Month: January 2014

EP1158: Nick Carter: The Slingshot Murder

Lon Clark

Nick gets a tip on suspicious activity from an orphan boy and he and the boy are both shot.

Original Air Date: October 15, 1944

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EP1157: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Midas Touch Matter, Parts Three and Four

Bob Bailey

Will Hard Luck recover in time to let Johnny know whose behind the killing of three wealthy brothers?

Original Air Dates: July 4 and 5, 1956

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EP1156: The Casebook of Gregory Hood: The Three Silver Pesos

Gale Gordon

Gregory Hood and Sandy find a man about to jump off a bridge, but he apparently dies of heart attack while talking about a gun, and traces of cyanide are found, and then then a doctor says the man was stabbed.

Original Air Date: June 3, 1946

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EP1155: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Midas Touch Matter, Parts One and Two

Bob Bailey

Johnny goes to the mine to investigate the deaths of three wealthy brothers who were killed under suspicious circumstances in a mine cave in.

Original Air Dates: July 2 and 3, 1956

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EP1154s: Molle Mystery Theatre: Homicide for Hannah

An unemployed man finds himself accused of murder and accompanied by a beautiful blonde detective who has an appetite for homicide.

Original Air Date: December 28, 1943

Audio Drama Review: The Power of the Daleks

Last Christmas, Time of the Doctor marked the end of Matt Smith’s reign as the Eleventh Doctor, and this fall the BBC will kick off a new series featuring Peter Capaldi in the role. Today, we take a look at the first regeneration from First Doctor William Hartnell to Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, “Power of the Daleks.”

Due to the BBC’s horrible archival policies in 1960s, this isn’t a story people can “watch.” This is one of several stories that are completely missing on video and the only way they can be enjoyed is as audio dramas using the TV soundtrack recorded by fans and narration by a star from the series..

Without belaboring the point, in the “Tenth Planet,” the last First Doctor story, it was clear that William Hartnell was pretty well played out in the role. The four episode story featured almost no action from the Doctor in the first, second, and the fourth episode, and the third episode was spent with the doctor asleep. The fourth ended with the Doctor changing into Patrick Troughton.

Troughton actually really gets into the role right off the bat. While long time Whovians have seen newly regenerated doctors go through the process of picking out their wardrobe and getting used to new appearances, Troughton was the first and does it quite well. His character is fun and clever. The Second Doctor plays a recorder which is another nice bit of characterization.

Of course, his companions, who were with the First Doctor, are skeptical that this is really the same Doctor, with Ben being far more skeptical than Paulie.

The Second’s Doctor’s inaugural adventure is a blast. The TARDIS lands in the future on Earth’s colony Vulcan where they discover the murdered body of a government official called an examiner. The Doctor assumes the examiner’s identity and is determined to uncover why the Examiner was killed and what was going on in the colony.

In the course of his investigation, the Doctor comes across his most dangerous enemies, the Daleks. One of their ships has crash landed and a scientists is studying the dead Daleks. The Doctor wants them destroyed but finds out to his horror that the scientist who discovered the Daleks is actually trying to revive one and that he succeeds.

The revived Dalek, whose gun armed has been removed insists, “I am your servant.” The Doctor of course doesn’t buy it and is trying to stop the crazy scientists from reviving more Daleks. However, the whole Dalek issue is caught in a web of political intrigue which has more than one person thinking they can use the three revived Daleks as pawns. Some consider the small numbers of Daleks to be minor matter, but the Doctor warns that one is enough to destroy the entire base.

This is a wonderful serial that really works on every level: it has intrigue, mystery, suspense, and fantastic sci fi action. This is a story that illustrates the true power of audio story telling. The early writers of Dr. Who had great imagination, but lacked in special effects. That’s no problem here. The music and the dialogue tell the story powerfully.

The story has some genuinely scary moments that are really brought home by the audio. Of course, the Daleks are up to evil and two separate episodes end with Daleks chanting and there are few things more scary than a group of Daleks chanting, “We will get our power! We will get our power!” as they circle the scientist brought them back to life.

The scientist, Dr. Lesterson also has a fascinating character arc as the Daleks true nature becomes more apparent and things go from bad to worse. His final scene is the last episode of the serial is just haunting and fascinating at the same time.

Bottom line: “The Power of the Daleks” packs a powerful punch with a tone that’s often a bit dark, but also brilliantly conceived and executed.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0.

The Power of the Daleks is available at Audible.

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EP1154: The Line Up: The Luger Lugging Laddie Case

William Johnstone

Guthrie and Karger look f0r the perpetrator of a series of drug store robberies.

Original Air Date: July 8, 1952

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EP1153: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Longshot Matter, Part Five and Kudos for Khan (PT1)

Bob Bailey

Johnny knows who the killer is but can he prove it.

Original Air Date: June 29, 1956

A private eye named Joe Khan gets hired to find a woman’s lost sister.

Original Air Date: 1958

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EP1152: Nick Carter: The Numbers Murders

Lon Clark

The winners of numbers games are turning up dead.

Original Air Date: October 1, 1944

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EP1151: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Long Shot Matter, Parts Three and Four

Bob Bailey
Johnny’s assignment to prevent a murder fails and leads to a murder investigation and will Johnny be the next victim.

Original Air Dates : June 27 and 28, 1956

 

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EP1150: Mr. Chameleon: Murder and the Million Dollar Smile

Karl Swenson

Mr Chameleon investigates the murder of a woman with a great smile who was being invited to stay at a wealthy man’s house.

Original Air Date: April 24, 1953

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EP1149: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Long Shot Matter, Parts One and Two

Bob Bailey

Johnny goes to LA after an insurance company receives an anonymous letter warning that they’ll have to pay off on a big policy.

Original Air Dates: June 25 and 26, 1956

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Book Review: Pattern of Wounds

The latest murder Houston homicide detective Roland March investigates seems awfully familiar. March believes that the killer staged the scene of a dead one in a pool based on pictures from the book on the first big murder he ever solved, the Kingwood Killings. While higher ups dismiss the idea, some people think there’s a pattern to the book: that a serial killer was behind the latest killing, as well as several others, including March’s signature case. Worst of all, the writer who lionized March becomes an adversary who believes that he and March blew the original case.

This book succeeded in upping the ante from the first book with March having to deal with the potential of his entire career being reduced to rubble by this new allegation. He has to struggle to find out who is friends are really. March is all too human character who makes enemies who are willing or even anxious to see him taken down a peg, and he struggles to find someone who he can rely on as an ally. March’s big problem is that in the midst of a case, little niceties like gratitude are overlooked which only builds more resentment.

One of the more interesting character bits in this story was March’s interaction with a New Orleans police officer who had officially gone dirty and begun to coerce confessions. It’s scary for readers to realize that March is often just a step or two away from crossing the line, though March seems to think he’s a little bit further away than he is. We also get some good back story on what had put him on the outs at the start of the previous book.

The mystery is better than in the previous book. No breaks seemed overly convenient, and Bertrand was very skilled with throwing suspect after suspect at the readers, leading to a realistic but explosive conclusion.

The only negatives I can find is that the inclusion of the Teresa, a major character from the first book felt pointless in this one and she didn’t really do anything. Also, while the book description makes a point of describing March’s marriage as troubled, there’s very few hints of this in the actual story.

Still, a fascinating and engaging read for mystery fans that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

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EP1148: The Line Up: The Sobbin’ Sisters Saga

William Johnstone

A singer’s estranged husband is murdered.

Original Air Date: October 29, 1952

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EP1147: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Pearling Matter, Part Five and The Lady Was Lethal (PT 4)

Bob Bailey

 

Johnny got a death certificate for Jean Pearling but he still thinks he’s not done.

Original Air Date: June 22, 1956

Can Johnny protect the notebook from the mob and bring justice for his partner.

Original Air Date: 1958

 

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