorated world war two hero. He makes the scheming cowardly Brock really come to life.

Admiral Nelson has to deliver a top secret defence weapon in Seaview in a big hurry...

Washington have been really helpful and told him one of the Seaview crew is an imposter and it all points to...Captain Crane. Nelson wants to abort the mission or have Crane booted off Seaview until he delivers the defence weapon (which is in a piddly little box! I guess even defence weapons can be small) Washington tells him he MUST go ahead and not tip off the Crane imposter otherwise he will know their code has been broken. He is instructed to "test" Crane and find out if he is the real deal or not! After Nelson leaves his office at the institute with his piddly little box (and after calling Washington "idiots") we then see someone in officer uniform (just the legs) get knocked unconscious by a man wearing what appears to be a Childs Halloween mask! (Ideal not to draw attention to yourself) We then move to the Seaview and Chief Sharkey turns up late offering some lame excuse as to the huge plaster on the side of his face.

The Admiral totally blanks Crane and asks Chip and Sharkey to come to his cabin.

In his cabin Nelson tells Chip and Sharkey all about the defence plan and Captain Crane possibly being and imposter. He also tell them it might not be Crane and everyone is under suspicion, Sharkey points out that if it's Chip or him then the Admiral has just tipped them off. Nelson tells them some cock and bull story about how he will be watching them too! The first "test" or "experiment" as Nelson calls them gets underway. It basically involves Chip giving Crane some course settings from the Admiral on a piece of paper and then switching them for a different course on an identical piece of paper when Crane isn't looking and after he has ordered the first course. Nelson comes down and orders a course check then humiliates Crane by not shouting but instead putting it down to a mistake on Cranes part

Nelson again makes Crane look stupid in the control room over a sonar contact that Kowalski spotted but worse is to follow... The Chief quietly leaves his post and goes down to the infamous Circuitry room! (now you know there is going to be trouble) he fiddles about with the life support controls (nice to know Nelsons test involve risking everyone's lives) he then switches a sign over from one control panel to another. Back in the control room Crane is getting more wound up. The Chief calls him on the intercom and tells him the life support system has failed. Crane rushes into the circuitry room and Sharkey points to the panel where the problem is (the one with the switched sign) Crane spots its been switched and works on the correct panel but Sharkey tells him he's working on the wrong panel and will cause a fire. Crane pushes him out the way and then promptly causes an explosion and huge fire. Sharkey drags Crane out and the dumps him out in corridor (he seems oddly unaffected by the smoke) he then switches the signs back. Nelson arrives and once again Crane is left feeling humiliated as it looks like he has caused the whole thing by working on the wrong control panel. (but he wasn't??) Crane orders the ship surfaced so he can clear the ship of smoke but Nelson tells Chip to cancel the order. This leads us to a great scene of Crane barging into Nelson cabin and the two having a big standoff. Crane tells him not to countermand his orders again! After Crane leaves Nelson grins having realised that Crane is the real deal.

Nelson tells Chip he went too far with the circuitry room fire but When Chip denies doing it the two conclude it was Sharkey and that he's going too far! Meanwhile someone's set fire to a box of explosives and locked Crane and Patterson in the arms locker with them, they free themselves and Crane reports to Nelson there is a saboteur onboard.

Sharkey denies the explosives "experiment" but admits he caused the circuitry room fire. I'm afraid it was obvious he was the imposter from the start. After Crane has been put in the picture about the imposter by Chip, Sharkey having already karate chopped sparks (Nelson would be proud) and wrecked the radio he then tips off the ships position to an enemy bomber by releasing a surface marker. He then decides to casually leave the ship by the flying sub. Crane spots him and violent struggle ensues in flying sub, naturally Crane wins and it's the old pull the fake looking mask off the imposter routine (by the way the imposter looks more like an insurance salesman) Another rushed series four ending with a brief scene in Nelsons cabin as he gives a brief explanation to Crane... oh and he's riffling through the top secret defence weapon box! No silly monsters here, the real let down was plot holes.

Having been through years of life and death situations together Nelson would know the real Crane without a doubt and even if he wasn't sure, a casual chat about past events would determine the truth. Why all the need for those silly experiments that almost got everyone killed is beyond me.

The very idea of Washington letting the whole thing go ahead with a saboteur onboard is ridiculous.

Why didn't the fake Sharkey just kill Nelson when he was alone with him in his cabin and grab the secret box? What was with that silly plaster on the fake Sharkeys face? Why set fire to explosives? Did he decide to commit suicide then change his mind later and try and get away in the flying sub?

When i first watched this episode it confused the heck out of me. A mysterious corpsman named Mallory, evil Captain Cranes and lots psychedelic lights and shifting between dimensions! The action kicks off with the reactor running wild...again (just what do they do to it?) Patterson and Kowalski are trying to sort the problem, they ask for help over the intercom but then they are quickly knocked unconscious by an explosion from the reactor.

Captain Crane rushes in to try and push the "control rods" back in (not wearing any suit naturally) he ends up getting thrown about and winds up in sick bay in a mysterious coma.

While they are discussing his condition we notice a rather odd corpsman messing about with a whacking great piece of equipment. As soon as the coast is clear the corpsman named Mallory starts causing chaos with his machine. Another Captain Crane rises up from the originals unconscious body and walks out of sick bay. Conveniently located outside sick bay there is an arms locker, even more conveniently it's not locked! (very reassuring to know fire arms can be taken by anyone, oh and there always kept loaded!) Now with the famous Voyage side arm in hand he strolls down the corridor and enters Admiral Nelsons cabin.

Nelsons pleased reaction to seeing Crane quickly turns to alarm when he notices he's got a fire arm. Crane tells him he's got to die and that he's a stumbling block that's got to be "removed" (this could well have been true! Nelson was always taking over command of the Seaview when Crane was supposed to be in charge, bit of black humour that Crane thinks Nelson has spoilt his career) without further messing about Crane shoots and kills Nelson! What follows for the rest of the episode is as interesting as it is bizarre! Basically the corpsman Mallory is using his new machine to experiment on the crew. He has found some way of tapping into the "4th dimension" When the evil Crane returns to the unconscious Cranes body we learn that Mallory has somehow isolated sick bay from the events that have just taken place. The murder of Nelson hasn't happened yet. The action then shifts between different dimensions as the evil Crane runs wild and commits more murders! Then the real Confused Crane runs the gauntlet as the crew are out for his hide as he murdered the Admiral and to make matters worse he even interrupts the burial at sea service with a lot of shouting! (good to see the conning tower and deck set dusted off and used) The action ends up on some weird floating tropical island in the 4th dimension, all the crew are whisked off of Seaview and onto it. Poor Captain Cane now how has TWO evil twins to deal with!! One is even more bonkers and runs around with a maniac laugh.

Luckily the Chief after being confused by it all has finally thrown in and is helping the real skipper.

After much running round the jungle and dodging Chip Morton,Kowalski and Patterson as well the evil Cranes they make it back to Seaview in the flying sub.

Crane spoils Mallory's day when he throws a good old fashion voyage sticker grenade at his 4th dimension machine.....destroying it and sending Mallory goodness knows where!! I like this episode despite the season four rushed feel and one or two plot holes.

The whole 4th dimension aspect is fascinating, it introduces us to the idea of parallel time lines and that in another existence Captain Crane could have been a cold blooded murderer.

Spoilers are the character of Mallory, just who was he? Crane asked him more than once and he just told him that wasn't important. Writers let off! The part was played totally bland so its difficult to judge. How did he manage to build his machine on a floating island?! And why the hell go to all the trouble of using the Seaview crew as guinea pigs? He could of used anyone? He talked like he wasn't human...was he? The end was far too rushed (typical season four) with Nelson offering no real explanation other than a totally feeble comment about Mallory being "a little mad" talk about understatement

There is a mysterious plant growth spreading all across Italy... the Seaview and her crew are investigating. Crane is out in the flying sub scouting about, Nelson tells him over the intercom he should be right over some small towns and villages, and Crane informs him there is nothing but dense jungle below! Nelson orders him back aboard.

Meanwhile all the crew are hot and sweaty (the famous voyage front sweat marks) apparently there seems to be a problem with the reactor controls which has sent the temperature soaring.

Sharkey goes to the reactor room and asks the "new man" named Keeler what's going on. Keeler fobs him off with a yarn about a defective control and then gloats that he fixed the problem. Sharkey reminds him it might be a good idea to fix the problems before they cause serious malfunctions next time. As soon as Sharkey leaves Keeler produces a nifty little box with nifty little men inside (complete with silver faces) runs his hand over them and...pow they become life size! Crane has returned to the Seaview and asks why its so hot only to be informed there was a problem but its all under control now (yeah right) Nelson retires to his lab to knock up a wonder weapon that he can hook up to the Seaviews laser so it can destroy the plant growth when they reach the Italian coast.

Keeler (an alien, naturally) and his silver faced jungle fighters have taken over the life support room and are busy changing the ships atmosphere to one of pure carbon dioxide. Soon all the crew become sleepy and start to collapse. Nelson (who we can only presume didn't collapse because he was working alone in his spacious lab and had more air) works out what going on and finds Crane, they then start using these great little oxygen bottles. Soon the rest of the crew are back on their feet and using the emergency air bottles. Keeler who seems to have been doing nothing all this time, changes the life support controls back and then throws a piece of jungle growth from his little box into the air vent.

Here we meet the real star of this episode...the jungle! It first makes its entrance by bursting through the air vent above the radio shack and before long the Seaview control room and corridors are thick with Jungle growth! To make matters worse the Seaview has run into the plant growth, the huge foliage soon closing in around the ship rendering her helpless. The brand new underwater footage of the seaview being attacked by the jungle growth is superb! Nelson is going to cut his way out from the outside and orders Patterson to accompany him in the flying sub, meanwhile Crane orders the chief and Kowalski to arm themselves with radiation counters and guns to locate the source of the radiation (why guns too? At that point Crane had no idea Keeler was behind it all!) Meanwhile Nelson has had no luck down in the flying sub and to make matters worse a nasty vine drops on Patterson and starts to strangle him! The air is giving out and Patterson tells the Admiral to get out while he can (this always makes me laugh, what if Nelson took him at his word and just said "thanks for all your help over the years and goodbyeee" then left him to die) Nelson manages to free him with a cutting torch after almost getting his hand blown off when he tried to use a ray gun due to feedback from the plant growth.

Crane,Sharkey and Kowalski are stalking the corridors with loaded guns drawn still unaware there are any villains about! The jungle looks great, the lighting (which was always 100% perfect voyage) does and amazing job of casting plant shadows on the walls and if that was not enough there is even some jungle drums in the music score! Nelson gets in on the act here and never one to be out done, he arms himself and even dishes out grenades to men! (all while totally unaware Keeler is the villain) After some great shoot outs in the jungle corridors Crane decides to head back to corridor 3 and asks Sharkey and Kowalski to cover him.

Crane gets away and runs into Keeler, eventually the penny drops with Keeler when Crane notices he is giving off radiation. He then realises he's an Alien and after nearly being miniaturized Nelson saves him.

The Chief and Kowalski try to move forward into the corridor where the shooting was coming from only to be captured one by one.

Keeler decides he is going to load Seaviews missiles with his plant growth and just fire them wildly, the theory being that wherever they land they will spread the Alien jungle growth (why not do this in the first place?) After a shoot out (Nelsons turn to get shot in the shoulder this time, the crew take it in turns) and more grenade throwing Crane and Nelson save the day. All that's left of Keeler and his silver faced jungle fighter are burnt little men and bits of plant.

Nelson soon clears the ship of the growth with is gadget (i love the way these things never leave a mess behind) and he concludes that Keeler was nothing more than plant growth himself....

It is great to see all the jungle inside the Seaview! I know it's daft but this was season four! A few spoilers: One minute Keeler wanted the crew all dead so he changed the life support system to kill everyone and later on he was instructing his men to capture key personnel to help load missiles and run Seaview.

I'm not quite sure the life support tampering makes sense.

Evil minds (we want to start a war and emerge the rulers of the world) have devised a way of turning a human being into a walking bomb if they come into contact with radiation.

Nelson been asked to undertake a spying mission in the black sea to ascertain if the Russians have devised a huge new nuclear bomb which could make all other weapons useless (like they do)

The briefing at the beginning feels more like James Bond with Nelson being given secret breathing devices and guns hidden in pocket watches. He also meets a beautiful female Russian which seems to have him grinning.

Things quickly turn sour when Nelson is secretly injected with the explosive substance.

After a tense scene avoiding a destroyer the Seaview launches the flying sub and Nelson suited in a blue jump suit prepares to parachute into Russia. Once down Nelson then changes his appearance to the most unconvincing Russian sailor ever and oddly keeps running into people who speak perfect English.

Soon Nelson is grinning again as he frolics and romps about with the Female Russian spy unaware she's out to finish him.

Back on Seaview Crane has been informed that Nelson has been turned into a walking bomb and before long he's been packed off to Russia with a load of gadgets too. He has orders to save Nelson or kill him if goes near the Nuclear power station to complete his spying mission, which will set off the bomb.

Using speed boat races as a cover Nelson swims underwater to the Nuclear research base, with Crane and a female assistant hot his heels. By this time Crane has discovered the Russian female is a double agent and he is forcing her to help him stop Nelson. Crane gains entry through the main gate after rather a clumsy way of distracting and knocking out the two guards. He then changes into their uniform.

Nelson emerges from the water after a near miss with a blow torch and nearly kills Crane but his little pocket watch gun is broken otherwise a beautiful friendship would of ended there!

Crane explains all and gives Nelson the antidote which happens to work immediately (so handy). Nelson still wants to look at the reactor and heads in. The base is alerted when Russian guards find one of the main gate guards unconscious spread eagle in full view without his uniform. (No wonder they selected Nelson for the original mission) what was Crane thinking not hiding the guards body?

The group head off and make for the sea not before abandoning the female double agent. Soon they meet up with the flying sub and are back aboard Seaview where Nelson explains there was never any super weapon, the whole thing was an attempt to start a war.

Nothing too exciting here I'm afraid and very little time is spent aboard Seaview. Its odd seeing Nelson enjoying the company of the Russian female and kissing her. I keep the thinking of the Nelson which would end series four grumpy at times and having to save the world every week from a rubber monster. Fun to watch an early episode simply because it was early and things were different.

The Arctic ice is in trouble again! Seaview surfaces inside an air pocket under the ice cap to investigate strange temperature readings. Crane looks through the periscope and sees a snow cavern...complete with huge fire storms.

Nelson decides to investigate and he and Sharkey break out "foul weather gear" (these look like normal flimsy coats to me, and leather gloves) they leave Patterson and Kowalski keeping lookout and making repairs on the conning tower while they explore the snow caves. They walk so far together then Nelson comes out with the old chestnut of "we better split up" god only knows why he says this because he then tells the Chief we will meet back here in 5 minutes! What's the point?

We follow Sharkey as he strolls along in his dapper coat with hood (no hurry it's just the ice cap melting) he then sees a "frost man" come round a corner and immediately opens fire on it!! At this point they didn't know the frost men were hostile but he just starts blasting away. Nelson joins the rumpus just in time to see Sharkey kill the frost man by getting to close to it. The heat from his body melted it in seconds. They are then confronted by two more frost men and frozen solid by a jet of freezing air.

Back at Seaview Kowalski is making a repair and spots two frost men and then loses his footing and falls to the floor. I'm afraid this begins the very long padded boring sub plot of having Kowalski blundering around half conscious and mumbling "got to help the Admiral" very tedious.

Nelson is unfrozen at the Aliens make shift base where the leader introduces himself as "Gelid" leader of the frost men from an alien planet (even though they have all their controls on equipment written in English) In a nut shell it's another alien race that wants the Seaviews nuclear reactor, this time it's to power their own craft and leave earth, but in doing so will flood half the planet when the ice cap melts.

I've never really got on with this episode and one big factor is that there is NO Chip Morton at all. Maybe Bob Dowdell was ill? They compensate by having the Doc and Patterson in on the action more. Not the same though. The action lurches from the crew being roasted in Seaview then their frozen half to death and it actually snows in the control room! And in between we still have flipping Kowalski staggering around (this looks fake) looking for the Admiral and collapsing.

As you would expect there are some plot holes: How was Gelid able to enter the Seaview the first time round and warn Crane? At that point the Seaview was at normal temperature. If it only takes the body temperature of a human to kill a frost man then Gelid would die in the heated confines of the Seaview. When Gelid freezes Seaview he states that they will vent the heat into their ice base but they will be aboard the frozen Seaview so they will not die. Seaview does freeze but their base does not heat up at all. The best thing about this episode are the set pieces, we have the conning tower set and some really well done ice caves. A bit plastic looking in places but on the whole well done. When Seaview freezes i also thought this was well done, the frost effect was up to film standards.

Not one of my favourites it has to be said. Sharkey and Nelson spend most of the times frozen like dummies, there is no Chip Morton and the usually reliable voyage stalwart Del Monroe's acting isn't at its best here. Why didn't Gelid just buy Nelson a box of chocolates and ask him nicely if he could jump start his flying saucer from the Seaviews reactor?

Me and my wife sat down to watch this little bag of poop last night... Now i wished i had descaled the kettle instead!

Very poor script and direction make this almost unwatchable from the word go. After stacey keach's hospital bed scenes and flash backs its all down hill.

A group of cheesy hair cut kids (who can not act) are making a documentary on a old abandoned prison with a bloody past....wow original. At the same time a group of even more cheesy unrealistic armed robbers decide to hide out in the prison...are you still awake?

For some reason Jake Busey thought it would add something to the plot by having his hair like Worzel Gummidge! oh and also the fact he is totally annoying.

All the same old routines here,people wonder off get hacked up then the rest of the group find the body,they act shocked for 0.005 of a second then move on and forget all about it!

The way the characters are directed is a joke. Let me give you a prime example. After several people have been murdered one of the "tough" robbers decides she wants to go to the toilet, and instead of finding a quiet corner she asks one of the cheesy kids to walk her all the way down the evil corridor to the toilet block!What happens next is one of the most pointless scenes ever put on film. It involves her walking up and down choosing a toilet, then deciding she wants more than a pee,then she wants to wash and brush up and it ends with her having a shower after being covered in crap. The t.v almost went off after that!

Poor acting,poor script,awful directing make this film a life sentence with no parole.

It was a good idea to make these one hour episodes brought to us from the famous Hammer house film company,but it would of been even better had they kept up a high standard and not got predictable.

The small budget doesn't make a difference if the writing and script are top notch but in some episodes we are left feeling quite bored and "yeah didn't see that coming" The episode "CARPATHIAN EAGLE" is a fine example of what i have just mentioned,its totally predictable has no shocks or twists in it and feels down right padded at times,but look out for 007 himself Pierce Brosnan sporting quite big hair.

From a bad episode to a classic "THE SILENT SCREAM" is one of the best,in part because the story is original but also because of Hammer veteran Peter Cushing who effortlessly injects depth and a sinister feel to his Character. That will teach thieving Brian Cox to go near his safe!

My personal favourite is "RUDE AWAKENING". Denholm Elliot turns in a fine performance as a seedy estate agent who goes to look at a disused country house and finds himself caught up in a endless surreal dream...or does he?

There seems to be a story amongst the batch of 13 that will appeal to most peoples tastes and on the whole the acting is to a good standard. If nothing else, these are good to watch to spot future big names before the money rolled in.

Here we have the fictional "CI5" organisation run by tough no nonsense Cowely played by veteran actor Gordon Jackson.

The show focuses on CI5'S two "best" agents,bubble perm played by Martin Shaw and shorty played by Lewis Collins. I think people look back at this with rose tinted spectacles,sure its got some great action scenes and Gordon Jackson was the best thing in it but what else was there?

This show copied some of the elements used in "The Sweeney" which started first, and then flogged them to death. The result is two herberts driving round in cars like lunatics even when their not chasing someone,bossing uniformed police about and using firearms with as much sense as a 5 year old. Some of the stories were thread bare and unlike gritty "The Sweeney" more often than not there was a happy ending as bubble perm and shorty turn up, roll over the bonnet of their Capri v6, take command of the whole situation and shoot someone.

Good old Martin Shaw...here you have a man so selfish with an ego as big as a solar system. As soon as the show finished he decided he no longer liked it and banned any repeats- what a lovely man. It had to be pointed out to him that Gordon Jacksons widow could well do with the money the repeats would bring! He then must of agreed as it s been repeated for years now-that was big of him!!

Good fun but nothing more and it can be watched with your brain out of gear.

This is as bad as it gets. I enjoyed the original Minder and have reviewed that as well.

I don't know what was going through peoples minds here?

Shane Richie should get it into his head once and for all,that he is a grubby soap opera actor and nothing more. Every other project he does falls flat on its face and he can not act in any great way. A friend of mine who for some reason watches "Eastenders" told me that Richie has now made the character he plays sound like he has got a speech impediment.

No one wonder they pulled the plug on this drivel so quickly. Awful in so many ways.

I remember watching the last few series of Minder in the 90's as they came out. I really enjoyed them and so I've been stocking up on the early episodes that are repeated on a regular basis on sky.

Here we have wheeler dealer Arthur Daley played by the great Veteran actor George Cole and his diminutive Minder played Dennis Waterman. The show was started with the idea of it being more about Waterman's character and Arthur daley would be more secondary.... Yeah like that was ever going to happen! A bit like racing a bullet train on a bicycle and then being surprised with the outcome.

George Cole makes the show for me,his portrayal of Arthur is superb. The facial expressions the "Mockney" he uses and the spot on timing are brilliant. Waterman was good but he was never going to hold his ground or steal George Cole's thunder here, ironically Waterman was the one boxing out of his weight.

Arthur Daley is several rungs up the ladder from "Del boy" in only fools and horses. He owns properties, has a car lot, drives a nice Jag or Daimler and has a minder. This said, on his manner he was still only thought of as small time. He didn't discriminate at all,he was quite happy to do business with anyone just as long as there was a "nice little earner" in it.

I sometimes felt like the Terry McCann character was selectively stupid for the most part. He was clever enough to save the day or come to the rescue when one of Arthurs grubby deals back fired, but time and time again he was always stupid enough to get involved in the first place. It was clear that producers or writers still thought Waterman was the star because in a huge amount of episodes women just want to jump into bed with him at the drop of a hat! (yeah right) Also his hard man image strains the boundaries at times. Perhaps these plot holes were added to boost Waterman's inflated ego??? Also his appearance makes him the least convincing ex-boxer in the entire world.

Lots of great secondary characters make each episode worth watching even if your not keen on Arthurs latest deal. Notable performances from Glyn Edwards as long suffering Dave, owner or part owner of the Wincherster club. Not only does he have to put up with Arthurs bar bill slate being longer than the great wall of China,he is often sucked into his dodgy deals as well. Patrick Malahide as DS Chisholm who can never quite nail Daley for anything and has probably ruined his career trying.

The early episodes are the ones to go for but don't look to harshly on the later 90's episodes there are still some gems to be had,even if it was just more about comic situations,such as Arthur having to spend the night in a scruffy old canal boat or being trapped in his own lock-up. Enjoy!

This is a very poor film... and then some.

Michael Dorn and George Takei were obviously thinking of their pension pots when they signed for this. When this film is advertised on sky it always bands their names about to drum up viewers. One, their not in it much and Two, their hardly A list.

You know it's going to be very poor when a film is also known as something else....it was listed as "Shockwave" when i saw it.

Not much else to say really. Bad special effects for the most part, navy seals (or whoever their meant to be) who walk in line while on a mission like a Sunday school outing,foam rocks that wobble,guns that never need to be re loaded and poor acting.

If you get bored one night and see this advertised don't do like i did and "give it a go",do something more interesting like count the blades of grass on your lawn.

This slop doesn't deserve a long review,so here it goes.

Bored one night, nothing good on TV saw this....you know how it goes on.

Here we a have fat Stephen Baldwin putting in zero effort. I've seldom seen a more lethargic performance from any actor. It really is worth watching just to see an "actor" get away with doing so little.

The story could of been of slight interest in some ways, but then so could taking the lid of a tin of paint and watching it go hard.

Any tiny good points or sci- fi elements are totally ruined by Baldwins asmatic,lazy and stilted acting. Awful

I was addicted to repeats of this on channel four back in the 90's when i was growing up! Admiral Nelson became a hero of mine and no matter what problem he faced it was normally resolved by firing a nuclear missile or torpedo. I tapped a vast amount of the episodes on VHS at the time and even wrote to channel four asking if they would ever show Voyage again...

This started off in b/w and had some very good episodes with some hard hitting stories with gritty moral issues and great acting. I'm afraid to say by the last two series it was pure monster of the week and Richard Baseheart looked bored and fed up as he tried to save the world from the next rubbery foe. Crew members would be killed or murdered by other crew members when they had been "taken over" this normally happened on a regular basis but in the end the scripts were so bad no one really cared.

Kowalski would get knocked out every episode when he went to check on the circuitry room-which was always left unguarded. The crew had access to firearms when they wanted as there seemed to be a arms locker in their quarters. Throwing bombs was a must onboard. If so much as a summers breeze blew on the hull it would result in the best firework display you have seen coming from the control room equipment.

Despite what i have mentioned....i still love this show! It's pure ocean bound fantasy and had a real nice atmosphere about it. No matter how bad the scripts got the actors hung in there, the sets and lighting were fantastic. when the budget allowed there were some nifty under water shots. I always wanted to lurk and stalk Seaviews always empty corridors or form a search party with the chief. This show often attracted some big names as guest stars...one that springs to mind is Vincent price who tried to take over the Seaview with glove puppets! I really liked the writers idea of future gadgets and weapons, just writing this is making me want the Admiral to go to his lab and knock up a weapon to save the day!

The thing i hated the most about this show was not the nit picks i mentioned i can live with them and there kind of fun,it was the damn editing. What idiot did they get to do it? one shot the Seaview had a double row of windows (from the film) next shot it was back to a single set. They would be in deep water and decided to launch the "flying sub" so a shot of it launching with Seaview on the surface is used. Take me to long to list all the editing goofs. I remember one episode where they are trapped on the sea floor but can launch the flying sub because they are on a ledge....you guessed it, same old shot of it launching when the ship is on the surface,what were they thinking?

Having said all that still great fun to watch.Go for the black and white and early colour episodes some real gems to be found.

I'm sad about this one. Could of been so much more but instead turned into a shadow of it's former self.

Filmed in Australia due to cheaper production costs this really does leave the way open for continuity and location goofs,not to mention a large amount of Aussie actors trying to pull off all manner of accents.

The re-worked episodes of old favourites seems pointless and they don't come off half as good but i understand there was a writers strike going on at the time.

I'm a big fan of the original with Peter Graves (steven hill as Dan Briggs was more wooden than a ventriloquists dummy) so it's great to see him back as leader Jim Phelps.

No matter how you look at it and which ever way you cut the cake there is no way the rest of the IMF team are as good the original cast. Martin Landau was acting alongside the best in feature films so it was a real coup to have him lend his wait to the original. Leonard Nimoy,Greg Morris,Barbare Bain and Peter Lupus quite simply make the new cast here look poor.

Talking of Greg Morris...whats with the stories with him in it? Great to see him back but all he seemed to do in the three episodes he was in was to be knocked unconscious or be flaked out on a bed sweating. Total waste of the Barney Collier character. I do like the fact Gregs son took on the role as electronic wizard after him.

Look out for some very poor back drops and one or two special effects that wouldn't look out of place on Blakes 7.

There are a few good stand out episodes to be found among the rest of the batch and it's still miles better than the films with that prancing midget Tom Cruise.

What a load of rubbish....why are some people so easily pleased?

Dumb and dumber are back again! Mel Gibson all five foot of him fannying about with a horse hair mattress on his head. Ropey script not very engaging story and the pure hell of that annoying little nit wit Joe Pesci (wheres the bug spray)

Once again Danny Glover laughs all the way to the bank when he is handed a script and it dawns on him all he has to say is " riggs riggs,hey riggs,wheres riggs? riggs riggs,hey riggs" - Just like the first two chapters!

Lethal weapon one and two is one thing but why keep on with it?

Let's make this real brief.

An ageing cop called hooker....you know it makes sense. I watched this when i was a too young to know better back in the 80's,i saw an episode or two on sky a little while ago..ewwww

First rate drivel with William shatner lurching about, out running younger criminals,being an all round hero and all while over acting in his normal manner! Not to mention the fact he has skinned a poodle and seems to be wearing it on his head.

Every opening sequence we are treated to the cheesy music and a good shot of the gut as "Hooker" sprints into action.

Avoid this like a car with no brakes.

Here we have Stanley Kubricks horror "gem" and it seems like a tradition that everyone has to bow down in front of their televisions when its on!

Mr stanley 150 takes for a scene Kubrick really made one or two bad choices here.

Jack Nicholson hams it up and over does things to a dodgy perfection....why cast him? there is no surprise when he goes mad in fact it was more like when he goes mad not if!

Shelley Duvall is just in a constant state of hysteria and panic not much more to say about her character as thats all she gives us to judge.

The boy Danny played by Danny Lloyd does a fine job and puts the other two herberts i have just mentioned to shame.

Now let's move on to Phillip Stone and Joe Turkel as Grady and Lloyd the bartender. Their performances although small were top notch and chilling, the looks they give and way they deliver their lines really makes you believe they are evil.

Not much to say about Scatman Crothers,his character sets the scene a bit, then after a epic trek back to the hotel is killed the moment he walks in....hmmm did't see that coming.

Over blown and a over weight film which considering how long it had in the making still has the same amount of continuity gaffs as any other film. Last time i watched in the first five minutes i spotted the shadow of the helicopter,Danny eats through nearly all his sandwich in a second and the massive hedge maze that can not be seen from the air.

Much better films to be had out there that where made on a lot less.