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space1999-digest Monday, January 19 1998 Volume 01 : Number 406
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Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 18:21:49 +0000
From: "Robert Ashley Ruiz" <espresso@dnai.com>
Subject: Space1999: Merchandise Guide
A few people had problems with the self-extracting zip file of
Martin Willey's merchandise guide in the Cybrary. I've removed
the self-extracing zip file and replaced it with a regular
(non-self-extracting) zip file and a second version of the same
file in UUencoded format. If you had a problem, try again. See
today's What's New? for a quick link to the page.
Robert Ruiz (cybrarian@cybrary1999.com)
San Francisco, California USA
Cybrarian of the Space: 1999 Cybrary at:
http://www.cybrary1999.com
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Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 22:36:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Philippe Lavoie <plhs@cam.org>
Subject: Re: Space1999: I'm back!!!!
On Sun, 18 Jan 1998 relax@videotron.ca wrote:
> That crap of EL-NINO thing f..... up everything here in
> southern Quebec, i don't know if you heard about this
> (CNN covered it a lot last week), we had 4 days in a
> row of freezing rain here and all the power lines went
> down. Mostly half of the population of Quebec (3 000 000
> people) were out of electricity for many days.
>
> Andre Beauchamp
But there is still about 250 000 people out of power today, and I'm in
these!!! I'm reading my mail with a remote station on Telnet.
Help! :)
Philippe Lavoie
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Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 22:57:33 +0000
From: "Barry Scannell" <bjscannell@m1.sprynet.com>
Subject: Space1999: Looking For Scene 147
Hello All( or Y'all ),
Can anyone send me the text from scene #147 from The Metamorph
script?
Thanks,
Barry
__ ) ___| | |
__ \ _` | __| __| | | \___ \ __| _` | __ \ __ \ _ \ | |
| | ( | | | | | | ( ( | | | | | __/ | |
___/ \__,_|_| _| \__, | _____/ \___|\__,_|_| _|_| _|\___|_|_|
____/
White Left Sleeve #143
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 01:22:06
From: David Welle <dwelle@online.dct.com>
Subject: Re: Space1999: Looking For Scene 147
(Replying to all in case people are curious to see a bit of a script, and
the one of the odd name changes too...).
At 10:57 PM 01/17/98 +0000, Barry Scannell wrote:
>
>Can anyone send me the text from scene #147 from The Metamorph
>script?
Barry,
You're in luck, I hope, for it's the only S19 script copy I have.
The script I have for "The Metamorph" is a copy of the 'Revised Draft' of
"The Biological Computer" by Johnny Byrne is dated 5th January, 1976, World
Copyright, Gerry Anderson Productions Ltd.
It's one of those that has MARK MACINLOCK in place of Alan Carter. I will
not try to exactly replicate the indentation. Extra comments of mine are
in [square brackets]. Hopefully it's the same #147 you are looking for....
****BEGIN QUOTATION****
147 INT. CELL AREA - PSYCHON. [underlined] 147
KOENIG is by himself ... ostracized by HELENA and FRASER who are at the
other end of the cell. MARK is unconscious on a couch. MARK moans, begins
to revive. HELENA moves to his side.
FAVOR KOENIG
He stares at the group. He doesn't dare reveal what directive four is,
because MENTOR's electronic censors might relay the information to him.
FAVOR MARK
He gets to his feet ... glares contemptuously at KOENIG ... then stares at
HELENA and FRASER.
MARK
We've got to warn Alpha.
He rushes toward the cell opening ... and bounces back as he hits the Force
Field. KOENIG moves to help him to his feet. He shoves KOENIG's hand away
from him ... moves back to the others.
CONTINUED:
[page break, from 50 to 51]
147 CONTD.
HELENA
There's no way out, Mark.
MARK
We just do nothing then?
They stare at him helplessly.
MARK (Cont'd.)
We're trapped in here him him? [last word underlined]
He stares contemptously at KOENIG.
CLOSE ON KOENIG
He stares at HELENA ... lonely, desperate for her understanding.
CLOSE ON HELENA
She is torn between her love and her anguish at what she believes is his
betrayal.
[End of Scene]
**** END QUOTATION ****
Curious that KOENIG and FRASER are referred to by last name and the others
by first name. In fact, this extends elsewhere, with SANDRA and SIMON, but
then elsewhere in the script at least one is referred to by last name. I
guess whatever seemed most convenient or was easiest to type or sounded
best to Johnny Byrne?
Hmmm, on a different tack, didn't someone once ask what the number 147
above an Eagle command capsule door stood for? Wasn't that the number?
Maybe it was a subtle hint or in-joke pointing to a scene number of the
episode (? episodes???) that number in the Eagle was seen in? Hmm? Hmm?
Maybe? No, probably not.... :-)
Eagle Four signing off for the night.
- ----
David Welle
dwelle@online.dct.com
http://www.gbonline.com/~dwelle/s19.html
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 09:24:55 +0000
From: "Petter Ogland" <petter.ogland@dnmi.no>
Subject: Re: Space1999: Thread Pages
On Jan 17, 7:34pm, David Welle wrote:
> Subject: Space1999: Thread Pages
> Alphans,
>
> For those interested, I have been quietly adding more "Thread Pages," which
> are, as the name sort of indicates, threads from the mailing list, each
> "distilled" onto their own pages (as I get the time and inclination,
> however). I now have posted over 200 threads from more than two years.
>
> This includes the first four threads from the "Episode by Episode"
> metathread, in case you haven't kept up.
>
> To find, go to my site (addr below) and click on "Thread Pages."
>
> ----
> David Welle
> dwelle@online.dct.com
> http://www.gbonline.com/~dwelle/s19.html
I just went through some of the threads. It's quite fascinating to
skim thourhg some of the conversations of 1997. Some discussion of
episodes prior to Mateo's "episode by episode" idea are also fascinating
reading parallell to our present discussion, I find.
Petter
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 10:00:35 -0000
From: Simon Morris <simes01@globalnet.co.uk>
Subject: Space1999: Re: Alpha Technical Data Center Publications
Hello All
Like Robert Ashley Ruiz, I have today also received a set of all of Keith
Youngs available SPACE 1999 blueprints and I can only agree 100% with
Roberts comments. I placed the order some considerable time ago and all I
can say is,its been well worth the wait.
There is indeed so much material that it will take days or even a couple of
weeks to absorb it all. In fact,I shall probably have to buy a special
ring-binder to keep it in as it certainly won't all fit into the original
binder that STARLOG supplied with their Tech Notebook.
Anyone considering ordering should not hesitate,but beware that it
apparently takes Keith considerable time to prepare each order.So you have
to be VERY patient....but its worth it.
Simon Morris
simes01@globalnet.co.uk
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 02:44:51 PST
From: David Acheson <dkach@hotmail.com>
Subject: Space1999: Guardian of Piri
Creatures of the Moon:
A new week and time to rush in my review of GUARDIAN OF PIRI before I
lose the chance at all. It took a Black Sun, a time warp and a few deep
space adventures before the moon arrived at the first alien solar system
(Zenno). But have you noticed how fast the moon got from Zenno to Piri?
Putting that aside,GUARDIAN OF PIRI remains a personal favourite of mine
- - definitely a top ten episode. I have not really rated them before so I
can't say what number but its one of the tops for me. This is the first
episode with my favourite combination of first year writer and director:
Christopher Penfold and Charles Crichton. They seem to click more times
than not.
The moral is an old tale so we are not venturing into new territory.
Namely we are in the man versus machine debate. On Piri machine took
over man quite easily by making man lazy. (Then again this was man's own
doing!) But man has a last chance and that is with Koenig. Now I know
what some may say. The Guardian has managed to take over the minds of
300 Alphans and yet Koenig has not been affected. Sure, this may make
Koenig a superhero type but this is television. If he was taken over,
end of episode and end of series.
We see, for the first time, the Alphans committing mutiny. And Koenig is
not happy about it. His first reaction is anger. He slugs Alan in the
Eagle on the way back to the moon and tears into the computer in Main
Mission when the evacuation is under way. After they depart he sulks.
Then the servant arrives and he gets mad again and will fight hell and
high water to save his people. To me this switching of emotions make
Koenig more believable because he is fallible. Not a cartoon-like figure
such as Captain Kirk.
Barbara Bain shines in this episode as we see her do something more than
be the cool robotic doctor. She shows a playful girlish side that we
won't see again until year two. Even Barry Morse is allowed to goof off
this time around which is nice to see when it is a rare event.
I wish more could have been done about Kano though. He was the star of
the first 15 minutes. Being the computer nerd he is left to defend
computer when things begin to go wrong on Alpha. Remember that immortal
line: "When will they ever learn"? As soon as he is beamed down to Piri
his importance to the storyline disappears. It would have been nice to
have him fight Koenig or his own emotional attachment when the final
confrontation took place on the planet. A minor point overall.
This episode is about the sexiest year one ever got. Hairy-chested
Alphan males with their shirts off and our Sandra wearing nothing but a
towel. And of course, the scantily-clad Catherine Schell. How
deliciously sinful!
Funny but it took several years before I realized that Catherine Schell
was the guest star in this episode. I never knew it the whole time year
two originally ran. I mananged to catch a rerun of GUARDIAN OF PIRI one
day a few years after the series was cancelled and I saw her name in the
episode credits. What a shocker!
I believe this episode is the start of Keith Wilson's (the set designer)
love of white plastic bubbles. See them appear in several later episodes
including THE AB CHRYSALIS. The universe seems to be filled with these
things. Overall, the bizarre, unique look of Piri (and most other 1999
worlds) is what makes it stand out from your standard TV sci-fi planet.
That's about all for now. Someone else's turn to talk about the episode.
David Acheson
______________________________________________________
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 10:49:40 +0000
From: Petter Ogland <petter.ogland@dnmi.no>
Subject: Re: Space1999: Missing Link
Hi all,
David Acheson wrote:
> Am I ever late this time. I honestly didn't think I would make it in
> time to put my two cents in before MISSING LINK week was up. I have
> worked over 50 hours so far and am spending a beautiful Sunday afternoon
> at the office. I decided to take a break and add yet another review to
> the list.
None of our discussions are finished before you have made your
contribution, David.
> Overall I would rate MISSING LINK in the same category as EARTHBOUND.
> Average to slightly above average. Not one of the best but not a clunker
> like I think RING AROUND THE MOON was.
Apart from the more dreamy style of MISSING LINK, as compared to EARTHBOUND,
I also find these somewhat similar, perhaps because of the presence
of Cushing and Lee in respective episodes. For me these two are the
epitome of Hammer Pictures of the sixties, and makes me automatically link
them. The long white wigs they both use also make some visual similarities.
I know your not a great fan of RING AROUND THE MOON, David. That's OK.
For me, however, RING AROUND THE MOON and MISSING LINK seem intrinsically
interrelated, both being written by Edward di Lorenzo and directed by
Ray Austin. The intense use of yellow does perhaps make the episodes
emotionally related in some way. For me, at least, I get some of the
same feeling from watching these two episodes.
> Edward di Lorenzo, in my own
> opinion, has fared a bit better with this script and Ray Austin 's
> direction was greatly improved.
I feel both the di Lorenzo stories to be extremely inadvert and interesting
both from a psycological and philosophical point of view. I find it
difficult to say which one is the better, but subjectively I find RING
AROUND THE MOON more enjoyable, although MISSING LINK may be a bit
clearer on the philosophical aspects.
Regarding Ray Austin's style of direction, I find both episodes rather
experimental and fresh, but once again perhaps RING AROUND THE MOON a bit
more stylish and surprising. RING AROUND THE MOON was marred with a few
special effects that didn't seem too convincing, thinking of the ray of
light forced against the eagles. Other aspects of Brian Johnson's work
was rather good I felt, like the spinning eagle in RING AROUND THE MOON
and the eagle crash in the beginning of MISSING LINK.
> I just did not get the feeling that this
> was a five or ten minute story stretched to an hour like their earlier
> effort. In a way it was too bad di Lorenzo left the project at this
> point because we just don't seem to have a fare assessment of his
> overall quality. I know some here have also heavily criticized this
> episode but that is okay. We all have different tastes! Di Lorenzo's
> departure marked the end of the early attempts (in year one) for ITC to
> get American writers and directors. He is American isn't he?
>From what I've read di Lorenzo was an American writer living in the UK at
the time. I've also understood that he left the series and let Byrne and
Penfold take over the par of script editors. I'm not quite sure when he
left. In THE GUARDING OF PIRI he is still credited, I noticed when watching
that episode the other night. As a matter of fact, Penfold is not credited
writer on this episode, but appears on the introdcution lables as "story
consultant". I wonder who was the real brain behind THE GUARDIAN OF PIRI.
Perhaps it was di Lorenzo? Or can it have been Charles Crichton, the director?
Or were there any other reasons for giving Penfold such a modest credit?
> What worked best for me in the episode is the study of the Alphans'
> reactions to Koenig's near-death situation. We clearly started the
> series off with a bunch of strangers who were like lost sheep in the
> cosmos after the Breakaway event. Mistakes were made (especially by
> Koenig)which made the situation (on a human level if not on a scientific
> level)realistic. But after time we would expect a community to be
> forged. MISSING LINK shows that this new community has clearly started.
> The Alphans see Koenig as their natural leader (for good or bad) and
> can't fathom replacing him with someone else so soon into their journey.
> Although not in the scripts, I would suspect that after this episode
> Koenig and his staff would lay out procedures for a new command
> structure - A made-on-Alpha set of rules to replace the ones created on
> Earth.
I get more and more impressed by some of your writing, David. Have your read
John Kenneth Muir's "Exploring SPACE: 1999"? My impression is that
we are now going far deeper than Muir ever did in his, in many ways,
thought provoking and interesting book.
I hope you managed to write something more of an introduction to
THE GUARDINA OF PIRI, if time allows you. As I see it, you have an incredible
ability to absorb some of the most striking ideas on this list, adapt them into
your persoanl interpretation of the series, and then, as it seems, present
the results clearly and interestingly in your weekly contributions.
Although we do not alway agree on every detail, I feel you are becoming
more and more a spokesman for the dedicated reader/writer on this list. I
really enjoy your posts.
> The Zennite city was spectacular considering it was a matte painting.
> But for 1975 this was a great improvement over the poorly painted cities
> seen in the 1960s. Just too bad the logistics wouldn't allow for a
> walking tour of the city. I believe with today's effect that would be
> possible. Just watch STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION to see such effects.
I think the Zennite city looked OK. Wasn't there a sequence with a space
ship passing over the purple sky of Zenno? As matte paintings go, however,
I was far more impressed by Keith Wilson's work on MISSION OF THE
DARIANS. Some of the interior shots of S.S. Daria created a quite more
convincing alien landscape than painting in MISSING LINK. The matte paintings
with the eagles in ANTOHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE and TESTAMENT OF ARKADIA
were also excellent, I think.
Petter
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 03:28:06 +0000
From: "Robert Ashley Ruiz" <espresso@dnai.com>
Subject: Space1999: Re: Alpha Technical Data Center Publications
Simon Morris wrote:
> Like Robert Ashley Ruiz, I have today also received a set of
> all of Keith Youngs available SPACE 1999 blueprints and I can
> only agree 100% with Roberts comments. I placed the order some
> considerable time ago and all I can say is,its been well worth
> the wait.
They really are impressive just for the sheer depth of what they
cover (including areas never seen on the show) and the detail
that's surprisingly accurate when compared to still images --
even Helena's medical instruments. Right now Keith and I are
awaiting images of the original Moonbase Alpha miniature
buildings. I'm going to add them to the Cybrary -- each one --
and Keith's going to draw each one in detail. (My job will
definitely be easier.)
> Anyone considering ordering should not hesitate,but beware
> that it apparently takes Keith considerable time to prepare
> each order.So you have to be VERY patient....but its worth it.
Keith wrote to me that he has been so inundated with orders
that he's simply been overwhelmed and burned out (I can relate
to this big time with the Cybrary). At one point he was ready
to quit the whole thing (again, I can relate), but happily he's
reconsidered. So if you do order, especially if you order the
whole thing, you may not get it in the time you would expect
(like the time in which a full-time business would send it to
you [this is a "side thing" for Keith]), but you will get it,
and you WILL be amazed at what you receive. These aren't just
something one can throw on a photocopier and have it done, it's
a laborious, time consuming process to put each one together,
as many pages are double-wide and folded over, and these
irregular pages have to be sandwiched in the proper order, etc.
Again, order the drawings, enjoy the wait, and then enjoy what
you get in the mail when it gets there -- it's worth it.
You can find out more about the drawings (including an online
order form) in the Collectibles/Currently Available
Collectibles/Technical Drawings section of the Cybrary.
Also, please note that I've left Roberto's Ultimate Eagle
Blueprints on this page for now, but the drawings are sold out.
Robert
Robert Ruiz (cybrarian@cybrary1999.com)
San Francisco, California USA
Cybrarian of the Space: 1999 Cybrary at:
http://www.cybrary1999.com
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End of space1999-digest V1 #406
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