The first recording today starts with the end of the BBC London News, and Matt Lucas and David Walliams talking about some arts initiative or other. “It’s not just for poncy acting types.”
There’s a trail for the Reading and Leeds Festival.
Then, CBBC starts with Jackanory Junior – Bob and the House Elves read by Lee Cornes.
Media Centre Description: Lee Cornes tells the story of Bob, whose house is invaded by elves, and Lily, the only person who knows how to get rid of them.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Friday 24th August 2007 15:23
BBC Genome: BBC ONE Friday 24th August 2007 15:25
After this there’s a trail for Do Something Different. Then the recording stops with a few minutes of The Cramp Twins.
The next recording starts with the end of Finley the Fire Engine.
Then, it’s a repeat showing for Jackanory Junior – Bob and the House Elves
Media Centre Description: Lee Cornes tells the story of Bob, whose house is invaded by elves, and Lily, the only person who knows how to get rid of them.
Recorded from CBeebies on Friday 24th August 2007 17:13
BBC Genome: CBeebies Friday 24th August 2007 17:15
After this, there’s a trail for Big Fun Time and another helping of Sid and Jakers Capers.
Then the recording stops with the start of Jakers!
The last recording starts with the end of How I Met Your Mother.
There’s trails for Reading and Leeds Festivals, and for The Restaurant.
Then, the very last episode of Star Trek – Turnabout Intruder.
The Enterprise is called to Camus II where most of a scientific team have died of radiation poisoning. The only survivors are Dr Coleman, and Dr Janice Lester. Dr Lester and Kirk, it seems, have a history. “The year we were together at Starfleet is the only time in my life I was alive.” “I never stopped you from going on with your space work.” “Your world of Starship captains doesn’t admit women. It isn’t fair.” “No, it isn’t, And you punished and tortured me because of it.” “I loved you. We could have roamed among the stars.” “We’d have killed each other. It might have been better.” Yikes. And since when can women not become captains?
But she has a plan. Kirk looks at some strange carvings in her room, and she zaps him, which keeps him stuck to the device. She activates the device, and it shows all the signs of being a body swap machine.
Now in Kirk’s body, she’s really held a grudge against Kirk all these years. This has an awful lot of the sexism that often plagues the show. As she’s monologuing before killing Kirk in Lester’s body, she says “Now you’ll know the indignity of being a woman. For you, this agony will soon pass, as it has for me. Believe me, it’s better to be dead… than to live alone in the body of a woman.”
But before she can complete her plan, Spock and McCoy return, and Lester/Kirk has to agree to take Kirk/Lester to the Enterprise. The writing here is quite well done, as she calls the Enterprise saying “Captain Kirk to the Enterprise” and “Captain Kirk out”. Very small differences, but after three seasons, regular viewers will notice.
Lester’s associate, Dr Coleman, knows exactly what has happened, and Lester’s plan, but he tells her that she can’t kill Kirk/Lester as the death would look suspicious now they’re on the Enterprise.
“At last I attained what is my just due– Command of a starship, All the months of preparation now come to fruition.”
Kirk/Lester breaks out of sickbay and finds Spock and McCoy in sickbay, but Lester/Kirk is there too. He knocks the glass she’s carrying (they she used to cut her straps) and knocks her out. This only helps to increase the suspicions that Spock and McCoy have that something’s happened to Kirk’s mind.
Spock goes to talk to Kirk/Lester, who tells him what has happened. Spock is still sceptical even when she tells him things about their past missions. “However, those events have been recorded. They could have become known to you.” So Spock does a mind meld, which does convince him. But when he’s discovered trying to get Kirk/Lester out of confinement, Lester/Kirk announces that Spock will be Court Martialled.
Lester/Kirk is forced by Spock to question Kirk/Lester as part of the Court Martial. She tries to ridicule the testimony. When he says the body swap was a violent attack she says “Violence… By the lady… Perpetrated on Captain Kirk? Tsk tsk tsk. I ask the assembled personnel to look at Dr. Janice Lester And visualize that historic moment.”
“Can you–can you tell me why, uh, Dr. Janice Lester Would agree to this ludicrous exchange?” asks Lester/Kirk. “Yes. To get the power she craved, to attain a position she doesn’t merit by temperament or training, And most of all, she wanted to murder James Kirk, a man who once loved her, but her intense hatred of her own womanhood made life with her impossible.” Did I mention this episode is rather drenched in misogyny.
Lester/Kirk does get very angry when Spock won’t withdraw his accusations. “It is mutiny! Deliberate, vindictive, insane at its base! But mutiny as charged and encouragement of mutiny!”
A recess is called before a vote. Scotty and McCoy discuss what they’ve seen. Scotty knows something is wrong. “I’ve seen the Captain feverish, Sick, drunk, Delirious, terrified, Overjoyed, boiling mad. But up to now, I have never seen him red-faced with hysteria. I know how I’m going to vote.” There’s that word, hysteria. A word often used against women.
Scotty and McCoy weren’t circumspect enough with their discussion of voting against the Captain, and they too are accused of mutiny. Kirk orders their execution, and the rest of the crew protest, since the death penalty is forbidden in Starfleet.
Back on the bridge, Sulu and Chekov discuss what they might have to do if Kirk proceeds with the execution. “Are we going to allow an execution to take place?” “If security backs him up, how will we fight him?” “I’ll fight them every way and any way I can.” And when Lester/Kirk strides onto the bridge and orders them to go into orbit, they just move their hands from the controls and sit there.
This drives Lester/Kirk into a rage, and briefly, they swap back, giving McCoy hope that the process can be reversed.
Lester/Kirk goes to Dr Coleman and tells him about the brief break in the transference. He tells her that to make it permanent, Kirk must die. Lester tries to persuade Coleman. “If Kirk doesn’t die… We’ll both be exposed as murderers. Does that give you any choice?”
They take Kirk/Lester out of confinement first, but Kirk isn’t going down without a fight.
This is enough to trigger the reversal of the transference. Sandra Smith playing Lester is really good here as she realises what’s happened. “Oh! I’ve lost to the Captain! I’ve lost to James Kirk! I want you dead! I want you dead! I want you dead!” before she collapses into sobs.
Coleman seemingly gets a bit of a break. “You are as I loved you.” He asks if he can look after her, and they agree. But given how she already was before this, maybe he just got the short straw.
The episode ends with what is almost some introspection from Kirk. “I didn’t want to destroy her.” “I’m sure we all understand that, Captain.” “Her life could have been as rich as any woman’s, If only… If only.”
Media Centre Description: The crew’s loyalty to Kirk dwindles when he returns in an unusually petulant mood from a mission involving an old flame. However, the reaction of the officers seems unnecessarily harsh and the prospect of mutiny looms.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 25th August 2007 02:18
BBC Genome: BBC TWO Saturday 25th August 2007 02:20
After this, there’s a trail for The Restaurant. And a trail for Tribe. Plus a full version of the Silent Witness trail we saw a few days ago.
Then, the recording stops during an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode is The Survivors.