Destination: Moonbase Alpha (34 page)

Martin Landau conveys a desperate hope and urgency: the tension in Main Mission is palpable when communications are lost with the Eagle investigating the space brain and as Koenig says, ‘Boost to interstellar strength.’ It is greatly to the credit of Martin Landau, Barry Morse and Barbara Bain that this episode is successful. As Moonbase Alpha is threatened and flooded with foam, all of the actors treat it as a serious danger. This apparently unflinching belief in the threatening situation is what gives ‘Space Brain’ its drama. It certainly isn’t the use of large quantities of fire-fighting foam. There was a minor trend in science fiction shows of that era to have episodes featuring terribly dangerous foam. (Others were the ‘Fury from the Deep’ story of
Doctor Who
and the ‘Doomsday is Tomorrow’ episode of
The Bionic Woman
.) It’s a rather dubious sub-genre.

While the main cast are as sturdy as ever, the guest casting somehow fails to work. Shane Rimmer, a familiar face and voice from Gerry Anderson productions over the years and a very capable and likeable actor, comes across as rather stilted and cold here, while Carla Romanelli (another Italian performer brought aboard due to the financing from RAI) is a hollow shell – she emotes at her husband’s plight, but isn’t believable. As a couple on Moonbase Alpha, Kelly and Melita are not nearly as developed or interesting as Anton and Eva were in ‘Force of Life’. Who is Kelly? What are his characteristics and how do they change once he is taken over by the space brain? He remains undefined and appears just as stiff before as he is after the alien presence controls his mind.

In a low-point for dialogue in the series, ‘Space Brain’ manages to deliver two of the worst lines voiced in Year One. First, Kelly utters the cringe-worthy line, ‘You must not touch my brain!’ It’s a laughable moment that completely undermines any sense of drama in the proceedings. Secondly, Koenig says, ‘It is neither a sun, a star or a planet.’ But is it a senseless line? Yes, because suns
are
stars and one look at the space brain could tell you it isn’t a planet. The line is useless filler and should have been eliminated.

There are, though, a number of appealing elements of characterisation in this episode. Most notable is Koenig’s remorse regarding the attack on the space brain. It’s also nice to see Paul relaxed with his feet up, reading a book in Main Mission. In an interesting depiction of off-duty activity, a number of Alphans, including John and Helena, are shown piecing together jigsaw puzzles. This adds a bit of an amusing angle to Victor’s comment that the meteorite that crashes near to Alpha early in the episode ‘puzzles’ him. Puzzles seem to be an Alphan craze.

Writer Penfold was evidently intrigued by the possibilities of linking the human brain with computers; the theme is prominent here as Koenig is linked via computer to Kelly’s brain, and was also notably displayed in ‘Guardian of Piri’. While Penfold raises the potential, and acknowledges possible dangers, he seems to refrain from making any judgment about the practice – unlike his obvious distaste for nuclear technology, here he seems simply to be questioning the outcome of human minds being linked to computers.

Also on Penfold’s mind was the thought of mankind being nothing more than a virus in the universe; a concept he so eloquently explored in ‘War Games’. Here the Alphans are again a contaminating organism, as they enter and destroy the space brain. The fact that the destruction isn’t intentional is part of the point – it’s a statement that people don’t give enough consideration to the ecosystem around them (whether on Earth or in space) and their potentially damaging impact on it. This perspective resonates today, with civilisation’s impact on global climate change making headlines around the world.

Thematically, communication being the route to avoiding misunderstanding and disaster is explored. Remorse is a prominent emotion throughout – Helena’s remorse at leaving Kelly to die in the foam and Koenig’s remorse at the death of the space brain and the impact this may have on the worlds that were dependent on it. But ‘Space Brain’ is ultimately a visual episode and as such it is a dynamo to be enjoyed for the sincere performances and for the sheer spectacle – a good example of which is one of the most spectacular Eagle crashes to be featured in the series, including the separated nosecone tumbling along the lunar surface. While Christopher Penfold had some undeniably fascinating concepts in mind while writing ‘Space Brain’, they ultimately fail to translate effectively to the screen.

Rating:
6.5/10

1.21

THE INFERNAL MACHINE

Screenplay by Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows

Directed by David Tomblin

Selected Broadcast Dates:

UK              LWT:

             
Date: 10 January 1976.               Time: 11.30 am

             
Granada:

             
Date: 23 January 1976.               Time: 6.35 pm

US
              KRON (San Francisco):

             
Date: 28 February 1976.               Time: 7.00 pm

Credited Cast: Martin Landau
(John Koenig),
Barbara Bain
(Helena Russell),
Barry Morse
(Victor Bergman),
Clifton Jones
(David Kano),
Zienia Merton
(Sandra Benes),
Nick Tate
(Alan Carter),
Gary Waldhorn
(Winters)

Guest Star: Leo McKern
(Companion / Voice of Gwent)

Uncredited Cast: Sarah Bullen
(Operative Kate),
Loftus Burton
(Operative Lee Oswald),
Andrew Dempsey
,
Michael Stevens
,
Andrew Sutcliffe
,
Maggie Wright
(Main Mission Operatives),
Tony Allyn
(Security Guard Tony Allan),
Quentin Pierre
(Security Guard Pierce Quinton),
Alan Harris
(Alphan)

Plot:
A bizarre sentient spaceship called Gwent asks for Alpha’s help. Aboard is one man, Companion, an ancient traveller who knows the true reason why Gwent wants Commander Koenig, Dr Russell and Professor Bergman to come aboard. Once inside the ship, the trio discover they are not free to leave.

Quotes:

• Computer:
  ‘I have nothing to say on that subject …’ ‘My information is privileged …’ ‘I am otherwise occupied.’
  
• Alan:
  ‘Survival first, brotherhood after.’
  
• Gwent:
  ‘A wise man knows when to be afraid.’
  
• Companion:
  ‘Companions die, but Gwent goes on – forever.’
  
• Gwent:
  ‘You’re only good for killing each other.’
  
• Gwent:
  ‘When will you learn to obey?’
  
• Gwent:
  ‘I am Delmer Powys Plebus Gwent of the planet Zemo – a man of considerable importance on that planet, perhaps not fully recognised as the scientific genius I am. I created this entity: an extension of myself. My entire personality is here, and combined with it is the superior ability of a computer’s brain and all the might and power known to our planet. I am impervious to destruction and powerful enough to destroy an entire universe. That is who I am – Delmer Powys Plebus Gwent!’
  
• Victor:
  ‘Oh, my dear Gwent. You were wrong from the beginning. To attempt to preserve one’s personality is the ultimate vanity.’
  
• Gwent:
  ‘It is vanity. The first and last of all sins.’
  
• Koenig:
  ‘A lonely, blind creature … looking for his death.’
  

Filming Dates:
Friday 20 December – Tuesday 24 December 1974

Monday 30 December –
Tuesday 31 December 1974

Thursday 2 January –
Thursday 9 January 1975

Incidental Music:
The musical score is lovely and conveys a profound sadness as the episode draws to an end – this is ‘Dark Suspense No. 1’ composed by Beda Folten, heard while Koenig, Russell and Bergman remain trapped inside Gwent after the ship has shut itself off. Other library tracks include ‘Outer Space’ by Robert Farnon (heard while Gwent approaches Alpha), ‘Lunar Landscape’ by Roger Roger (heard as the Alphan trio enter Gwent), ‘Mission Control’ by Harry Sosnik (heard at the beginning of the show as Koenig gives an update on Morrow’s injury), ‘Subterranean’ by Joe Venuto and ‘The Monsters’ by Ivo Vyhnalek. All of these tracks were sourced from the Chappell Recorded Music Library. Additionally, Barry Gray music is borrowed from the ‘Terror in New York City’ episode of
Thunderbirds
, and is used here during the attack on Gwent.

Commentary:

Barry Morse:
‘I admire and like Leo McKern so much. Leo is a wonderful actor; one of the greatest actors of our time, and he is always remarkable in everything he does. He played so beautifully a character called Companion in this episode, as well as the “Infernal Machine” itself. I’m proud to say I was partly responsible for suggesting that he should play both the guest roles in this episode. It occurred to me that with this script, if you had an actor of the huge range and versatility that Leo has, you would be doing the script a great favour if you had him playing both the parts.’

Nick Tate:
‘I loved working with Leo McKern who, incidentally, is Australian. He is a wonderful actor and a true star.’

Prentis Hancock:
‘I got into makeup early one morning at 6.30. The makeup chairs are like dentist chairs, and I leaned back in the chair and the makeup artist said to me, “You’ve got a lump in your throat.” And I had. That weekend I went to hospital to have it removed, and [in “The Infernal Machine”] they got somebody else to cover for me. They sent me the most amazing card, signed by every member of the cast and crew, with a drawing by Keith Wilson of Main Mission with an arrow to my chair, saying, “We miss you.” In the end, the result of my test was that [the lump] was benign – but nobody told me. I had to phone the hospital to find out! Gerry and Sylvia were just terrific. I got a huge bowl of fruit from them and they said, “No problem – we’ll cover for you. You get the best treatment you can.” And I did and I was back in the saddle the following episode.’

Johnny Byrne:
‘There wasn’t a great deal of humour. There could have been a bit more, but the problem was what the Americans call humour and what the English call humour are two different things. In America it’s sort of cracking jokes, one-line throwaways, and it always seemed gratuitous to me. Humour to me essentially comes from character, the strange things that people go through and their response to situations. But there was a more profound reason why you wouldn’t really get in proper humour. You wouldn’t build it into the plots because that would have detracted from the seriousness of the plots. The nearest we came to that was probably in “The Infernal Machine”, where it was a situation that had humour in it, comic tragedy. The rest of the time you could try to have people make “in” kind of jokes about Moonbase Alpha and not succeeding, really. You’d get a required grin out of the character at the other end of the remark. But he’s on screen and told to laugh because it says to in the script. But there’s very little spontaneous humour in those situations. Humour is not an essential ingredient in that sense, but it is essential that you have the kind of eccentricity of character.’

Review:
The title of this episode comes from the 1934 play by Jean Cocteau,
The Infernal Machine
, based on the ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles,
Oedipus Rex
, which was first performed circa 429 BC. Here Gwent takes on many of the traits of Cocteau’s character: Oedipus is pompous, possessing extreme pride and an arrogant nature; arrogance being a trait that ultimately has destructive capacity. Cocteau’s Oedipus feels guilt and, as a self-inflicted punishment, blinds himself; while in this episode the blind Gwent – with arrogance and pride replaced by guilt and self-pity – commits suicide. Oedipus is even told by the old priest Tiresias, ‘You are seeking classic glory,’ which sounds very much like Alpha’s wise old Bergman telling Gwent, ‘To attempt to preserve one’s personality is the ultimate vanity.’ Basically, as Cocteau did with the original
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles, this episode transforms a Greek myth into a modern (and in this case futuristic) tragedy.

The background of life on Alpha is shown quite effectively at the start of the episode, as an obviously tired Koenig leaves duty in Main Mission to retire to his quarters and encounters a couple of people to whom he wishes, ‘Goodnight,’ leading one of the Alphans to reply, ‘Good morning, Commander,’ a subtle and effective indicator that Koenig is working a little too hard.

The absence of Paul Morrow and the introduction of his temporary replacement, Winters, are handled satisfactorily despite the comparative blandness of actor Gary Waldhorn’s performance. There is an interesting depth to Kano that is hinted at through his line, ‘Destruction of Alpha imminent.’ He has a dark side – a fatalistic or pessimistic streak, which would have been quite a unique personality trait to explore in greater depth.