ORBzine - UK TV Review - June 2001
[ Season 1! Season 2! Season 3]
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World
Based on the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel, The Lost World is about a group of British scientists and adventurers who are trapped in a world that time forgot. Producer John Landis serves up cannibals, dinosaurs, man-eating plants and ape men in this series.
Cast:
Season 1 (1999-2000)
(22 Episodes In Season 1)
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 1]
Part I: The Journey begins
Part II: Stranded
(Originally Aired 4/3/1999)
World-famous explorer Professor Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) leads an expedition to South America to find a remote plateau he claims is filled with species believed to be extinct. The crew includes:
Lani Tupu ( Farscape ) is the group's guide. However, since he is not in the title credits we can rest assured he comes to a sticky end during the first episode. However, on the plateau they meet Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ), a Sheena -looking blonde babe in a leather bikini. She has a tree-house that puts the Ewok village to shame, so our heroes have a safe base of operations from which to explore and have adventures.
This was produced by John Landis, and has nice CGI. It is quite silly, for example the voiceover intro starts At the dawn of the Century but it is actually set in 1922, almost a quarter of the way into the Twentieth Century! However it is not American so can be given the benefit of the doubt.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 3]
Better Than Human
(Originally Aired 9/27/1999)
The group are chased by a T-rex, and Roxton saves Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ). In a scene straight out of Planet of the Apes they are captured by a horse-riding superior species.
The slavers are lizard-men who apparently evolved from dinosaurs but dress as Romans and speak perfect English. Wayne Pygram ( Farscape ) plays the lizard Tribune's sidekick. While enslaved, the women have to wear skimpy lingerie. Ooh! As you can guess, the ending owes more than a little to Spartacus (the movie, not the TV show that McCauley was in).
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 4]
Nectar
(Originally Aired 10/4/1999)
The old guy is fatally poisoned by a giant bee-sting. The local caucasian healer-woman (named Adama) tells the group to get Royal Jelly from the bees' hive. In there they meet the babelicious Simone McKinnon .
Meanwhile, the others build an electric fence to keep ape-men away from their tree-house.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 5]
Cave Of Fear
(Originally Aired 10/11/1999)
Malone, the biscuit of the group, is wounded by a Raptor. Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) is held captive by a white woman who uses him for sex.
Roxton (the Crocodile Dundee guy) and raven-haired babe Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) explore a cave. They get infected with a halucinogen that acts in the same way the Dispair Squid did in Red Dwarf . They both dream things that are more powerful than they could imagine. Roxton sees his brother, Marguerite sees her mother ...
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 6]
Salvation
(Originally Aired 10/18/1999)
The two old guys and Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell , the blonde Sheena clone) fall foul of some Incas whose religion was mixed with Roman Catholicism and as a result want to burn the heretics at the stake. The chief prosecutor at the witch-trial is Lani Tupu ( Farscape ) in a long-haired wig. Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) stupidly does not think to use swimming underwater and lightning as metaphors for being alive while not breathing.
Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) spends her time annoying Roxton and Malone. She mentions she can read the ancient inscriptions on a tomb they find, and to explain it says she spent years at Oxford. Unusually, this episode she is a complete wimp and gets physically overpowered easily.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 7]
Blood Lust
(Originally Aired 10/25/1999)
Roxton discovers a wounded white man in the jungle. The man attacks and bites him. The group also discover a dead tiger, perhaps killed by the man. Roxton pays Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) a visit that night, but his lust is for blood instead of for flesh. He finds better sport taking on Raptors in hand-to-hand combat. Later he discovers a Transylvanian castle in the middle of the jungle, inhabited by a vamp named Callisto ...
Things hot up between Malone and the blonde babe, Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ). They kiss and go skinny-dipping together. Unfortunately, Malone has a GF back home. Meanwhile, Veronica is stalked by a native - or is he her fantasy? He wants to buy her (with gems - useless in the jungle), and Malone refuses to sell her.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 8]
Out Of Time
(Originally Aired 11/1/1999)
Roxton, Malone and Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) meet the Druids of Morrigun, and must go on a quest to retrieve some emeralds. This is part of Marguerite's destiny.
The old guys and the blonde babe Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) find a human-looking baby in the hands of some ape-people.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 9]
Paradise Found
(Originally Aired 11/15/1999)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) and Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) save an old man who is being chased by ape-men. Luckily the laws of physics do not work on the plateau, because the high-velocity rifle bullet does not go right through the ape-man into his victim. Veronica discovers that the old man used to be the guide who accompanied her parents. This is the best clue she has found as to their fate, so she decides to retrace the old man's steps.
The entire group of explorers go looking for clues. Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) is cynical about the fact they are risking their lives to find what she assumes is skeletal remains, but Roxton is game so she goes long anyway.
They encounter a village of Caucasian people in togas and parasols. This appears to be paradise, which is never a good sign. Marguerite knows that if it is too good to be true, it probably is not true, and Roxton starts investigating.
This ep actually has a bit of story development. Veronica almost comes closer to finding out her parents fate, and Marguerite tries to seduce Roxton.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 10]
The Beast Within
(Originally Aired 11/22/1999)
The babes get trapped down a 20-foot hole. Can they bond and work together to get out, or will they just keep mud-wrestling?
The Men visit a native (caucasian) village. Not the same one as last week, a new one. The village Shaman raises Malone from the dead, then turns eeevil.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 11]
Creatures Of The Dark
(Originally Aired 11/29/1999)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ), Malone and Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) discover a gold mine, and get trapped in a cave-in. Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ), despite knowing that Bantu headhunters are prowling nearby, follows the loud cave-in with some noisy shouts for help.
Back at the treehouse, Roxton is making his own bullets. Hopefully his home-made ammo will be as accurate as the old one. The old scientist, Professor Summerlee, has begun to take up painting as a hobby. Well, Leonardo DaVinci was both an artist and a scientist, and they will need a way of recording landscapes since they do not have a camera.
The trio trapped underground discover a society of albinos. Presumably they live on fish from a pool fed by an underground river. Their ancestors dug the mines while slaves to the Conquistadors. As a result, they are paranoid about outsiders. Challenger assures them My world is not so harsh as you imagine but since he faces deadly dangers on a daily basis this is hardly an accurate statement.
The albinos have an Oracle who can read minds. If he believes the group when they promise not to betray him, their lives will be spared. Of course, since Marguerite is one of the ones who must make the promise the people accompanying her do not have much of a chance! But is the Oracle telling the truth?
Roxton and the others must avoid the headhunters and raptors while carrying enough gunpowder to blast the tunnel open again. However, gunshots are noisy enough to draw unwanted attention, while their ammo supplies are limited and the home-made stuff is unreliable.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 12]
Tribute
(Originally Aired 1/15/2000)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) leads Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) and Roxton on a four-day hike to find a route to the sea. Roxton comments that ammunition is running low, although they are bound to have enough for the full three Seasons. Then he saves a damsel in distress, but she is not happy about it. Her group of Caucasian villagers must provide human sacrifices, by order of a Samurai warlord.
Back at the treehouse, a World War One biplane lands. The pilot recognises Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) ... In 1916 she attended a formal gala ball in Berlin as a personal guest of the Head of German Military Intelligence. And the last thing she wants is for her new friends to find out about her treacherous past ... or for old enemies to track her down while she is relatively safe on the plateau.
The explorers do not have a Prime Directive, so they happily help the Caucasians to rebell against their Samurai oppressors. Well, the Warlord is clearly oriental, but his men-at-arms all wear face-masks so for all we know they could be Caucasian too. Roxton and Veronica teach the villagers fighting skills, while Challenger gives a stirring speech from Henry V .
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 13]
Absolute Powers
(Originally Aired 1/22/2000)
The explorers discover a lost civilisation, complete with disused monorail system. Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) is KO'd, and dreams that he has superpowers.
Anthony Simcoe ( Farscape ) kidnaps Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ). His name is Durkhan, perhaps a reference to the Xena: S6 episode about slavers. Challenger leads Roxton and Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) to save her.
The moral of the story? Power corrupts.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 14]
Camelot
(Originally Aired 1/29/2000)
Marguerite is taking a bath in the river while Veronica does a poor job of keeping watch. They are spied by a teenage princeling, Gawain, who thinks Marguerite is the Lady of the Lake. He chooses her as his bride, and has his men escort her away.
The Prince’s sidekick is the creepy Lord Mordred, and everything about him is as creepy as his name. He plots against the King, of course, and has enough men loyal to him that he can raise a rebellion. Why he waited until the boy was almost old enough to claim the throne is not explained. He had over a decade to try something.
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) and Summerlee are away for the week. Roxton and Malone join veronica in her attempt to free Marguerite. They end up facing a few Camelot-themed challenges along the way. Malone must slay a dragon, and Roxton jousts against a villain.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 15]
Unnatural Selection
(Originally Aired 2/5/2000)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ), Roxton and Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) encounter an old friend of Challenger's. He turns out to be Dr Moreau, testing genetics on ape men.
Summerlee tries to photograph Malone with some dinosaurs. Marguerite spots Melissa Jaffer in the background, wearing headphones from a radio set. They track her down and discover she is the Faerie Queen. And Malone is a virgin!
The radio was aboard another potential anachronism - a metal monoplane. However, this show is set after the First World War, not in the Edwardian era like the book.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 16]
Time After Time
(Originally Aired 2/12/2000)
Roxton and Veronica rescue Claudia Karvan , who is clad in modern-day clothing. They take her back to Summerlee at the treehouse.
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ), Malone and Veronica find a dead graverobber in the river. They track him upstream, and discover a lost city. It is probably not the same one that had the nuclear reactor a few weeks ago. It may look the same, but this one is guarded by Caucasian ninjas. Well, they may look like ninjas, but even Marguerite can beat one up in a fist-fight.
The two strangers are time-travellers. One wants to help Marguerite get off the plateau, while the other will kill her to stop her.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 17]
Resurrection Prophecy
(Originally Aired 2/19/2000)
Roxton and Marguerite are out camping together, exploring the ice-bound northern edge of the plateau for a way off. They are attacked by Vikings, who leave Roxton for dead.
A Pre-teen wizard boy offers Roxton a resurrection, but at a price. The magic-user demands that Roxton settle the scales - a life for a life. Roxton is the only one who can pull the crystal sword from the rock. However, he is not Chosen, as such - he is just the first man to come along who has damned himself by his own conscience while remaining pure of heart.
Summerlee and Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) are searching to the South, so Malone and Veronica head East. They encounter some Caucasian thugs, who follow them back to the treehouse and besiege them there.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 18]
Prodigal Father
(Originally Aired 2/26/2000)
The adventurers rescue a white man who claims to be Veronica's father. He is pursued by a bounty-hunter who has Maori-style facial tattoos.
We also get to see Mud-wrestling between Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) and Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely )!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 19]
Birthright
(Originally Aired 3/4/2000)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ), Malone and Marguerite scare off some cannibals (that's not racist at all!) who are trying to loot a grave. It turns out the grave's occupant is a mummy who was buried alive. Okay, he had bandages on but he was not technically mummified.
He leads the adventurers to his temple, where his sister has seized his throne. Apparently after the Exodus the Egyptian army wandered for a hundred years, and somehow ended up on the plateau in South America! Their society has not changed much, except for the staff of Ra (which produces a solar-powered laser bean capable of permanently blinding people).
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 20]
The Chosen One
(Originally Aired 4/22/2000)
Roxton and Marguerite must save a young boy from a gang of English-speaking Caucasian warriors, the Goths. Hey, even the lizard-men speak English so let's just go along with it.
The boy has a Quest - to get to the cave of his father (Alan Dale - Once Upon a Time ). There he will be taught how to fulfil his destiny, and unite the three tribes against their Goth enemies.
Back at the treehouse, Malone meets a beautiful water-nymph. He invites her home and starts to spend far too much time with her. When Malone gives Veronica the brush-off, Summerlee has to talk with him. And he notices a strange tumour on Malone's back ...
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 21]
Prophecy
(Originally Aired 5/13/2000)
Roxton saves a beautiful gypsy woman. In return, she tells his fortune.
The local Caucasian thugs not only speak English, they know exactly what guns are and how to use them. They steal the party's guns, so Roxton and Marguerite sneak in to steal them back. Luckily, the thugs hold a masked ball every time they rob someone!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 22]
Barbarians At The Gate
(Originally Aired 5/20/2000)
A warlord named Drakul (rent-a-villain Marshall Napier - The Girl From Tomorrow ) has been given the secret of gunpowder by Tribune the lizard-man (Jerome Ehlers). The plan was to enslave all the local villages, but Drakul prefers just to kill everyone who gets in his way.
Summerlee's hot air balloon is ready, so the adventurers board it to go home. Unfortunately Drakul sees them, and shoots them down with his trebuchet.
Malone decided to stay with Veronica. They encounter the lizard-man Tribune, who was wounded when Drakul double-crossed him. Tribune leads Malone and Veronica to Drakul's camp.
The ending is a literal cliff-hanger, with a bleakness reminiscent of Blake's Seven .
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 1]
All Or Nothing
(Originally Aired 10/2/2000)
After last Season's cliff-hanger ending, the survivors try to regroup. Luckily, Tribune needs them as much as they need him.
The adventurers find a small fishing village that has fallen on hard times. There is a sea monster in the lake, so the fisher folk have started a casino instead. Economically this makes absolutely no sense, and in fact it seems quite similar to an episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys .
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) provides a distraction by winning at all the games of chance, while Marguerite does what she does best and seduces the villain. Tribune, however, learns to give back. He has eaten many humans, so now the humans plan to cook and eat him.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 2]
Amazons
(Originally Aired 10/9/2000)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ), Malone and Roxton save an Amazon warrior from a raptor. The Amazons are like the ones in Hercules and the Amazon Women . Malone is suspicious and tries to avoid the attentions of gorgeous sisters (including Lara Cox ), while Roxton and Challenger play along.
Veronica knows the Amazons' secret - after her parents disappeared she was offered the chance to join their tribe, which explains the similarities between her costume and theirs.
The Amazons would rather trade with the local Bantu Cannibals (a somewhat racist casting choice) than with the Caucasian tribe nearby. Unfortunately, since the women treat their neighbours so badly the feeling is mutual. Can the adventurers bring peace between the warring tribes?
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 3]
Tourist Season
(Originally Aired 10/16/2000)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) tries to get a makeshift electricity generator working. Unfortunately the side effect is that it opens a time portal. A helicopter lands on the plateau, near the treehouse. As well as the pilot there is a family of tourists from the year 2000.
The father wants to get back to work in the modern world, so he can plug his laptop in. Yes, this was a decade before wifi tech became prevalent. The teenage boy takes a liking to Veronica - and who can blame him?
Marguerite wants to get back to civilisation, and tries to bribe the pilot into taking her off the plateau.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 4]
Stone Cold
(Originally Aired 10/23/2000)
Marguerite and the others discover a haunted castle, and are possessed into re-enacting a murder-mystery. Strangely the castle is meant to be from 1493, but mentions a plague (perhaps the great one in 1666). Worse, the garb the possessed victims wear is Georgian, which is yet another anachronism.
Marguerite is the corrupt Countess, like a character from Dangerous Liaisons . Roxton and Malone are competing for her favours, while Veronica is her young protege. Of course, jealousy pits them all against each other.
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) is the odd one out, and uncovers the truth about the curse.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 5]
Divine Right
(Originally Aired 10/30/2000)
Roxton, Malone and Veronica are out, testing a morse-code signalling mirror. They see a runaway horse, and Roxton tries to ride it. The horse takes him to a village, where he is declared King.
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) and Marguerite try to help Roxton rule. However, the village has a sorceror who wants to rule, but pretends to be the King's grand advisor. Challenger refuses to believe the villain has real magic, Marguerite can read runes, which comes in useful.
Malone and Veronica go looking for the truth about the dragon. Since Malone killed one (well, a T-Rex) in the Arthurian episode, they should not be surprised when a large scaly monster appears.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 6]
Skin Deep
(Originally Aired 11/6/2000)
Marguerite stumbles across an alien skeleton. The alien possesses her ... and she becomes NICE! Unfortunately, the others do not get suspicious about her new behaviour. Perhaps they do not want to look a gift-horse in the mouth.
Veronica and Malone go on a trip to a local village to help with a wedding. Unfortunately the men of the village have mysteriously gone walkabout.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 7]
London Calling
(Originally Aired 11/13/2000)
Malone and Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) retrieve a map from the body of an ancient explorer. Combined with other clues, Malone has found a way off the plateau! Veronica stays behind, but the rest of the party are rescued by Grant Bowler ( Defiance ) and are soon in London.
If all this seems too good to be true, it is. Malone does not work it out for himself, despite unusual events happening. Instead we are spoon-fed the non-twist, as Veronica enters Malone’s dream in order to coax him out of it. Unfortunately, if you die in a dream …
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 8]
The Prisoner
(Originally Aired 11/20/2000)
Veronica is summoned by a man who looks like Lani Tupu ( Farscape ), last seen as the guide who took them to the plateau. In all fairness, the character is a shape-shifter who only LOOKS like him!
The Prisoner of the title is a giant. He wants to escape so he can wreak vengeance on the ones who imprisoned him. Can Marguerite save the day by seducing him?
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 9]
The Games
(Originally Aired 1/15/2001)
Tribune, the lizard-man and recurring antagonist, is now on the run. He incurred the displeasure of the Empire’s new ruler, and she sent her Captain (Wayne Pygram - Farscape ) after him.
Tribune gets as far as the treehouse. Then he gets himself (and everyone else) captured stupidly easily, as always.
Naturally, Marguerite ingraciates herself with the evil ruler. Tribune and Roxton get chained together, and forced to fight as a team in the arena.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 10]
The Source
(Originally Aired 1/22/2001)
The Plateau has a terrible drought. The party go out foraging for fresh water, but get ambushed at the watering hole by a pack of raptors. Then they get saved by a beautiful Spanish Senorita …
The girl takes a liking to Malone. She claims to be descended from Conquistadors exiled from Spain in 1540 for heresy. They came to the Plateau looking for the fountain of youth, and they apparently know a way off the plateau. Veronica does not believe her, although her story is at least as plausible as that of the Arthurian knights a few weeks previously.
The party must guide the Senorita home, but that means going across the grassy plains controlled by The Horsemen. These riders are yet another Caucasian tribe, But at least their culture is slightly original and not just another bastardisation of a standard fantasy or historical cliche.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 11]
Trophies
(Originally Aired 1/29/2001)
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 12]
Voodoo Queen
(Originally Aired 2/5/2001)
Roxton rescues a Barbara Carrera lookalike. He brings her home, as always. After all, just because every other visitor to the treehouse has had evil intent does not mean that she is evil too!
In the distance, the survivors can hear Voodoo drums. Eventually they are besieged by Voodoo zombies (as opposed to Romero or Fast zombies).
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 13]
The Guardian
(Originally Aired 2/12/2001)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) meets Gigi Edgely and a gang of feral Caucasian children. Their village is protected by a carnivorous plant. What could possibly go wrong?
This is more than a little similar to Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 1, Episode 9] Paradise Found .
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 14]
Under Pressure
(Originally Aired 2/19/2001)
The explorers are harrassed by Kobolds - rock-men, like trolls or gollems. They are linked to an old friend of Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ). No, not Dr Moreau, a different scientist from London. He takes the explorers on a Journey to the Centre of the Earth .
The Kobolds have built a primitive nuclear reactor, as well as tunnels that reach as far as the Nobel Prize HQ in Sweden. Talk about a way off the Plateau!
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 15]
The Outlaw
(Originally Aired 2/26/2001)
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 16]
The Quality Of Mercy
(Originally Aired 3/5/2001)
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 17]
Mark Of The Beast
(Originally Aired 4/16/2001)
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 18]
Survivors
(Originally Aired 4/23/2001)
Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ) and Marguerite discover an abandoned roadway that someone constructed. It leads to a cave that someone has customised into a temple, complete with stone carvings and boobytraps.
Marguerite gets wounded and trapped. Luckily, an old friend appears and comforts her. It is someone she last saw twelve years previously in Paris, and whom she had long assumed was dead. However, she is more than happy to give the undead friend some off-screen exposition concerning a mysterious encounter in Shanghai that is the real reason for her visit to The Plateau.
Challenger also meets an old face from the past - the explorer he got the location of the plateau from. However, despite seemingly taking Marguerite's friend at face value (even when Marguerite protests) he suddenly decides the strangers are in fact ghosts. Ectoplasmic Manifestations he calls them, to sound more scientific. However, it seems the man of science has embraced the existence of what seems like magic. That said, he has a plan to destroy them that resembles Faraday's experiments with electricity.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 19]
The Pirate's Curse
(Originally Aired 4/30/2001)
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 20]
The Visitor
(Originally Aired 5/7/2001)
The bland and generic title of this episode is no doubt because the more obvious and fitting one, Mark Of The Beast, was used a few episodes ago.
Veronica meets an old friend of hers, a local tribesman whom she knew as a child. This will all end badly.
There is a monster in the woods. It turns out to be a werewolf. One of the regular characters gets scratched (not bitten) and somehow infected. The others must find a cure before he turns for good.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 21]
A Man Of Vision
(Originally Aired 5/14/2001)
The heroes chase Summerlee's ghost. The result is terrible acting and a poor script.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 22]
Into The Fire
(Originally Aired 5/21/2001)
A Royal Navy dirigible arrives over the plateau. Malone gets aboard, but runs into trouble there. Veronica and Challenger go looking for him.
Marguerite and Roxton help the airship's captain repair the craft. Marguerite enjoys the stranger's company, which makes Roxton jealous.
This is the final episode of the Season, so it is climactic in every way. Our heroes get a chance to escape the plateau and return home, so if the show gets cancelled it has a happy ending. However, if the show gets renewed the ending is an apocalyptic cliffhanger. The viewers are kept interested, and any cast members who want a pay increase can be written out. The Producers also get to spend every penny left over in the budget, in a use it or lose it catch-22 situation.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 1]
Out of the Blue
Shown 20 Oct 01
Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) the Blonde and the Airship's Captain are in the jungle. The Captain is glad to be off the cursed airship, but now he is being chased by cannibals ... and Veronica!
Challenger, Roxton and Marguerite are trapped on the airship. They arrive in England in 1915. Even though the airship and its Captain are Royal Navy issue, they are in Royal Flying Corps uniforms instead. They meet Winston Churchill, still First Lord of the Admiralty. Luckily Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) will have had been (time-travel problems, eh?) a friend of his. Small world!
Malone is missing, trapped in a realm between ghosts and reality. This is because the actor David Orth had to be reduced to a Guest Star. The Producers had problems with funding, specifically because the Australian Government's tax rules changed and they had to reduce the amount of foreign (American) participation in the show. As a result, Malone and later Veronica have a reduced participation this Season.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 2]
The Travelers
Shown 27 Oct 01
The team have split into two pairs to search for Malone. Marguerite and Roxton spend time together, while Challenger and Veronica are elsewhere.
Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) is taken by three Cavaliers. Their leader is Jerome Ehlers (AKA Tribune the lizard-man). One of his sidekicks is Dominic Purcell ( John Doe ). They can create a portal to get off the Plateau, but they demand all Marguerite's treasure for themselves.
Challenger gets help from Malone's ghost.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 3]
An Eye for an Eye
Shown 3 Nov 01
Roxton is out hunting for some meat. He does not discover the Elephants' graveyard, but he does find the Triceratops' graveyard instead. The bad news is, not all the Triceratops there are dead yet. When Roxton has to defend himself, things get even worse for him. A lizard-woman shamaness type appears, declares herself to be guardian of the sacred space. She curses Roxton to be hunted ...
The curse creates an evil clone of Roxton. This is the perfect hunter - he has all Roxton's strengths and none of his weaknesses.
Challenger gets help from Malone's ghost. However, this does not actually have any effect on the outcome of the episode.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 4]
True Spirit
Shown 10 Nov 01
Let us reflect on the impressive domestication of the treehouse. It may look like the Ewok village, but it has been improved in recent years. Veronica's home took a team of thirty explorers to build, but Challenger's electrification has turned it into a modern-day suburban home. He has built a toaster to cook bread.
We get a list of chores that the survivors have divided among themselves. Not counting Challenger's science experiments and Roxton's hunting for fresh meat. Since Malone went missing the division of labour has suffered.
Veronica is having dreams about Malone. Not the fun kind, unfortunately - more like his ghostly spirit is trying to give her a message. Marguerite tries to raise Veronica's spirits (no pun intended) by playing with a Ouiji board she conveniently made earlier. This backfires badly.
Challenger and Roxton are summoned to help the friendly Zanga villagers. Their arable fields have been smitten by a massive crop circle. Challenger remarks that such things are common near Avebury - and Roxton reveals that his family home is near there. He even mentions standing stones raised by the Druids. Later on Marguerite mentions she used to live near Avebury too, which makes this a very arc-intensive episode.
The Zanga villagers believe the crop circles are being made by the spirit of a violent warlord named Zaros. Challenger is willing to put aside his scientific scepticism and do a seance. He was a friend of Harry Houdini, and helped him debunk fraudulent Mediums in Chicago. Marguerite knew Houdini too, but she was on the other side of the phony Medium business.
Challenger has his own camera and dark room. Better, he has made improvements on his hot-air balloon. In a month or so it will have greater carrying capacity. This is good foreshadowing for future episodes. For the moment, though, it is just a tool to locate the crossover point where Malone plans to reappear.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 5]
The Knife
Shown 17 Nov 01
Marguerite and Roxton encounter Scotland Yard Police Inspector John Noble ( Fringe ). He claims to be on the trail of Jack the Ripper.
Veronica likewise encounters a stranger - stale, male, pale and with a completely different story about the Ripper.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 6]
Fire in the Sky
Shown 24 Nov 01
Malone (now demoted to Guest Star) finds an old explorer. Can they find the way home?
Roxton's past comes back to haunt him. There are some blond natives - descended from Dutch settlers.
The Scorpius meteor shower is about to arrive. Since so many guest-stars on this show have been regulars in Farscape , it is unlikely that the name is a coincidence.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 7]
Dead Man's Hill
Shown 1 Dec 01
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 8]
Hollow Victory
Shown 8 Dec 01
Challenger has the balloon working again. He has converted it from a simple hot air balloon to a hydrogen gasbag. The explorers sail off to wards the mountains, but end up in bad weather.
The balloon crash-lands in a massive underground cavern, like in Journey to the Centre of the Earth . It must be completely seperate from the Kobolds' tunnels featured in Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 14] Under Pressure.
Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) gets another clue as to what happened to her parents. However, she is also preoccupied with her non-relationship with Malone. If he chooses to return to civilization, she will stay on the plateau without him.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 9]
A Witch's Calling
Shown 12 Jan 02
Dame Alice Kytler ( Jane Badler ) and her minion ( Raelee Hill ) plot against Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ). The women use their feminine charms on the vulnerable men.
The Dame is worried that Challenger's scientific mechanisms will prevent her magic from working.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 10]
Brothers in Arms
Shown 19 Jan 02
Malone is hit by a poisoned dart. He hallucinates a flashback to the Western Front in World War One. His Blonde love interest Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) is nowhere in sight this ep.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 11]
Ice Age
Shown 26 Jan 02
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 12]
The End Game
Shown 2 Feb 02
Roxton plays cards against the Grim Reaper (who looks like Traci Lords ).
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 13]
Phantoms
Shown 9 Feb 02
Veronica ( Jennifer O'Dell ) is lonely. She steps through a time rip to 1822, to a German village where everyone mysteriously speaks English. She gets a new love interest. However, this is the old re-live ghostly events plot.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 14]
The Secret
Shown 16 Feb 02
Marguerite ( Rachel Blakely ) reveals the reason she came to the Plateau, previously aluded to in Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 2, Episode 18] Survivors . Her relationship with Roxton is explored.
A Chinese mystic wants a magic item. A deathtrap is involved.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 15]
Finn
Shown 23 Feb 02
The explorers are joined by Finn ( Lara Cox ), an Aussie babe from the 21st Century.
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 16]
Suspicion
Shown 2 Mar 02
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 17]
The Imposters
Shown 8 Apr 02
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 18]
The Elixer
Shown 15 Apr 02
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 19]
Tapestry
Shown 22 Apr 02
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 20]
Legacy
Shown 29 Apr 02
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 21]
Trapped
Shown 6 May 02
Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's [Season 3, Episode 22]
Heart of the Storm
Shown 13 May 02
The story still centres around Challenger (Peter McCauley - Spartacus: Vengeance ), but the explorers have been joined by Finn ( Lara Cox ), an Aussie babe from the 21st Century.
There are time-slips, references to old eps, and they tie up loose ends involving ley lines and Druids.