'The Ghost of Nero' Story Code '9620' by Leonard Stadd

23rd October 1915: Doug and Tony materialise in an old villa in the Italian Alps during World War I. An explosion renders them unconscious and uncovers the sarcophagus of Emperor Nero; unseen by Doug and Tony, a sword floats out of the coffin. Meanwhile, a troop of Germans led by Major Neistadt arrive at the villa with the intention of using it as a lookout post. After regaining consciousness, Doug and Tony flee from the German soldiers, but are followed by the sword-wielding phantom, which murders one of the troopers. Doug and Tony meet the owner of the villa, an old man named Count Galba, and together they work on a plan to outwit the invaders. When the ghost begins violently hurling objects around, Doug, Tony and Galba learn that the phantom is the spirit of Emperor Nero; it seems that an ancestor of Galba’s took Nero’s throne, and now the ghost wants vengeance. Nero possesses German Sergeant Mueller and attacks Galba, but the old man is saved by Doug and Tony. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Kirk and the Tic-Toc personnel desperately try to relocate their two colleagues; when their efforts are obstructed by Nero's spirit, they send for Doctor Steinholtz, an expert on the supernatural. Seeing that Nero has now possessed Tony, Steinholtz recommends shock treatment; a momentary current of electricity is sent through the Time Tunnel – but the ghost retaliates, travelling down the tunnel and appearing before the startled Tic-Toc team…

Cliff-hanger: Emerging from the time / space vortex, Tony and Doug materialise outside a desert tent. They are about to be killed by soldiers when they are saved by Joshua of the Israelites, who believes that their arrival has been prophesied…

James Darren (Tony Newman), Robert Colbert (Doug Phillips), Whit Bissell (Lieutenant General Heywood Kirk), John Zaremba (Doctor Raymond Swain), Lee Meriwether (Doctor Ann MacGregor), Eduardo Ciannelli (Galba), Gunnar Hellstrom (Neistadt), Richard Jaeckel (Sergeant Mueller), John Hoyt (Doctor Steinholtz), Nino Candido (Mussolini)

Directed by Sobey Martin
Produced and created by Irwin Allen
An Irwin Allen Production in Association with Kent Productions, Inc. and Twentieth Century-Fox Television, Inc.

TX:
US TX - 20th January 1967

Notes:
*Featuring Doctor Tony Newman, Doctor Doug Phillips, Lieutenant General Heywood Kirk, Doctor Raymond Swain and Doctor Ann MacGregor