The Bringers of Wonder, Part Two
Encyclopedia
"The Bringers of Wonder, Part Two" is the eighteenth episode of the second series of Space: 1999
(and the forty-second overall episode of the programme). The screenplay was written by Terence Feely
; the director was Tom Clegg
. The final shooting script is dated 23 June 1976. Live-action filming took place Wednesday 25 August 1976 through Tuesday 28 September 1976 (with a two-day interruption from 21 to 22 September to film additional scenes for 'The Beta Cloud'). A day of second-unit filming was completed on Tuesday 30 November 1976. This was the series' only two-part episode.
is in the midst of a celebration. A rescue party from Earth travelling in a Superswift
, an interstellar vessel equipped with a faster-than-light
drive system, has arrived on the Moon
. The Alpha castaways can now return home after more than five years of mad travel through a hostile universe. At this time, a team of Alphans—Alan Carter
with nuclear physicists Jack Bartlett and Joe Ehrlich—have travelled uncountable light-years and are approaching Earth in the Superswift's compact pilot ship.
This is how events appear to the Alpha population. In reality, they are under the mental control of hostile aliens, who appear to the humans as family and friends comprising the crew of Superswift. The only person who can see them as they actually are is John Koenig
. Three days previously while flying a reconnaissance mission, the Commander seemed to lose control of himself and, in his demented state, crashed in the vicinity of the nuclear-waste domes.
With severe concussion, Koenig was given treatment with an Ellendorf quadrographic brain complex, an experimental machine designed to electronically treat neurological trauma. On regaining consciousness, he was introduced to the 'Earth visitors' and—now immune to their mind control—saw the aliens for what they were and reacted violently to their invasion of Alpha. Unable to see the aliens as anything but friends, his own staff believed him to be unbalanced, sedated him, and placed him in restraints in the Medical Centre.
In reality, Koenig had been controlled by the aliens with the intent of eliminating him in the Eagle crash. Having failed, they made another attempt on his life: Sandstrom, an orderly, was controlled and tried to kill him by corrupting the settings of the brain complex. This was thwarted by the quick action of Doctor Ben Vincent. The aliens successfully disposed of Clive Kander after the records clerk reviewed his video coverage and saw the aliens in their true form on the recording. Under their control, Kander destroyed his office (and the evidence) in an act of violent dementia in which he was killed.
As the staff listens to the gleeful reports from the pilot-ship crew, an alien (who the Alphans see as 'Doctor Shaw', Helena Russell
's medical-school tutor) enters the care unit with the mission to kill Koenig once and for all. A seven-foot-tall, slime-covered heap of putrefying protoplasm slithers across the floor on its tentacles. Approaching the helpless Koenig, it collapses atop him and proceeds to crush the life out of him. As he loses consciousness, this latest murder attempt, too, is foiled when Helena and Maya
enter.
After 'Shaw' exits, the women wake Koenig and attempt to reason with him. They show him footage of the pilot ship in flight; he responds that he sees an Eagle. He then asks Maya if she, too, sees the visitors as Earth people. Her answer disappoints him; he had hoped her different brain structure would give her the ability to resist the aliens' telepathic control. She cites the fact that if he is correct then, by his reckoning, every other person on Alpha is wrong. He speculates that, as the only person to have been treated with the Ellendorf apparatus, his perception could be protected, not distorted.
Removed from direct contact with the aliens (and not prejudiced by the desire to return to Earth), Maya penetrates the mind control. She realises it is impossible that every member of the Earth crew is known to someone on Alpha. If Koenig is right, they obtained their disguises from the Alphans' memories and are projecting them into everyone's consciousness. Helena recounts a conversation with Vincent; he was aware of Koenig's plight during Sandstrom's murder attempt, but it did not register until his fiancée 'Louisa' was distracted. Maya herself witnessed Tony Verdeschi
's drawing of names for the pilot-ship crew, which occurred under the close scrutiny of his older brother, 'Guido'.
Koenig then brings up an undeniable fact—they have been travelling in space for over five years; with the time-dilation effect, this equates to the passage of centuries on Earth. All their friends and family should be long dead. Maya is aghast to have not considered this; Koenig replies the aliens would not let her. To test his theory, she agrees to a session with the brain complex. During this, Carter, Bartlett and Ehrlich happily believe the pilot ship has arrived at Earth and has landed at the New York City
spaceport. In reality, their Eagle touches down in close proximity to the nuclear-waste domes. They disembark, wrapped in the illusion of a triumphant homecoming, while manipulated telepathically to carry out the aliens' sinister tasks.
Maya completes the treatment; looking out into the corridor, she is disgusted to see 'Shaw' and Sandra Benes
' fiancé 'Peter Rockwell' as they truly appear. To learn the aliens' motives, she transforms into one. Locating several of the jelloid aliens conversing, the metamorph hovers at the edge of the group and eavesdrops. They soon recognise her as a stranger and pursue her. The Maya/Jelloid rounds a corner and (with some difficulty) reverts to normal form, smiling politely at the repugnant beings as she walks past them.
Returning to Medical, she relates the facts she uncovered. The jelloids are a species that assimilate radiation for sustenance. The ambient radioactivity of their world has been exhausted and they are searching for a new source. On the brink of starvation, the aliens have found the Moon and want the accumulated atomic waste. Koenig would be happy giving them the deadly substance, but Maya reveals they require the intense radiation that would be released by detonating the waste dumps. The aliens consider the Alphans inconsequential life-forms and have no qualms about killing them. As they possess little kinetic energy, they must deceive the Alphans via illusion into performing the act themselves.
Koenig accesses cameras at the nuclear-waste domes and finds the Eagle there. Atomic fuel
will be needed to catalyse the reaction; he switches cameras to the atomic fuel storage facility and finds Carter and Erhlich already there to procure the deadly container. A command order is issued to Computer, sealing the door and locking the two men inside. He then tries to commandeer an Eagle to stop the three deluded pawns. He is stopped at the launch pad by Verdeschi and his Security guards, who are made to see him as a dangerous madman.
The security chief confines Koenig to Medical Centre under guard. Maya takes out the guard with a stun-gun blast and she, Koenig and Helena plot to render the entire Alpha population immune to the aliens' control. It would be impossible to treat them all with the Ellendorf process. Helena suggests the use of 'white noise
', a sonic anaesthetic she uses when drugs are contraindicated; it effectively blocks nerve paths and synapses in the brain. Maya figures it will block the telepathic input of the aliens if broadcast over the public-address system
.
They make their way to Command Centre, evading the Security forces bent on killing them, and play the white noise recording. It works as expected, and pandemonium erupts when the staff sees the true identity of their friends and loved ones. Amid the chaos, the aliens suddenly vanish. Koenig knows this is no victory and calls up a picture of the atomic fuel store, where Carter and Ehrlich have cut through the door's lock with a thermal lance. Still under alien control, the two men proceed by moon buggy to the waste domes with the fuel core. Koenig takes Maya and Verdeschi with him in Eagle Five to stop them. Meanwhile, at the waste-dome monitoring depot, Bartlett primes the domes for detonation.
While searching for the moon buggy, Maya reckons the starved aliens are now focusing their waning power on the three men. She guesses they are deriving sustenance from the cumulative minute emissions of radiation from all the electrical equipment on Alpha. Koenig orders all non-essential systems powered down. When they sight the moon buggy, Koenig is lowered down by a harness (as the surface terrain is too unstable to support the Eagle) to intercept them. Believing they are driving through the country with two luscious girls, Carter and Ehrlich see Koenig as a ski-mask-clad maniac. They assault him, disconnecting the tube from his oxygen
tank.
Maya comes to his rescue in the form of a space animal which can exist in a vacuum. In the mêlée, Ehrlich's spacesuit is breached and he must be taken to Moonbase for medical attention. Carter takes off in the moon buggy and Koenig pursues on foot. Carter arrives at the monitoring depot and welds the airlock door shut. He and Bartlett then proceed through the dome's interior to the core access hatch. Not having the security codes to open the massive lead
hatch, they use the thermal lance to cut into its locking mechanism.
Outside, Koenig arrives, makes his way through a throng of jelloids, and discovers the sealed door. Using the moon buggy as a battering ram, he drives into the door repeatedly and breaks the weld. He wonders how the aliens are still active. Maya surmises that, as the functioning human brain produces electrical energy, they must be drawing on these emissions to keep going at survival level. To reduce this energy source, Koenig orders Helena to render the entire staff unconscious, excluding herself and the chief engineer. Donning a gas mask
, the doctor releases anaesthetic gas into the ventilation system.
At the waste domes, Koenig finds Carter and Bartlett opening the access hatch to the waste storage chamber. He tackles Carter as the astronaut hoists the fuel core into the port. As Bartlett takes the core, he is suddenly free of the jelloids' control and tosses it away in horror. Koenig explains the situation to the bewildered man as he himself restrains the struggling Carter. The alien leader speaks, admitting to Bartlett he has been living an illusion. It asks him was he not happier in this illusion, reunited with his wife and little daughter on Earth, than with the reality of being trapped on the wandering Moon? They can provide a lifetime of joy in an instant of time; would that not be preferable to a miserable existence and death in space?
Bartlett is immobilised by this seductive spiel when Carter breaks free, overwhelms Koenig and actually inserts the fuel core into the access port. Koenig rallies, knocks him out with a right cross and pulls the core out before it is pushed down the chute into the waste mass. The jelloid leader scornfully tells Koenig what a primitive organism he is, throwing away the eternity of happiness they could have experienced in those seconds before dying. He has condemned his people to a cruel and futile existence. As the aliens dissolve into nothingness, Koenig rebutts, 'It is better to live as your own man than as a fool in someone else's dream.'
Returning to Alpha, Koenig and company witness the dissolution of the alien ship. The Commander good-naturedly grouses about running the base with his unconscious staff of ‘sleeping beauties
’ just before the events of the last three days catch up with him and he, too, is slumbering in his chair...
and draws primarily from the scores of 'The Metamorph
', 'The Taybor' and 'Space Warp
'. A movement of Beethoven's 'Symphony No. 5
in C minor' is heard during Bartlett's illusion of listening to the piece on his hi-fi system, while in reality he was preparing the waste domes for detonation.
published in 1977. The author would make the jelly aliens the psychically-synthesised minions of a massive non-corporeal space amoeba (which was also the unseen antagonist in the previous segment 'The Lambda Factor
'). The sentient amoeba was dying and required a massive influx of radiation to rejuvenate itself. It would manipulate the Alphans with the lambda-wave effect to provide the explosion that would be its salvation.
In the 2003 novel The Forsaken written by John Kenneth Muir
, it is stated the events of this story were one of the consequences of the death of the eponymous intelligence depicted in ‘Space Brain’. The Brain provided the radiation required for the jelloid aliens' survival; after its death, the jelloid beings would being searching for alternate sources of sustenance.
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...
(and the forty-second overall episode of the programme). The screenplay was written by Terence Feely
Terence Feely
Terence Feely was a British screenwriter, playwright and author. Though his work has spanned five decades, he is perhaps best remembered as the creator of the groundbreaking ITV drama series The Gentle Touch ....
; the director was Tom Clegg
Tom Clegg (director)
Tom Clegg is a British television and film director. He was born in Lancashire in 1934.-Selected filmography:Television* Special Branch * The Sweeney * A Captain's Tale * Sharpe ...
. The final shooting script is dated 23 June 1976. Live-action filming took place Wednesday 25 August 1976 through Tuesday 28 September 1976 (with a two-day interruption from 21 to 22 September to film additional scenes for 'The Beta Cloud'). A day of second-unit filming was completed on Tuesday 30 November 1976. This was the series' only two-part episode.
Story
It is 1915 days after leaving Earth orbit, and Moonbase AlphaMoonbase Alpha
Moonbase Alpha is a fictional moon base and the main setting in the science fiction television series Space: 1999.-Moonbase Alpha:Located in the Moon crater Plato and constructed out of quarried rock and ores, Moonbase Alpha is four kilometres in diameter and extends up to one kilometre in areas...
is in the midst of a celebration. A rescue party from Earth travelling in a Superswift
Super swift
The Super Swift is a fictional spacecraft in the Space: 1999 TV series. Brian Johnson's design is clearly influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey; in turn, it influenced Star Wars and later science fiction.-Spacecraft Background:...
, an interstellar vessel equipped with a faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
drive system, has arrived on the Moon
Moon
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...
. The Alpha castaways can now return home after more than five years of mad travel through a hostile universe. At this time, a team of Alphans—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:...
with nuclear physicists Jack Bartlett and Joe Ehrlich—have travelled uncountable light-years and are approaching Earth in the Superswift's compact pilot ship.
This is how events appear to the Alpha population. In reality, they are under the mental control of hostile aliens, who appear to the humans as family and friends comprising the crew of Superswift. The only person who can see them as they actually are is 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:...
. Three days previously while flying a reconnaissance mission, the Commander seemed to lose control of himself and, in his demented state, crashed in the vicinity of the nuclear-waste domes.
With severe concussion, Koenig was given treatment with an Ellendorf quadrographic brain complex, an experimental machine designed to electronically treat neurological trauma. On regaining consciousness, he was introduced to the 'Earth visitors' and—now immune to their mind control—saw the aliens for what they were and reacted violently to their invasion of Alpha. Unable to see the aliens as anything but friends, his own staff believed him to be unbalanced, sedated him, and placed him in restraints in the Medical Centre.
In reality, Koenig had been controlled by the aliens with the intent of eliminating him in the Eagle crash. Having failed, they made another attempt on his life: Sandstrom, an orderly, was controlled and tried to kill him by corrupting the settings of the brain complex. This was thwarted by the quick action of Doctor Ben Vincent. The aliens successfully disposed of Clive Kander after the records clerk reviewed his video coverage and saw the aliens in their true form on the recording. Under their control, Kander destroyed his office (and the evidence) in an act of violent dementia in which he was killed.
As the staff listens to the gleeful reports from the pilot-ship crew, an alien (who the Alphans see as 'Doctor Shaw', 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....
's medical-school tutor) enters the care unit with the mission to kill Koenig once and for all. A seven-foot-tall, slime-covered heap of putrefying protoplasm slithers across the floor on its tentacles. Approaching the helpless Koenig, it collapses atop him and proceeds to crush the life out of him. As he loses consciousness, this latest murder attempt, too, is foiled when Helena and Maya
Maya (Space: 1999)
Maya is a fictional character who appeared in the second series of the science fiction television program Space: 1999. Played by actress Catherine Schell , Maya was introduced in the second series opener 'The Metamorph'...
enter.
After 'Shaw' exits, the women wake Koenig and attempt to reason with him. They show him footage of the pilot ship in flight; he responds that he sees an Eagle. He then asks Maya if she, too, sees the visitors as Earth people. Her answer disappoints him; he had hoped her different brain structure would give her the ability to resist the aliens' telepathic control. She cites the fact that if he is correct then, by his reckoning, every other person on Alpha is wrong. He speculates that, as the only person to have been treated with the Ellendorf apparatus, his perception could be protected, not distorted.
Removed from direct contact with the aliens (and not prejudiced by the desire to return to Earth), Maya penetrates the mind control. She realises it is impossible that every member of the Earth crew is known to someone on Alpha. If Koenig is right, they obtained their disguises from the Alphans' memories and are projecting them into everyone's consciousness. Helena recounts a conversation with Vincent; he was aware of Koenig's plight during Sandstrom's murder attempt, but it did not register until his fiancée 'Louisa' was distracted. Maya herself witnessed Tony Verdeschi
Tony Verdeschi
Tony Verdeschi is a fictional character who first appeared in the second series of the science fiction television series Space: 1999. He is in his early thirties....
's drawing of names for the pilot-ship crew, which occurred under the close scrutiny of his older brother, 'Guido'.
Koenig then brings up an undeniable fact—they have been travelling in space for over five years; with the time-dilation effect, this equates to the passage of centuries on Earth. All their friends and family should be long dead. Maya is aghast to have not considered this; Koenig replies the aliens would not let her. To test his theory, she agrees to a session with the brain complex. During this, Carter, Bartlett and Ehrlich happily believe the pilot ship has arrived at Earth and has landed at the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
spaceport. In reality, their Eagle touches down in close proximity to the nuclear-waste domes. They disembark, wrapped in the illusion of a triumphant homecoming, while manipulated telepathically to carry out the aliens' sinister tasks.
Maya completes the treatment; looking out into the corridor, she is disgusted to see 'Shaw' and Sandra Benes
Sandra Benes
Sandra 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:...
' fiancé 'Peter Rockwell' as they truly appear. To learn the aliens' motives, she transforms into one. Locating several of the jelloid aliens conversing, the metamorph hovers at the edge of the group and eavesdrops. They soon recognise her as a stranger and pursue her. The Maya/Jelloid rounds a corner and (with some difficulty) reverts to normal form, smiling politely at the repugnant beings as she walks past them.
Returning to Medical, she relates the facts she uncovered. The jelloids are a species that assimilate radiation for sustenance. The ambient radioactivity of their world has been exhausted and they are searching for a new source. On the brink of starvation, the aliens have found the Moon and want the accumulated atomic waste. Koenig would be happy giving them the deadly substance, but Maya reveals they require the intense radiation that would be released by detonating the waste dumps. The aliens consider the Alphans inconsequential life-forms and have no qualms about killing them. As they possess little kinetic energy, they must deceive the Alphans via illusion into performing the act themselves.
Koenig accesses cameras at the nuclear-waste domes and finds the Eagle there. Atomic fuel
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
will be needed to catalyse the reaction; he switches cameras to the atomic fuel storage facility and finds Carter and Erhlich already there to procure the deadly container. A command order is issued to Computer, sealing the door and locking the two men inside. He then tries to commandeer an Eagle to stop the three deluded pawns. He is stopped at the launch pad by Verdeschi and his Security guards, who are made to see him as a dangerous madman.
The security chief confines Koenig to Medical Centre under guard. Maya takes out the guard with a stun-gun blast and she, Koenig and Helena plot to render the entire Alpha population immune to the aliens' control. It would be impossible to treat them all with the Ellendorf process. Helena suggests the use of 'white noise
White noise
White noise is a random signal with a flat power spectral density. In other words, the signal contains equal power within a fixed bandwidth at any center frequency...
', a sonic anaesthetic she uses when drugs are contraindicated; it effectively blocks nerve paths and synapses in the brain. Maya figures it will block the telepathic input of the aliens if broadcast over the public-address system
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
.
They make their way to Command Centre, evading the Security forces bent on killing them, and play the white noise recording. It works as expected, and pandemonium erupts when the staff sees the true identity of their friends and loved ones. Amid the chaos, the aliens suddenly vanish. Koenig knows this is no victory and calls up a picture of the atomic fuel store, where Carter and Ehrlich have cut through the door's lock with a thermal lance. Still under alien control, the two men proceed by moon buggy to the waste domes with the fuel core. Koenig takes Maya and Verdeschi with him in Eagle Five to stop them. Meanwhile, at the waste-dome monitoring depot, Bartlett primes the domes for detonation.
While searching for the moon buggy, Maya reckons the starved aliens are now focusing their waning power on the three men. She guesses they are deriving sustenance from the cumulative minute emissions of radiation from all the electrical equipment on Alpha. Koenig orders all non-essential systems powered down. When they sight the moon buggy, Koenig is lowered down by a harness (as the surface terrain is too unstable to support the Eagle) to intercept them. Believing they are driving through the country with two luscious girls, Carter and Ehrlich see Koenig as a ski-mask-clad maniac. They assault him, disconnecting the tube from his oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
tank.
Maya comes to his rescue in the form of a space animal which can exist in a vacuum. In the mêlée, Ehrlich's spacesuit is breached and he must be taken to Moonbase for medical attention. Carter takes off in the moon buggy and Koenig pursues on foot. Carter arrives at the monitoring depot and welds the airlock door shut. He and Bartlett then proceed through the dome's interior to the core access hatch. Not having the security codes to open the massive lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
hatch, they use the thermal lance to cut into its locking mechanism.
Outside, Koenig arrives, makes his way through a throng of jelloids, and discovers the sealed door. Using the moon buggy as a battering ram, he drives into the door repeatedly and breaks the weld. He wonders how the aliens are still active. Maya surmises that, as the functioning human brain produces electrical energy, they must be drawing on these emissions to keep going at survival level. To reduce this energy source, Koenig orders Helena to render the entire staff unconscious, excluding herself and the chief engineer. Donning a gas mask
Gas mask
A gas mask is a mask put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
, the doctor releases anaesthetic gas into the ventilation system.
At the waste domes, Koenig finds Carter and Bartlett opening the access hatch to the waste storage chamber. He tackles Carter as the astronaut hoists the fuel core into the port. As Bartlett takes the core, he is suddenly free of the jelloids' control and tosses it away in horror. Koenig explains the situation to the bewildered man as he himself restrains the struggling Carter. The alien leader speaks, admitting to Bartlett he has been living an illusion. It asks him was he not happier in this illusion, reunited with his wife and little daughter on Earth, than with the reality of being trapped on the wandering Moon? They can provide a lifetime of joy in an instant of time; would that not be preferable to a miserable existence and death in space?
Bartlett is immobilised by this seductive spiel when Carter breaks free, overwhelms Koenig and actually inserts the fuel core into the access port. Koenig rallies, knocks him out with a right cross and pulls the core out before it is pushed down the chute into the waste mass. The jelloid leader scornfully tells Koenig what a primitive organism he is, throwing away the eternity of happiness they could have experienced in those seconds before dying. He has condemned his people to a cruel and futile existence. As the aliens dissolve into nothingness, Koenig rebutts, 'It is better to live as your own man than as a fool in someone else's dream.'
Returning to Alpha, Koenig and company witness the dissolution of the alien ship. The Commander good-naturedly grouses about running the base with his unconscious staff of ‘sleeping beauties
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
’ just before the events of the last three days catch up with him and he, too, is slumbering in his chair...
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
- Tony AnholtTony AnholtAnthony "Tony" Anholt was a British actor best known for his roles as Security Chief Tony Verdeschi in the second season of Gerry Anderson's television series Space: 1999 , Paul Buchet in The Protectors and as Charles Frere in the highly-successful BBC drama series Howards' Way .Anholt was...
— Tony VerdeschiTony VerdeschiTony Verdeschi is a fictional character who first appeared in the second series of the science fiction television series Space: 1999. He is in his early thirties.... - 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:... - 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:... - Jeffery Kissoon — Doctor Ben Vincent
Guest stars
- Toby RobinsToby RobinsToby Robins was a Canadian actress of film, stage and television.Toby Robins starred in hundreds of radio and stage productions in Canada from the late 1940s through the 1960s, working with such stars as Jane Mallett, Barry Morse, John Drainie, Ruth Springford, James Doohan, and many others...
— Diana Morris - Stuart DamonStuart DamonStuart Damon is an American actor. He is known for thirty years of portraying the character Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera General Hospital, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1999....
— Captain Guido Verdeschi - Jeremy YoungJeremy YoungJeremy Young is a British actor, born in 1934.He has numerous television credits, including Doctor Who , No Hiding Place, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Avengers, The Saint, Department S, Randall and Hopkirk , Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, Softly,...
— Jack Bartlett - Drewe HenleyDrewe HenleyDrewe Henley is a British actor. He had a variety of roles in film, television and theatre including as Red X-Wing Squadron Leader Garven Dreis in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. He retired from acting due to manic depression, from which he has since recovered...
— Joe Ehrlich - Patrick Westwood — Doctor Shaw
- Cher Cameron — Louisa
Also featuring
- Al Lampert — Ken Burdett
- Billy J. Mitchell — Professor Hunter
- Robert Sheedy — Peter Rockwell
Uncredited artists
- Robert Reeves — Peter
- Jenny Cresswell — Female Operative
- David JacksonDavid Jackson (British actor)David Jackson was a British actor best known for his role as Olag Gan in the Blake's 7 first two seasons and as Detective Constable Braithwaite in Z Cars from 1972-1978...
— Alien Voice
Music
The score was re-edited from previous Space: 1999 incidental music tracks composed for the second series by Derek WadsworthDerek Wadsworth
Derek Wadsworth was a British jazz trombonist, session musician, composer and arranger....
and draws primarily from the scores of 'The Metamorph
The Metamorph
"The Metamorph" is the first episode of the second series of Space: 1999 . The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was Charles Crichton. Previous titles were 'The Biological Soul' and 'The Biological Computer'. The final shooting script is dated 19 January 1976...
', 'The Taybor' and 'Space Warp
Space Warp
Space Warp is a fixed shooter arcade game released by Century in 1983.-Gameplay:The game begin with one single shot ship and by destroying various enemy, it is possible to dock with other ships , until a maximum of 3 docked ships obtaining improved fire ratio....
'. A movement of Beethoven's 'Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 5
Symphony No. 5 may refer to:*William Alwyn's Symphony No. 5*Malcolm Arnold's Symphony No. 5*Arnold Bax's Symphony No. 5*Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5*Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 5*Jeffrey Ching's Symphony No. 5, "Jackhammer"...
in C minor' is heard during Bartlett's illusion of listening to the piece on his hi-fi system, while in reality he was preparing the waste domes for detonation.
Production notes
- Atttentive viewers will note that there were only three alien 'jellies' (as they were known in the script) constructed for the production; for crowd scenes, life-sized photographic cut-outs were employed. Cast from latex, the costumes were painted with grease for the slime effect and had artificial blood pumping through fine transparent tubing. Actor David JacksonDavid Jackson (British actor)David Jackson was a British actor best known for his role as Olag Gan in the Blake's 7 first two seasons and as Detective Constable Braithwaite in Z Cars from 1972-1978...
, who had appeared earlier this series under considerable latex appliances as 'Alien Strong' in 'The Rules of Luton', was relieved that there was no special make-up for this role. He read his lines from off-screen while a stuntman sweated under what he recalls as an unwieldy latex 'teepee'. Jackson would gain fame in 1978 for his portrayal of Olag GanOlag GanOlag Gan is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series Blake's 7, played by David Jackson ....
in the Terry NationTerry NationTerry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
science-fiction series Blake's 7Blake's 7Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
.
- In the broadcast version of this episode, Helena's status report used to re-cap the previous episode mentioned the date as '2515 days' after leaving orbit; the shooting script clearly has the date typed correctly as '1915 days'. It has been speculated that actress 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...
simply misread or misspoke the line; however, when viewing the compilation movie Destination: Moonbase Alpha released by ITCITC EntertainmentThe Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
London in 1978, the line in question is spoken by Bain as '1915 days' in this version. (For continuity's sake, the 'correct' 1915-day notation was used for this synopsis.)
- Many publicity shots of 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...
and the unidentified actress playing his illusory companion were taken in the Pinewood StudiosPinewood StudiosPinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
gardens and surrounding grounds during the shooting of their scenes.
Novelisation
The episode was adapted in the fourth Year Two Space: 1999 novel The Psychomorph by Michael ButterworthMichael Butterworth
Michael Butterworth is a British author and publisher who has written many novels and short stories, particularly in the genre of science fiction...
published in 1977. The author would make the jelly aliens the psychically-synthesised minions of a massive non-corporeal space amoeba (which was also the unseen antagonist in the previous segment 'The Lambda Factor
The Lambda Factor
"The Lambda Factor" is the nineteenth episode of the second series of Space: 1999 . The screenplay was written by Terrance Dicks; the director was Charles Crichton. The final shooting script is dated 6 August 1976, with amendments dated 2 September, 15 September, 27 September, 28 September, 29...
'). The sentient amoeba was dying and required a massive influx of radiation to rejuvenate itself. It would manipulate the Alphans with the lambda-wave effect to provide the explosion that would be its salvation.
In the 2003 novel The Forsaken written by John Kenneth Muir
John Kenneth Muir
John Kenneth Muir is an American literary critic. He has written twenty-one reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular accent on the horror and science fiction genres....
, it is stated the events of this story were one of the consequences of the death of the eponymous intelligence depicted in ‘Space Brain’. The Brain provided the radiation required for the jelloid aliens' survival; after its death, the jelloid beings would being searching for alternate sources of sustenance.
External links
- Space: 1999 - 'The Bringers of Wonder, Part Two' - The Catacombs episode guide
- Space: 1999 - 'The Bringers of Wonder, Part Two' - Moonbase Alpha's Space: 1999 page
| Last produced: "The Bringers of Wonder, Part One The Bringers of Wonder, Part One "The Bringers of Wonder, Part One" is the seventeenth episode of the second series of Space: 1999 . The screenplay was written by Terence Feely; the director was Tom Clegg. The final shooting script is dated 23 June 1976... " |
List of Space: 1999 episodes | Next produced: "The Lambda Factor The Lambda Factor "The Lambda Factor" is the nineteenth episode of the second series of Space: 1999 . The screenplay was written by Terrance Dicks; the director was Charles Crichton. The final shooting script is dated 6 August 1976, with amendments dated 2 September, 15 September, 27 September, 28 September, 29... " |
| Last transmitted: "The Bringers of Wonder, Part One The Bringers of Wonder, Part One "The Bringers of Wonder, Part One" is the seventeenth episode of the second series of Space: 1999 . The screenplay was written by Terence Feely; the director was Tom Clegg. The final shooting script is dated 23 June 1976... " |
Next transmitted: "The Seance Spectre The Seance Spectre "The Seance Spectre" is the twentieth episode of the second series of Space: 1999 . The screenplay was written by Donald James; the director was Peter Medak. The original title was 'The Mutiny'. The final shooting script is dated 16 September 1976... " |