It's only been in the last year that I learned about the Wilhelm Scream. Not that I had never heard it before, but that it had an established history... and a name.
For those out there who still may not know what the Wilhelm Scream is, it's a sound bite of a man's death scream that apparently originated in the movie "Distant Drums". Legend has it that it was provided by Sheb Woolley and it's named after the character Private Wilhelm in the movie "The Charge At Feather River", which was the second movie to use it.
Although sound editors have been using it for fifty years, the Wilhelm Scream had a major resurgence when Ben Burtt added it into the original "Star Wars" movie (when Luke shoots the stormtrooper across the chasm in the Death Star). A lot of times it's tossed into the sound mix as an in-joke.
Here is a video clip of some of its uses over the years:
The most recent use of the Wilhelm Scream - to my knowledge at any rate - was in the new series "Human Target". Chance tossed one of the bad guys out of an aerial tram:
Thanks to Wikipedia, here's a list of TV shows which have utilized the Wilhelm Scream*:
Battlestar Galactica
Young Indiana Jones
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Lost
Chuck
Primeval
The Middleman
CSI: NY
The Day of the Triffids
Human Target
Masters of Horror
('Community' was in that list as well, but it was used in a fictional movie, "Kickpuncher".)
For those out there who still may not know what the Wilhelm Scream is, it's a sound bite of a man's death scream that apparently originated in the movie "Distant Drums". Legend has it that it was provided by Sheb Woolley and it's named after the character Private Wilhelm in the movie "The Charge At Feather River", which was the second movie to use it.
Although sound editors have been using it for fifty years, the Wilhelm Scream had a major resurgence when Ben Burtt added it into the original "Star Wars" movie (when Luke shoots the stormtrooper across the chasm in the Death Star). A lot of times it's tossed into the sound mix as an in-joke.
Here is a video clip of some of its uses over the years:
The most recent use of the Wilhelm Scream - to my knowledge at any rate - was in the new series "Human Target". Chance tossed one of the bad guys out of an aerial tram:
Thanks to Wikipedia, here's a list of TV shows which have utilized the Wilhelm Scream*:
Battlestar Galactica
Young Indiana Jones
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Lost
Chuck
Primeval
The Middleman
CSI: NY
The Day of the Triffids
Human Target
Masters of Horror
('Community' was in that list as well, but it was used in a fictional movie, "Kickpuncher".)
I've rearranged that list so that it's in some sort of historical order. (But since 'Masters Of Horror' was an anthology series, I have no idea when the episode concerned took place.)
Why the timeline? Because I think it comes into play as a theoretical link between all of those shows and the most famous sci-fi TV series of all time, 'Star Trek'
I'm proposing that we hear the exact same death scream in all of those examples because it was emanating from the same source - not the victims, but from an entity that was possessing each of them before their deaths. The Wilhelm Scream is the sound it makes as it leaves the body at the moment of death. And it's off to find a new host to begin anew.
Can you see where I'm going with this?
I think it's Redjac, from the 'Star Trek' episode "Wolf In The Fold".
From Memory Alpha:
Redjac (also known as Jack the Ripper, Beratis and Kesla) was a non-humanoid life-form that existed for centuries by journeying from planet to planet and feeding on the pain and fear he caused by committing serial murders. It was similar to a parasitic organism, and required a humanoid host to inhabit in order to commit crimes.
It's already an established Toobworld theory that Redjac left the body of the original Jack the Ripper before the Vorlons abducted him, as revealed in an episode of 'Babylon 5'.
Here's the established timeline for Redjac:
1888 - 1891: 17 women in London, Great Britain
1932: Seven women in Shanghai, China
1974: Five women in the city of Kiev, USSR
2105: Eight women in the Martian colonies
2156: 10 murders in Heliopolis on Alpha Eridani II
Why the timeline? Because I think it comes into play as a theoretical link between all of those shows and the most famous sci-fi TV series of all time, 'Star Trek'
I'm proposing that we hear the exact same death scream in all of those examples because it was emanating from the same source - not the victims, but from an entity that was possessing each of them before their deaths. The Wilhelm Scream is the sound it makes as it leaves the body at the moment of death. And it's off to find a new host to begin anew.
Can you see where I'm going with this?
I think it's Redjac, from the 'Star Trek' episode "Wolf In The Fold".
From Memory Alpha:Redjac (also known as Jack the Ripper, Beratis and Kesla) was a non-humanoid life-form that existed for centuries by journeying from planet to planet and feeding on the pain and fear he caused by committing serial murders. It was similar to a parasitic organism, and required a humanoid host to inhabit in order to commit crimes.
It's already an established Toobworld theory that Redjac left the body of the original Jack the Ripper before the Vorlons abducted him, as revealed in an episode of 'Babylon 5'.Here's the established timeline for Redjac:
1888 - 1891: 17 women in London, Great Britain
1932: Seven women in Shanghai, China
1974: Five women in the city of Kiev, USSR
2105: Eight women in the Martian colonies
2156: 10 murders in Heliopolis on Alpha Eridani II
In 2266 (as "Beratis") on Rigel IV
In 2267 (in the form of Hengist) on Argelius II**
In 2267 (in the form of Hengist) on Argelius II**
But these were only the monster's greatest hits. In between the those long stretches of Time, Redjac had plenty of time to possess other victims.Redjac claimed to have existed since the Dawn of Time, so if the remake of 'Battlestar Galactica' can exist in Earth Prime-Time, then somehow Redjac escaped their home star system in somebody's body in that ragtag fleet of spaceships. But eventually that person (or the next body inhabited by Redjac) was chucked out of the airlock in the episode "Revelations". Either it made it back into the Galactica to possess someone else, or else it waited until its path crossed with another humanoid traversing the stars.
Perhaps the Master in his TARDIS? He'd make for a perfect host for the entity.
And then Redjac abandoned him once the Master arrived on Earth at some point before its manifestation in Sebastian's body to become Jack the Ripper....
When it re-inhabited the body of Mr. Hengist, the Enterprise crew beamed it off the ship with the widest dispersion possible. According to Mr. Spock, "its consciousness may continue for some time, consisting of billions of separate bits of energy, floating forever in space, powerless." But Kirk was convinced that it would eventually die.
(Tie-in novels and comic books have brought Redjac back, but those don't play any role in the TV Universe.)
SHOWS CITED:
'Star Trek'
'Doctor Who'
'Babylon 5'
The "Wilhelm Scream Shows" listed above.
BCnU!
*We didn't hear the Wilhelm Scream as Redjac left its final host, Mr. Hengist. But that could be attributed to it inhabiting a body that was already dead. As for when it left the body of Jaris, who remained alive? Well.... Hey, in space nobody can hear you scream, right?
(Tie-in novels and comic books have brought Redjac back, but those don't play any role in the TV Universe.)
SHOWS CITED:'Star Trek'
'Doctor Who'
'Babylon 5'
The "Wilhelm Scream Shows" listed above.
BCnU!
*We didn't hear the Wilhelm Scream as Redjac left its final host, Mr. Hengist. But that could be attributed to it inhabiting a body that was already dead. As for when it left the body of Jaris, who remained alive? Well.... Hey, in space nobody can hear you scream, right?
Of course, you could hear the scream in 'Battlestar Galactica'.....
Ahem.
**The Wilhelm Scream also appeared in these shows but as they were either cartoons or some sort of reality shows, they weren't considered for this theory.
THE TOONIVERSE
Out of Jimmy's Head
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
Back at the Barnyard
Family Guy
**The Wilhelm Scream also appeared in these shows but as they were either cartoons or some sort of reality shows, they weren't considered for this theory.
THE TOONIVERSE
Out of Jimmy's Head
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
Back at the Barnyard
Family Guy
American Dad
Ed Edd n Eddy
Ed Edd n Eddy
Class of 3000
Star Wars: Clone Wars
Star Wars: Clone Wars
The Batman
Squirrel Boy
Squirrel Boy
Chowder
George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle
Drawn Together
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack
Macross
The Venture Brothers
Zeke and Luther
The Simpsons
The Cleveland Show
OTHER
Mythbusters
The Girls Next Door
1000 Ways to Die
American Idol
The Venture Brothers
Zeke and Luther
The Simpsons
The Cleveland Show
OTHER
Mythbusters
The Girls Next Door
1000 Ways to Die
American Idol
QI
Embedding of the video is forbidden at YouTube, but you can see "Wolf In The Fold" there in its entirety.
Embedding of the video is forbidden at YouTube, but you can see "Wolf In The Fold" there in its entirety.
Danny:
Little Joe:
Teller:
Little Joe:
Adam:
Ann:
Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American expatriate entertainer and actress. She became a French citizen in 1937. Most noted as a singer, Baker also was
So tele-Florida gets itself a new town, Sugarloaf. 
Janet Portland was born in 1933 in the London area, the daughter of Sir Charles Portland [pictured below] who became the head of one of the intelligence agencies in the UK. Sir Charles also had a son, Janet's older brother Harry.
As an undergraduate at university, she met Colin Lewis, an older man who was already working in the lower levels of government, in a department under the auspices of Sir Charles. Because of his relationship with Sir Charles' daughter, Lewis was soon on the fast track for advancement. 
Janet and Colin had fifteen happy years together. His ascent in the government led to him becoming the youngest Foreign Minister in Britain in 100 years, and to his being knighted, which made her Lady Janet Lewis.
But Sir Colin [pictured above] worked himself far too hard and he died of a heart attack around 1963, leaving Lady Janet to raise their two sons alone. The loss of her husband was a traumatic shock and for a time she tried to block her grief by retreating back to her maiden name of Portland. It was during this period in her life when she eventually made the attempt to re-enter society. And that's when she met a man working for NATO named John Drake. (It could be that Drake met her through his contacts with her father, or perhaps - like David Callan after him - he was on assignment when they met.) 
Drake was a reserved and somewhat secretive man, and Lady Janet was a well-known and recent widow; yet there was something that sparked between the two of them and they could not deny the attraction. By 1965, nearly two years since the death of Sir Colin, John Drake approached Sir Charles and asked him for permission to marry his daughter. (By that point, Drake was no longer working for NATO, but for MI-6 instead.)
At some point in 1967, Number Six awoke back in his own flat, but found himself with a new body [as seen above]. Somehow his captors had learned how to utilize a mind transfer process invented by Dr. Jacob Seltzman. If Drake had any hope of regaining his original body, he would have to find Seltzman. And to do that, he would need help from his fiancee Janet Portland. Unfortunately, getting her to trust him when he wouldn't be recognizable to her proved to be a major roadblock. 
At last "Number Six" convinced Janet to give him a key clue - a receipt - that led him to Seltzman. But it also led the Village surveillance team to them both as well - Seltzman and "Number Six" were captured and brought back to the Village. Seltzman was able to reverse the mind transfer and escape in the process, but John Drake AKA Number Six was trapped once more in the Village. Lady Janet Portland Lewis was left once again in the dark as to the status of her fiance. 
Finally deciding that too much time had passed, Lady Janet vowed to renew her life for the sake of her sons. She reverted her name back to Lewis and let it be known that the engagement between her and John Drake was now off.
Her re-emergence into society was short-lived, however. In 1970, Lady Janet was approached by a French film-maker named Joinville [pictured below], who wanted to make a documentary about her late husband. 
This worried a man called Hunter, who was the head of "the Section" [He may have been Sir Charles' successor.] Hunter feared that Lady Lewis would inadvertantly divulge state secrets, or at the very least contribute to a distorted image of Sir Colin's work with the government, (like the Anglo-American First Strike Plans Against Russia), which would tarnish the image of the government as well. So Hunter sent one of his operatives, David Callan, to talk her out of doing the documentary. 
Callan was successful, and the two of them felt an instant attraction to each other. It's likely they might have embarked on a relationship, had it not been for her murder - Lady Janet Lewis was gunned down by Joinville. 
(However, it might not have lasted, anyway. Callan approached her using the name David Tucker, not a great way to begin a relationship....) 
It turned out that Joinville was not only a film-maker, but a covert agent for the Communist Bloc. He was ordered to kill Lady Janet and make it look like British Intelligence had done the deed to keep her quiet. 
Callan avenged her by killing Joinville, and her sons were taken in by her older brother Harry. Callan insisted to his superior that everything possible would be done to make sure the boys would turn outright.
