Destination: Moonbase Alpha (9 page)

Quotes:

• Collins:
  ‘Move aside, Commander – I’m getting out of here.’
  
• Koenig:
  ‘The giant leap for mankind. It’s beginning to look like a stumble in the dark.’
  
• Helena
  :
  ‘We’re looking for answers, Commander. Not heroes.’
  
• Koenig:
  ‘You were right, doctor. It was radiation – magnetic radiation. Now we’re sitting on the biggest bomb man’s ever made.’
  
• Koenig
  : ‘I see men risking their lives to avert disaster – total disaster. Now wake up, Commissioner. If this goes wrong there won’t be anybody to issue a communiqué. There will be no survivors!’
  
• Paul:
  ‘Commander! It’s going up!’
  
• Computer:
  ‘Human decision required.’
  
• Koenig:
  ‘Attention all sections Alpha. This is Commander John Koenig. As you know, our Moon has been blasted from orbit. We are completely cut off from planet Earth. As we are, we have power, environment and therefore the possibility of survival. If we should attempt to improvise a return to Earth without travel plots, without full resources, it is my belief that we would fail. Therefore, in my judgment, we do not try.’
  
• Koenig:
  [Final voice-over] ‘September 13, 1999. Meta signals increasing – yes, maybe there …’
  

Significant Dates (Prior to Filming) from Barry Morse
’
s Diaries:

• Monday 19 November 1973
  (Wardrobe appointment at Pinewood Studios for actor Barry Morse.)
  
• Wednesday 21 November 1973
  (Appointment at ‘Bally’ for fitting of boots for actor Barry Morse.)
  
• Friday 23 November 1973
  (Wardrobe appointment at Pinewood Studios for actor Barry Morse.)
  
• Monday 26 November 1973
  (First rehearsal for ‘Breakaway’.)
  
• Wednesday 28 November 1973
  (Second full day of rehearsal for ‘Breakaway’.)
  
• Thursday 29 November 1973
  (Film tests shot, and further rehearsal for ‘Breakaway’.)
  
• Friday 30 November 1973
  (Fourth day of rehearsal for ‘Breakaway’.)
  

Filming Dates:

Monday 3 December –
Friday 21 December 1973

Thursday 27 December –
Friday 28 December 1973

Wednesday 2 January –
Friday 11 January 1974

Friday 22 February –
Tuesday 26 February 1974

Commentary:

Martin Landau:
‘I never thought “Breakaway” was ready. I kept saying “Postpone it”. They did postpone, but it was never there. I never thought it was a good script. It was filled with the wrong kinds of stuff … [They would say,] “Well, we have to establish the fact that the Moon…” I said, “But you see that! You don’t talk about it!” We didn’t have a lot to back it up. Then we started – in a sense – falling behind.

‘There was one thing on that big set [of Main Mission] I contributed to – that giant globe of the Earth, which was a real globe with real colours. I made the suggestion that they paint it the same colour as the set, because I felt it looked out of place. So they painted the globe in various shades of that beige-gray, and that was done the day we started shooting “Breakaway”, because I walked in and I saw that it still hadn’t been done. I thought having that colourful globe in the middle of that big set, even though it was a reminder of Earth, just looked wrong. So they heeded my advice and it literally got done with quick-drying paint the day we started shooting the first episode.’

Barbara Bain:
‘The actor [Eric Carte] who played the part in “Breakaway” [of the man] who flipped out and went bananas, was [not the first choice] … There was another actor cast originally. You see how show business is. The actor couldn’t do his role because he was ill or something and they’d already made those “milk eyes” for him. And they were very expensive to make, so they re-cast the part on the basis of who [had the right shaped eyes to] fit those lenses! So, I don’t know if it’s a good thing for an actor to come into a part on the basis of the curvature of his eye. That’s how that was cast!’

Barry Morse:
‘We sometimes used to send the scripts up. Since our producers had primarily come to prominence as puppet producers, I suggested one day to Martin [while filming ‘Breakaway’] that we should play our parts as if we
were
puppets. I said to Frank Watts, our cameraman, “Just keep rolling – whatever we do!” And so we started this scene. You can imagine my stiff and stilted movements, rather like an Anderson puppet, as I said, “But-there-are-men-dying-out-there-John,” and he said, “Gee-I-know-and-it-feels-terrible-to-be-responsible,” or whatever his line was. We persuaded them to print it, hoping Gerry and Sylvia might get a subtle hint from this as to what we thought of the depth and quality of the dialogue being written for our characters, but they obviously thought we were just being mischievous.’

Nick Tate:
‘They got me to do the first episode, ‘Breakaway’, and then they said, “Right, we liked that; now we’d like to try you on the second one”. It took me about five episodes before they actually took out the fountain pen and said, “Right, you’re in for the run”. I did all 24 episodes of the first season.’

Gerry Anderson:
‘The New York office assured me that Lee Katzin was “the best pilot director in America”. The schedule to shoot the first episode was ten days, but it overran and we were soon tens of thousands of pounds over budget. It ran for two hours and I thought it was awful. He went back to America and I sent a cutting copy of the episode to Abe Mandell. Abe phoned me in a fit of depression, saying, “Oh my God, it’s terrible – what are we going to do?” I wrote a lot of new scenes myself and these were filmed over three days. I’m pretty sure I directed them myself. I then totally re-cut the episode to 50 minutes, integrating the new footage.’

Christopher Penfold:
‘George Bellak had written the first episode, which was eventually titled “Breakaway”, but I actually re-wrote it after he had left, and most of it is my work … I think it was my idea to have this nuclear waste dump on the Moon go out of control.

‘As far as the nuclear waste dump is concerned, I was already pretty worried about the politics of nuclear power at the time when I was starting work on
Space: 1999
. I think the fact of that issue being raised in the context of popular drama series has had something to do with the demise of that abhorrent technology. So I think
Space: 1999
might have been a start of that.

[Regarding Computer’s statement, ‘Human decision required.’] ‘Koenig makes a relatively logical decision [not to attempt a return to Earth]. We are living in a binary age, in which we believe that there is either a Yes answer or a No answer to every question. I know computer scientists who believe that serious computer systems are not able to make that decision all the time; that we live believing that those systems govern us in a logical way but there are statistically unlikely – but possibly inevitable – occasions when that indecision could lead to catastrophic circumstances. So when we’re talking about philosophical precepts, we do so in theory, but what happens here in the context of a decision about whether to attempt a return to Earth or stay with what [they had], the facts that [Koenig] was in possession of were actually terribly inadequate.’

Bloopers:
Two bloopers are found in the opening sequence before the titles. The first comes in the form of the on-screen caption ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’. There is no ‘dark side’ of the Moon, but there is a ‘far side’, which is always pointed away from the Earth. The second is that Nordstrom’s spacesuit helmet pops open as he throws Steiner over the Moon Buggy. It happens quickly, and obviously the producers didn’t expect the viewer to catch it. As well, Nordstrom’s name is misspelt on his helmet as ‘Nordstom’.

Another recurring error throughout the series has to do with matching up effects and live-action shots. Here, Koenig’s Eagle docks on the Port side (left), but he exits on the Starboard side (right).

Koenig’s spacesuit collar changes from a flat and smooth style to a corrugated one, repeatedly, during his Eagle flight to check Nuclear Waste Area Two. The same mysteriously transforming spacesuit collar also appears on Eagle Pilot Collins – watch for it!

Observations:
It’s unfortunate that the sub-plot of the planet Meta isn’t pursued in the following episode. The build-up through the show culminates at the end with Koenig speculating that the Alphans’ future may lie with Meta (which, presumably, they are heading towards after they break out of orbit), but this plot thread is promptly forgotten by episode two. However, as fans of the series will know, the real year 1999 would see the premiere of a new short film entitled
Message from Moonbase Alpha
, bringing the entire series full-circle while revealing the true origins of the Meta Signal. Knowing the resolution of
Message from Moonbase Alpha
gives new meaning to the line Koenig speaks when looking at the mysterious signal, ‘Maybe that’s where our future lies’. This is indeed the case, but in a way none of them could even guess at. Full details appear later in this book.

It’s entertaining to watch the opening title sequence for shots that ended up not appearing in the final cut of the episode, or which appear in slightly different versions – there are many, including a rockslide, and the spectacular effects sequences of purple lightning striking an Eagle (which, despite its brief on-screen appearance became an iconic
Space: 1999
image), and a nuclear waste canister (attached to an Eagle’s magnetic grappler) exploding when it hits the laser barrier.

This is the only occasion where seat belts are featured in the Eagle passenger module. This is also the only occasion where the monitor in the Eagle cockpit features a colour screen – in all others the screens are black and white.

Review:
Taking place between 9 and 13 September 1999, ‘Breakaway’ is a spectacular opening episode presenting life on Moonbase Alpha in as realistic and believable a vision of the future as possible. Some may complain about the scientific implausibility of the Moon being able to withstand the shockwaves of an explosion large enough to rip it out of Earth orbit, but once viewers accept that (and, after all, this is science
fiction
and suspension of disbelief is a prerequisite!) they are ushered into a truly realistic and highly detailed world.

This attention to detail is illustrated by the presence of video cameras in the Nuclear Waste Area, providing the video feeds watched by the crew in Main Mission, and used by Dr Russell and Professor Bergman when they’re monitoring the astronauts Steiner and Nordstrom. As well, Commlocks are actively used to open doors and communicate with Computer (as in Medical Centre scenes with Dr Russell). This is a clear presentation of defined technology and creates a tangible element of believability to life on Moonbase Alpha. There is a general ‘buzz’ of background noise and activity throughout the show that lends an additional aura of reality to Moonbase Alpha – unfortunately, this element will be gradually left behind over subsequent episodes.

The special effects contained within ‘Breakaway’ are light years ahead of anything previously seen on television, and many of them hold up remarkably well all these years later. The laser barrier at the Nuclear Disposal Area is particularly effective, especially considering how few force fields will be visually depicted throughout the run of the series – and some of those that will appear in episodes from the second season will have a remarkable tendency to look like sheets of coloured Perspex. Special effects and models are highly detailed – notably Koenig’s crashed Eagle and the Space Dock explosion. The model of the Space Dock will appear again, slightly altered, in the episode ‘Dragon’s Domain’, when it will be referred to instead as the ‘interplanetary space station’.The physical manifestations of the Meta Probe Astronaut Virus Infection include milky eyes and a progression to quite gruesome facial symptoms as the infected astronauts near death – made all the more chilling by them being bathed in the blue light of the Medical Centre isolation area.

The major plot-point of magnetic radiation causing brain damage (amongst other problems) is particularly interesting to modern viewers who have heard numerous news reports about the suspected dangers and cancer-causing potential of the electro-magnetic fields from high-voltage power lines and mobile cell phones.

To those special effects that haven’t aged as well, and other aspects of the production tying it to the time of its creation (like the flares/bellbottoms of the crew’s uniforms), there remains a certain charm. Strings appear holding up the Eagle spaceships in a couple of scenes but, ultimately, like any quality science fiction series that created a complete and distinct universe for itself (as in
The Prisoner
), the series is a piece of art, with colours and textures all its own.

The window view to the Eagle hanger bay is very impressive and adds to the scope of Moonbase Alpha – this is a big place! It’s too bad this view is seen only here in ‘Breakaway’ – it could have been a very worthwhile recurring set. Lee H Katzin (who would return to helm the third episode, ‘Black Sun’) was an American director who had previously worked with Martin Landau and Barbara Bain on
Mission: Impossible
, and it has been reported that he was hired to helm these early
Space: 1999
episodes at the specific request of Bain. Helping to build tension throughout the proceedings is the masterful score by Barry Gray.