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Earth's runaway moon is passing another possibly inhabitable planet - so Moonbase Alpha's commander Koenig (Martin Landau) has the command room sealed off to discuss the planet only with his closest staff to avoid encouraging and then crushing hope in the Alphans yet again. And as it turns out his notion was right, as he almost doesn't return from a scouting flight thanks to poisonous gases and is only saved by his co-pilot, shapeshifter Maya (Catherine Schell), who turns into a jungle to absorb the gases just in time. Thing is, while it's scientifically proven that the planet uninhabitable, and at least for another 50 million years, there is a miner, Sanderson (Ken Hutchison), who has a vision that the planet can in fact support life, and he thinks Koenig is supressing that fact because down on a planet he wouldn't have any power anymore and thus does everything to keep everyone on Alpha. And he has gathered a very small group (Carolyn Seymour, Nigel Pegram, James Snell) around him to confront Koenig. And even if they are a mere foursome, they can be quite bothersome - that is when they're not having another seance, during which Sanderson has (or claims to have) more visions of the planet.

But there's a bigger problem facing Alpha: on its current course, the moon would crash with the planet in question. The only solution would be to blow up one of the nuclear waste dumps (a big no-no only last episode) to alter the course of the moon. This would of course mean everyone has to evacuate the moon temporarily, which mostly isn't a problem, but of course, until the very end, Sanderson and company are a nuisance every step along the way.

Now the evacuation of the moon serves as a brilliant excuse for extensive featuring of the show's miniature work that still holds up today - but the rest of the episode isn't nearly as interesting, it's basically lacking on the motivation department: The audience never gets an idea why Sanderson thinks they're approaching an inhabitable planet - and in that connection, the seances seem particularly odd. Also, a group of no more than four shouldn't be a problem for the base's security. Also because none of the rebels have ever been seen before in the series (or will be seen again), their actions invoke little emotional reaction in the audience (a problem this episode shares with many others), thus the viewer, knowing the story will end happily, will know whatever they do has little consequence. Also, that the very thing that would have spelt doom just last episode, The Bringers of Wonder, should save the moon now is kind of an odd choice. That said, fans of the series or of 1970s sci-fi in general will find plenty to enjoy, it's just not one of the better episodes of the show.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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