The Continuity GuideDefence
by Martin Willey
The Continuity Guide
Moonbase Defence Systems are controlled from the Weapons Section, administered by Petrov. It is seen in The Metamorph, The Taybor, The Beta Cloud (Brian The Brain and The A B Chrysalis feature one shot of a Weapons Section screen flashing "Evacuate")
The base has various protective force fields, highlighted in Black Sun. They may be singular or plural and have various names ("defence shields" in The Metamorph, The Exiles, The Dorcons; "defence screens" in The Last Enemy; "meteorite screens" in Another Time, Another Place & War Games; "radiation screens" in Collision Course, The Dorcons).
Named as either "laser batteries" (The Metamorph, The Dorcons), "main lasers" (The Exiles) or "surface lasers" (The Dorcons). Not available in Year 1 (eg Alpha Child, The Last Enemy), these guns rise from underground silos amongst lunar hills. They are only fired in The Beta Cloud & The Dorcons. There are two library shots:
b1. Gun rises amongst hills, a capsule on hill right (an "Into Infinity" satellite, also seen in The Metamorph graveyard), and a round building beyond with an aerial rotating on it (from Breakaway). The Metamorph, Seed Of Destruction, The Bringers Of Wonder part 1, The Dorcons.
b2. Gun rises from a low platform. The Beta Cloud, The Bringers Of Wonder part 1, The Dorcons.
Two other designs of gun are seen in The Dorcons, mounted on Alpha buildings. One is obviously a missile launcher from the Deltan ship in The Last Enemy, the other built from a "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" flying sub.
Three designs were used in The Infernal Machine. At least 2 were destroyed. They fired purple beams. They are also glimpsed in "This Episode" clips of The Last Enemy and the Eagle hangar in Space Warp.
Presumably they are service and construction vehicles which have been re-purposed with laser weaponry.
Some Eagles were laser equipped (seen in Black Sun, Alpha Child, End Of Eternity, The Infernal Machine & The Mark Of Archanon). See more.
A top mounted laser turret was also seen in The A B Chrysalis, Devil's Planet & The Seance Spectre.
Remote controlled Eagles could be packed with nuclear charges (Space Brain, The Metamorph) and sent to destroy a target.
Carried by Eagles, these can be deployed in space or on asteroids (Collision Course). Neither are used again, though two different sizes of nuclear charge can be seen in the The Metamorph graveyard.
In Brian The Brain Tony calls Weapons Section to target the Swift with missiles. This is the only time missiles are mentioned- normally we see energy weapons.
Copyright Martin Willey