Destination: Moonbase Alpha (49 page)

Barry Morse himself said, ‘It was virtually by mutual consent that I dropped out of
Space: 1999
… There were endless discussions – mostly not involving me, but my agent – about whether or not I should return for a second series. One of the things my agent was very resistant about – naturally – was that they proposed for the second series I should be paid rather less than I had been paid for the first series! The outcome was, I didn’t go into the second series. I finally went to Gerry and wickedly said, “Look, my dear, I’ve had a lovely time. I do wish you every kind of luck, but I shall be glad to go away and play with the grown-ups for a while.”’ Barry also commented on Year Two’s new producer by saying, ‘I had known Freddy in Hollywood in past times, and he’s an admirable fellow. I’m sure he’s kind to animals and writes regularly to his mother. But I didn’t feel that he was likely to improve the quality of the scripts.’

Barry Morse’s assertion that his pay was going to be cut for the second series is corroborated by numerous others involved in the production. Fred Freiberger himself made statements about the limited budget of the second series, noting: ‘When we got the go-ahead, Gerry promised Lew Grade that we’d watch the budget and keep the budget down.’ Freiberger also said, ‘We, at the time, were talking about cutting back somewhere to stay within the budget. There was a big question of the budget. We made several trans-Atlantic calls to Martin Landau and Barbara Bain – would they take a salary cut? They wouldn’t take a cut. People assume when you’re making an offer that you’re lying and that they’re in the driver’s seat. This show was on the edge for weeks – it looked like we were finished … The budget was always a problem.’

What about the other cast members? Zienia Merton explains, ‘Year One I was hired and they thought enough about what my contribution might be that they gave me a contract, which meant that obviously on some episodes I had very little to do and on others I had more. My make-up call was always at 7.30 am, and I remember that one day Clifton and I were back on the motorway going home by 8.55 am. We’d done our bit for that episode; we had just one scene in Main Mission and we’d done it. Fine, this is the way it goes – I’m not a spoiled child and someone’s taken away my ball. You can live with that. But I always felt that I was part of a team. There were bigger members, stronger members … it didn’t matter. We all pulled together. Second year came and there had been lots of stories in between. That’s the business, that’s the world, and there are always rumours.

‘When you do a series, successful or not, when they go into a second run, you usually get more money. Mine was cut by half! I wasn’t put under contract again; I was hired piecemeal. They said, “If we want you, we’ll call you.” They would ring the day before and ask if they could have me for half a day, or a day. And that was all the notice I got. Now the awful thing about this was that, because I’d done the first series, within the industry people thought I was still under contract for series two, so I wasn’t even considered for other parts. But my problem was not to do with money, it’s the respect people have for you …. That is why I walked, because if I’m not under contract, I’m not breaking anything. Eventually I said, “Look, I’m sorry, but if I’m not under contract then you don’t want me. You’ve told me what you think of me – that I’m not worth a contract. So I’m not doing any more.” They said, “You can’t do that.” I said, ”Why? I’m not under contract, so why can’t I? You treat me as casual labour – I am casual labour – and casual labour’s going home!”’

Anton Phillips faced the same problem. ‘The money they offered me for series two was actually less than the money they were paying me for series one. I thought, “Hang on. Inflation, and this, and … they’re paying me less? I don’t think so.”’

Clearly the budget cuts were affecting the entire production – not just negotiations with Barry Morse. But the finances were only a piece of the puzzle – what was happening creatively with Year Two? Johnny Byrne recalled, ‘I was going to stay around, and series two was going to be a continuation of everything we had done: an improved continuation, hopefully. Then suddenly Gerry started to talk of an American producer coming over. Then I heard a tape of Freddy where he viewed some things and made some devastating comments about them.’ Byrne also stated, ‘Freddy was coming in on the basis that the first series hadn’t worked, in the sense that it hadn’t got the coveted network deal in
America – and in England, too. This probably had more to do with politics at a high level in the television industry than anything else. Fred Freiberger, it must be said, was a man who was charged to either make this series shape up or ship out.’

So what did Fred Freiberger think about the series? ‘My feeling about Year One was that having elderly gentlemen in the big set that looked like a living room was not very dramatic. I had talked to Gerry about that. My idea was to re-do it in a more dynamic setting. In terms of character, our Professor should have been 23 years old with a beard …’ Freiberger also stated, ‘In my critique, I said that the show needed more youth.’ Freiberger held also a universally negative view of the first season characters: ‘There was nobody you cared about in the show – nobody at all. The people themselves didn’t care about each other.’

Charged with revolutionising the series, Freiberger was granted considerable power under his title of Producer. Nick Tate explains, ‘Fred Freiberger was the new partner and he was insistent that everything was going to be done his way; that Gerry didn’t understand and should stick with the technicalities of the show – the models and the technical science fiction side of it. Freddy would control the actors and work with that aspect … Freddy really did have a huge amount of control. Gerry seemed to have no control at all once Freddy came on. It was like his hands were tied. I don’t know if he could have been stronger and stood up and said, “You’re taking this in a direction that we never intended going …” Both Gerry and Sylvia Anderson had conceived the show’s original concept; when they broke up, it really destroyed much of what had been established during the first series. It seemed as if Gerry was prepared to allow somebody else to come in and totally change the humanity Sylvia had brought to the programme … We weren’t able to spend either money or time on the original concepts.’ Actor Tony Anholt, a new arrival to the series with the second season, agreed: ‘We all kept saying things and, indeed, we would try to change dialogue or add bits or subtract bits, provided we didn’t overstep the mark. Ultimately Freddy Freiberger, more than Gerry, seemed to be the one who said “Yea” or “Nay” … Gerry tended to be more background – he took a backseat, or appeared to take a backseat.’ Zienia Merton had the same perception: ‘Gerry was there, but Freddy was very much in charge.’

While Freiberger was completely responsible for the erasing of their characters from the series, he denied accountability for the actors not being hired again: ‘In terms of when the show was picked up, all the actors and directors … well, it’s not my area of expertise. I don’t make the deals. I had an idea of what Marty and Barbara got [under their contracts].’

What happened to those Year One actors who didn’t appear in Year Two? Prentis Hancock explains, ‘I wasn’t informed that I wasn’t going to be involved in the second series. Why should I be informed? You hire a plumber, he does a job; next time you hire a different plumber, do you inform the first plumber he’s not going to come back?’ Quite simply – they weren’t informed that they were fired; they just weren’t re-hired.

When Nick Tate returned for the second year, he was shocked by the missing characters: ‘How can you make a series with all these characters in it and you come back for the next year and they’ve all vanished? They didn’t even want to say where they’d all gone. I was introduced to Fred Freiberger and I said, “Can you explain to me where all these characters have gone?” He said to me, “Oh, there’s a lot of people on the base. They’ve just gone; they’re there somewhere.” Fred Freiberger did not have any respect for audience knowledge, for audience memory. He said, “They’ll forget.” I said, “But they were characters that were loved.” He said, “I didn’t see any.” He didn’t ask me who – he was clever. He just said, “I’ve seen the show. Those characters are all expendable. We’ve got to get young, vibrant, meaningful characters.”’

Among the actors who did return for the second series, certain perceptions are common. Zienia Merton has said, ‘Freddy really didn’t want me: I know for a fact he wanted someone younger and prettier – I’m not a classical beauty – and he just treated me appallingly. I have to say, I wasn’t victimised – it wasn’t victimisation of any sort. Freddy was a businessman and he went through and said, “Like her, don’t like her, like him, don’t like this …” He did his sums. Practically half the cast had gone – it was a shock. Who would have thought that Barry would not be there? It was devastating.’ Nick Tate had a similar feeling: ‘I know that Fred didn’t like me. He couldn’t have liked me; if he’d liked me, he’d have brought me in from the beginning [of series two]. He didn’t want me there.’

The facts continue to add up: Fred Freiberger didn’t like the Year One cast of characters, and with the exception of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain didn’t want any of them to return for the second season, and he specifically felt that Barry Morse’s Professor Victor Bergman was too old for an action-adventure science fiction series. Those who did return for Year Two had a clear perception that they weren’t wanted.

And what about Barry Morse – were any of his co-stars aware he wouldn’t be returning? Martin Landau has stated, ‘Gerry and Sylvia Anderson split up towards the end of the first season. That led the way for Freddy Freiberger. New York felt we needed a more Americanised show, which I felt was absolutely wrong! I was also not in favour of [the introduction of] an alien – I was in favour of Barry coming back, and right to the end I was fighting … I was still lobbying for Barry … I fought like a tiger.’

What was Gerry Anderson’s involvement? While it is widely acknowledged that he made a significant contribution in script development during Year One, his other input remains more elusive, as Anton Phillips explains: ‘I can’t actually remember speaking to Gerry in the 16 months working on the series. I’m sure I must have, but I can’t remember ever speaking to [him]. Sylvia I spoke to an awful lot, because she was always there and she was always open. She welcomed people. I think she genuinely liked the people that were there and enjoyed their company. So perhaps it was just easier to speak to Sylvia, and when you would pass by her office, just pop in and say, “Hi, how are you today?” and just chat about anything. Whereas Gerry, I think, was always a little bit more aloof in that respect. My dealings with Gerry were on no level whatsoever.’ Long-time collaborator on numerous
Anderson productions, production designer Keith Wilson, said: ‘It was actually Sylvia. Sylvia was the driving force creatively. Gerry wasn’t. I mean, he had ideas, but he didn’t create literally. Sylvia did … She had the most creative vision of the two. Gerry was very good with the ideas, but that’s where it stopped.’ In addition, Barry Morse himself said: ‘We were all working so hard and we had learned that we weren’t going to get much of what you might call “creative inspiration” from dear Gerry Anderson. But I didn’t have all that much to do with him. We weren’t in any sense the closest of friends.’

With these facts established, it is time to state – once and for all – what really happened, as documented by Barry Morse in his diary. First, a couple of notes: Barry wrote his diaries in point-form, and often used abbreviations. Thus, in referring to himself, he would note ‘B.M.’, and in a similar manner, Gerry Anderson is referred to as ‘G.A.’, and Barry’s then-agent, Michael Whitehall, is referred to as ‘M.W.’ Lesley de Pettitt, mentioned in the diary, was the casting director for
Space: 1999
Year Two. Capitalisation, punctuation, spacing etc of the entries, are as Barry wrote them.

Thursday 4 December 1975:

Lesley Pettitt makes offer re B.M. Space: 1999 to Michael Whitehall.

-Derisory

(Equivalent of 33% plus
CUT
– AND No Transport!)

Friday 5 December 1975:

M. Whitehall presents counter proposal to L. Pettitt

Wednesday 10 December 1975
:

Lesley Pettitt to M. Whitehall –

Won’t improve ‘Space’ offer.

– Stalemate –
4 pm.

Thursday 11 December 1975:

11:30 am
.

B.M. called G. Anderson.

G.A. to ‘call B.M. back.’

Friday 12 December 1975:

No call from Gerry Anderson.

Monday 15 December 1975
:

11:30 am
.

45 min phone talk with Lesley Pettitt.

‘G.A. will call B.M. back.’

Tuesday 16 December 1975:

No call from Gerry Anderson.

Wednesday 17 December 1975
:

4:30 pm
.

M.W. calls G.A. to accept original offer.

‘Other plans made.’

Space: 1999 all over!

So there it is – in indisputable notes that Barry Morse wrote in his diary. The offer he received for Year Two was equivalent to more than a 33% cut to his pay, and in addition he was not being offered any transport to or from Pinewood Studios, as he had received during Year One. In his own words, this offer was derisory. Morse’s agent made a counter-proposal the following day, but then waited five days for the reply that the offer would not be improved upon. Barry then took it upon himself to try to contact Gerry Anderson and was twice promised that
Anderson would call him back … but Anderson didn’t, as is so poignantly noted in the diaries. With all dealings going through Lesley de Pettitt, and no contact from Anderson, Barry made a decision and on 17 December instructed his agent to call Anderson to accept the original offer – pay decrease and all. Sadly, the response was that Barry’s services were no longer required: other plans had been made.