Guest Artist/Additional Cast
Paul Jones as Mike Ryan
Jon Laurimore as Smitty
Screenplay
David Weir
Director
Lee H. Katzin
Background
With Katzin directing, 'Black Sun' entered production on Thursday 31st January, 1974. It took
fifteen working days to complete. A copy was quickly edited and sent to New York, where Abe Mandell who was furious,
saying that he couldn't understand the storyline. As a result the episode was trimmed and new sequences filmed.
From this point onwards all scripts would now be vetted by the New York office for their appeal to the American audience,
causing a massive amount of rewriting.
It became a favourite episode with many of the regular cast.
The National Union of Mineworkers went on strike in Britain on February 4th, 1974. As a result
electricity was rationed which resulted in power cuts. As Pinewood Studios had their own generators this did not stop
production, but travelling to and from the studios became difficult.
A guest star in 'Black Sun' was Paul Jones, who had been the lead singer with the group Manfred Mann
in the 1960s.
This episode saw the first mention of Victor Bergman's mechanical heart. This would feature
again in 'Guardian of Piri' and 'The Infernal Machine'.
Information from 'Production Notes: Series One' booklet by Michael
Richardson
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