Mission of the Darians
Encyclopedia
"Mission of the Darians" is the twenty-second episode of the first series of Space: 1999
. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was Ray Austin. The original title was ‘Mission of the Darya’. The final shooting script is dated 7 January 1975. Live-action filming took place Friday, 10 January 1975 through Friday, 24 January 1975.
's trajectory, measures twenty miles long by five miles wide. While John Koenig
marvels that each deck measures one hundred square miles, the instruments register life signs.
The Commander opts to mount a humanitarian mission, selecting personnel to assess the medical, scientific and material needs of the aliens. Eagle One is loaded with relief supplies and lifts off from Moonbase Alpha. They circle the immense vessel, unable to perceive any recognisable docking structures—until they are snared by a force-beam. All systems are smothered as the beam pulls the ship in and docks it at an airlock. Efforts to re-start the motors fail, as do attempts to contact Alpha and the aliens. The rescue party is effectively trapped.
On-board instruments show the Darian ship contains a breathable atmosphere and a functioning power source. Communications are inhibited by weak levels of atomic radiation saturating the ship's structure. The life signs are confirmed, and Koenig and company disembark. However, no one is there to greet them. They enter a dilapidated reception area accessed by two opposing corridors. Hoping to encounter the ship's inhabitants, Koenig sets off with Victor Bergman
down one corridor, sending Paul Morrow
and Alan Carter
into the other.
Helena Russell
and Security guard Bill Lowry remain behind. An examination of the area reveals a hatch blocked by rubble; when opened, it reveals a third corridor. Their investigation is interrupted when two tattered dwarves emerge from the hidden passage. Male and female, they are mute and panicked. The male hides in the Eagle while the female attempts to communicate using frantic gestures. The nature of the mutes' fear becomes apparent when a brutish man springs from around the corner and viciously clubs Lowry unconscious.
Koenig and Bergman have hiked miles down their corridor without seeing a soul. They are suddenly blinded by the light of hand-torches
, held by two Darians fully encased in silver radiation suits. As Koenig and Bergman lower their weapons, the Darians raise their own and gun down the two Alphans. During this, Morrow and Carter encounter increasing damage as they proceed. Eventually, the corridor is completely obstructed, forcing them to turn back. Returning to the airlock, they find the area deserted...until discovering the terrified male mute hiding in the Eagle.
Finding the open hatch of the third corridor, the Alphan men convince the dwarf to show them where the others went. Up ahead, a tribe of savages drag Helena, Lowry and the female mute to their camp, a settlement area on the edge of a vast, overgrown arboretum
. These Darians resemble futuristic cave-people—filthy, with unkempt hair and rotten teeth, wearing garments of homespun mixed with synthetic fabrics and adorned with accessories fashioned from technological items. There are no elderly or infirm members in the group. The brutish man is their chief, Hadin, who orders the prisoners secured in what was once a laboratory module.
In another area of the ship, Koenig awakens in a tastefully appointed rest chamber to find himself under the scrutiny of a strikingly beautiful woman. She apologises for the assault, but Koenig and Bergman were intruding. Introducing herself as Kara, the vessel's Director of Reconstruction, she tells him the plight of her people. The distress signal was triggered 900 years ago, when all but one of their nuclear reactor
s exploded. Most of the vessel was heavily damaged. Thousands survived the explosions, but fell victim to the radiation. Out of 50,000 Darians, only the fourteen present in the command area were shielded from the catastrophe. As Koenig boggles over the magnitude of the disaster, Kara states this chance encounter could be vital to their survival.
In the settlement, the prisoners are brought before a shrine, dominated by a wall-painting of a male god. The tribe, who call themselves ‘The Survivors’, gathers in a circle and Hadin thrusts the female mute into the centre. There, the high priest benevolently examines her—then proclaims, ‘Mutant!’ The pitiful wretch is dragged to a cubicle recessed in the wall and sealed in by a transparent door. A switch is ritualistically thrown and the chamber floods with blinding light; to the Alphans' horror, the mute's body evaporates.
Lowry is selected next and, during the examination, is declared a mutant when the priest discovers a joint of his left index finger
is missing. He, too, is sent to his death. Guided to the Survivors' settlement by the male mute, Morrow and Carter arrive in time to witness this butchery. Helena's turn comes next. She sobs, petrified, as the high priest runs his hands over her face and body. Finding no deformity, he cries out, ‘Clear!’ Turning to the icon
on the wall, he orders the summoning of the Spirits.
In the command area, Kara presents Koenig and Bergman to Neman, the ship's commander. (Unknown to them, he is the spitting image of the painting depicting the Survivors' god.) Koenig insists the Darians locate his missing people immediately. Leading them along a mile-long gantry suspended above massive mechanical structures, Neman drolly demonstrates the vastness of this ship and the absurdity of Koenig's demand. He informs them the Daria is a generation ship
, preserving the life and skills of the Darian race after the destruction of their home planet—à la Earth's own Noah's Ark
. The ship's drive is still functioning; in one hundred years, they will arrive at a new world. Neman invites the Alphans to join them and share the future that awaits them.
At the Survivors' camp, Helena has been dressed in tribal garb. In the name of the Survivors of Level Seven, the high priest offers her perfect body to the god Neman. The icon wall opens and two silver Spirits—Darians wearing radiation suits—emerge to take Helena. Carter and Morrow burst from the underbrush and attack the ‘Spirits’. In the ensuing mêlée, Morrow fells one with a stun-blast, but the other ‘Spirit’ manages to hustle Helena through the door. Following, Morrow dives through the closing hatch. Carter, though, is overwhelmed by the savages.
Seriously considering Neman's offer, Koenig and Bergman investigate the feasibility of co-existing with the Darians. The professor soon makes a unsettling discovery. The Darians are practically human and have the same nutritional requirements. A study of their food production system shows no inventory of raw materials on the ship—yet the recycling plants are stocked with a steady supply of all the essential elements. Bergman concludes the only possible source of these elements could be living human bodies. Appalled, Koenig confronts Kara with these findings.
Indignant, the Darian woman justifies their actions in the name of survival. When their own resources were exhausted, they discovered that descendants of the original survivors existed in the radioactive 'wilderness'—savage, degenerate creatures wiped clean of all civilised behaviour. The Darians managed to teach them the basics of survival, giving them a god who taught them to preserve only the fit. The weak, the sick, the mutants were to be sacrificed—as fodder for the food recycling system. Kara informs him their motivation was not self-preservation, but a greater survival...
In the settlement, as Carter is brutalised for his ‘crimes’ against the god Neman, the high priest prays over the ‘Spirit's’ motionless form. The entire tribe is awestruck when, reviving from the stun-ray, it stirs. Carter dashes over, rips the helmet off and reveals its true identity—a mortal man. Under threat of violence, the Darian declares he is not a spirit. He offers to lead Carter to his missing comrades and they, with Hadin and the Survivors following, depart for the ‘Place of the False Spirits’.
Neman and Kara reveal their sacred cause: a gene bank
containing genetic material preserved and protected before radiation damaged their people. When they reach the new world, it will be used to produce the new Darian race. They confess the survivor tribes are dying out and, without them, all life on the ship will perish. The Alphans' resources will enable them to complete the voyage and save their race. Koenig refuses to commit himself until the rest of his party is found.
Morrow follows Helena's trail to the command area and is reunited with Koenig and Bergman. He relates the grisly events in the Survivors' camp and the fact that the doctor was brought here, though he has lost track of her and her captor. Koenig accosts Kara, presenting her with these facts. Frightened, she leads them to a room where they encounter the ultimate Darian horror—the gutted bodies of those Survivors recently offered to the god Neman. The savages have been harvested for the organs needed to maintain the well-being of the fourteen ‘true’ Darians. Rendered sterile by the radiation, Neman, Kara and the rest were forced to prolong their lives with transplant surgery.
Koenig is enraged when he discovers an unconscious Helena in this charnel house. As Kara revives her, he comes to the realisation that this was the intended fate of the Alpha people had they joined the Darians. Weapon in hand, Neman appears and confirms this fact. The Darian commander tries to tempt Koenig, offering unlimited life for he and his friends in exchange for the population of Alpha. Disgusted, Koenig refuses.
At this time, Carter and company arrive and the Survivors begin pillaging the command area. The genteel Darians are swiftly overwhelmed by the savages. Neman enters his command centre to find Hadin approaching the gene bank. When he runs to protect this sacred object, he is grabbed by Hadin. The disillusioned savage declares that Neman is not a god—then smashes his head through the gene bank. His skull fractured, Neman dies, drenched in the material that was to be the salvation of his race. As Hadin seizes a horrified Kara, Koenig puts an end to the violence.
Seeing this as a turning point, the Commander declares their only hope for any future is to work together. The encounter ends with the two leaders sizing each other up. Some time later, Eagle One departs the Daria. Helena, traumatised by her experience, is comforted by Bergman. Contact is made with Moonbase, but Carter puts off their interrogative. He turns to Koenig, asking him if the similar events were to occur on Alpha, would he choose differently? Silently praying he never has to make that choice, Koenig puts off the astronaut's question...
score (drawn primarily from 'Another Time, Another Place
'), the 'space horror music' composed by Vic Elms and Alan Willis for 'Ring Around the Moon' is heard during scenes portraying the Survivors' acts of violence. The introduction from Frank Cordell
's composition 'The White Mountain' is used as the Darian theme. Robert Farnon
's 'Experiment In Space—Vega' makes an appearance, as do excerpts from previous Joe 90
and Stingray
scores, composed by Barry Gray. The ditty hummed by Bill Lowry is 'A Wand'ring Minstrel I' from the Gilbert and Sullivan
comic opera The Mikado
.
, published in 1975.
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was Ray Austin. The original title was ‘Mission of the Darya’. The final shooting script is dated 7 January 1975. Live-action filming took place Friday, 10 January 1975 through Friday, 24 January 1975.
Story
‘Emergency...emergency...this is the commander of the spaceship Daria. A major catastrophe has occurred...’ A message of despair holds the Main Mission staff riveted. The voice of the alien commander tells how large areas of his ship are devastated, with thousands dead and hundreds sick and dying. He ends with a plea for immediate aid—then is revealed to be an automated message on a loop. The vessel, drifting close to the MoonMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
's trajectory, measures twenty miles long by five miles wide. While John Koenig
John Koenig
John Koenig is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Martin Landau. He is American, apparently in his early forties.-Character Biography:...
marvels that each deck measures one hundred square miles, the instruments register life signs.
The Commander opts to mount a humanitarian mission, selecting personnel to assess the medical, scientific and material needs of the aliens. Eagle One is loaded with relief supplies and lifts off from Moonbase Alpha. They circle the immense vessel, unable to perceive any recognisable docking structures—until they are snared by a force-beam. All systems are smothered as the beam pulls the ship in and docks it at an airlock. Efforts to re-start the motors fail, as do attempts to contact Alpha and the aliens. The rescue party is effectively trapped.
On-board instruments show the Darian ship contains a breathable atmosphere and a functioning power source. Communications are inhibited by weak levels of atomic radiation saturating the ship's structure. The life signs are confirmed, and Koenig and company disembark. However, no one is there to greet them. They enter a dilapidated reception area accessed by two opposing corridors. Hoping to encounter the ship's inhabitants, Koenig sets off with Victor Bergman
Victor Bergman
Professor Victor Bergman is the name of a recurring character on the UK science fiction television series Space: 1999. The role was portrayed by actor Barry Morse.-Character Biography:...
down one corridor, sending Paul Morrow
Paul Morrow
Paul Morrow is a fictional character who first appeared in 'Breakaway', the premiere episode of the science fiction television show Space: 1999, and was portrayed by Prentis Hancock. He is a British national who appears to be in his early thirties....
and Alan Carter
Alan Carter (Space 1999)
Alan Carter is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Nick Tate. He is of Australian origin and is in his early thirties.-Character biography:...
into the other.
Helena Russell
Helena Russell
Helena Russell is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. She was played by Barbara Bain. She is American and apparently in her mid-thirties....
and Security guard Bill Lowry remain behind. An examination of the area reveals a hatch blocked by rubble; when opened, it reveals a third corridor. Their investigation is interrupted when two tattered dwarves emerge from the hidden passage. Male and female, they are mute and panicked. The male hides in the Eagle while the female attempts to communicate using frantic gestures. The nature of the mutes' fear becomes apparent when a brutish man springs from around the corner and viciously clubs Lowry unconscious.
Koenig and Bergman have hiked miles down their corridor without seeing a soul. They are suddenly blinded by the light of hand-torches
Flashlight
A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...
, held by two Darians fully encased in silver radiation suits. As Koenig and Bergman lower their weapons, the Darians raise their own and gun down the two Alphans. During this, Morrow and Carter encounter increasing damage as they proceed. Eventually, the corridor is completely obstructed, forcing them to turn back. Returning to the airlock, they find the area deserted...until discovering the terrified male mute hiding in the Eagle.
Finding the open hatch of the third corridor, the Alphan men convince the dwarf to show them where the others went. Up ahead, a tribe of savages drag Helena, Lowry and the female mute to their camp, a settlement area on the edge of a vast, overgrown arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
. These Darians resemble futuristic cave-people—filthy, with unkempt hair and rotten teeth, wearing garments of homespun mixed with synthetic fabrics and adorned with accessories fashioned from technological items. There are no elderly or infirm members in the group. The brutish man is their chief, Hadin, who orders the prisoners secured in what was once a laboratory module.
In another area of the ship, Koenig awakens in a tastefully appointed rest chamber to find himself under the scrutiny of a strikingly beautiful woman. She apologises for the assault, but Koenig and Bergman were intruding. Introducing herself as Kara, the vessel's Director of Reconstruction, she tells him the plight of her people. The distress signal was triggered 900 years ago, when all but one of their nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s exploded. Most of the vessel was heavily damaged. Thousands survived the explosions, but fell victim to the radiation. Out of 50,000 Darians, only the fourteen present in the command area were shielded from the catastrophe. As Koenig boggles over the magnitude of the disaster, Kara states this chance encounter could be vital to their survival.
In the settlement, the prisoners are brought before a shrine, dominated by a wall-painting of a male god. The tribe, who call themselves ‘The Survivors’, gathers in a circle and Hadin thrusts the female mute into the centre. There, the high priest benevolently examines her—then proclaims, ‘Mutant!’ The pitiful wretch is dragged to a cubicle recessed in the wall and sealed in by a transparent door. A switch is ritualistically thrown and the chamber floods with blinding light; to the Alphans' horror, the mute's body evaporates.
Lowry is selected next and, during the examination, is declared a mutant when the priest discovers a joint of his left index finger
Index finger
The index finger, , is the first finger and the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the first and third digits, between the thumb and the middle finger...
is missing. He, too, is sent to his death. Guided to the Survivors' settlement by the male mute, Morrow and Carter arrive in time to witness this butchery. Helena's turn comes next. She sobs, petrified, as the high priest runs his hands over her face and body. Finding no deformity, he cries out, ‘Clear!’ Turning to the icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
on the wall, he orders the summoning of the Spirits.
In the command area, Kara presents Koenig and Bergman to Neman, the ship's commander. (Unknown to them, he is the spitting image of the painting depicting the Survivors' god.) Koenig insists the Darians locate his missing people immediately. Leading them along a mile-long gantry suspended above massive mechanical structures, Neman drolly demonstrates the vastness of this ship and the absurdity of Koenig's demand. He informs them the Daria is a generation ship
Generation ship
A generation ship is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels across great distances between stars at a speed much slower than the speed of light...
, preserving the life and skills of the Darian race after the destruction of their home planet—à la Earth's own Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
. The ship's drive is still functioning; in one hundred years, they will arrive at a new world. Neman invites the Alphans to join them and share the future that awaits them.
At the Survivors' camp, Helena has been dressed in tribal garb. In the name of the Survivors of Level Seven, the high priest offers her perfect body to the god Neman. The icon wall opens and two silver Spirits—Darians wearing radiation suits—emerge to take Helena. Carter and Morrow burst from the underbrush and attack the ‘Spirits’. In the ensuing mêlée, Morrow fells one with a stun-blast, but the other ‘Spirit’ manages to hustle Helena through the door. Following, Morrow dives through the closing hatch. Carter, though, is overwhelmed by the savages.
Seriously considering Neman's offer, Koenig and Bergman investigate the feasibility of co-existing with the Darians. The professor soon makes a unsettling discovery. The Darians are practically human and have the same nutritional requirements. A study of their food production system shows no inventory of raw materials on the ship—yet the recycling plants are stocked with a steady supply of all the essential elements. Bergman concludes the only possible source of these elements could be living human bodies. Appalled, Koenig confronts Kara with these findings.
Indignant, the Darian woman justifies their actions in the name of survival. When their own resources were exhausted, they discovered that descendants of the original survivors existed in the radioactive 'wilderness'—savage, degenerate creatures wiped clean of all civilised behaviour. The Darians managed to teach them the basics of survival, giving them a god who taught them to preserve only the fit. The weak, the sick, the mutants were to be sacrificed—as fodder for the food recycling system. Kara informs him their motivation was not self-preservation, but a greater survival...
In the settlement, as Carter is brutalised for his ‘crimes’ against the god Neman, the high priest prays over the ‘Spirit's’ motionless form. The entire tribe is awestruck when, reviving from the stun-ray, it stirs. Carter dashes over, rips the helmet off and reveals its true identity—a mortal man. Under threat of violence, the Darian declares he is not a spirit. He offers to lead Carter to his missing comrades and they, with Hadin and the Survivors following, depart for the ‘Place of the False Spirits’.
Neman and Kara reveal their sacred cause: a gene bank
Gene bank
Gene banks help preserve genetic material, be it plant or animal. In plants, this could be by freezing cuts from the plant, or stocking the seeds. In animals, this is the freezing of sperm and eggs in zoological freezers until further need. With corals, fragments are taken which are stored in water...
containing genetic material preserved and protected before radiation damaged their people. When they reach the new world, it will be used to produce the new Darian race. They confess the survivor tribes are dying out and, without them, all life on the ship will perish. The Alphans' resources will enable them to complete the voyage and save their race. Koenig refuses to commit himself until the rest of his party is found.
Morrow follows Helena's trail to the command area and is reunited with Koenig and Bergman. He relates the grisly events in the Survivors' camp and the fact that the doctor was brought here, though he has lost track of her and her captor. Koenig accosts Kara, presenting her with these facts. Frightened, she leads them to a room where they encounter the ultimate Darian horror—the gutted bodies of those Survivors recently offered to the god Neman. The savages have been harvested for the organs needed to maintain the well-being of the fourteen ‘true’ Darians. Rendered sterile by the radiation, Neman, Kara and the rest were forced to prolong their lives with transplant surgery.
Koenig is enraged when he discovers an unconscious Helena in this charnel house. As Kara revives her, he comes to the realisation that this was the intended fate of the Alpha people had they joined the Darians. Weapon in hand, Neman appears and confirms this fact. The Darian commander tries to tempt Koenig, offering unlimited life for he and his friends in exchange for the population of Alpha. Disgusted, Koenig refuses.
At this time, Carter and company arrive and the Survivors begin pillaging the command area. The genteel Darians are swiftly overwhelmed by the savages. Neman enters his command centre to find Hadin approaching the gene bank. When he runs to protect this sacred object, he is grabbed by Hadin. The disillusioned savage declares that Neman is not a god—then smashes his head through the gene bank. His skull fractured, Neman dies, drenched in the material that was to be the salvation of his race. As Hadin seizes a horrified Kara, Koenig puts an end to the violence.
Seeing this as a turning point, the Commander declares their only hope for any future is to work together. The encounter ends with the two leaders sizing each other up. Some time later, Eagle One departs the Daria. Helena, traumatised by her experience, is comforted by Bergman. Contact is made with Moonbase, but Carter puts off their interrogative. He turns to Koenig, asking him if the similar events were to occur on Alpha, would he choose differently? Silently praying he never has to make that choice, Koenig puts off the astronaut's question...
Starring
- Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
— Commander John KoenigJohn KoenigJohn Koenig is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Martin Landau. He is American, apparently in his early forties.-Character Biography:... - Barbara BainBarbara BainMillicent Fogel , known professionally as Barbara Bain, is an American actress.-Early life:Bain was born in Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She moved to New York City, where she was a dancer and high fashion model. Bain studied with...
— Doctor Helena RussellHelena RussellHelena Russell is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. She was played by Barbara Bain. She is American and apparently in her mid-thirties....
Featuring
- Prentis HancockPrentis HancockPrentis Hancock is a British actor, best known for his television roles.He was a regular cast member of the first season of science fiction series Space: 1999 as Paul Morrow, and also appeared in a number of Doctor Who stories throughout the 1970s - Spearhead from Space and Planet of the Daleks...
— Controller Paul MorrowPaul MorrowPaul Morrow is a fictional character who first appeared in 'Breakaway', the premiere episode of the science fiction television show Space: 1999, and was portrayed by Prentis Hancock. He is a British national who appears to be in his early thirties.... - Clifton JonesClifton JonesClifton Jones is an actor, mostly known for his roles on British television.His most prominent role is probably that of David Kano during the first season of the science fiction series Space: 1999....
— David KanoDavid Kano (Space 1999)David Kano is a fictional character who regularly appeared during the first season of the science fiction television series Space: 1999. He is of Jamaican origin and in his mid-thirties. He was played by actor Clifton Jones.-Character biography:... - Zienia MertonZienia MertonZienia Merton is a British actress born in Burma. Her mother was Burmese, and her father half English, half French. She was raised in Singapore, Borneo, Portugal, and England....
— Sandra BenesSandra BenesSandra Benes is a recurring character in the British science-fiction television series Space: 1999. She is of Western European/Burmese origin and is in her late twenties. Her role was played by actress Zienia Merton.-Character Biography:... - Nick TateNick TateNicholas John "Nick" Tate is an Australian actor best known for his role as Eagle pilot Alan Carter in both seasons of the 1970s science fiction television series Space: 1999, as well as for playing the role of Gordon Hamilton's errant brother James in the 1980's soap opera "Sons and...
— Captain Alan CarterAlan Carter (Space 1999)Alan Carter is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Nick Tate. He is of Australian origin and is in his early thirties.-Character biography:... - Paul Antrim — Bill Lowry
- Robert RussellRobert Russell (English actor)Robert Russell was an English actor, perhaps best known for a memorable supporting role as John Stearne alongside Vincent Price in the classic British horror film Witchfinder General....
— Hadin - Gerald Stadden — Male Mute
- Jackie Horton — Female Mute
Uncredited Artists
- Ann Maj-Britt — Ann
- Linda HooksLinda HooksLinda Hooks is the second delegate from Great Britain to win the Miss International crown in 1972, three years after Valerie Susan Holmes earned the title....
— Female Darian - Ron TarrRon TarrRonald "Ron" Tarr was a British actor who played minor roles in television series and films. He died of cancer in 1997....
— Male Survivor - Jenny Cresswell — Female Survivor
Music
In addition to the regular Barry GrayBarry Gray
Barry Gray was a British musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson.-Life:...
score (drawn primarily from 'Another Time, Another Place
Another Time, Another Place (Space: 1999)
"Another Time, Another Place" is the sixth episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was David Tomblin. The final shooting script is dated 20 January 1974, with blue-page amendments dated 25 January and 1 April 1974. Live-action filming...
'), the 'space horror music' composed by Vic Elms and Alan Willis for 'Ring Around the Moon' is heard during scenes portraying the Survivors' acts of violence. The introduction from Frank Cordell
Frank Cordell (musician)
Frank Cordell was a British music composer, arranger and conductor, who was actively involved with the Institute of Contemporary Arts. He also wrote music under the name Frank Meilleur or Meillear .-Early life:He was born Frank Cordell in Kingston-upon-Thames...
's composition 'The White Mountain' is used as the Darian theme. Robert Farnon
Robert Farnon
Robert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a famous composer of original works , he was recognised as one of the finest arrangers of his generation...
's 'Experiment In Space—Vega' makes an appearance, as do excerpts from previous Joe 90
Joe 90
Joe 90 is a late-1960s British science-fiction television series documenting the exploits of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, who embarks on a double life as a schoolboy turned spy when his scientist father invents a pioneering machine capable of duplicating and transferring expert knowledge and...
and Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
scores, composed by Barry Gray. The ditty hummed by Bill Lowry is 'A Wand'ring Minstrel I' from the Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
comic opera The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
.
Production Notes
- This story, Johnny Byrne's favourite of his contributions to the series, was based on real-life events surrounding the 1972 plane-crash of an UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an rugbyRugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
team in the AndesAndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
Mountains. After ten weeks, sixteen survivors (out of forty-five passengers) were rescued; shortly after, the truth came out they has resorted to cannibalismCannibalismCannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
to stay alive. This tale was combined with a spin on racial purity (for 'Darians' read 'AryansAryan raceThe Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
') and placed in similar circumstances as author Brian AldissBrian AldissBrian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
' novel Non-Stop, involving two disparate cultures existing on a generation shipGeneration shipA generation ship is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels across great distances between stars at a speed much slower than the speed of light...
. The fact that the Darians, constantly touting their 'million years of civilisation', would abandon their civilised mores in the name of survival became the primary theme of the piece. (The original story idea focused on the aliens' fanatical devotion to the gene bank, as it would re-create their race of super warriors.)
- Guest star Joan CollinsJoan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
was already a science-fiction icon at the time of the shoot, having appeared as Captain Kirk's doomed love Edith Keeler in the Hugo AwardHugo AwardThe Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
-winning Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
episode 'The City on the Edge of Forever' in 1967. A prolific actress, she had appeared in dozens of films and television programmes produced on both sides of the Atlantic before taking the role of the Darian aristocrat, Kara. In 1981, she would assume the defining role of her career: the scheming, flamboyant man-eater Alexis Carrington in the American prime-time television drama DynastyDynasty (TV series)Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
.
- The hull of the spaceship Daria is seen to include one of the conical atomic-waste-pit caps, as seen in Nuclear Disposal Area Two during 'BreakawayBreakaway (Space: 1999)"Breakaway" is the first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by George Bellak ; the director was Lee H. Katzin. Previous titles include 'Zero-G', 'The Void Ahead' and 'Turning Point'. The final shooting script is dated 22 November 1973...
'; the model's large central dome structure would be used in the second series as the 'transference dome' building seen in 'Journey to WhereJourney to Where"Journey to Where" is the fifth episode of the second series of Space: 1999 . The screenplay was written by Donald James; the director was Tom Clegg. The final shooting script is dated 18 February 1976, with amendments dated 2 March, 4 March, 11 March, 17 March, 18 March, 22 March and 25 March 1976...
'. The Survivors' settlement area was revamped from the expansive Gwent interiors constructed for the previous episode, 'The Infernal MachineThe Infernal Machine (Space: 1999)"The Infernal Machine" is the twenty-first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows; the director was David Tomblin. The final shooting script is dated 11 December 1974...
'. The eternal flame in the Shrine of Knowledge burned in the shell of the Ariel satellite prop seen in 'The Last SunsetThe Last Sunset (Space: 1999)"The Last Sunset" is the eleventh episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Christopher Penfold; the director was Charles Crichton. The final shooting script is dated 21 July 1974, with blue-page amendments dated 22 July 1974 and pink-page amendments dated 23 July...
'.
- Two actresses playing background Darians, Linda HooksLinda HooksLinda Hooks is the second delegate from Great Britain to win the Miss International crown in 1972, three years after Valerie Susan Holmes earned the title....
and Jenny Cresswell, would make subsequent appearances in the series: Hooks (Miss InternationalMiss InternationalMiss International is an annual international beauty pageant held since 1960.The current Miss International is Fernanda Cornejo, from Ecuador...
of 1972) would be cast in the remounted scenes of 'The Last EnemyThe Last Enemy (Space: 1999 )"The Last Enemy" is the eighteenth episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Bob Kellett ; the director was Bob Kellett. Previous titles include 'The Second Sex' and 'The Other Enemy'. The final shooting script is dated 25 October 1974...
' as a member of Dione's glamorous crew; Cresswell (Miss Anglia of 1969) would appear throughout the second series as a background extra.
Novelisation
The episode was adapted in the sixth Year One Space: 1999 novel Astral Quest by John RankineJohn Rankine
John Rankine is a British science fiction author, who has written books as John Rankine and Douglas R. Mason...
, published in 1975.
External links
- Space: 1999 - 'Mission of the Darians' - The Catacombs episode guide
- Space: 1999 - 'Mission of the Darians' - Moonbase Alpha's Space 1999 page
| Last produced: "The Infernal Machine The Infernal Machine (Space: 1999) "The Infernal Machine" is the twenty-first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows; the director was David Tomblin. The final shooting script is dated 11 December 1974... " |
List of Space: 1999 episodes | Next produced: "Dragon's Domain Dragon's Domain "Dragon's Domain" is the twenty-third episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Christopher Penfold; the director was Charles Crichton. The final shooting script dated 21 January 1975, with blue-page amendments dated 29 January 1975 and yellow-page amendments dated... " |
| Last transmitted: "Dragon's Domain Dragon's Domain "Dragon's Domain" is the twenty-third episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Christopher Penfold; the director was Charles Crichton. The final shooting script dated 21 January 1975, with blue-page amendments dated 29 January 1975 and yellow-page amendments dated... " |
Next transmitted: "Black Sun" |