Fusion Patrol

When inadequate safety protocols at a factory in a small industrial town lead to the death of a child, the events set in motion are about to make a new public enemy. Simon and Eugene discuss the Doomwatch episode, Public Enemy. Episode Synopsis: In the town of Carlingham a healthy young boy kicks a football … Continue reading 476 – Doomwatch – Public Enemy

What happens in scientific research on the lawless frontier can’t get approvals for human or animal trials?  You conduct it anyway because it’s the “lawless” frontier. John and Eugene discuss the Star Cops episode, Conversations with the Dead. Episode Synopsis: A freighter bound for Mars, the Daedalus, has a wee problem.  Its engines have fired … Continue reading 475 – Star Cops – Conversations with the Dead

Firefly comes to a close with the motion picture, Serenity.  Simon and Eugene discuss. Movie Synopsis: We open on what appears to be flashbacks showing the day Simon broke River out of the Alliance experimentation facility.  Paradoxically, even though this happened in the past, he seems to know quite a bit more about what was … Continue reading 474 – Serenity

Teaching and computers.  An amoral match made in hell? Simon and Eugene discuss the Logicians. Episode Synopsis: It’s a jolly lovely summer’s day at the Elsdene School and the boys are preparing for a field trip to a pharmaceutical company after spending the night planning a heist.  The boys seem a bit full of themselves … Continue reading 473 – Doomwatch – The Logicians

This week we start a new series on Fusion Patrol:  The 1987 BBC Science Fiction Police Drama, Star Cops by creator Chris Boucher, who long-time listeners will know from his work on Blakes 7. What does murder and crime look like in the age of computers and space travel? And what constitutes being a good … Continue reading 472 – Star Cops – An Instinct for Murder

We come to the end of the TV Series Firefly as Simon and Eugene discuss Objects in Space. Episode Synopsis: River is wandering about the ship, as if in a dream, she sees the others and hears their thoughts, or what she thinks their thoughts, she sees a branch on the floor… then she comes … Continue reading 471 – Firefly – Objects in Space

What happens when Doomwatch is called in to investigate rabies?  Simon and Eugene discuss The Inquest. Episode Synopsis: Hardcastle of Doomwatch is on the job at a lab in Ipswich.  The lab manager, Dr. Fane, is giving Hardcastle an earful of the problems he’s had running his lab, and the constant attacks and vandalism that … Continue reading 470 – Doomwatch – The Inquest

John Wyndham’s novel seminal post-vegetable-apocalyptic novel, The Day of the Triffids has been adapted several times, but possibly most faithfully by the BBC in 1981. Simon and Eugene look at the 6-part Day of the Triffids. Story Synopsis: Triffids are plants bioengineered by the Soviet Union to be an efficient fuel additive. They are unique … Continue reading 469 – The Day of the Triffids (BBC, 1981)

Our tour of Moonbase 3 comes to an abrupt end with the destruction of all life on Earth.  What happens when the last remnants of the human race contemplate the imminent end of all mankind? John and Eugene discuss this uplifting – and final – episode of Moonbase 3. Episode Synopsis:   Moonbase 3 is … Continue reading 468 – Moonbase 3 – View of a Dead Planet

It’s the Magnificent Seven with whores, in space.  What studio executive wouldn’t jump at that elevator pitch? Simon and Eugene discuss the Firefly episode, Heart of Gold. Episode Synopsis: On a charming planet, moon or planetoid stands the brothel Heart of Gold, and to this brothel comes a man named Rance, who terrorizes a pregnant … Continue reading 467 – Firefly – Heart of Gold

The population of the UK is exploding and they must find a way to deal with the surplus population.  Are high-rise apartments the way forward or is it a human time bomb waiting to happen? Simon and Eugene discuss. Episode Synopsis: Our story opens on the ugliest building they could find in the stock footage … Continue reading 466 – Doomwatch – The Human Time Bomb

Space is dangerous, and expensive. Will that get Tom Hill killed? John and Eugene discuss Castor and Pollux. Episode Synopsis: A satellite in Earth orbit fails and must be repaired by the Moonbase 3 team. At the same time, Caulder is hosting the Russian General in command of Moonbase 2. Russia is about to launch … Continue reading 465 – Moonbase 3 – Castor and Pollux

We pick up our coverage of Firefly with the episode, the Message.   Simon and Eugene discuss. Episode Synopsis: Stopping at a space station to take on supplies and attempt to fence the Lassiter, Mal and Zoe are surprised to receive a package in the mail. The package contains their dead friend and former war … Continue reading 464 – Firefly – The Message

It’s time once again for another re-telling of the classic, timeless tale by H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds.  This time the BBC have hired Peter Harness, acclaimed writer of Doctor Who’s Kill the Moon to put his unique spin on this beloved tale. Simon and Eugene discuss. Episode Synopsis: It’s War of the Worlds, … Continue reading 463 – War of the Worlds (BBC, 2019)

The regular 2020 Doctor Who series comes to an end.  Simon and Eugene look at Ascension of the Timeless Cyberchildren. This episode has been released early. Episode synopsis: Following the coordinates obtained from Percy Shelley, the Doctor and the gang arrive on a planet in the far future where there are 7 remaining humans. She … Continue reading 462 – Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children

Nigel Kneale’s dark and prescient look at the near future. Simon and Eugene review this classic work of British television. Episode synopsis:  In a future sooner than you think, the world is divided into two groups – the elite High Drives, who live in Apathy Control and the Low Drives, the masses who live outside. … Continue reading 461 – The Year of the Sex Olympics

There is history and then there are moments in history.  This is one of those as the Doctor pays a visit to Lord Byron and the gang.  Simon and Eugene discuss the Haunting of Villa Diodati. Episode Synopsis It is June 1816, and in a completely atypical fashion, the Doctor has decided to pop in … Continue reading 460 – Doctor Who – The Haunting of Villa Diodati

This week on a very special episode of Doctor Who… Simon and Eugene discuss Can You Hear Me? Episode Synopsis The year is 1380, in the Syrian city of Aleppo, and Tahira, a mentally ill woman who gets her kicks by stealing things is returning, hastily to the hospital she is staying in. She asks … Continue reading 459 – Doctor Who – Can You Hear Me?

Thar’s plastic in them thar hills! (and oceans, and birds, and airplanes, and people.) Simon and Eugene solve all of Earth’s pollution problems… or, failing that, they discuss Praxeus, the latest episode of Doctor Who from the folks who brought you Kablam! Episode Synopsis: It’s a tale of three threads. In one thread, UK astronaut ... Read more

We’re experimenting with a new feature here at Fusion Patrol, called Fusion Reaction, which is planned to be a regular livestream video event. Fusion Reaction is a show that covers the odds and ends that, for whatever reason, don’t make it or don’t fit into the weekly podcast.  It’s also your chance to be part … Continue reading Fusion Reaction Livestreams