7TV2 - A Cut in Time: Dinosaurs of the Wild West.

In a change to the listed programme we bring you an episode of 'A Cut In Time'. This time around The Surgeon (in a fully restored and colourised edition) continues his adventures to 'stitch time in place' with his two companions Jim and Vicy. In this episode they go up against the scheming Meddlesome Monk in...

"Dinosaurs of the Wild West".

(Furthering The Surgeon's adventures in Time and Space.)

ACT I

"Mosey on Down to Deserted Town"

It is  the Year of 1857 and we find ourselves in the small township of Roarish, Arizona...

It is quickly clear that Roarish has been abandoned. The residents of this usually bustling place have all left post haste but it is not immediately apparent as to why?

Notorious ne'er-do-well and all round cad Groog Dungfire and his gang of thugs were camping out nearly. They witnessed, from afar, as the the townsfolk fled but were left with no clue as to what they were fleeing from. With some of the roughest characters around in his gang he was pretty sure is was nothing they couldn't handle. Surely some easy pickings awaited?

The Dungfire Gang approaches from the north side of town - Tom "Sawyer" Jones, Davy "Tubbs" Smith, Bobby "Gutshot" Bones, Arbuthnot "Slick" Nicholson with Danny "Irish" McAdams leading the way. The intimidating form of Groog Dungfire watches on.

Not far from Roarish, in the next valley sits the town of Possums Exchange. The local Marshal, Tyrone Bossman, based himself there some years back. Being an educated man of keen mind, he  was of course somewhat sceptical at the stories of monsters being told by the influx of Roarish townsfolk to Possum. With no lawmen in Roarish, the Marshal felt obliged to gather up a small posse of his best and find out for himself what was occurring.

Marshal Tyrone Bossman, leads the way with Deputies Matt Rogers, Dan Dean, Jill Eagle Eye, Rosie Lane (background) and Billy Rash.

In some unfathomable and indeterminable place a 'Warp in Time' alert notifies The Surgeon and his companions to the occurrence of an unstable 'time hole' some-when in the 19th century. He adjusted the time console to take his Trans Time Travel Vessel to the appropriate location / date to investigate it along with his companions Jim and Vicy.

His time traversing vehicle, The Beyond Before Capsule (BBC), arrives tucked away in the corner of a quiet blacksmiths. An older model, as usual he has forgotten to set his Visual Perception Limiter (VPL) console to hide the craft from suspicious eyes...

Jim, The Surgeon and Vicy appear...

...and proceed to loudly discuss the matter at hand.

After some kerfuffle, The Surgeon and his trusty companions head towards a scene of devastation...

Obviously there was more to this than met the eye. It all started some time before, in fact some millions of years before when a certain Meddlesome Monk tried out a localised evolution warp in Earths prehistoric past. The Protus Crystal at the heart of the operation became unstable and worm-holed off into the future.

The Monk gathered his crew, a Robot "Prospect 1" and a gunfighter bodyguard Silo Gunslip, to get back his cherished Protus Crystal.

The Mysterious Silo, The Mad Meddlesome Monk himself and Prospect 1, exit his Alternating Time Vessel (ATV), cunningly disguised as a large wooden crate thanks to its remarkable Visual Perception Limiter (VPL). With his tracking device under his arm (looking much like an ancient tome) he is able to direct his fellows to the location of the Protus Crystal.

The group make their way along the side of the building towards the main street and the source of the signal.

All is calm. The streets strangely deserted.

When the Protus Crystal vanished from its pre-historic location, it almost immediately appeared at the old Toomstone Canyon, where a local prospector named 'Slow' Pete Dobson claimed it as his own. Completely unaware as to its origin, it was clear it could be of some value so he made his way to the nearest town, Roarish.

Making his way there this strange thing started an infrequent pulsing, leaving him in a constant daze. Each time he recovered his senses he seemed to find himself elsewhere to where he began. Confused, he ultimately arrived at his intended destination, only to find the town empty... little realising that the Crystal he currently carries is responsible!

Pete now lurks outside one of the town saloons, unsure as to what to do next and now practically out of his mind with fear.

As he lingers, little does Pete know the town is no longer empty. The Monk sends Gunslip and Prospect 1 forward to find the location of the pulse as he hangs back to see what unfolds.

Prospect 1 has a simple task assigned. Stop anyone who interferes with getting the Crystal back.

Across town, The Surgeon spots the dishevelled form of Pete standing in a doorway. He calls out to the man, who seems to ignore him...

...but Pete is still in a confused state and is not quite ready to trust the oddly dressed strangers...

The looters having heard a shout and spread out as some want to see what's going on while others just want to loot. "Irish" leads them forward into the town.

Likewise the Lawmen advance slowly, led by the brave Marshal.

Wandering in a daze Pete meanders straight past The Surgeon who is still trying to convince Pete that he can be trusted.

Pete pauses for a moment, to consider his options...maybe this fellas okay?

As Pete turns round, on the other side of a nearby building, there is a strange movement in the air. A thin veil of mist, that disappears almost immediately is accompanied by an audible "POP!"

... and a creature from the distant past suddenly appears!

ACT II

"Roar!"

None of the current occupants of the town are near enough to witness this bizarre occurrence but all hear the terrified roar of something not natural to this place...

Unaffected by any of this nonsense, Prospect 1 continues to lumber down the centre of town with Gunslip in tow. They spot Pete in the distance talking to another group, clearly not from this time.

Seeing his chance the Surgeon races after Pete and blathers on at the crazy old prospector on the powerful artifact currently in his possession.

A strange pulse flows out across the town knocking the Marshal down several feet away... ...something untoward is occurring in this place!

Trying desperately to persuade Pete of his good intentions, when The Surgeon starts a talkin', nothing stops him getting his way. Pete stops for a moment and listens to what is being said.

Distracted, Vicy senses something lurking nearby and starts to wander unaware (as is usual practice for her) toward the just materialised Triceratops.

Dungfire and a couple of his boys spot the horned creature through an alleyway. Letting off a few shots seems to have little effect but the beast is clearly affected...it takes several steps back...

...and promptly disappears!

"Where'd it Go?" Dungfire and his gang look around confused for a moment.

Suddenly there is another audible "POP!!"

Jill Eagle Eye, the Half-Injun sharp-shooter (one of Marshal Bossman's loyal sidekicks) had taken to the roof of the saloon to get a better view.

 She was not expecting to come face to face with a monster seemingly straight out of hell!

Having said that, below this, things looked far worse...

As the Marshal picked himself up and dusted himself down, he looked up at his posse who had frozen to the spot. A giant creature loomed over poor Deputies Rogers and Dean!

Across town, The Surgeon makes his deal with Pete without noticing what's going on in the background. They agree Pete should keep hold of the Crystal until they can reach shelter when suddenly...

... from out of the shadows Jim takes a bullet to the shoulder! None of our heroes had spotted Gunslip and Prospect 1 sneaking up on them.

Momentarily stunned, the huge beast (a Giganotosaurus) stumbles about, narrowly missing Deputy Rogers and Deputy Dean...for now at least.

Marshal Bossman calls out to his comrades - "Don't shoot at it, it might not notice us"...

"BANG!"

Too late. In abject fear, trigger happy Deputy Rash lets off a couple of shots at the newly arrived leviathan but luckily for him it doesn't even seem to notice. Marshal Bossman and Deputy Lane make haste in the opposite direction.

Seeing the way is clear, Pete rushes off past the surprised Vicy.

Meanwhile, The Monk has taken a different route. Realising that The Surgeon now has the Protus Crystal in his grasp (or at least in the prospectors grasp) he makes his way along a back street - he has located the resting place of the Trans Time Travelling Machine belonging to The Surgeon and hopes to cut him off before he gets there!

A small group of the looters pose a little problem but they are more interested in the strange disappearing monster than a mad old man in monks clothing.

After a brief discussion, The Monk is told to stay back. Groog and his boys want to find the big beast they just shot. It will fetch way more than a few scraps from this gawd-forsaken town.

Back on the mains street, Silo Gunslip sees her chance and charges up to the injured Jim - who casually turns round and flattens her! "Take that yer scuzzer!"

Seeing Pete and the Protus Crystal as the prime objective, The Surgeon and Vicy run after him to get him into the BBC (Beyond Before Capsule) leaving Jim to protect their rear.

The looters are more concerned in getting some form of trophy and quickly lose interest in The Monk. They climb a small fence and run into the nearby alley, leaving the way open for The Monk to dash towards the time capsule.

All groups seem to be headed in the same direction!

An ominous crackle fills the air followed by the now familiar "POP!!" sound...

ACT III

"Final Chow Down"

The Giganotosaurus looks across the town and sees a huge stumbling Brachiosaurus in its sights.

Natural instinct takes over from the confusion as the Giganotosaurus begins to move towards its new prey, ignoring the tiny creatures under its feet.

The Brachiosaurus on the other hand is still in a state of shock...

The Giganotosaurus moves off leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Deputy Rogers unfortunately takes a nasty tail swipe and is splattered across the side of the nearby food store... (apparently this being a pre-watershed programme the details were never shown).

Moving slowly forward, the creature plods past Prospect 1 and Gunslip. It is a near miss for the young bodyguard as she is lucky to still be prone (thanks to Jim's earlier wallop) as a huge tail swings over her!

The beasts existence in this time is dictated by the Protus Crystal - as Pete moves around the corner it falls out of the sphere of influence and promptly disappears back to its own place in history. The tiny brain of the Brachiosaurus cannot even begin to comprehend what is happening but realises it is no longer on the menu...

Prospect 1 is of course not affected by gigantic, time-travelling, man-stomping monsters. He is a robot and follows his instructions to the letter. Jim on the other hand has been transfixed by the giant meat-eater and fails to notice as the clunky, slow moving robot wanders directly up to him. Moments later, Jim is lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

Meanwhile, The Monk has reached the time capsule of the Surgeon. He lurks in the darkness waiting for his moment to spring.

But...The Surgeon spots him...

...and rushes across ruffling his 'kerchief and whistle at him. Face to face at last, The Monk is of course momentarily distracted by this...

The ruse works and Vicy takes Pete by the hand and races into the ship. She is quickly followed by the Surgeon himself, leaving the dumbfounded Monk to stare in disbelief as the Beyond Before Capsule disappears before his eyes! Foiled again by the troublesome time guardian!

Luckily for Jim, and just in the nick of time, Deputy Dan Dean arrives to confront the unusual lookin' folk that just knocked down the man in the kilt. Realising the Surgeon has escaped with the Protus Crystal and there is nothing left to fight for, Gunslip and Prospect 1 back away and return to the ATV. A rather annoyed Monk soon joins them and their 'wooden crate' fades out of view to who knows where...

Jim groans and rubs his head...hopefully The Surgeon will come back for him soon!

(ROLL CREDITS)

The Surgeon - George Patrick

Jim - Fraser McHamish

Vicy - Debbie Watting

The Monk - Peter Butterknife

Silo Gunslip - Sheena Marshe

"Slow" Pete Dobson - Bob Jewell

Marshal Tyrone Bossman - Roger Avon

Groog Dungfire - Courtney Nicholas

Jill Eagle Eye - Gale Thorson

Danny "Irish" McAdams - Warren Garry

Uncredited:

Deputy Matt Rogers, Deputy Dan Dean, Deputy Rosie Lane, Deputy Billy Rash

Tom "Sawyer" Jones, Davy "Tubbs" Smith, Bobby "Gutshot" Bones, Arbuthnot "Slick" Nicholson

Produced & Directed by Robafett.

"Join 'The Surgeon' again in his further adventures coming soon!"

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Production Notes:
N.B. this is essentially a pirate copy from the German Betamax release of the episode. For the original restored UK version (and a scenario breakdown) see Robafett's Alleys of Distraction.

Gale Thorson makes an early appearance here and would later become well known for her role as Pandora King in the short-lived series "GoldenSpy" with veteran actor Vaughan Roberts.

Courtney Nicholas is also a noteworthy addition to the cast and would play several supporting roles through the various incarnations of The Surgeon.

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Another excellent game of 7TV2. Robafett set up a great scenario and this played out just as you would hope the TV series would.

All miniatures and terrain from collection of Robafett.