Destination: Moonbase Alpha (24 page)

This episode provides a highly refined portrait of Ernst Linden/Queller as he tries to atone for his longstanding private guilt over the deaths for which his creation has been responsible. The presence of the Sidon aliens (and their marvellously insect-inspired ships) shows that Voyager has destroyed other alien civilisations as well, making the scientist’s grief that much greater. He is perfectly portrayed by Jeremy Kemp – alternately powerful, sympathetic, heroic, or simply a tired old scientist who has been worn down by years of accumulated guilt. It’s a richly written and performed role, and Kemp joins the roster of talented guest artists who have appeared in the series to date. Faced with the destruction of Alpha by the superior technology of the Sidons, Queller attempts to reason with the aliens, making an impassioned plea of good intentions. When the aliens fail to listen to reason, Queller uses his Drive as a weapon, destroying the Sidons and then activating self-destruct mechanisms within Voyager and killing himself, but saving Alpha in the process.

One rather strong political statement is made with Victor’s line, ‘We believe that revenge, sanctioned by authority, is also a sign of a debased culture.’ To put it another way, justice is not accomplished through revenge. Thus, for example, a civilised culture could never permit the use of the death penalty.

Barbara Bain performs a wonderful arc of character development through this episode, as Helena progresses from a cold distrust of Queller to an obvious warmth and compassion towards him. Helena also serves her frequent role as the voice of caution – appropriate for Alpha’s top doctor.

Johnny Byrne’s script clearly draws parallels between Ernst Queller and Wernher von Braun – the real-life German scientist who was responsible for the design and creation of the V-2 combat rocket during World War II and then entered the United States at the end of the War and became the primary designer of the Saturn V super-booster that propelled Americans to the Moon. With such rich inspirational material for the script, it’s unfortunate that the episode didn’t turn out better. This is the directorial debut of Bob Kellett on the series, and unfortunately his work comes across as unremarkable when compared with that of David Tomblin (whom he was temporarily replacing while Tomblin served as assistant director on the film
Barry Lyndon
), Ray Austin or Charles Crichton.

Disappointingly, the information from the Voyager One memory banks will never be mentioned again in the series, although it will be made use of in the tie-in novel
Android Planet
. Voyager One and Voyager Two are further failed Earth space missions (following the Meta Probe and the Astro 7) – part of the unfolding negative image of mankind’s exploration of space. This theme, which could be regarded as depressing in its almost unrelenting string of failure, also constitutes a cautionary tale. As these failed missions continue to pile up over future episodes, the question will arise whether they were all initiated by the same space agency or whether some funding came from other organisations, countries or private corporations.

It is the disturbing irony of the episode that Earth’s peacefully-intended efforts to explore space via the unmanned Voyager ship should end up being so horribly destructive to the alien life it discovers. As Linden/Queller says, ‘The responsibility for what Voyager did to the Sidons I must bear alone. Two worlds made lifeless. Millions of people dead … I had no wish to harm them; to harm anyone.’

‘Voyager’s Return’ is an exploration of redemption, guilt, hubris, repentance and forgiveness. But although it is a solid science fiction story, it ends up being somewhat too conventional in execution, and falls short of being one of the best episodes of the series.

Rating:
7.5/10

1.13

COLLISION COURSE

Screenplay by Anthony Terpiloff

Directed by Ray Austin

Selected Broadcast Dates:

UK              LWT:

             
Date: 20 September 1975.               Time: 5.50 pm

             
Granada:

             
Date: 10 October 1975.               Time: 6.35 pm

US
              KRON (San Francisco):

             
Date: 27 September 1975.               Time: 7.00 pm

             
WPIX (New York):

             
Date: 11 October 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),
Anton Phillips
(Bob Mathias),
Nick Tate
(Alan Carter)

Special Guest Star: Margaret Leighton
(Arra)

Uncredited Cast: Suzanne Roquette
(Tanya Alexander),
Sarah Bullen
(Operative Kate),
Loftus Burton
(Operative Lee Oswald),
Annie Lambert
(Operative Julie),
Vic Armstrong
,
Andrew Dempsey
,
Michael Stevens
(Main Mission Operatives),
Tony Allyn
(Security Guard Tony Allan),
Quentin Pierre
(Security Guard Pierce Quinton),
Alan Harris
(Alphan),
Alf Joint
(Balcony Alphan),
Glenda Allen
(Nurse)

Plot:
The Moon is on a collision course with the giant planet Atheria. While the Alphans enact a plan to save themselves, Koenig’s Eagle is captured by a spaceship belonging to the alien queen Arra, who tells Koenig that the Alphans are on a pre-destined voyage, and that the collision with Atheria will not result in destruction, but in the evolution of her people.

Quotes:

• Alan:
  ‘Take me to your people!’
  
• Koenig:
  ‘Don’t worry – I’ll wear my galoshes.’
  
• Arra:
  ‘Oh, poor John Koenig. How you belittle yourself in the scheme of things. And yet how small you are, to be so great.’
  
• Koenig:
  ‘I trust her. I believe her.’
  
• Arra:
  ‘The gene, of which I and my people are a part, shall mutate. We shall take on another form, unrecognisable, spiritual if you like. But once changed we shall become immutable, for time inconceivable.’
  
• Kano
  :
  ‘It defies logic.’
  
• Victor:
  ‘Yes, it’s a thing called faith.’
  
• Arra:
  ‘We have met with purpose. We must not fail our destiny.’
  
• Arra:
  ‘I go to shape the future of eternity. And I need your help.’
  

Filming Dates:
Tuesday 27 August – Tuesday 10 September 1974

Incidental Music:
This episode features Barry Gray compositions from the
Joe 90
episodes ‘Arctic Adventure’ and ‘Operation McClaine’, which here are combined to form one track heard in a number of scenes featuring Arra, such as when Carter regains consciousness and when Koenig receives the orbital reference. In addition, music from the film
Thunderbird 6
(previously used in ‘The Last Sunset’ and ‘Voyager’s Return’) is heard again.

Bloopers:
Watch Helena’s Commlock for missing buttons.

Observations:
The planet name Atheria was misspelled as ‘Aestheria’ in some original ITC promotional material. This error has often been repeated to this day, as has the also-incorrect variant ‘Astheria’.

The impressive-looking throne on which Arra sits will later appear in the episodes ‘The Infernal Machine’ (as Companion’s bed) and ‘The Dorcons’ (as Archon’s throne).

Special effects footage of Koenig’s Eagle being swallowed by Arra’s ship was used in a 1979 episode of
The Tomorrow People
titled ‘War of the Empires’.

Review:
Beginning with an intense opening teaser as Eagles work to plant nuclear charges on the approaching asteroid threatening to destroy them, ‘Collision Course’ is a largely successful episode.

Viewers are immediately struck by Martin Landau’s emotionally charged performance, which is one of his finest in the series. The entire cast receive solid treatment from this script. Prentis Hancock, in particular, gets one of his rare opportunities to leave the Main Mission set, and excels in the role. Here his character is on the Rescue Eagle mission to save Alan Carter from the deadly radiation cloud, following the asteroid explosion. Nick Tate also stands out as the bewildered Carter. There are many small moments of simple and subtle human warmth.

The special effects of the radiation cloud hovering like a fog over Alpha are highly effective. As well, the landing of the two docked Eagles onto a single launch pad is a unique and impressive visual.

‘Collision Course’ was filmed in late August and early September 1975. Guest star Margaret Leighton was suffering the effects of multiple sclerosis, and passed away only a few months later, in January 1976. She relied upon a great deal of direction in order to help her through the complicated dialogue, as related by Keith Wilson: ‘She was wonderful, but she didn’t understand a word she was saying … She was really quite worried about it.’ Leighton also knew she didn’t have long to live and told director Ray Austin, ‘You’d better get this shot, because I’m not going to last long.’ Despite all of this, her performance stands out as one of the most powerful and dignified guest appearances seen in the series. She captures and conveys the ageless wisdom, as well as the contrast of fragility with great strength, intrinsic to the character of Arra. Arra is presented as a mysterious figure of great knowledge and influence. Her nearly mystical presence is suggested not only through Leighton’s performance, but also through
Austin’s direction.

An exceptional scene begins as Arra visits Alan in Medical: as he lifts her veil, he is really lifting his hands into
Helena’s hair. Alan is sedated and then John and Helena have a tense confrontation rivalling their later arguments in ‘Dragon’s Domain’ (in which they will fight over the mental state of astronaut Tony Cellini, as here they are engaged about the mental and physical health of astronaut Alan Carter). Ray Austin again displays his use of unusual camera angles, taking a shot of Koenig and Russell through a shelving unit. He later uses this same striking approach in Koenig’s quarters.

Faith shows itself as a prevalent theme in Anthony Terpiloff’s writing – here, Koenig’s faith in Carter is demonstrated, Koenig’s faith in Arra is tested, and the faith of the Alphans in their Commander is strained. Arra herself says, ‘I have faith in you, John Koenig.’ Koenig responds, ‘And I have faith in you. But what is faith against the fact of imminent collision?’ Religion itself is drawn into question – in an allusory fashion – as the Alphans are asked to believe Koenig and have faith in a being/race/power that is mysterious, invisible and greater than themselves.
This theme will appear again in later Terpiloff scripts. It’s interesting that an episode titled ‘Collision Course’ would make the physical collision itself of secondary importance behind the thematic collision of faith and trust versus logic.

Koenig’s meeting with Arra inside her cobweb-filled and darkly dramatic ship is a gorgeous example of all the elements of this production working together in harmony – the performances, script, direction, musical score and lighting, as well as the lovely and eerie monochromatic set.

The underlying distrust in science shown by
Space: 1999
must have had a degree of negative impact on the portion of North American viewers and critics (so conditioned to the rose-tinted future of
Star Trek
) who didn’t respond well to the series. Another example of this distrust in science appears here, as, despite everyone’s faith in the Professor, Bergman’s Operation Shockwave doesn’t hold the answers to their survival. They must follow the advice of Arra and allow their two planets to collide, going against all scientific knowledge and logical thinking, putting trust in Arra and the Mysterious Unknown Force. Koenig is convinced that Arra is right, but he also knows that his scientifically-minded friends won’t believe him. He says, ‘What you tell me sounds magnificent here in this chamber, and from your lips. But how will it sound in the cold light of Moonbase Alpha? They’ll never believe me …’

The idea that Alpha’s journey was predestined is of significant importance. Arra states, ‘We have expected you for many millions of years. You see, your destiny has always been our destiny.’ She also asks Koenig, ‘Are you unfit to play the part for which you have been destined since the beginning of time?’ The alien Queen also offers a prophecy for the Alphans’ future: ‘You shall continue on. Your odyssey shall know no end. You will prosper and increase in new worlds, new galaxies. You will populate the deepest reaches of space.’