War Games
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 Year 1 - Episode 17 
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Moonbase Alpha finds itself at war with an unnamed planet. The outcome is disastrous. Everything is wrecked. But can there be a future for the survivors on the aggressor planet?
- This is one of the original storylines prepared before the series began.
- Shooting script dated 15 October 1974
- ITC New York vetoed the entire script as it killed off the most of the cast. They relented when the ending was explained to them.
- Filmed 24th October- 8 November 1974
- Edited into the 1979 compilation movie Alien Attack
- The Hawks were built by Martin Bower in three sizes: 79cm (31"), 41cm (16") and (for the scenes accompanying the bomber) 13cm (5"). They were originally painted white, but test shots showed they looked too similar to the Eagles and orange stripes were added just before filming (crudely hand painted on by Cyril Forster at the studio). The viewport notches were originally black, but for filming they were painted white. After filming, the black was restored.
Hawk on screen - and in original colours (picture thanks to Eric).- Stock footage of a real nuclear explosion is used. The original black and white film is tinted red- the explosion is the Baker test of Project Crossroads, at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, 24 July 1946. It is a 21 kiloton bomb, seen displacing two million tons of water and sinking 9 ships (one ship can be briefly seen in the third shot). The footage is seen in many film and TV programmes, including Dr Strangelove.
- The alien bomber was previously seen in Alpha Child. It would be seen again in Dragon's Domain and, in a revamped form, in The Last Enemy. The nose piece would appear in The Metamorph.
- The landscape was filmed on 28 November 1974. The buildings on the planet surface are fairly crude models.
- Photo cutouts are used extensively. The Eagle raised on a launch pad is very obviously a cutout. An Eagle that explodes over the launch pad, and a Hawk that explodes, are less obvious.
- Shots of many Eagles rising from Alpha, and many Eagles flying to the planet, are reused from Guardian Of Piri
- Shots of 3 Eagles peeling off, and Eagles firing laser beams, are from Alpha Child
- A shot of an Eagle turning is from The Last Sunset
- A shot of a Moonbase building exploding is from Force Of Life
Reused shot from Alpha Child |
A real nuclear explosion: historic film from of the Baker test, 24 July 1946. |
Library track: "The Astronauts" composed by Mike Hankinson (Chappell Recorded Music Library)
0 fatalities (128 dead in the alternative timeline plus Koenig and Carter).
Alpha Technology:
- Why did the Earth have fast war spaceships like the Hawk? Was there a space war in Earth's history? Why doesn't Moonbase Alpha have any Hawks now? It may tie in with the 1987 war mentioned in Rules Of Luton.
- The laser rifle is seen. It is also used in The Infernal Machine, Dragon's Domain and The Metamorph and is often seen in other episodes.
- The multi-function hatch is shown; here it activates Red Alert status.
- The stairs to the underground shelters are obviously the stairs to the balcony in Main Mission (or there were an extraordinary number of people up on the balcony during the proceedings).
Eagle 1 (Alan: internal number is 9); 2 (in flight 1); 6 (Koenig, unarmed); others. In the end none are destroyed.
- Eagle laser sights are seen extensively. They are seen again in The Dorcons (used by aliens).
Unnamed planet. Note that one shot shows two suns in the sky.
Aliens:
Unnamed aliens (male and female). Humanoid with large heads.
Props:
- The laser barriers from Breakaway can be seen in the wreckage of the alien control room
- The alien glass columns are seen again as booths in Hydroponics in The Troubled Spirit
Footage:
- A shot of four astronauts running to the travel tube is from Voyager's Return
- The alien bomber was seen in Alpha Child. It is possible the aliens used a frightening image from the Alphans' past, in the same way as they picked the Hawks from their memory.
Cast:
In an episode notable for the volume and quality of the effects, a few flaws are seen, including cut out Eagles and visible wires.
- Julian Glover says (Starlog 52 p40):
My wife, Isla Blair, did one where she had a most extraordinary makeup that was ridiculous. She and Anthony Valentine both had these appliances on. They couldn't look at themselves without laughing, which is why they did all of their scenes facing away from each other. That's the glamour of the theatre for you!
- On the background radio messages in Main Mission, the word "CAPCOM" can be heard. Are these NASA mission recordings?
- George Lucas is known to have been impressed by the special effects in Space 1999 and visited the studios during filming. The shot of the alien bomber flying overhead would be echoed in the opening of Star Wars two years later.
Due to the strong visual appeal of this episode, it was heavily marketed.
External Links
Contents copyright Martin Willey
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