Catacombs International GuideJapan
Catacombs International GuideThanks to Haruo Toda
46 episodes were broadcast (Bringers Of Wonder part 1 and 2 were not shown on TV until a recent digital CS TV broadcast). The episodes had a new Japanese theme song to replace the Gray/Wadsworth themes (this was not included on the digital broadcast or on the DVDs).
The series was not networked, and, like the US and UK, film prints were circulated between regional stations. The second series was shown four years after the first, on a different network.
In Tokyo, Year One was shown on TBS on Sundays from 3rd April 1977 at 1600- 1656. From the 17th episode, another episode was added on Saturdays (that is, two episodes per week). The series finished on 25th September 1977.
Year Two was shown on another major Japanese TV network, TV Asahi, from 18th May 1981, every weekday until 19th June 1981. Again, the timeslot was 4pm; more inconvenient on weekdays.
There were several repeats, the last being in the early 1980s on TV Tokyo. In 1999-2000, the series was shown on the digital TV channel CS "Super Channel" (one channel of "PerfecTV!" - currently "SkyPerfecTV!"). (There may also have been a 1997 repeat). The "Super Channel" is one of the related businesses of "Tohoku Shinsha", a distributor of overseas visual programmes in Japan. They repeat a number of ITC series such as Thunderbirds and Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Prisoner, UFO as well as 1999.
Original Japanese theme song: Written by Ichiro Araki, sung by Tsunehiko Kamijo, both well known for TV themes (translation thanks to Haruo Toda, words copyright Ichiro Araki)
1.
What are you longing for in the night sky,
In the infinite Space where stars are shining?
Having no hopes of returning, strays this white star.
Moonbase ALPHA is the star wandering...
Ah, even today,
On the windows, tears of foreign stars lie.
2.
We'd have left all things on the Earth far behind,
Those were memories of love, hatred, and fighting,
Coming back again we don't know why, on this white star.
Moonbase ALPHA is the star wandering...
Ah, even today,
Pieces of drifting stars break our dreaming mind.
The original screening order shown here was also used on the DVDs. The Japanese episode titles were remarkably redolent of pulp science fiction/B-movies.
| Nr | Date (Tokyo) | Japanese Title (Translation) | Original Title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y1.01 | 3 April 1977 16:00 | Mankind at a Crisis! Big Explosion in the Space Base | Breakaway | |
| Y1.02. | 10 April 1977 16:00 | No Return to the Earth! | Earthbound | |
| Y1.03. | 17 April 1977 16:00 | Big Battle with Space Fleets | War Games | |
| Y1.04. | 24 April 1977 16:00 | Black Sun - a Black hole | Black Sun | |
| Y1.05. | 1 May 1977 16:00 | Bizarre! A Birth of Space Child | Alpha Child | |
| Y1.06. | 8 May 1977 16:00 | True Colour (Character) of the Space Freezing Man | Force Of Life | |
| Y1.07. | 15 May 1977 16:00 | Coming of the Huge Space Town! | Mission Of The Darians | |
| Y1.08. | 22 May 1977 16:00 | Temptation of the Space Paradise | Guardian Of Piri | |
| Y1.09. | 29 May 1977 16:00 | Moon is about to Collide with a Big Planet!? | Collision Course | |
| Y1.10. | 5 June 1977 16:00 | Attack of Primitive Space Cavemen | The Full Circle | |
| Y1.11. | 12 June 1977 16:00 | Space Devil, Infernal Machine | The Infernal Machine | |
| Y1.12. | 19 June 1977 16:00 | A Red Sun, The Last Sunset | The Last Sunset | |
| Y1.13. | 26 June 1977 16:00 | Space Destroyer, Nuclear Bomb Ship | Voyager's Return | |
| Y1.14. | 3 July 1977 16:00 | Living dead in Space | Matter Of Life And Death | |
| Y1.15. | 10 July 1977 16:00 | Revolt of the Space Computer | Ring Around The Moon | |
| Y1.16. | 17 July 1977 16:00 | Space Battleships, Launching the Missiles! | The Last Enemy | |
| Y1.17. | 23 July 1977 16:00 | Emergence of Monsters in Space Tomb! | Dragon's Domain | |
| Y1.18. | 24 July 1977 16:00 | When the Moon Splits into Two | Another Time, Another Place | |
| Y1.19. | 30 July 1977 16:00 | Human Experimentation in the Space Zoo | Missing Link | |
| Y1.20. | 31 July 1977 16:00 | Attack of the Huge Space Brain | Space Brain | |
| Y1.21. | 17 September 1977 16:00 | Mystery of Everlasting Life | Death's Other Dominion | |
| Y1.22. | 18 September 1977 16:00 | The Curse of the Space Evil Spirit | The Troubled Spirit | |
| Y1.23. | 24 September 1977 16:00 | Cell-regenerating Man of Space | End Of Eternity | |
| Y1.24. | 25 September 1977 16:00 | O, God! Bring New Peace in Space! | The Testament Of Arkadia | |
| Year 2 | ||||
| Y2.01 | 18 May 1981 16:00 | Escape! PSYCHON, the Planet of Metamorphosing | The Metamorph | |
| Y2.02 | 19 May 1981 16:00 | Traitors of Planet GOLOS | The Exiles | |
| Y2.03 | 20 May 1981 16:00 | Temptation of the Space Androids | One Moment Of Humanity | |
| Y2.04 | 21 May 1981 16:00 | Bizarre! Lethal Colour-changing Rock | All That Glisters | |
| Y2.05 | 22 May 1981 16:00 | Time travel bound for the longing Earth | Journey To Where | |
| Y2.06 | 25 May 1981 16:00 | Visitor from out of Space | The Taybor | |
| Y2.07 | 26 May 1981 16:00 | The Rules of Planet ARCHANON | The Mark Of Archanon | |
| Y2.08 | 1 June 1981 16:00 | Terror of the Plant Planet LUTON | The Rules Of Luton | |
| Y2.09 | 2 June 1981 16:00 | Intrigue of the Killing Computer | Brian The Brain | |
| Y2.10 | 3 June 1981 16:00 | Pseudo-utopia | New Adam, New Eve | |
| Y2.11 | 4 June 1981 16:00 | Space Lightning! Shockwave | The A B Chrysalis | |
| Y2.12 | 5 June 1981 16:00 | S.O.S., The Moon is a Hell! | Catacombs Of The Moon | |
| Y2.13 | 8 June 1981 16:00 | Planet KALTHON, Seed of Destruction | Seed Of Destruction | |
| Y2.14 | 9 June 1981 16:00 | Save the Life-supporting System! | The Beta Cloud | |
| Y2.15 | 10 June 1981 16:00 | Fear of the Four-dimension Space | Space Warp | |
| Y2.16 | 11 June 1981 16:00 | Intruder from the Anti-World | A Matter Of Balance | |
| Y2.17 | 12 June 1981 16:00 | Murder Case of Lambda Supernatural Transformation Power | The Lambda Factor | |
| Y2.18 | 15 June 1981 16:00 | Move, Moon! TORA, the Planet of Nostalgia | Seance Spectre | |
| Y2.19 | 16 June 1981 16:00 | Dorzak, An Uninvited Guest | Dorzak | |
| Y2.20 | 17 June 1981 16:00 | Nightmare of the Colonised Satellite ENTRA | Devil's Planet | |
| Y2.21 | 18 June 1981 16:00 | Mysterious Space Intelligence | The Immunity Syndrome | |
| Y2.22 | 19 June 1981 16:00 | Maya! Forever is here, ALPHA... | The Dorcons | |
| Not broadcast | SPACE: 2100 | The Bringers Of Wonder | ||
Copyright Martin Willey. Thanks to Haruo Toda.