Earth - Pentastar In The Style Of Demons

23. 07. 96

Sketch Sunday

The Reptile

Losing The Head Of Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick....

Good Time

MMM: "By The Quantum Leaps!" - Ulysses 33

On and on we travel, drifting lifeless as stone through the second half of the first (and quite possibly the most consistent in terms of story quality) disc....

EPISODE 6

The Odyssey approaches a hospital planet belonging to a (long vanished) advanced civilisation....

While Ulysses and Telemachus investigate Yumi and Nono naturally take matters into their own hands and attempt to make use of the facilities to revive the lifeless Numinor (with predictably risky results)....

EPISODE 7

The Odyssey encounters "electromagnetic turbulence" and as such the companions of Ulysses are revived. Of course, they're under the will of the gods and only Yumi's calming connection with the awakened Numinor seems able to save them from crashing into The Reefs Of Space....

An episode notable for some surprisingly moody rendering of the revived crew's faces as well as a plethora of FX - lightsabers, Artoo Detoo and blaster sounds - nabbed wholesale (and somewhat surprisingly surviving to this release) from Star Wars....

EPISODE 8

Another great episode, as the Odyssey - I think a distinct pattern is emerging here! - is drawn to the planet of the Sphinx where Ulysses must solve a riddle to ensure our heroes successful release....

Unfortunately Hermione, the daughter of the Sphinx, has other ideas - boy does she want Ulysses for herself, and the gods are only too happy to nudge her along the way! - and tricks 'the children' into entering the door that leads to The Mirror That Always Speaks The Truth. Angered at the news of their (unwitting) intrusion the Sphinx allows her to subject Ulysses to her own challenge - perhaps seeing her true face reflected will help resolve matters....

Some nice atmospheric scene setting in this episode - the leery lizard strolling through the palace of the Sphinx - and the design of the Sphinx himself, being particular highlights....

EPISODE 9

"It's time that's the fatal trap, the sure way to death."

The very best of them all? The Odyssey comes under attack from Trident spaceships and it seems there is nothing can be done to avoid destruction.... Only Cronus, exiled from Olympus by the gods, intervenes, transporting our heroes to The Kingdom Of Time, hoping to use Ulysses to bargain for his eventual freedom.....

'The children' are first placed in The Timelock then escape (accidentally) to the The Chamber Of Seasons, where they begin to age rapidly. It's up to Ulysses to save both them and the lives of their companions from the ravages of accelerated time....

I first saw the latter half of this episode as a youngster and remember vividly the scenes of Ulysses scaling the great clock tower and, particularly, the looming, gloomy (and catchy) theme that accompanied it....

Pink Floyd - Meddle

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