Destination: Moonbase Alpha (70 page)

On-screen Date:
2,009 days since leaving Earth orbit.

Filming Dates:
Tuesday 2 November – Tuesday 16 November 1976

Commentary:

Kathryn Leigh Scott:
‘[My episode of]
Space: 1999
I only just saw … I had no idea that I spent the entire show flat on my back! I still keep laughing that, aside from [delivering] one line and pointing that instrument [when] I was on my feet, otherwise I was flat on my back.

‘I was obviously [supposed to be] comatose, but I take some pleasure in the fact that [despite] being the silent, comatose one I think I had the best costume. I must have been first in line when they handed out gowns. And I just loved those bracelets that I wore. I remember Jill Townsend being quite envious of those bracelets. Jill was wonderful – I just adored her. She was really quite a good actress.

‘I should say that Martin Landau and Barbara Bain I did see quite a bit of. My husband and I had dinner with them, and I got to know Martin fairly well. By the way, I still see him frequently – not because we are friends, but he very often goes to the Playboy mansion. I wrote a book called
The Bunny Years
about the 25-year history of the Playboy clubs. I wrote it mainly because many of my fellow bunnies are still friends – Susan Sullivan you’ll remember as an actress from
Falcon Crest
, Barbara Bosson from
Hill Street Blues
, Deborah Harry from Blondie and supermodel Lauren Hutton … So I wrote that book and I did a two-hour documentary for A&E. Because I wrote the book and because of my background, [Playboy boss Hugh Hefner] and I became very good friends, and so now my husband and I have become frequent guests up at the mansion, and who do I see there but Martin Landau! I don’t know how long he’s been a friend of Hef’s but he’s up there all the time! He’s a lovely man, and I really got to know them well.

‘Barbara Bain used to carry a mirror in her pocket, and when I was lying there on that gurney – for one of the earlier scenes that we shot – it was one of strangest things. They did all the lighting, make-up and everything and she would pull out the mirror and check how she looked, and how she was lit. I thought, “What in the world – I’ve never seen anything like this!’ I have a feeling that she’d probably worked with one of the old
Hollywood movie stars – the glamour queens of the ’30s and ’40s – and they really knew their lighting. I once worked with Lana Turner, and she had a mirror. So I have a feeling that it came from something like that, but it was quite bizarre. The only other person I’ve ever worked with who always works with a mirror is Donna Mills. Always. It sounds like I’m making fun of this, but I also think there’s a professionalism involved, because they obviously really know their lighting, and they’re women who are known for their beauty.’

Christopher Penfold:
‘There were huge differences between the seasons. On the first series, the stories were initiated either by me or in the writing team that I had very closely around me, which was mostly Johnny Byrne. That’s where the ideas were generated, and the scripts grew from there. I had no role as a story consultant on the second series and “Dorzak” was purely a commission by the producer of the second series, who I think was probably strong-armed into commissioning me by Gerry in some recognition of services rendered on the first series. I knew from the first meeting I had with Freddy Freiberger that I was dealing with a completely different animal. I attempted to adjust the writing of “Dorzak” to the requirements, as you do as a professional writer. By that stage I was not very interested in the way the second series was going. I wrote the script, I think I did a second draft, but there was a time lapse …

‘I had offered the idea of “Dorzak”, Fred Freiberger commissioned me, and I enjoyed writing the script. But as with many of the episodes in series one, which bear writing credits that don’t bear any relation to the work that was actually filmed, this is true in my case on “Dorzak”. I didn’t enjoy when the script – which was about to go into production – was sent to me in a brown envelope dropped in my letterbox. About the only thing I recognised in it was my name on the front page. It had been completely re-written. Of course there came a point at which I had to decide whether or not I would allow my name to continue to be attached to it. In broad concept, the original idea does actually survive.

‘As a result of fans having talked to me about
Space: 1999
, I feel there is a science fiction audience who look back with some longing for the kind of television that takes people out of the minutiae of everyday contemporary life. The BBC had
Doctor Who
for years without really understanding that there was an audience for it, and what the audience actually liked about it. Certainly the television executives were always rather bemused by it, even if they were delighted by its success. When I was working at the BBC a while ago, Jonathan Powell asked me what it was about science fiction that audiences liked, and asked me to go away and create a series. I gave it some thought, but quite soon after that the BBC got involved in
Star Cops
, which probably put a nail or two in the coffin of science fiction on television for a while. I certainly didn’t enjoy that. Whatever else science fiction is, it isn’t cops and robbers in space. I like science fiction that extrapolates from Earth situations in such a way that it allows us to understand our Earthly experience by looking back from outside. The driving force of my interest in the genre is that it enables us to ask questions about where we are going now.’

Bloopers:
The Universal Plague Warning Signal is, as Helena says, ‘the most terrifying sound in space.’ But what has to be asked is, how can there be a
universal
plague warning signal? It’s a minor weakness to the episode.

Observations:
As in ‘Seed of Destruction’, it must be said that Dorzak’s use of a Psychon nerve pinch on Sahala’s shoulders draws unwanted comparison to
Star Trek
. Again,
Space: 1999
should have done everything possible to avoid this type of comparison, as it did in Year One. As this script was significantly re-written by Fred Freiberger, we can perhaps assume where some of these elements came from.

Dorzak is another in the line of exiles set free by the Alphans, including Balor (‘End of Eternity’), and Cantar and Zova (‘The Exiles’).

Review:
‘Dorzak’ is a strong Year Two entry, told in flashback (like ‘Dragon’s Domain’ and ‘The Testament of Arkadia’ from Year One). It showcases excellent performances by the four lead Alphans (Tony, Helena, Maya and Alan), all featured in equally important roles. Alan Carter also finds himself with a love interest in the alien Sahala, which was undoubtedly appreciated by Nick Tate.

The cast door revolves again as Sam Dastor makes an effective debut in the role of Dr Ed Spencer, the final supporting doctor in Medical Centre. The ever-changing supporting cast again proves to be one of the weakest aspects of the second series. While producer Fred Freiberger set out to humanise the characters and transform the Alphans into likeable people, the ever-changing roster of doctors – Bob Mathias, Ben Vincent, Raul Nunez and now Ed Spencer – fails to equal the consistent presence in Year One of Bob Mathias. Yasuko Nagazumi appears again in her role of Yasko and is as unconvincing as ever – thankfully her part here is small. Lee Montague and Jill Townsend are excellent in their respective roles as Dorzak and Sahala, and Kathryn Leigh Scott is a pleasure to watch as Yesta. Sadly, Saretta Wilson is absolutely terrible as Clea, dragging down every scene she appears in.

It is interesting to hear Helena note that Koenig is away exploring a belt of asteroids which give ‘some hope of colonisation’ – explaining Martin Landau’s absence as he was off filming this episode’s ‘double-up’ counterpart, ‘Devil’s Planet’. It might be a questionable idea that a group of asteroids could provide any hope of colonisation – unless they are very, very large and have atmosphere, water and vegetation. Nevertheless, at least the Commander’s absence is acknowledged and the ongoing Alphan search for a new home is briefly touched upon. While this is appreciated, it later makes no sense that the Alphans don’t for a moment consider asking the Norvahns to transport them to one of the habitable planets they know of. As Sahala says, ‘The Croton system is made up of many peoples and many planets, of which my planet Norvah was one. For thousands of dekons it has been cultivated into a peace-loving federation.’ Surely there would be room in such a friendly federation for the 300 Alphans?

The Croton ship interior seems too large in scope and layout to be able to fit into the external form of the craft as demonstrated by Alpha’s boarding tube and launch pad. That aside, however, the model of the Croton ship is a wonderful design, and the interiors are appealingly colourful, with pulsing disco lights and multi-coloured polka-dot decorations, which are similar to those seen in ‘The Exiles’. The production design is quite fun. Unfortunately, Alphan furniture and shelving is used on the set of the Croton vessel, and regular viewers easily recognise such elements.

It’s odd to see that Dorzak’s powers are so different from Maya’s. He has great abilities of telepathic control, which she doesn’t. Yet he doesn’t know how to perform molecular transformation, as she does. In one sense this gives wider scope to the Psychon capabilities, but in another it suggests a flagrant lack of continuity. Dorzak learns from Maya the ability to perform transformations, but she doesn’t seem to learn any of his techniques for telepathy or mind control. It would have been preferable for Dorzak to be a metamorph from the beginning, in addition to having mind control ability, with the stasis field nullifying all his various talents.

Christopher Penfold’s presence as scriptwriter is easily seen in the inspiration behind the name of the Croton system. Historically, Croton was founded in 710 BC and was an important and flourishing city in
Magna Graecia. Its inhabitants were famed for their physical strength, and the city produced many champions in the Olympic Games. Pythagoras was the first man to call himself a philosopher, and whereas in our modern world science and religion are seen as separate realms, he held the two to be inextricably bound to each other. (Alpha’s own philosopher scientist Victor Bergman in the ‘Black Sun’ episode stated, ‘The line between science and mysticism is just a line. And sometimes it makes me feel quite old.’) Pythagoras moved to Croton with 300 of his followers and there founded his religious, political and philosophical movement, the Pythagoreans, circa 530 BC. The Pythagoreans held significant influence over the ruling of the city until 510 BC, when an insurrection forced them from Croton and overthrew the supreme council governing the city, thereafter replacing it with a democracy. Thus, Dorzak can be seen as a futuristic counterpart to the ancient philosopher Pythagoras.

The dichotomy of good turned evil is at the heart of the episode, but it could have been explored more thoughtfully. For instance, why is the formerly peace-loving poet Dorzak now an evil killer? What motivations lie behind his actions? These are deep questions that are utterly ignored by the script. While ‘Dorzak’ is credited to Christopher Penfold (who had authored six previous episodes and performed substantial re-writes on other entries such as ‘Black Sun’ in his capacity as Year One story consultant), he is the first to state that this script was almost entirely re-written by Fred Freiberger. When one considers Penfold’s predilection towards philosophical material – he himself commented about his work on the series, ‘I was certainly interested in the idea of making popular the kind of science fiction that dealt unashamedly with metaphysical ideas’ – the gap between the scriptwriter’s ideals and the final episode becomes a chasm. It would be fascinating to read Penfold’s original script!

The aspect that remains the closest to Penfold’s prior thematic explorations is encapsulated in Dorzak’s assertion, ‘Philosophy doesn’t win space for people to live. It’s the struggle for survival that makes monsters of us all.’ Is there some flaw in the Psychon nature that turns them all into monsters? First Mentor, and now Dorzak. The ‘struggle for survival’ theme could have withstood further examination, but it is instantly dismissed by Maya’s response, ‘But the Alphans aren’t warped by their struggle.’ The other appealing element, of course, is Penfold’s insertion of a poet/philosopher (not unlike himself) in the centre of the story.

While it is not one of the finest episodes of the season, ‘Dorzak’ is certainly one of the most visually vibrant. The purity of the tints and the variety of the colour scheme are beautiful. Despite its flaws, ‘Dorzak’ remains a reasonably rewarding show. It advances the mythology of the Psychon race, while providing an entertaining and dramatic entry to the series.

Rating:
7/10

2.22

DEVIL
’
S PLANET

Screenplay by Michael Winder

Directed by Tom Clegg

Selected Broadcast Dates:

UK
              LWT:

             
Date: 24 September 1977.               Time: 11.30 am

             
Granada: