No Place Like Home
for the Challenge Redux challenge at tvrealm [redid the Create-a-Show challenge] (originally posted HERE)
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No Place Like Home
Far in the future, when space travel is the norm and people aren't at war over everything, what matters is family. One planet, Celcia (known to ancient history as Oz), has been lost, by natural disaster paired with man-made destruction, and the survivors have taken refuge on a spaceship. They are a family of circumstance, and hoping beyond all things that they can get past what has been lost, and continue to move forward. The series focuses on one family, in particular - though each episode will somehow bring the stories of each survivor to light - as the group recovers from the tragedies and tries to find a place where they can belong.
Home is where family is... and this family just wants to find a home.
The Main Cast
Audree "Dree" Brooks-Donovan
[Faith Hill]
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There is definitely more to Dree that first glance tells you. She is a wife to El and Trey; a mother to Max and, technically, Massey; a former General in the Celcian army; and, to her people, their new queen. She's also immortal, which becomes a bit of a problem, at times. And, while everyone on the ship knows, they say nothing, letting her have this one secret which, really, isn't one. Unfortunately, her long life has also left her quite scarred. Her family is everything, and she will do anything for them. There's nothing royal about her, which is probably why the people love her so much, and she's most comfortable actually doing something; most often, she can be found in the ship's mess, making a mess.
El'Ari "El" Brooks-Donovan
[Claudia Black]
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Orphaned at age five, by Longcoat soldiers, El'Ari Brooks-Donovan has a street-wise outlook on life. Making her own way, El managed to put herself through school - though it took some bribery from Dree to get her to graduation - and earned the honor of captaining her own ship, under the Council banner. Her self-reliance comes in handy on many occasions, especially when circumstances forced her from her home planet. Now, she's fighting to not only find her family a home, but also for the survivors of their home planet's demise. El is fiercely protective of Dree and finds it quite difficult to keep her hands off Trey; and while she always tells her spouses otherwise, Max is the best birthday present she's ever received.
Trey Donovan
[Jamie Denton]
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Trey Donovan considers himself the luckiest man in space. He's got two wives, a son he adores and, following the longest year of his life, his family is back together. He's obsessed with airplanes - which haven't existed in the universe for centuries - and loves piloting shuttles and smaller space vehicles, because it's as close as he'll ever get. Trey met El in a bar one night, a few days later she took him home to meet her wife, and he never left. Trey has a beachfront home on Laethriel, just outside the city, where he takes his family when things get to be too much in space. Trey also loves music, and has a guitar that no one is allowed to touch but him. His favorite pastime is camping with Max, in the ship's botany lab.
Max Brooks-Donovan
[Jonathan Brandis]
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Max is one of the most important characters in the series, and not just because he's the coolest kid ever. He's the first-born into a new generation of Celcians; hope, to those who survived; and the only child on the ship. Being a kid is hard enough, but since he doesn't know what he's missing, Max is content to be a 'little grownup'. His only bad habit is playing "IndyJones", which consists of crawling through ducts and sometimes hearing and seeing things he shouldn't. His favorite things are camping with Trey, not helping El fly the shuttle, and bath time with Dree; and his most prized possession is a pathetically-stuffed rabbit, named Rabbit.
Dr Chapel Barnes
[Majel Barrett-Roddenberry]
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Chapel Barnes is an ex-girlfriend and now-best friend of El'Ari Brooks-Donovan. She gained her physician's license and became the head doctor for the Mystic Man on Celcia, thanks to El's help. During the plague, Chapel worked with El, Dree and Trey to help find a cure. Once the survivors left Celcia, she became Chief Medical Officer to the Queen (being the only doctor who was trusted with her secret) and on the ship, itself. She also acts as Max's God-mother, and Dree's unofficial shoulder. And she doesn't get paid enough.
Massey
[Paul "HHH" Levesque]
Massey is a big bulk of man who, while looking like someone who would just as soon pound you into the ground as he might crush your skull with his bare hands, is really a big teddy bear. Massey has known Dree since he was fourteen, when she became a pseudo-parent to him, mostly to keep him out of trouble with the law. Once El came into their lives, Massey deemed himself El's 'big brother' and they went through school together, then served on the same ships (though he always suspected Dree had something to do with that). He gets on very well with Trey, and is Max's personal jungle gym (which earned Max the nickname of 'Monkey'). He's single and not exactly looking, no matter how much Dree pesters him to settle down.
King La'debor "Deb"
[Keith David]
La'debor - or Deb, as he insists Dree address him - is King of the planet Laethriel. He met Dree at a Council function and was instantly taken by her complete lack of royal 'air', and was further impressed when she admitted that her husband, Trey, was a native Laethrielian. They became instant friends and spent the next two days getting to know everything about each other, while Deb assisted Dree in how to be a proper royal while at those types of functions. He has one son, Denny, and his wife is Shar'on. The family adopted a young orphan, Tal'leah, or Tally, just after Max was born; and Deb looks forward to every Council function, as well as every family vacation, because he adores Dree's company.
Harry
[Dick Clark]
Harry was Celcia's Mystic Man, prior to the quakes that destroyed the planet, and Dree's closest friend and confidant. Unfortunately, Harry died following the first quake, so he only appears in the series through flashbacks, and most often when Dree's past comes back to haunt her. Harry was a fun-loving man, and had many friends, and even though he was 'royalty', he was always found with the people, not above them. As a further credit to his character, his funeral had a higher attendance than the queen's. Losing Harry - as well as most of the population - affected Dree deeply, which is why she will often retreat into the past, whether for guidance or peace.
Denny
[Kevin Clash]
Denny is the prince of Laethriel. He's in line to follow his father, but he's also a young man who wants to live his own life. He is fascinated with the Celcian culture, and always looks forward to visits from the royal family. His favorite pastime is to go to the mud races, and always wanted to drive one of the vehicles. But, he swore to his mother that he never would, and has kept that promise. While tradition dictates that his mother and father are very 'proper', Denny has the ability to be a bit more personable with their people, and can often be found wandering the markets of Laethriel City. Though Tally is adopted, Denny attached to his new sister quite quickly and, as she is still young, they are often inseparable.
Max Donovan Sr
[Fess Parker]
Max Donovan (Senior) is Trey's estranged father. He's a native of Laethriel, a rancher and a widower. Trey's mother, Sandy, was the love of Senior's life and, when she died, the rift between Trey and Senior grew to the point that Trey had to leave the planet. Trey has tried, as the years have passed, to make an effort - at a forcing from Dree - but Senior is stubborn, and Trey is his father's son. He doesn't approve of the fact his son is married to two women - who were married to each other, first - and, unfortunately, having his only grandson named after him isn't going to do much to heal old wounds. Even worse, his daughter-in-law, the Queen, won't let it go.
CELCIA
click for fullLAETHRIEL
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EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS
Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Oven
In the first episode, the story opens with Dree visiting Doctor Barnes, for what we learn is a three-month checkup, following a rather horrific injury - it seems a rather zealous coroner jumped the gun and started the cremation process, leaving Dree to wake up inside the oven. Once she got herself out, a rather charred Dree ended up having to perform CPR on the coroner, as the sight of a dead body climbing out of the oven gave him a heart attack.
After three months, her hair has grown back, her burns have cleared and Chapel gives her a clean bill of health. Dree's reaction to the news is that she's ready for a drink - which she's been banned from, during her recovery - only Chapel is all too happy to quash that celebration, because Dree is pregnant. This news proceeds to lead through a series of flashbacks, and present-day events, setting the tone for the series.
See No Evil
The first season finale, naturally, is a two-parter. In this episode, the ship is still in Laethriel's orbit, following the birth of Max. Deb is mediating a treaty and the leader of one of the parties involved is due to be assassinated. When the plans come to light, Dree and Shar - who are having a day off - rush to clear a clinic, rigged to blow up. Shar's personal guard - Phillip - naturally, lives in the building above the clinic, and his four-year-old daughter - Tally - is home with the nanny.
Once the building and area have been cleared, Phillip and Dree find Tally and the bomb in the clinic. Dree and Tally go one way, Phillip goes the other and, in the final minute, the bomb explodes.
Hear No Evil
Season two opens with part two, where Dree and Tally are trapped in the back of the clinic. Dree comes to, completely disoriented, and passes out again as the rescue crews get to them. When Dree wakes up again, she's on the ship, in the medical bay; Tally is in surgery and Phillip didn't make it. As the episode progresses, those responsible for the explosion are brought to justice, and the targeted leader - who knew about the attempt all along - must accept responsibility for the lost lives and homes of the people who were only trying to help him.
We also learn that the explosion has caused Dree to lose her hearing, which sets the tone for the first third of the season, as well as introduces Tally as a recurring character.
When the Bough Breaks
This El and Max-centric Season Three episode begins with El and two-year-old Max spending the day together. Their adventure brings them to the maintenance bay, where El has been making adjustments to her shuttle. After the repairs are done, El and Max move back out into the bay and, while El is distracted by some official business, Max wanders just out of sight and decides to test out his climbing skills. Unfortunately, he picked the only damaged ladder on the ship.
When Dree and Trey find out that Max has a broken arm, and that El wasn't watching, they both overreact just a bit, and things become quite tense, ship-wide, because this is one of the first big fights they've had in a long time. Max, of course, thinks the cast is the coolest thing he's ever seen, and doesn't understand why Mommy and Daddy are mad at Mel ('Mommy El').
Bomb Tech
The most action-packed episode of Season Four is a special two-hour episode, and is centered around the advantages of having a curious toddler on board. El and Trey have gone out in a shuttle and, while they're gone, the communications officer realizes the ship is giving off an odd signal, but where it's coming from is a mystery. The same signal has locked the shields in place, blocked communications, and effectively left the ship dead in the water. When they finally find out what is causing the disruption, the test becomes finding the device, somewhere on the ship.
Max has been caught crawling around in the access tunnels and is in a Time Out when Massey arrives to read Dree into the current situation. Max, who's spying on the conversation from his room, announces that he's seen the device Massey is describing, but it's smaller. This not only gets Max out of his Time Out, but gets him wired with a camera and sent into the access tunnels, so that they can get a look at the device, which turns out to also be a bomb.
While this is happening, El and Trey have returned and can't contact the ship. They finally manage to make contact the old-fashioned way - with walkie-talkies - and find themselves listening in to the conversations of Dree and Massey talking Max through disarming the device. And they still have to figure out who put it there, and how.
click for full
No Place Like Home
Far in the future, when space travel is the norm and people aren't at war over everything, what matters is family. One planet, Celcia (known to ancient history as Oz), has been lost, by natural disaster paired with man-made destruction, and the survivors have taken refuge on a spaceship. They are a family of circumstance, and hoping beyond all things that they can get past what has been lost, and continue to move forward. The series focuses on one family, in particular - though each episode will somehow bring the stories of each survivor to light - as the group recovers from the tragedies and tries to find a place where they can belong.
Home is where family is... and this family just wants to find a home.
The Main Cast
Audree "Dree" Brooks-Donovan
[Faith Hill]
click for full
There is definitely more to Dree that first glance tells you. She is a wife to El and Trey; a mother to Max and, technically, Massey; a former General in the Celcian army; and, to her people, their new queen. She's also immortal, which becomes a bit of a problem, at times. And, while everyone on the ship knows, they say nothing, letting her have this one secret which, really, isn't one. Unfortunately, her long life has also left her quite scarred. Her family is everything, and she will do anything for them. There's nothing royal about her, which is probably why the people love her so much, and she's most comfortable actually doing something; most often, she can be found in the ship's mess, making a mess.
El'Ari "El" Brooks-Donovan
[Claudia Black]
click for full
Orphaned at age five, by Longcoat soldiers, El'Ari Brooks-Donovan has a street-wise outlook on life. Making her own way, El managed to put herself through school - though it took some bribery from Dree to get her to graduation - and earned the honor of captaining her own ship, under the Council banner. Her self-reliance comes in handy on many occasions, especially when circumstances forced her from her home planet. Now, she's fighting to not only find her family a home, but also for the survivors of their home planet's demise. El is fiercely protective of Dree and finds it quite difficult to keep her hands off Trey; and while she always tells her spouses otherwise, Max is the best birthday present she's ever received.
Trey Donovan
[Jamie Denton]
click for full
Trey Donovan considers himself the luckiest man in space. He's got two wives, a son he adores and, following the longest year of his life, his family is back together. He's obsessed with airplanes - which haven't existed in the universe for centuries - and loves piloting shuttles and smaller space vehicles, because it's as close as he'll ever get. Trey met El in a bar one night, a few days later she took him home to meet her wife, and he never left. Trey has a beachfront home on Laethriel, just outside the city, where he takes his family when things get to be too much in space. Trey also loves music, and has a guitar that no one is allowed to touch but him. His favorite pastime is camping with Max, in the ship's botany lab.
Max Brooks-Donovan
[Jonathan Brandis]
click for full
Max is one of the most important characters in the series, and not just because he's the coolest kid ever. He's the first-born into a new generation of Celcians; hope, to those who survived; and the only child on the ship. Being a kid is hard enough, but since he doesn't know what he's missing, Max is content to be a 'little grownup'. His only bad habit is playing "IndyJones", which consists of crawling through ducts and sometimes hearing and seeing things he shouldn't. His favorite things are camping with Trey, not helping El fly the shuttle, and bath time with Dree; and his most prized possession is a pathetically-stuffed rabbit, named Rabbit.
Dr Chapel Barnes
[Majel Barrett-Roddenberry]
click for full
Chapel Barnes is an ex-girlfriend and now-best friend of El'Ari Brooks-Donovan. She gained her physician's license and became the head doctor for the Mystic Man on Celcia, thanks to El's help. During the plague, Chapel worked with El, Dree and Trey to help find a cure. Once the survivors left Celcia, she became Chief Medical Officer to the Queen (being the only doctor who was trusted with her secret) and on the ship, itself. She also acts as Max's God-mother, and Dree's unofficial shoulder. And she doesn't get paid enough.
Massey
[Paul "HHH" Levesque]
Massey is a big bulk of man who, while looking like someone who would just as soon pound you into the ground as he might crush your skull with his bare hands, is really a big teddy bear. Massey has known Dree since he was fourteen, when she became a pseudo-parent to him, mostly to keep him out of trouble with the law. Once El came into their lives, Massey deemed himself El's 'big brother' and they went through school together, then served on the same ships (though he always suspected Dree had something to do with that). He gets on very well with Trey, and is Max's personal jungle gym (which earned Max the nickname of 'Monkey'). He's single and not exactly looking, no matter how much Dree pesters him to settle down.
King La'debor "Deb"
[Keith David]
La'debor - or Deb, as he insists Dree address him - is King of the planet Laethriel. He met Dree at a Council function and was instantly taken by her complete lack of royal 'air', and was further impressed when she admitted that her husband, Trey, was a native Laethrielian. They became instant friends and spent the next two days getting to know everything about each other, while Deb assisted Dree in how to be a proper royal while at those types of functions. He has one son, Denny, and his wife is Shar'on. The family adopted a young orphan, Tal'leah, or Tally, just after Max was born; and Deb looks forward to every Council function, as well as every family vacation, because he adores Dree's company.
Harry
[Dick Clark]
Harry was Celcia's Mystic Man, prior to the quakes that destroyed the planet, and Dree's closest friend and confidant. Unfortunately, Harry died following the first quake, so he only appears in the series through flashbacks, and most often when Dree's past comes back to haunt her. Harry was a fun-loving man, and had many friends, and even though he was 'royalty', he was always found with the people, not above them. As a further credit to his character, his funeral had a higher attendance than the queen's. Losing Harry - as well as most of the population - affected Dree deeply, which is why she will often retreat into the past, whether for guidance or peace.
Denny
[Kevin Clash]
Denny is the prince of Laethriel. He's in line to follow his father, but he's also a young man who wants to live his own life. He is fascinated with the Celcian culture, and always looks forward to visits from the royal family. His favorite pastime is to go to the mud races, and always wanted to drive one of the vehicles. But, he swore to his mother that he never would, and has kept that promise. While tradition dictates that his mother and father are very 'proper', Denny has the ability to be a bit more personable with their people, and can often be found wandering the markets of Laethriel City. Though Tally is adopted, Denny attached to his new sister quite quickly and, as she is still young, they are often inseparable.
Max Donovan Sr
[Fess Parker]
Max Donovan (Senior) is Trey's estranged father. He's a native of Laethriel, a rancher and a widower. Trey's mother, Sandy, was the love of Senior's life and, when she died, the rift between Trey and Senior grew to the point that Trey had to leave the planet. Trey has tried, as the years have passed, to make an effort - at a forcing from Dree - but Senior is stubborn, and Trey is his father's son. He doesn't approve of the fact his son is married to two women - who were married to each other, first - and, unfortunately, having his only grandson named after him isn't going to do much to heal old wounds. Even worse, his daughter-in-law, the Queen, won't let it go.
CELCIA
click for fullLAETHRIEL
click for full
EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS
Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Oven
In the first episode, the story opens with Dree visiting Doctor Barnes, for what we learn is a three-month checkup, following a rather horrific injury - it seems a rather zealous coroner jumped the gun and started the cremation process, leaving Dree to wake up inside the oven. Once she got herself out, a rather charred Dree ended up having to perform CPR on the coroner, as the sight of a dead body climbing out of the oven gave him a heart attack.
After three months, her hair has grown back, her burns have cleared and Chapel gives her a clean bill of health. Dree's reaction to the news is that she's ready for a drink - which she's been banned from, during her recovery - only Chapel is all too happy to quash that celebration, because Dree is pregnant. This news proceeds to lead through a series of flashbacks, and present-day events, setting the tone for the series.
See No Evil
The first season finale, naturally, is a two-parter. In this episode, the ship is still in Laethriel's orbit, following the birth of Max. Deb is mediating a treaty and the leader of one of the parties involved is due to be assassinated. When the plans come to light, Dree and Shar - who are having a day off - rush to clear a clinic, rigged to blow up. Shar's personal guard - Phillip - naturally, lives in the building above the clinic, and his four-year-old daughter - Tally - is home with the nanny.
Once the building and area have been cleared, Phillip and Dree find Tally and the bomb in the clinic. Dree and Tally go one way, Phillip goes the other and, in the final minute, the bomb explodes.
Hear No Evil
Season two opens with part two, where Dree and Tally are trapped in the back of the clinic. Dree comes to, completely disoriented, and passes out again as the rescue crews get to them. When Dree wakes up again, she's on the ship, in the medical bay; Tally is in surgery and Phillip didn't make it. As the episode progresses, those responsible for the explosion are brought to justice, and the targeted leader - who knew about the attempt all along - must accept responsibility for the lost lives and homes of the people who were only trying to help him.
We also learn that the explosion has caused Dree to lose her hearing, which sets the tone for the first third of the season, as well as introduces Tally as a recurring character.
When the Bough Breaks
This El and Max-centric Season Three episode begins with El and two-year-old Max spending the day together. Their adventure brings them to the maintenance bay, where El has been making adjustments to her shuttle. After the repairs are done, El and Max move back out into the bay and, while El is distracted by some official business, Max wanders just out of sight and decides to test out his climbing skills. Unfortunately, he picked the only damaged ladder on the ship.
When Dree and Trey find out that Max has a broken arm, and that El wasn't watching, they both overreact just a bit, and things become quite tense, ship-wide, because this is one of the first big fights they've had in a long time. Max, of course, thinks the cast is the coolest thing he's ever seen, and doesn't understand why Mommy and Daddy are mad at Mel ('Mommy El').
Bomb Tech
The most action-packed episode of Season Four is a special two-hour episode, and is centered around the advantages of having a curious toddler on board. El and Trey have gone out in a shuttle and, while they're gone, the communications officer realizes the ship is giving off an odd signal, but where it's coming from is a mystery. The same signal has locked the shields in place, blocked communications, and effectively left the ship dead in the water. When they finally find out what is causing the disruption, the test becomes finding the device, somewhere on the ship.
Max has been caught crawling around in the access tunnels and is in a Time Out when Massey arrives to read Dree into the current situation. Max, who's spying on the conversation from his room, announces that he's seen the device Massey is describing, but it's smaller. This not only gets Max out of his Time Out, but gets him wired with a camera and sent into the access tunnels, so that they can get a look at the device, which turns out to also be a bomb.
While this is happening, El and Trey have returned and can't contact the ship. They finally manage to make contact the old-fashioned way - with walkie-talkies - and find themselves listening in to the conversations of Dree and Massey talking Max through disarming the device. And they still have to figure out who put it there, and how.