19. The Troubled Spirit
Written by: Johnny Byrne
Directed by: Ray Austin
Guest Artist: Giancarlo Prete, Hilary Dwyer and Anthony Nichols
Filming dates: Wednesday 20th November to Wednesday 4th December 1974
World premiere broadcast: 27th December 1975 (Yorkshire)
Although the entire series is billed as an ITC/RAI co-production the Italian broadcaster
only confirmed its participation after a set visit to The Guardian of Piri. As a result only four episodes
made late in the show's run feature Italian guest stars, the first of these being Giancarlo Prete. He was an obvious
choice, having been originally been cast in the regular role of Eagle pilot Alphones Catani before scheduling conflicts prevented
him taking the part.
Val Musetti, who for most of the series is an extra populating Main Mission, plays the ghostly apparition
in shots when Giancarlo Prete is portraying Dan Mateo.
Although Gerry Anderson was usually heavily involved in script development during Year One, in his
case Sylvia Anderson worked with Johnny Byrne on story discussions. Byrne based the story partially onmyths he learned
during his Dublin childhood.
Along with Force of Life, The Troubled Spirit is the second episode to have encountered
censorship problems. The ghostly Mateo's half-burned face was seen as being too horrific in some countries, and a UK
sweet cigareete card of the image was withdrawn, making the original card highly prized.
Keith Wilson cleverly saves money inmany episodes by re-using elements of sets in inventive ways.
Here, the Hydroponics Unit is a redress of the Nuclear Generating Area 3 set built for Force of Life, with the addition
of a great deal of greenery and the glass cases from the alien base in War Games.
20. Space Brain
Written by: Christopher Penfold
Directed by: Charles Crichton
Guest Artist: Shane Rimmer, Carla Romanelli
Filming dates: Thursday 5th to Thursday 19th December 1974, Thursday 27th and Friday
28th February 1975
World premiere broadcast: 16th January 1976 (Anglia)
Even at this late stage scripts were being completed very close to filming, with Space
Brain finalised only four days before the start of principal photography.
Kelly is never given a first name - even his wife only refers to him by his second name! He
is played by Shane Rimmer, who had previously provided the voice of Scott Tracy for Thunderbirds and contributed
to the writing of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and The Secret Service,
as well as making occasional appearances in UFO. Rimmer's voice can be heard over various radios in
previous episodes of Space: 1999.
Christopher Penfold recalls that the story was written after discussions with either Keith Wilson
or Brian Johnson, who explained what could be done film-wise with an unstoppable foam monster. Famously, the machine
producing the antibody foam which attacks Alpha made so much noise that the iperator could not hear director Charles Crichton's
instruction to cut. The result was that the foam completely filled the Min Mission set. As there were more spacesuited
characters in the scene than there were survival pack props some clever choreography was required, which is why Sandra is
sent upstairs and conveniently out of shot.
This was Christopher Penfold's final episode as Space: 1999's Story Consultant.
He left the production unhappy with the direction in which the series was going and exhausted by the workload. His draft
script for Dragon's Domain was already written by then and he was later commissioned to write the Year Two episode
Dorzak.
Reshoots on the episode were the last filming to take place on Year One, though The Last Enemy
was the last to be completed in post-production.
21. The Infernal Machine
Written by: Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth
Barrows
Directed by: David Tomblin
Guesr Star: Leo McKern
Filming dates: Friday 20th to Tuesday 24th, Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st December
1974, Thursday 2nd to Thursda 9th January 1975
World premiere broadcast: 8th January 1976 (ATV)
David Tomblin returned to the production with this episode, which temporarily
lost the services of Prentis Hancock, who was in hospital having a growth removed from his neck. His dialogue was assigned
to the character of Winters, played by Gary Waldhorn.
The model of Gwent, deliberately designed to defy aerodynamic principles, was so difficult to make
fly that the large sized version was thrown across the studio in frustration by Special Effects Director Nick Allder.
The part of Companion was written with Sir Ralph Richardson in mind, with the role eventually going to Australian actor
Leo McKern. Companion's bed had previously been seen in Collision Course as Arra's throne. Gwent's rather
splendid full name, Delmer Powys Plebus Gwent, includes two Welsh counties.
Technologically, the aspect of Space: 1999 that dated quickest was Alpha's computer
systems producing readouts on paper. While this happens in virtually every episode and becomes a part of the style of
the series, it is especially noticeable in The Infernal Machine as Gwent also produces paper displays and appears
to have been kitted out with (to 2010 eyes) old-fashioned dot matrix printers using punch-hole paper.
This is one of the few episodes in which the subject of Koenig and Russell's relationship is especially
raised in Year One, as Gwent describes Dr Russell as Koenig's companion. One of the more successful changes in Year
Two was making the couple's attachment more obvious. The Laser Tanks seen in the This Episode section of The Last
Enemy finally make their debut here.
