Death's Other Dominion
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Year 1 - Episode 14
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| Belgium (Flemish) |
Ultima Thule |
Ultima Thule |
| Spain |
El otro dominio de la muerte |
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| France/Canada |
Un autre royaume de la mort |
Another realm of death |
| Italy |
Il Pianeta di Ghiaccio |
The Planet Of Ice |
| Japan |
Mystery of Everlasting Life
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| Portugal |
O Outro Domínio da Morte |
Death's Other Domain |
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Commander Koenig and his colleagues speed through space and time into a chilling world of ice - and meet former inhabitants of earth.
- Final draft script 23rd August 1974, shooting script 28th August.
- Filmed 9 September- 23 September 1974. SFX filmed 25 September- 7 October 1974.
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- A shot of the Ultima Thule surface is reused in One Moment Of Humanity
- The briefly seen Phoenix was built by Martin Bower and was inspired by the partially constructed rocket in When Worlds Collide. The "this episode" clip includes a view that does not appear in the episode.
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- The blizzards were created with a spray gun. Unfortunately it gave off fumes and stripped the skin from Martin Landau's face.
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Keith Wilson: I built the set out of rubbish, literally. I went around the lot at Pinewood, collecting all sorts of bits and pieces. We compiled these shapes, and then we covered them with foam, to lose all the roughness and give it nice icy shapes. They used formaldehyde to create the snow, but it did leave an odour. It was a 'bleach' smell or something like it, and it made your nostrils tingle.
The set was huge, it covered the whole stage. We were due to shoot on it on the Monday and we were dressing it over the weekend. The set was finished with all the snow on it and when Gerry brought Martin and Barbara in to show them, it made their eyes water, This immediately caused a panic: 'We're shooting on this on Monday. What are we gong to do?" It was ridiculous, because once you got used to it, you couldn't smell it any more and it wasn't harmful to you in any way. There were men working on the set, sitting there eating prawn sandwiches in their break, saying, 'What smell?" They had scientists and all sorts of people doing tests, and of course at the end of the day they all said it was unpleasant but totally harmless. Nobody expected such an overreaction, but it did cause quite a stir.
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| A special vacuum pump was installed to clear the air after every shot, but it was still asphyxiating. The public health inspector was called and determined the fumes were uncongenial but safe. Landau and Bain were still worried, so Gerry Anderson called in an eminent Harley Street doctor. He sniffed and said it was alright. He then enjoyed a drink with Gerry, but by the time he met the Landaus he was the worse for wear. Unimpressed, the Landaus got their own expert to say the doctor's level was unacceptable. It took much persuasion to complete the episode. Meanwhile one day a group of riggers were found in the middle of the set eating their prawn sandwiches. "What smell?" they asked. |
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Library track from Joe 90 "The Big Fish" by Barry Gray
- In Roman archives, Thule is an island 6 days sail from Britain, considered the most northerly part of the world. It may refer to Norway, Iceland or the Shetland Isles. Ultima Thule is thus the end of the world.
- The Alphans refer to smog. Smog is pollution (named from smoke and fog)- it is caused by smoky fires (from burning forests or houses and cars). It seems unlikely there are any large fires on the ice planet.
- The Alphans have passed through time warps (Another Time, Another Place) so it is not surprising it is 2870.
It is still 1999 for the Alphans. 1985 is 14 years ago
0 fatalities.
Alpha Technology:
- Interstellar strength communications are referred to. The technology is also used in Space Brain and Collision Course.
- There was a manned mission to the planet Uranus in 1986. At this time, Moonbase Alpha existed. The X5 computer panels seen on Ultima Thule show that Moonbase Alpha's computer is at least 13 years old.
- Only use of the Alphan ski-suits (that aren't used when it gets cold in Black Sun or Testament Of Arkadia). Note that Helena's Alpha insignia is on the right chest, but on the left chest for male suits.
Eagle 1 (landing party)
Ultima Thule
In most shots the planet has a blue appearance. In one shot of the Big Screen (and a "this episode" clip), the planet has a red-white mottled colour.
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Aliens:
None
Props:
- The door of the epsilon ray booth is also used as the Darian cabinet that eats Lowry and the female mute in Mission Of The Darians
- The lights in the ice cave are also seen in the Croton ship in Dorzak.
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Footage:
Footage of the Ultima Thule surface is seen in One Moment Of Humanity
Alan in the command module brings up a shot of the half buried Eagle. How did the camera get over the Eagle? |
When they notice Alan is missing, Koenig turns abruptly, hitting Bergman across the face with his pack. (thanks to Brian Boskind) |
Notice the wooden beam at the top of frame, holding up a painted white board. It is possible the Thulians use wood as well as ice to construct their dwellings. |
The different sexes have obviously different tolerance of temperature. While Thulian men wear thick sheepskins inside the ice caves, Thulian women expose a lot of bare flesh. By definition, the temperature around the ice walls must be below freezing, although the centre around a fire can be comfortably warm. |
As Koenig walks up to his desk at the end, the studio lights can be seen at the frame (this is only visible on the 2004 remastered image).
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- The title is from Romans 6; Christ is raised from the dead, "death hath no more dominion over him". See also the 1914 Dylan Thomas poem "And Death shall have no dominion". Rowland believes that death has no dominion over them ("We shall be as gods in the Universe!").
- Alan sings "pack up your troubles", a 1915 song by English songwriter George Henry Powell (Asaf), which became massively popular during the First World War. The lyrics include the chorus
"Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
And smile, smile, smile.
While you've a lucifer to light your fag,
Smile boys, that's the style."
Lucifer is a brand name for a match, fag is British slang for a cigarette (Alan's words are almost drowned by the wind at this point, perhaps because the latter is American slang for something quite different). Strangely, in the middle of this line, Alan declares himself to be in the second stanza. Thanks to Isobel Hoy.
- The plot is very similar to Lost Horizon, a classic 1937 movie by Frank Capra. It would have been well known during the writing and filming of this episode due to the spectacular flop of a musical version in 1973 starring Peter Finch. A British diplomat crash lands in the snows of the Himalayas, and finds an isolated valley, Shangri-La. In this paradise, the people live for hundreds of years in a utopian society. The diplomat eventually leaves but his journey is perilous in a fierce snowstorm. A girl who is escaping with him ages rapidly and dies an old woman. While Ultima Thule is not the warm utopian valley of Shangri-La, the crash, snow storm and aging are elements that seem to have been borrowed.
- The episode is mentioned in a 2002 strip from the US syndicated comic Foxtrot. The dialogue:
"What's that?"
"A set of life-on-the-moon videos I picked up at the library.
"I'm not sure if they're nasa-sanctioned or not, but they look pretty informative"
(reads) "Space 1999"
"I assume the date is a typo"
(reads) "Episode 5: Death's Other Dominion"
"I like how they don't sugar-coat things."
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