Destination: Moonbase Alpha (35 page)

It is fascinating to follow the episode as Gwent learns more about the Alphans, while they learn more about him: in particular, the facts that he needs to conserve energy and is blind. The script is rich in humanity and a great depth of characterisation. The pace and plotting are ideally matched with the demanding emotional qualities of the show – the Alphans are in danger: Koenig, Russell and Bergman may never get away; Gwent tortures them and those on Alpha, kills the pilots of several Eagles and of the ground tanks (although, arguably, the latter could have been under remote control). Despite this, the lead characters must be able to understand and sympathise with Gwent and ultimately express sadness for his demise. This is very challenging for the actors to perform, and it is also challenging for the audience to appreciate. But ‘The Infernal Machine’ is very much worth the effort and, as in the earlier episode ‘Guardian of Piri’, the computer character of Gwent is a formidable enemy, much like HAL 9000 in
2001: A Space Odyssey
; all are powerful machines that have evolved beyond their expected limitations and are out of control.

In terms of on-screen realisation, Gwent is another marvel of
Space: 1999
. It is purely alien on the outside and impressively massive inside. As an internal alien spaceship set, Gwent is arguably the finest in the series. Again,
Space: 1999
is the champion of television science fiction set design, thanks to the talents of Keith Wilson. David Tomblin, with his dynamic and cinematic direction, makes the most of the scope of the set. The special effects and models of ‘The Infernal Machine’ are also some of the finest in the series, including the depiction of Moonbase Alpha’s impressive laser tanks and of Gwent itself.

Leo McKern, yet another stellar guest in an increasingly impressive list, delivers a compassionate, memorable performance as both Companion and the voice of Gwent. It is a great irony that Gwent – a machine – is the most sympathetic alien character in the first season. This episode also showcases the stars of the series. Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Barry Morse are all excellent in their multi-faceted roles, each playing a wide range of emotional notes and working in harmony with each other. Credit goes to writers Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows, along with the performers. Gwent is untrusting, suspicious, cynical and perhaps paranoid. Gwent needs company and becomes lonely in isolation. He has a personality, is blind and feels grief and sadness. To give these qualities to a spaceship/computer and to follow through to the point where the computer commits suicide because it can’t take the loneliness, grief and remorse it feels, is a challenge well met by this script. As a team, Terpiloff and Barrows contribute another script (the first being ‘Death’s other Dominion’) with ties to classic literature – it’s worth comparing this with Terpiloff’s solo scripts, which seem to lack these inspirations and focus almost solely on the theme of faith. The contribution of Elizabeth Barrows, apparently, was the source of the ties to ancient Greek tragedy here and Shakespearean tragedy in ‘Death’s other Dominion’.

On the surface this is an obvious ‘man versus Machine’ story similar to others before, notably ‘Guardian of Piri’, not least because in both cases the central machine is not alone – the Guardian has its Servant, while Gwent has Companion. While one of the peripheral subjects explored here is vanity, ‘The Infernal Machine’ makes a statement about its central theme of isolation as Gwent says, ‘None of us exists except in relation to others. Alone we cease to have personalities; isolation … Do you understand?’ Isolation and loneliness are also exemplified by the vast empty spaces within Gwent and are personified by Companion – alone in deep space with only a machine version of himself as company. Isolation here is shown to be a danger of immortality – Companion programmed his entire personality into the ageless body of Gwent, only to discover that the immortal and sentient Gwent requires companionship and cannot live alone. Ultimately, this version of immortality is unsustainable and ends in suicide. Once more (as in ‘Guardian of Piri’, ‘Death’s other Dominion’, ‘End of Eternity’ and the upcoming ‘Mission of the Darians’) the writers raise a doubt regarding the value of the pursuit of eternal life. Suspenseful to the end and visually beautiful, ‘The Infernal Machine’ is undoubtedly the most emotional, touching and gently endearing segment of the series.

Rating:
9/10

1.22

MISSION
OF THE DARIANS

Screenplay by Johnny Byrne

Directed by Ray Austin

Selected Broadcast Dates:

UK
              LWT:

             
Date: 1 November 1975.               Time: 5.50 pm

             
Granada:

             
Date: 21 November 1975.               Time: 6.35 pm

US
              KRON (San Francisco):

             
Date: 1 November 1975.               Time: 7.00 pm

Credited Cast: Martin Landau
(John Koenig),
Barbara Bain
(Helena Russell),
Barry Morse
(Victor Bergman),
Prentis Hancock
(Paul Morrow),
Clifton Jones
(David Kano),
Zienia Merton
(Sandra Benes),
Nick Tate
(Alan Carter),
Paul Antrim
(Bill Lowry),
Robert Russell
(Hadin),
Gerald Stadden
(Male Mute),
Jackie Horton
(Female Mute)

Guest Star: Joan Collins
(Kara)

Guest Artists: Dennis Burgess
(Neman),
Aubrey Morris
(High Priest)

Uncredited Cast: Sarah Bullen
(Operative Kate),
Loftus Burton
(Operative Lee Oswald),
Ann Maj-Britt
(Operative Ann),
Binu Balini
,
Andrew Dempsey
,
Michael Stevens
(Main Mission Operatives),
Ron Tarr
(Darian Guard),
Linda Hooks
(Blonde Female Darian),
Jenny Cresswell
(Female Darian)

Previously Titled:
‘Mission of the Daria’

Plot:
Moonbase Alpha encounters the massive space ark
SS Daria
– devastated 900 years previously by a nuclear explosion. A message cries out for assistance and the Alphans journey to the
Daria
, where they split up and encounter a race of highly advanced Darians on a mission to a new world, and a primitive tribe that has degenerated into savagery; hunting mutants born of the radioactive devastation and sacrificing perfect bodies to their God, Neman.

Quotes:

• High Priest:
  ‘Here in this sacred shrine of knowledge, we dedicate this perfect body. We pledge her in the spirit of true science; we pledge her in the light of clear knowledge and maintain that she is free of the Mutant, whom we abhor in all its manifestations. This we pledge on the sacred book of Neman, maker of Man, father of Spirits. To you, Neman, we the survivors of Level 7, offer this body.’
  
• Victor:
  ‘That’s it, John – living human bodies.’
  
• High Priest:
  ‘Defiler of truth … Killer of spirit … Enemy of Neman.’
  
• Alan:
  ‘Spirit? This is no spirit. Look, they have deceived you. He’s a man; a man like you; a man like me.’
  
• Hadin:
  ‘Neman – you are not a God.’
  
• Koenig:
  ‘These people are your future now. Prepare them to survive in space. We’ll help you, but the rest is up to you.’
  

Filming Dates:
Friday 10 January – Friday 24 January 1975

Incidental Music:
Includes the introduction from ‘The White Mountain’ by Frank Cordell (heard in several scenes including when Koenig meets Kara, and when the Eagle returns to Alpha), and ‘Experiments in Space – Vega’ by Robert Farnon (heard during the opening sequences with the discovery of the colossal spaceship). These two tracks were from the Chappell Recorded Music Library. Additional Barry Gray compositions are included from the
Joe 90
episode ‘King for a Day’ and the
Stingray
episode ‘Ghost of the Sea’ (heard here as Kara’s theme, and utilised previously as the beautiful dream-like music on Zenno in ‘Missing Link’.)

Commentary:

Barry Morse:
‘“Mission of the Darians” was an attempt to engage in a certain amount of philosophical argument regarding racial purity. Even the name “Darian” equates with “Aryan”. So it was admirable in that respect.’

Nick Tate:
‘I found Joan Collins to be very friendly. We had lunch at the studio a few times while she was guest-starring.’

Johnny Byrne:
‘I think “Mission of the Darians” is probably the one I like best. It is perhaps the most serious of all the stories I wrote. It has the cruel, inescapable things that life sometimes forces upon us. If you remember, there was a crash in the Andes and the people, in order to survive, had to eat their fellow passengers. I don’t think that book had been published when I wrote this story.’ [The book and subsequent film were called
Alive
. Another account,
Miracle in the Andes
, was published in 2006.]

‘First of all, I was excited by the thought of a 50 mile long spaceship. Secondly, my mind harked back to a wonderful story that I had read by Brian Aldiss many, many years ago. It was called
Non-Stop
. That always set up an echo in my mind and, while not plagiarising Brian, I couldn’t help dealing with a theme of people cut off and sort of drifting, and the mystery about them. So here they are in this wonderful spaceship. They discover that thousands of years ago the original people who owned this ship, who had taken the ship and who were on their way to a new world, had a huge accident, and now there is a small group of the original aliens plus the atomic survivors – the mutants of their own people. It’s not a co-incidence that they are called Darians, it was meant to equate with Aryans, the life theme of the Aryan race, the sort of proto-Nazi thing – not fascism and not Nazism, but the kind of primal racial instinct. [They were meant to be] kind of superior beings, knowing that they’ve got to keep [the mutants] alive so that they can survive; and once there on a new world, they would be disposed of. But here in the gene bank is all they require to remanufacture the race again.

‘The thing was – and I thought it was well worked out – that a kind of religion was built around a sort of disfigurement and the things that would obviously weigh large in people’s minds in a post-atomic situation. Lots of stillbirths and horrific mutants and things like that would appear. The structure of social groups would be incredibly rigid and they would try to eliminate the mutants, in the way the Spartans would dispose of daughters or deformed children to keep the purity going. And of course they would feed these into the food chain. That was what was keeping the “good” Darians alive. The name of the game is survival, and that’s what they were doing. Essentially we are talking about cannibalism, no matter how science fiction it was.

‘At the end of the day, the resolution was a very humane one, where the idea was that the gene bank is now destroyed. It should’ve been destroyed in the first place –
these
are the people who own the future. The two groups have got to be connected so that by the time they land they
will
have their own people. Not the same, but they will have people. So they basically needed each other. Again, there were no heroes and villains, but
things
that people had to do.

‘All of the stories were full of contrived incidents. At the rate we were getting through Alpha Moonbase personnel, I’m amazed that any remained at the end of the first season! But it was important to show, I think, this whole obsession [the Darians] had with mutants. It was important to have one Alphan character [Bill Lowry] there who could be disposed of to show how deeply rooted this tradition was; basically how ignorant, how clueless [the Darians] had become about the real world. And how they were simply acting on a kind of ritual memory rather than common sense. We did actually have two dwarfs in it, which I thought added immensely to the value. And there were some magnificent glass shots in it. There was a view when you came in through a door and you saw the entire huge bay of the spaceship. We didn’t do many glass shots, but that was one, and it really added immensely. The sight of that massive ship moving through the frame in the first shots was excellent. Ray Austin did a marvellous job of directing this … We had a brilliant model maker – absolutely brilliant. He gave it that distinctive kind of Lego style. It really looked mind-bending on a big screen, which I used to see it on in rushes.