Star Trek: Eras 104 - Tough Decisions

With Star Trek: Eras' latest release, Tough Decisions, Jim, Ken and the production group at TWERP have given us a good adventure drama with considerably more action than their previous episodes. Its a 'bottle show', which helps new listeners, whilst at the same time bringing back characters from previous shows which helps to fill out their back-story. So, if you haven't listened to an episode of Eras before now, this is a good place to start!


However this time around there's an even stronger reason for me to urge you to listen to this episode. It is one of the most striking speculative fiction episodes I've seen to date in a Star Trek fan production and because of that you will either love it or hate it.

I define good speculative fiction as something that makes us think about the world around us by drawing fictional parallels, such as the way that Tolkein was perceived to be commenting on English society in Lord of the Rings.

Trek fan productions rarely deal with the hot topics of our real life world, although there are notable exceptions of which Tough Decisions is one. As a paper-thin portrayal of the Iraqi conflict in a Star Trek context, I applaud Jim and Ken for their courage in putting it on the line for us. The allied involvement in Iraq is controversial because of its origins, its conduct and its outcomes and Jim and Ken have their own take on the moral and sociological aspects of it.

Did they get it right?

Define "right" for me.

They made me think, so - yeah, they got it right for me. Because making you think is what it is all about, not convincing you that their take is the right take.

I think it would be short-sighted to get caught up in arguments about this as a commentary on current affairs though, because the issues are much bigger than that. I can see this episode as opening up avenues of dialogue about a half dozen philosophical and ethical issues, not the least of which is the question of the universality of personal values which is so important to Star Trek.

Haven't you ever wondered about the paradox of how the Roddenberry dream can espouse IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations - and yet the quadrant is ruled by a federation that must, for its very survival, have fixed, core values that all the members must respect? Doesn't this say: we love your diversity as long as you are not diverse in ways that we disagree with? What about the right of a member planet to constitutionally recognise canibalism? Ritual suicide? Could the Klingons ever be recognised because of their tradition of hegh'bat?

I urge you to listen to Tough Decisions, enjoy it as entertainment and then think about this... where do your rights end and mine begin? Are there some absolute values in ethics that should be enforced across all cultures? Is this showing strength of convictions or is this a conviction of strength?

Your answer to the questions might tell you a lot about yourself and your own values.

----------------batlHa' vangIu'taHvIS quv chavbe'lu' ---------------
------ One does not achieve honour while acting dishonourably ------
-------------------------- Kirok of L'Stok -------------------------

Henglaar, MD Premiere

With the end of Star Trek: Hidden Frontier in 2007, various groups actively lobbied to continue aspects of the series as spin-offs besides the sweeping story arcs of Odyssey and The Helena Chronicles. Several of the cast had gathered strong followings and two series were started to cover them: Federation One which features Matt McCabe, and Henglaar MD which continues the story of the medico of the USS Excelsior who was a regular on the show from the first episode in 2000.

Henglaar is devastated after the events that formed the climax of season seven of ST HF and the premiere episode of this series, Recalled To Life, acts as a bridge between the two series, or if you've never seen the fan film an introduction. John Whiting has a distinctive gravelly voice that perfectly characterises his portrayal of the curmudgeonly Dr. Henglaar. He's supported in the opening episode by other ST HF characters including Silan, Henglaar's niece, played since ep. 7.04 by Heather Ashleigh and the star-crossed lovers, Traya Knapp, voiced by Sara Jo Elice and her Cardassian paramour, Pelas, which sees the return of Tim Foutch.

The strength of the production though lies in its new direction rather than its past. Henglaar is looking to quietly bury himself in his work and finds a niche for himself as the mentor of an unlikely trio of medical students, a human, a Vulcan and a Ferrengi played by Tim Fritts, Jeannie Lin and Mark Samarias. John's performance of Henglaar meets its match in a fiery delivery by Melodee M. Spevack as Cpt Dana Russell the master of the ship that the action takes place on. The interplay between these two characters was the highpoint of this production for me and I'll be bitterly disappointed if Melodee isn't a regular!

Henglaar, MD is an interesting show that breaks new ground for Star Trek fan audio dramas. I'm not oblivious to the parallels between this and a certain TV series that features a similarly irascible doctor who uses a cane but I'm afraid if this was what it was trading on its lost on me since I've never watched it. Medical drama revolves around people, it is heavy with tension and dialog, and, refreshingly, does not have to involve militaristic conflict. I'll be interested to see how well this translates into a different media, audio drama, and an unusual setting, the Star Trek universe.

Released on July 29 (Running Time 40:23; 37mb) and featured in the HFP August newsletter, the script for the pilot, by director Eric Weaver, was finished by February as was the recording of the series theme by Mary Kouyoumdjian, another departure from the usual fare. It is available as a direct download from the episode webpage on the HFP website where you can also find a preview and an iTunes feed … but no RSS feed for those of us who have freed our mp3 players from the demon ahToonz!

Altogether a good start to what could be a unique venture.

Starfleet Renegades in 2008

The reports of my death have been grossly exaggerated!

I never say that a series is dead or canceled. Some are simply so slow moving as to be indistinguishable from the dead >cough!DeathAndHonour!cough< Starfleet Renegades is a case in point.

On March 6, Starfleet Renegades premiered their first episode, Court Martial. Written, produced and directed by James DeRuvo it was a sequel to Piracy of the Noble, episode 2 in season 4 of the iconic fan film series, Star Trek: Hidden Frontier which he co-wrote and co-directed. On this production he was partnered by R. Scott Bolton as Producer and Story Editor.

Captain Nicolas Roberts, played with just the right amount of confident command by Gregory Crafts, is definitely a “bad-boy with a past” and in the first episode has to pay the price of his crimes ... or does he? His co-star, Chris Hanel makes a good foil for him as Cmdr Jack Cochran and Wendy Gough as Cmdr Kate Marshall was also good although not given enough opportunity to do much with her part.

The incidental music, listed on the website credits as by heavy metal, Trek tribute band WARP 11, was atmospheric and well chosen but at points there was some disconcerting mike noise and the sound levels were variable. I liked it though - it showed great promise. Just about ever VA had an interesting voice but their Ferrengi was outstanding!

The storyline was understandable to me because I had a passing knowledge of the background but I wonder if a new listener would get as much out of it because of the opening scene being a Court Martial of unexplained crimes? Of course this could work to their advantage as a teaser - giving the character "a past" - and the curious listener who wanted to know the captain's background can go watch the Hidden Frontier episode. easily enough.

The only other major nitpick was the firefight – they are hard to visualise in audio at the best of times and the hand-phasers in the bar fight sounded much the same as the ship phasers in orbit.

All-in-all it was a reasonable introduction as "not-your-Daddy's-Star-Trek" and at the time they had a new website with a teaser trailer and the full episode for download as well as a forum. However after this promising start things just seemed to fall apart, nothing more being heard from them for months and their website & forum being down from at least July.

The intimation that “the reports of their death were exaggerated” came in November when the Hidden Frontier.Com newsletter said of their latest spin-off series, Federation One, “The first audio episode will be an exciting crossover with the Starfleet Renegades audio series, also set in the HF universe.”

This was followed by a message from the producer on their resurrected forum on December 9 ...

I know, I know, Renegades has been down for quite a while. Think of it as the Columbia engaging the cloaking device. Well now, we're back. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our tech man, Jonathan Connor Foertch (aka, the new Lt. Simpson), and thanks to the gracious hosting of Wozniak, Renegades lives to fight on.

And just in time, too as we're set to announce pre-production on our second episode, a crossover with Hidden Frontier productions Federation One. Recording is scheduled to begin shortly so stay tuned for more thrilling adventures with the crew of the good ship Columbia.

This crossover is actually going to be episode 2.01 of Federation One but whatever happens, listeners will be the winners as the Hidden Frontier creativity machine lends a helping hand to a fellow fan production group.

Looking For Group, May '08

May 5 - Voice Actor auditions for Star Trek: Dimensions
Audio Drama looking for Voice Actors, Auditions close May 5. Details on Voice Acting Alliance

• Three any voicing
• Three Male or Female, late 30s - Late 50s
• Three males age: 26-42.
• Two females age 30-32
• One male Mid 40s, early 50s. A bit of a southern drawl.
• One male age 45, British Accent
• One male age: 25. nerd
• One female age:26, American Accent
• One female Andorian, Age 33.

May 10-11 - Casting Call for Star Trek Osiris
Live action fan film, Detroit, Michigan area. Millada Productions will be holding a general casting call on Saturday May 10th and Sunday the 11th for starring roles in the upcoming Star Trek: Osiris, late Summer to early Fall '08 release . Contact details on website

• Six female parts, ranging from age 25-40+
• Nine male parts, ranging from age 25-50+

No Closing date - Voice Actor auditions for Star Trek: Orion
Audio Drama looking for Voice Actors, no closing date for Auditions. Details on ST Orion Blog
pre-production stage.

• Five males
• One female

No Closing date - Writer for Star Rabbit Tracks
Established Audio Drama comedy/parody of Star Trek/Beatrix Potter looking for writer/s to extend the season. Contact details on Misfits audition page (sorry I missed getting the auditions out for the VA's for this!).

Kirok on Audio Dramas, Jan '08

Playing catch-up with Audio dramas since my last update in September.

_______________________________

Released

Jan 27 - Act 2 of Episode 3 "Yours, Mines And Ours" (10 mins 45s, 7.4Mb) released by Star Trek Eras. As Deep Space 5's research team tries to investigate the mysterious minefield surrounding Romulan space, Evori remembers a conflict between the Potemkin's engineer and chief of security while their ship's fate hangs in the balance. Whilst you're waiting for Act 3, why not check out some of the extras from previous episodes, including pdf copies of the scripts and downloads of the original music.

Jan 27 - To mark the launch of the website and virtual production studio of their new parent company, Totally Creative Media, the producers of Star Trek: The Continuing Mission have released the first of an exclusive, three part interview between Tim Renshaw and Gene Roddenberry. This is to be followed by another three part interview with Deforest Kelley and a third interview with James Doohan, all conducted during the pre-production and production phase of Star Trek The Motion Picture during the 1970's. Their pilot episode, "Ghost Ship" was released on Dec 25, featuring special guest star Lawrence Montaigne. Lawrence appeared in the original series as the Romulan officer Decius in 'Balance of Terror' and as Spocks rival Stonn in 'Amok Time'. A recording session with Lawrence took place in mid-September.

Jan 25 - ST Excelsior released their third episode, Act III of their "The Excelsior Returns Arc" titled, "Turns of Events" (45 mins). The Excelsior has retreated outside the system and dealt with the intruders. But Captain Cortez's team is still trapped on the planet, suddenly facing a Prime Directive dilemma as welll as Sorid-Gee's impending betrayal! Will the Excelsior's rescue attempt come in time? And what has happened to Special Operations Chief Amara?
Act II, "The Valandrian Expedition" (33 mins) was released on Dec 5 and the latest info is that Act III, "Wildfire" is scheduled for March. ST Excelsior is based on a Role Playing Game, an interesting concept as I pointed out in my earlier post at the release of their first episode in Sep '07 which they are now calling a "pilot episode".

Jan 23 - Circus 13 Productions premiered their new production, Star Trek: The New Frontier, with episode one, "The Beginning" The brainchild of James Leeper who wrote, co-directed with Cpt. John Tadrzak and produced it. ... All is not normal at Deep Space Thirteen, a new worm hole leads to some place else where no man has gone before. As something lurks to capture or even destroy the USS Phoenix, her crew is the last hope for the station's survival!

Jan 14 - Pendant productions released their latest episode of Star Trek: Defiant, "Shepherd Moons, part 1" (39mins 23s). The crew mourns the loss of Commander Ry, even as life marches ever onward. Meanwhile, Mnet has some new friends to help him exact new tortures upon a new race!

• Oct 11 - Ep 17 - With Honor and Courage, part 1 (34min 44s, 8.0Mb). The Defiant and the Shin'Aqi battle as the Task Force fights for their freedom! Senator Dreshek provides some unexpected assistance, and Commander Ry prepares a team for her mission and wants to include... Gul Otek.
• Nov 8 - Ep 18 - With Honor and Courage, part 2 (34min 13s, 7.8Mb). Adam and Rael have planned a surprise for the captain, which involves music, a bear hug and a reunion with an old friend. Ry's team prepares for their assault on Destur Muht, and love finally finds two of the Task Force members.
• Dec 13 - Ep 19 - With Honor and Courage, part 3 (34min 44s, 8.0Mb). New complications arise between Commander Ry and Gul Otek and the Captain gets disconcerting news from Admiral Bahvratti. The infiltration of Destur Muht holds some surprises, Lieutenant Magas makes a tough decision and B'Gruja knows best.
• Eps 18, 19 & 20 have an audio commentary track

Jan 1 - Darker Projects released their latest episode (Ep. 7) of Star Trek: Lost Frontier, "Resistance" (29min 22s, 27.1 MB) We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to sustain our own. Your culture will adapt to nourish us ... Resistance is futile.

• Oct 1 - Ep. 4 Escape from Korsava 4 (27min 54s, 25.7 MB) Trapped on the surface of prison world. The Enterprise away team make a desperate attempt to escape. But just how much can they trust the mysterious Mister Jezek? And just what will it cost them in the end?
• Nov 1 - Ep. 5 The Fallen Empire (24min 35s, 22.7 MB) Starfleet Command sends the Enterprise to investigate what has becomes of the Klingon Empire after the Infection struck. But along the way they make a shocking discovery.
• Dec 1 - Ep. 6 Remnant of the Klingons (23min 40s, 21.9 MB) The Enterprise discover a threat that could annihilate not only the last of the Klingons. But the Federation as well.
• Series 2 of Star Trek The Lost Frontier begins April 1st 2008.

Dec 15 - Star Trek: Unity released their premiere 'audiosode', the audio drama "Disunity" (1hr 15mins, 73Mb). Originally, and presumably still, envisaged as a machinima project, "Star Trek: Unity" have been working steadily towards this release for almost exactly a year now. Features Special Guest Star Kurt Carley, and available in four different formats

• a single MP3 file
• a four-part set of MP3 files (for easier chapter navigation)
• a CD image complete with episode CD label
• a format made especially for dial-up users
  

Check out their website for a poster and desktop wallpaper images available in several sizes. I'll post more on this after I've listened to it, I've been looking forward to it for ages!

_______________________________

In Production

Star Trek: Archimedes has swung back into full production after a brief holiday over Christmas. Co-producer, Fiona Conn is now cracking-the-whip to get lines in for their second episode. In Fionna's words, "The idea behind Archimedes was that ...Cadets would be assigned to a ship for two years in order to conclude their training ...Ultimately, our goal is to show the Cadets growing up through their experiences on board the Archimedes, becoming adults in their own right, before finally graduating at the end."

"Star Trek: Diplomatic Relations" called for and closed auditions on the Star Trek: Intrepid forum - you've got to be fast! Alex Matthews, has scored the services of two Hidden Frontier alumni for his premiere episode. They are Karl Puder, who will be reprising his character of General Korg from HF and the Section 31 Files, and Heather Ashleigh as Princess Regent Mey'Lii of the Royal Blood. Heather was the last actress to play Silan, Henglaar's niece, in Hidden Frontier.
The script of the second episode was completed and distributed by Nov and Alex has posted on the forum they have had hosted by Star Trek: Intrepid that they are close to releasing their first episode and have just opened their own forum and website to the public.

Starfleet Renegades has a forum now instead of the MySpace account although there doesn't seem to be much apparent movement. Must be like an iceberg: 7/8ths of it you can't see!

_______________________________

Pre-Production

Nothing new that I've heard of.

Kirok on Audio Dramas, Sep '07

And now for something completely different! I've been pondering the problem recently about Star Trek Role Playing Games.

I'll admit to a certain amount of ignorance on this subject, (Checkout this article from an expert) but it appears to me that Role Playing games (RPGs) represent a fast paced, original and easily accessible form of fan fiction. Getting a group of writers to collaborate on a story is like herding cats! Not impossible but a work of diplomacy to edit because of the individuality of the writers. RPGs turn writing into a game, complete with rules, that everyone contributes to readily. They can be very fast-paced as the writers bounce ideas off each other. They can be original in that often the storyline will take unexpected turns as one writer will write in a plot twist in reply to an idea contributed by someone else. Not only this but they can be accessible for people who are intimidated by the idea of creating a story of their own: they can embellish the work of others and get friendly feedback from the group. Since it is meant to be fun no one is pushing them to watch their spelling and grammar or any of the other technical standards that editors ask for in submissions that are for outside readers.

Perhaps that is the secret. They don't seem to be meant as a deep-and-meaningful fiction nor written with others in mind. They're just meant to be fun, to tell a story that you feel involved in.

So how is that a problem? Well, what do you do with them when they reach a conclusion?

To me they represent a vast untapped resource that could be the the genesis of characters and storylines that could be developed further. Some of the Star Trek fan films, ST: Intrepid and Tales of the Seventh Fleet for example, have gone through into production have drawn on their early experience in RPGs. They can be made into short stories or even scripts ... or even more ...

Star Trek: Excelsior is the latest audio drama to hit the internet and in their own words are "notable for being the first-ever Trek production of any sort to be based, rather tightly, on the adventures of a roleplaying game/simm run out of Bravo Fleet. It’s certainly an experiment, but we’re confident that, with some patience and an appreciation for long-form Star Trek storytelling."

This looks like an interesting experiment in translating an RPG into a more polished production although I might point out that both ST: Defiant and the recently deceased ST: The Section 31 Files have a common ancestry in a text-based story list which split from an earlier TrekChatter list in the fall of 1995 as recounted by Judah Frieze in the first "Behind the Scenes" podcast from Darker Projects.

I've listened to Excelsior (not to be confused with the Excelsior of ST: Hidden Frontier) and I think they have a pretty good thing going. The dialogue is realistic and unforced, the delivery is individual and the plot is ... well, still being set up but that is to be expected in a character driven plot.

I look forward to hearing more from this "not-the-usual-suspects" production!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news ...

Sep 21, the latest Twerpcast announced that the delayed act 1 of Episode 4 of ST: Eras, "Yours, Mines and Ours", should be out by the end of Oct.

_______________________________

Also from Twerpcast, news that ST: NX01, the fan-made audio series of Season 5 of ST: Enterprise that TWERP (the production group behind ST: Eras) are co-producing with GM Grantham Productions, are still on track for a December release. Announced on the TrekUnited 'EDay', their preliminary recordings have been finished and they will be going into editing after some pick-ups.

_______________________________

Sep 21, ST: Archimedes launched their webpage on the new BrokenSea Audio productions website.

_______________________________

Sep 12, Star Trek: The Continuing Mission went into production according to a post on their forum (they also have Podcasts and a Wiki of their own!). This group have been successful in getting news about their new series out into the media, both fan and professional! They recently announced that Lawrence Montaigne, best known to TOS fans as the Romulan Decius from The Balance of Terror and Spock's rival, Ston from Amok Time, "will be featuring in the pilot episode... Ghost ship".

_______________________________

Sep 6, Pendant Productions released Episode 16 of Star Trek: Defiant, "Enemies of Mine, part 3" (35mins 05secs) "The crew of the Defiant attends a funeral for one of their own, and Commander Ry forms a plan that leaves the rest of the crew none too happy. Otek is destined for prison, and the Defiant finally meets the Shin'Aqi and the reception is anything but friendly! Featuring a special guest appearance by Jonathan Frakes as Thomas Riker!" Defiant episode 17 is due out on OCT 11

_______________________________

Sep 1, Darker Projects released Star Trek: Lost Frontier episode 3 "Prisoner" (37mins 30secs, 34.5 MB) "The Enterprise responds to distress signal and is surprised to discover it may have Romulan origins. Meanwhile an away team is sent to find a prisoner being held by the faction of the One True Federation."

_______________________________

Aug 25, Krako of ST: Unity posted about how he is working steadily on not just episode one but episodes two and three. This might sound unnecessary, but it is usual to have at least a few episodes in hand before releasing the first so that you have leeway for delays in schedule. Act 1 is in post production, Act 2 is nearing completion of production and production of Act 3 is a third done with nearly all lines in. The official announcement about the release date is that there will be no official release date released until it has been completed, and the distribution network tested.

_______________________________

Aug 24, Starfleet Renegades announced that they had done their first table reading and that rehearsals continue. Their Voice Actors should be recording dialogue now and estimated that they were still on schedule to release episode 1, "Court Martial", in late fall.

_______________________________