Episode Guide

Year 1 - Episode 23

• Original script by Christopher Penfold featured Alan Carter in the Cellini role (Carter would defeat the dragon at the end, not Koenig).
• After Penfold left, it was revised. Johnny Byrne does not remember working on it, so rewrites are likely to be by Charles Crichton, Gerry Anderson and Martin Landau.
• Shooting script dated 21st January 1975. Blue page amendments (2pp) 29th January 1975. Yellow page amendments (12pp) 30th January 1975,
• Filmed 24th January- 10th February 1975

Cast

Sets

Int. Main Mission
Int. Helena's quarters
Int. Cellini's Quarters
Int. Victor's Quarters (flashback)
Int. Medical
Int. Technical (1996)
Int. Alpha Corridor
Int. Embarkation Point
Int. Travel Tube
Int. Eagle Pilot Section
Int. Eagle Passenger Section

Int. Ultra Probe Pilot Section/ Main Module
Int. Earth hospital corridor
Int. Earth hospital room
Int. Dixon's Office

Set decoration in Cellini's room: axes, tomahawks, spears, muskets, boomerang, poster prints of David Scott leaving the Apollo 9 command module for EVA, and David Shepherd's elephant paintings including the popular Wise Old Elephant.

Helena's quarters are also seen in Matter Of Life And Death. The scenes of Victor's room are clips from Black Sun

• The Ultra Probe was in two sizes (6' and 3') plus a 20" lifeboat. The nosecone of the large Ultra Probe (to scale with the 44" Eagle) was used in Eagle hangar scenes of The Metamorph although it is not seen on screen.
• The design of the command module clamps to the main body was inspired by the 1973 film Silent Running. The original concept was to eject glittering dust just like the dome ejection scenes in that film.
• The Dragon ship was 102cm long (5 1/2 feet) and to scale with the smaller Ultra Probe. It reappeared in the graveyard in The Metamorph.
• Two other new ships were built; both were about 2-3 foot long and sparsely detailed. One reappeared in the graveyard in The Metamorph.
• Five other ships from other episodes were reused. These are:

• Shuttle from Collision Course (seen from underside)
• Sidon ship from Voyager's Return (seen from underside)
• bomber from Alpha Child and War Games
• Front end of Deltan ship from The Last Enemy

• In addition, the SFX crew filmed shots with the Tardis from Dr Who and Enterprise from Star Trek. Although they were barely visible, it was decided to remove these shots from the completed episode.
• The Space Dock from Breakaway reappears, this time with a new landing pad (made from the saucer of a Star Trek Enterprise kit).
• The skulls of the corpses were made from Revell kits
• The dragon arms was rubber tubing covered in polystyrene, with open ends so air blown down them caused them to flick. After filming, the prop was discarded in the back lot, where Johnny Byrne used to walk his lurcher hounds. The male hound regularly sprayed the monster to mark its territory.

Alpha Technology:

• The Space Dock appears. It also appears in Breakaway
• We learn Medical Computer monitors everyone's pulse and metabolic rate continuously.
• Helena uses a manual typewriter. By Year 2 she will be dictating into her Alpha Log Recorder.
• The laser rifle is seen. It is also used in War Games, The Infernal Machine and The Metamorph and is often seen in other episodes.
• Cellini comments "There are ships here that could make the dream of interstellar travel a reality. We could be liberated from our solar system". However, according to Brian The Brain, a 1996 mission with a mothership and Swifts was launched beyond the solar system. Note while the Ultra Probe was a high profile public mission, no-one can even remember the Swift mission in Brian The Brain. Also note the Swift uniforms are different to the standard moonbase uniforms worn by the Ultra Probe crew. Perhaps it was a different (more secretive) space organisation.

Aliens:

Props:

• The orange jackets worn by Koenig and Cellini reappear on the guards in Testament Of Arkadia, Picard in The Metamorph and Maya in One Moment Of Humanity. Victor's blue jacket is worn by Alan is early Year 2 episodes. 1996 Alpha had ID badges, like in Year 2.

Footage:

• The footage of Victor doing calculations on a glass panel in his room (LQ12) is recycled from Black Sun

In the first shot when Cellini wakes, his hair is ruffled. In the next longer shot, he has combed his hair.

When Koenig arrives, the commlock has moved- Koenig turns over Alan, and only then is Cellini's commlock close by.

In Dixon's office, an intray at the front of his desk shifts from one side to the other as we change camera angle.

After Cellini hacks away at the tentacles, the door starts to close- before he pushes the lever down. Thanks to elliotpav

The Eagle docks the portside to the Ultra Probe. They leave the starboard side of the Eagle- and enter the Ultra Probe correctly on the starboard.

• Christopher Penfold: At the time I had a house on the Welsh borders near Ludlow, which because of the pressure of work on Space I couldn't get to all that often. Whenever I did get there, the spiders' webs over the kitchen windows would be full of moths and flies that had had the life blood sucked out of them.
• Perhaps the most overtly mythological episode of Space: 1999. Although it credits St George and the Dragon, the ending also strongly echoes the final confrontation of Beowulf with the dragon. The dragon's skin cannot be penetrated by swords (as the space dragon is unaffected by lasers), and Beowulf is mortally wounded. His thane Wiglaf delivers the death blow to the dragon.
• The use of flashback and narration is also seen in The Testament Of Arkadia and the unfilmed Face Of Eden.
• In the early scenes Koenig and Kano are playing chess. The moves are correct and Kano really does place Koenig in checkmate (how Kano got his rook onto the second row is a complete mystery though). The real error is that the board itself is incorrect! A chessboard is always placed with the white corner on the players' right, they have it set up with the black corner on the right. Also, Koenig's penultimate move (which is seen in close up in the THIS EPISODE sequence) is extremely poor. He takes Kano's knight instead of his rook - which Kano then uses two moves later to place him in checkmate. DOH! [commentary thanks to Patrick Zimmerman]