Destination: Moonbase Alpha (26 page)

The sequences back on the Moonbase show the starkly contrasting environments of life on Alpha and in the
Ice Palace on Thule. Charles Crichton’s direction excels as he follows the twists, turns and revelations of the plot, and tells this tale of the dangers of immortality. Crichton previously directed the storm sequences in ‘Matter of Life and Death’ and, although the blizzard here isn’t as dynamically shot, it is still highly memorable.

This episode tests the faith of characters –
Helena’s and Victor’s misplaced faith in Rowland; Rowland’s faith in mankind’s ambitions; and the crisis of faith shown to Koenig. Faith is always a theme in Terpiloff’s scripts (see the previous episode ‘Collision Course’ and, notably, Year Two’s ‘Catacombs of the Moon’). As with ‘The Infernal Machine’, Terpiloff’s work here is heightened by the contribution of his wife and co-writer Elizabeth Barrows. Koenig desires humanity, which Russell and Bergman have overlooked in their quest for scientific perfection. Jack Tanner fills the Shakespearean role of the ‘Fool’ of Thule, around to ridicule and debase authority figures. Many of Jack’s lines have a decidedly Shakespearean flavour to them. The role reversals between Rowland and Jack are notable. When the Uranus Probe left Earth, Jack was in command. On Thule, Rowland takes over until his death, when Jack attains the leadership position again. Also of interest, the name ‘Jack’ is a diminutive for ‘John’, so when the Alphans leave Ultima Thule, they have left behind another Commander John. It is also worthy of note that while Jack Tanner seems to have Shakespearean inspirations, his name is the same as that of the central figure in a masterpiece by another literary genius – George Bernard Shaw’s
Man and Superman
.

Alan, alluding to future events, sings of ‘Lucifer’ – the Devil. (The song he’s singing, ‘Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile’, was a popular marching song during the First World War and the ‘Lucifer’ in question is actually a brand name of matches.) Jack leads Koenig to the Cave of the Revered Ones, the place of (what passes for) death on
Thule. The Cave of the Revered Ones is equated to Hell by red lighting and their descent into it.

Amongst many other historical meanings, some sources denote ‘Ultima Thule’ as the Latin name for
Greenland when the designation ‘Thule’ is used for Iceland. Also, in medieval times, ‘Ultima Thule’ was the designation given to any place situated beyond the ‘borders of the known world’. Obviously, the name ‘Ultima Thule’ is highly appropriate for this frozen world, located an unknown distance from Earth.

The Uranus Probe joins the list of Earth’s failed space missions, along with the Ultra Probe, Astro 7 and Voyager One. The recurrent
Space: 1999
distrust in science also appears here, with Rowland’s experiments being the cause of the mindless state of the Revered Ones. Once again, mystical or mysterious events in
Space: 1999
do not require scientific explanation, and this is acknowledged when Frieda says, ‘We have the secret to eternal life. Must we also seek to understand it?’

Thematically, the value of life is explored through the eternally intriguing topic of immortality; the statement being that the true value of life can be measured only against a fear of death. Immortality is undesirable, and is a trap the Thulians fell into. As so often happens with
Space: 1999
episodes, viewers are left with any number of questions. Here these questions are mostly centred on the Thulians. Will they manage to restore the Revered Ones? Will they discover the source of their immortality, or ever find a way to be free of it? And, if immortality becomes unbearable, would they eventually use the
Phoenix
spaceship as a way to end their eternal existence? It’s a chilling thought, adding layers of meaning to Koenig’s statement that the Thulians’ future ‘will haunt us till the end.’

The Shakespearean tone of the episode is not its only link to literature: in basic plot, ‘Death’s other Dominion’ is a re-telling of
Lost Horizon
, the 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton.
Lost Horizon
follows a group of people who end up in utopian Shangri-La after their plane crashes. As they settle into their new home their aging slows; but if they leave the valley they will age quickly and die. Cabot Rowland is much like the novel’s character Conway, who believes that his party’s plane has ‘progressed far beyond the western range of the Himalayas towards the less known heights of Kuen-Lun.’ This statement is paralleled in Rowland’s account, ‘We travelled at unbelievable speed to the farthest limit of the then known universe – and beyond.’ In the end, Conway agrees to leave the valley and meets his demise, as Rowland unwittingly does upon leaving Ultima Thule. There is also apparent reference to Milton’s
Paradise Lost
when Rowland calls to the Alphans, ‘Thule is a lost paradise,’ while Jack Tanner adds, ‘Lost, and with no final end.’

The combination of Shakespearean-styled scripting with the futuristic atmosphere of
Space: 1999
is a marvel, but unfortunately, due mostly to the weakness in characterisation, ‘Death’s other Dominion’ falls short of being a masterpiece.

Rating:
8.5/10

1.15

THE
FULL CIRCLE

Screenplay by Jesse Lasky Jnr and Pat Silver

Directed by Bob Kellett

Selected Broadcast Dates:

UK
              LWT:

             
Date: 13 December 1975.               Time: 6.25 pm

             
Granada:

             
Date: 12 March 1976.               Time: 6.35 pm

US
              KRON (San Francisco):

             
Date: 6 December 1975.               Time: 7.00 pm

Credited Cast: Martin Landau
(John Koenig),
Barbara Bain
(Helena Russell),
Barry Morse
(Victor Bergman),
Prentis Hancock
(Paul Morrow),
Clifton Jones
(David Kano),
Zienia Merton
(Sandra Benes),
Anton Phillips
(Bob Mathias),
Nick Tate
(Alan Carter),
Oliver Cotton
(Spearman)

Uncredited Cast: Sarah Bullen
(Operative Kate / Cavewoman),
Suzanne Roquette
(Tanya Alexander),
Annie Lambert
(Operative Julie),
Andrew Dempsey
(Main Mission Operative / Caveman),
Lynda Westover
(Main Mission Operative / Cavewoman),
Robert Phillips
(Main Mission Operative),
Michael Stevens
(Main Mission Operative),
Tony Allyn
(Security Guard Tony Allan / Caveman),
Christopher Williams
(Orderly / Caveman),
Alan Meacham
(Sandos),
Colin Rix
(Co-Pilot / Caveman),
Chai Lee
(Alphan Nurse),
Glenda Allen
(Nurse / Cavewoman),
Kathy Mallory
(Nurse / Cavewoman)

Plot:
An Eagle sent to the planet Retha is brought back to Alpha with a dead caveman aboard. Koenig and Russell’s rescue team follows the first reconnaissance party and disappears into a strange mist. Carter is attacked by cavemen and Sandra is taken captive, which leads her to make the shocking discovery that there are no native Rethans – the only people are the Alphans themselves, transformed into their Cro Magnon counterparts by the mists of Retha.

Quotes:

• Alan:
  ‘It looks like the jungle in Brazil.’
  
• Paul:
  ‘Where the nuts come from?’
  
• Victor [To Koenig]:
  ‘Lucky for you, you have a thick skull.’
  
• Victor:
  ‘No sign of them at all. Just markers going into the mist.’
  
• Sandra:
  ‘Oh God, what has happened?’
  
• Sandra:
  ‘We got frightened, angry, jealous … vengeful.’
  

Filming Dates:
Tuesday 24 September – Tuesday 8 October 1974

Commentary:

Barbara Bain:
‘Dirt on the face; blackened teeth. That was fun, actually. I, as an actress, knew that was not a usual role. I didn’t have a lot of experience playing such a creature. So, it was fun to think about, to do. I had a moment in there when I discover Koenig dead, when I scream. I thought a nice, polite scream wasn’t going to do. I have screamed on occasion in a role. I thought, “What am I going to do?” It’s got to be more than that. It has to be something very primitive and guttural. We broke for lunch, and the scream was coming up after lunch. I went upstairs into my dressing room and I wondered if I could just march out there and
hope
some great scream would come out, or what. Am I going to try it up here? And I did! I made this
ungodly
noise at Pinewood. I don’t know if people were worried about what was going on in there! That was good. At least I heard it, and I thought, “Okay, that’ll do it.”

‘[In this episode] Zienia was carried on a [pole]! Zienia’s terrific! A very special person. She was
game
… among other things. I wouldn’t have liked that part; headed toward the fire. It was fun to do that, actually. It was interesting, too. The movement of it was interesting to me. I always had a big interest in dance, and movement, and the physicality of it.

‘The funny part of it was that my oldest daughter, Susan, was coming home from school with her first boyfriend, and I came home not quite rid of the (cavewoman) makeup. When you’re in high school and your mom shows up like that, it can’t be too terrific. So we tried to make peace over it, but I know I embarrassed her. It’s interesting, because when you [think of favourite filming memories] … there’s always some moment that’s kind of part of your life, and part of the actual shooting, that stays interwoven, so it has a double level.’

Barry Morse:
‘“The Full Circle” was looked forward to with great glee among a lot of us, for the opportunity of shooting outside. But unfortunately, at the time we shot that episode, we had a succession of the most appallingly bad weather days England had seen for many months. So the only chance we got to be out of doors was in swamping rain and perishing cold. Some of our colleagues were a bit upset about the prospect of working in this weather. The general feeling was – here we were, hoping and praying to get an episode we could film outside, and when we finally get one, it’s drenching down with rain all the time! I can’t say the episode was particularly impressive or successful, or even one of the happiest times we spent filming, but I for one certainly did enjoy the change. It was funny to me because I always get a certain amount of amusement from how members of the human race respond to given situations, and in or out of favourable conditions.’

Zienia Merton:
‘It was filmed at what we call Black Park, which is behind Pinewood Studios. It was the end of November, so the weather was not all that pleasant. My bits [of the filming] were outside. All I had [to wear] was this little leopard skin. The director said to me, “I’m not going to have you like Raquel Welch,” – which I’m not – “in a fur-lined maiden form bra.” He said, “This has got to look real. This is your leopard skin. Go to wardrobe and make a costume out of it. That’s all you’re getting; nothing else.” So I went to wardrobe and we put the bits and pieces all around and pinned them, so it looked as if it was a costume made on the spot. And we went out to film. I had to be running through the forest – running, running, running – and finally I would collapse by a tree, exhausted. And it started to rain; but just a drizzle, not much. So they said, “Well, we’ll wait a bit. The caravan is too far away. It’s too long to take you there. So we’ll stay here.” But, they gave me a huge plastic bag, which I got in to wait for the rain to stop … They didn’t want the fur to get wet!
Fur
harder to dry than
actress
!

‘I was lying there in my plastic bag and I suddenly thought, “God, my leg!” About 60 insects had bitten me; they’d all homed in on my leg. I was shivering because I had nothing else on – just the leopard skin and a small pair of trousers, and that was it. So our production manager – who’s usually very strict, because he is responsible for making the budget work – came to me and said, “Zienia, darling, I think you need this.” And it was a little teacup. I thought, “Ah, tea!” But it was brandy. It was neat brandy. I thought, “Oh, this is nice.” So I started [taking sips] in my little plastic tent, and before lunch I must have had half a bottle of brandy; I was completely blotto. But I didn’t mind, because I had no words, so all I had to do was run in a fairly straight line, and maybe no-one would notice.

‘So, while I was filming by the tree, I was lying down and I got up … Always while you’re filming, the continuity lady is right by the camera making sure that every word you say is the same, or if you use your right hand one time, that the next time you don’t use your left – continuity. So she was sitting there. She’s a wonderful woman, Gladys; a very nice, comfy mother figure. So I’m lying there and I’m getting up and she goes [making faces as if to subtly point out something wrong], and I looked, and I had fallen out of my costume! The rest of the crew said, “Aw, Gladys, you spoil sport!”