“A Matter of Balance”

A man from a negative universe seeks to free his trapped people — by trading places with the people of Alpha. Toward this end, he dupes a lovesick young botanist into helping him.

Writers: Pip & Jane Baker

Director: Charles Crichton

Guest Cast

Lynne Frederick as Shermeen

Stuart Wilson as Vindrus

Oh, here we go with the anti-matter again, and they’ve still got the science all wonky. This time, they’re even farther from the mark than they were in “Matter of Life and Death.” Vindrus wants to bring his people back from the negative universe, but to keep the balance, one Alphan has to take their place. And there’s this thing called a Thaed that doesn’t seem to serve much purpose to the story; maybe it’s just a costume they had left over that they hadn’t used yet. A contract with the Rubber Monsters Union?

Anyway, Maya Saves The Day again when she turns into Shermeen to trick Vindrus into thinking the transfer hasn’t succeeded and sends him back to his own universe before blowing up the converter. The planet disappears just as the Alphans get to the eagle. It’s not a bad story, except that the design of the character Vindrus, with his yellow spandex bikinis and gold lamé cape, is even more ridiculous looking than Jarak in “Alpha Child.”