The Catacombs Into Infinity

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The film opens with a collection of clips- like the THIS EPISODE opening of Space: 1999 or Thunderbirds. The narrator is Ed Bishop, who played Captain Blue in Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet, and Commander Straker in UFO.

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Narrator: Space Station Delta, the jump-off point for humanity's first momentous journey to the stars.

The hemispheres on the side of Delta are the most obvious parts taken from the Daria (Mission Of The Darians)

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Narrator: The light ship Altares, the first of its kind to harness the limitless power of the photon, particles of light which can boost the ship to 186,000 miles per second - the speed of light.

Note the Eagle-like nose cone and the long tubular body, similar to the Ultra Probe (Dragon's Domain). Bottom left a dome can be seen from the Daria- this also appears as a Moonbase building (see here).

Mission Of The Darians Altares and Ultra Probe
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Narrator: This could create the effects predicted by Einstein's Theory of Relativity, effects that could shrink the very fabric of space, distort time, and perhaps alter the structure of the universe as we understand it - effects which no man has yet experienced. And you will share it!

The title card was removed when the BBC broadcast the show in 1976; hence in Britain the show is called "Into Infinity", the episode title.

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The UN shuttle docks with the Delta space station. Because of the time distortion, the crew is made up of two families. Captain Harry Masters (Nick Tate) is the pilot, accompanied by his daughter Jane. Doctor Tom Bowen (Brian Blessed) and his wife Anna Bowen (Joanna Dunham) bring their son David.

The interior walkway shot repeats the matte-painting technique used in Mission Of The Darians (itself inspired by matte paintings of the underground city in the 1956 film Forbidden Planet)

Mission Of The Darians
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Jane leaves her dog, Spring, with Delta station commander Jim Forbes.

The dog is writer Johnny Byrne's dog, Bones. All four adults are veterans of Space: 1999. Nick Tate was Alan Carter, Brian Blessed was Dr Cabot Rowland in Death's Other Dominion (and later Mentor in The Metamorph), Joanna Dunham was Vana in Missing Link. Don Fellows, who had played the GTV newscaster in Breakaway, is Jim Forbes, wearing a version of Koenig's striped command uniform. Like Year Two, the crew wear jackets.

Missing Link Breakaway
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As the lift (elevator) takes the crew to the Altares, the music is by Derek Wadsworth, who would go on to provide the theme for Year Two.

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The round entry hatch is frequently seen in alien worlds in Space: 1999.

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The pilot station is the Voyager pilot station from Voyager's Return, with new panels which will appear in Command Center in Year 2 (still labelled "Photon Drive"). The pilot station would be revamped again as Moonbase Alpha's Weapons Centre, alongside a numbered panel also from the Altares.

Voyager's Return The Metamorph
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Images copyright Gerry Anderson Productions
Page copyright Martin Willey