10. Alpha Child
Written by: Christopher Penfold
Directed by: Ray Austin
Guest Artistes: Julian Glover, Cyd Hayman
Filming dates: Monday 8th to Monday 22nd July 1974
World premiere broadcast: 11th October 1975 (KHJ/KRON, USA)
UK Premiere broadcast: 16th October 1975 (ATV/Yorkshire)
Edward di Lorenzo wrote the first draft
from an original story idea by Gerry Anderson, but the final script was rewritten from scratch by Christopher Penfold.
His final rewrite was completed on July 1st, barely a week before shooting was due to start, demonstrating that they
were still going down to the wire to get scripts ready.
Main Mission undergoes another change with some of the illuminated panels changing from white to green
and this layout would remain until episode 16, End of Eternity.
Model maker Martin Bower joined the production with this episode.
His spacecraft designs, much more detailed than those seen previously in the series, became an increasingly important feature
of the series. Bower's long 2001-inspired spaceship, which he had made five years previosuly as a private project, makes
its first appearance here. It was subsequently bought by the production and re-used in three further episodes: War
Games, The Last Enemy and Dragon's Domain, despite the fact that it was never built for the rigours
of filming.
11.
The Last Sunset
Written by:
Christopher Penfold
Directed by: Charles Crichton
Filming dates: Tuesday 23rd July to Tuesday 6th August,
Wednesday 21st August 1975
World premiere broadcast: 8th December 1975 (HSV 7 Melbourne, Australia)
UK premiere broadcast: 1st January 1976 (ATV)
This was one of the original story outlines prepared during pre-production on Space:
1999. Despite this Christopher Penfold's shooting script was not finished until two days before filming
on the episode was due to start, with further amendments being written right up until the day of shooting.
The original idea was that the episode would be cheaper to film, with model work taking place against
the real sky (somewhat like the launch sequence in Doppelganger). The plan backfired when it became
clear that it was much harder to disguise the wires on the models against a blue sky. The model unit finally took delivery
of a second 44 inch Eagle, made for Group Three by Space Models.
This episode features the first outdoor filming seen in Space: 1999, used when Alphans
run outside into the rain. It's stretching a point to describe this as location filming as it was shot in the studio
car park. This was the last scene shot for the episode, slotted into the schedule of Voyager's Return.
The Ariel capsules were used several times in Year Two episodes, full size versions turning up in
A Matter of Balance and Journey to Where and models in The Metamorph. The large alien probe
was used later in Year One, as a fire on the SS Daria in Mission of the Darians.
One has to question whether the addition of an atmosphere to the Moon would really give it gravity,
as happens here?
This is one of the few times in the series that we get to see Victor Bergman display violent emotion,
when he tries to get Koenig's Eagle to return to Alpha, the other being in Missing Link (although that's a false
image placed in Koenig's mind). We tend to assume that Bergman's laid back demeanour is due to his mechanical heart
slowing down his adrenaline, slowing his emotional responses as detailed in the show's publicity. In this case, it's
hard to imagine the scene working if played in any way other than as it was.
12. Voyager's Return
Written by: Johnny Byrne
Directed by: Bob Kellett
Guest Star: Jeremy Kemp
Guest Artist: Barry Stokes
Filming dates: Wednesday 7th to Monday 26th August 1974
World premiere broadcast: 1st September 1975 (HSV 7 Melbourne, Australia)
UK premier broadcast: 9th October 1975 (ATV/Yorkshire)
This was Bob Kellett's first contribution to the series.
He joined the production as a temporary replacement for David Tomblin, who had taken a leave of absence to work as First Assistant
Director on Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lindon (1975). Johnny Byrne later noted that Kellett
worked quickly but not as closely with the writers as Tomblin. Nonetheless, Byrne judged that the episode came
out well.
Voyager's Return began as a story submission from a friend of Johnny Byrne, writer and film
editor Joe Gannon. The only part of that idea to be used was that of a returning space probe, the rest of the script
being entirely Byrne's work, though Gannon was still paid for his contribution. An important element added by Byrne
was the scientist Queller, written as the equivalent of a guilt-ridden German ashamed of his work during the war.
Barry Stokes (here playing Dr Linden/Quesller's assistant Jim Haines) played a Skydiver Engineer in
the UFO episodes Destruction and The Psychobombs. Regular ITC character actor Alex
Scott plays the Chief Justifier Archon, almost unrecognisable under his wig and beard.
