The Catacombs Production Guide
Observations: Seed Of Destruction

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Mirror clothes part 1. When the Mirror Koenig knocks out the original, it is obvious that while his hair parting and tunic are reversed, his uniform is not. As he touches the original Koenig's shoulder, the end of his left black sleeve can be seen. As he reaches to take the commlock, the stripe on his right sleeve can be seen. As he removes his jacket, the piping is down the left side. All show this is a normal, non-reversed uniform. This is true throughout the episode (he may have switched uniforms as well, but the original Koenig also wears a normal, non-reversed uniform. Thanks to John Day and Mark Spalding.

Seed Of Destruction

Note also as he reaches for the commlock, the Mirror Koenig's commlock is reversed so that photo appears on the opposite side. But it is not reversed: alongside the photo there is still a vertical bar on the right on both commlocks. The front of the mirror commlock is also not reversed.

Seed Of Destruction

Mirror Koenig takes Koenig's jacket, and he also puts his own reversed jacket on Koenig. Why waste time and energy redressing him?

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In the shot where the doppelganger Koenig puts his hand on the real Koenig's shoulder, there is no strap over his shoulder: he isn't carrying his sample bag. It is just visible in the reverse shot of the smiling Mirror Koenig, and is clearly back in place afterwards. Thanks to Thomas.

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Mirror clothes part 2. When Koenig meets the Spirit of Kalthon, he's wearing his own jacket, not the Mirror version. Thanks to Thomas.

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Mirror clothes part 3. The mirror Koenig is wearing the real Koenig's jacket- but it disintegrates with him. The real Koenig's mirror jacket is unaffected. Thanks to Jason Henley.

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When Tony and Maya board the Eagle, they leave the guard's unconscious body immediately outside the door. When the boarding tube retracts, he will be exposed to the vacuum of space and die. Thanks to John Day.

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The guard falls with his head towards the Eagle door. Seen from within the Eagle, he lies across the door.

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When Maya examines the rock sample, the initial close up shows her hand on the microscope. There is a cut to a wider angle as she turns to Tony and Helena, but her hand is no longer on the microscope. Thanks to Thomas,

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On-screen videos were actually filmed on the side of the main set, often against a plain background. When Koenig tells Alan he has"found some sort of cave entrance", the background on Alan's screen is a plain background, not the cave.

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Another example of on-set videos occurs when Sandra informs Koenig that "Eagle 1 is spaceborne". Firstly, Koenig is leaning forward in the Weapons Centre, but the video in Command Centre shows him stood upright. In Command Centre, Alan has his arm behind Sandra (apart from the reverse view towards Koenig on the screens); but on Koenig's screen, Alan's arm is not visible. Sandra's hair is also slightly different, with a higher forehead on screen. Thanks to Thomas.

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The SFX reflector dish and the dish seen on set are very different. The set version has a large number "3", no visible mast, and a gravity tower in front of it, while the SFX dish has no number, a thick mast and no visible gravity towers in the vicinity.

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When Tony and Maya find the real Koenig behind a mirror on the asteroid, he is not in the same position as he was when he was frozen. (He's looking down, and the expression on his face is different). Thanks to Thomas.

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Kalthon is able to trap Maya and Tony, yet not to stop Koenig being released and escaping. Why not create mirrors of Maya and Tony to send back to Alpha? It is not explained how they escape in the end (Koenig took their Eagle). Returning to rescue them would risk being captured or replaced again.

No-one on Alpha notices the Eagle returning (although many of Alpha's systems are shut down for the power transfer, so this may be explicable). Thanks to Thomas.


Space 1999 copyright Granada Ventures. Page copyright Martin Willey