Episode GuideITC Press Release: The Seance Spectre
Episode GuideSYNOPSIS
A new planet is sighted, but is it habitable? By holding a seance, one of Alpha's crew becomes convinced that it is and tries to force commander Koenig to evacuate all Alphans onto "this new, green land.".....
When planet Tora is sighted, commander Koenig (MARTIN LANDAU) realises that while it might be habitable, it is probably just another false alarm. What he does know for sure, however, is that it has suddenly shifted position, putting it on a collision course with Moonbase Alpha. He puts the Command Centre off limits and switches off all outside TV screens. This angers a small group of Alphans, led by Sanderson (KEN HUTCHINSON), and while Koenig is out in an Eagle they take over the Command Centre by using their laser guns. Sanderson then orders his girlfriend, Eva (CAROLYN SEYMOUR), Cernik (NIGEL PEGRAM) and Stevens (JAMES SNELL) to link hands and he holds a seance. He tells them that he can see lots of trees and plants on the planet, and rivers and green grass. Tora is definitely habitable.
Koenig then returns and resumes command, ordering Sanderson and the others to be confined for a medical report, but Sanderson breaks out of the medical centre and accuses Koenig of not wanting to find a habitable planet for fear of losing his dictator-like control over the Moonbase. In rejecting this, Koenig decides to take a closer look at Tora and have his Eagle tracked by the main Alpha computer, so everyone can see what he finds. Once again, he confines Sanderson and Eva to the Medical Centre where Dr. Helena Russell (BARBARA BAIN) investigates her theory of greensickness, a condition brought about by Moonbase Alpha's lack of earth-type greenery.
Sanderson won't accept this and with Eva's help he breaks out again. They go to the main computer room and damage it, forcing the eagle carrying Koenig and Maya (CATHERINE SCHELL) to crash-land on Tora. They are unharmed and the eagle not severely damaged, but they find that Tora is just a dustbowl and very short of oxygen. On alpha, Tony Verdeschi (TONY ANHOLT) and Alan Carter (NICK TATE) manage to get the Eagle's engines started again by remote control but the oxygen plant has been severely damaged. In order to create more air for Koenig, Maya transforms herself into a large clump of bushes.
Once back on Alpha, Koenig decides that the only way to avoid a collision with Tora is to blast the Moonbase off course by detonating the nuclear waste dumps. In order to avoid loss of life he orders a complete evacuation of the Moonbase. He calls up Sanderson and offers him a final chance for survival - get on one of the evacuating Eagles or be blown to atoms on Alpha. Eva and the others are now having serious doubts about Sanderson's seances and his predictions for the new planet. They decide to vote on whether to stay with him or take Koenig's advice. All except Sanderson vote to evacuate.
Koenig and Maya are the last two remaining in the Command Centre, where they are surprised by Sanderson, who knocks Koenig out with a laser gun and threatens to kill Maya if the evacuating Eagles don't orbit Tora prior to landing on the planet. Eva pleads with the now demented Sanderson who tries to kill Koenig, but Maya turns into a space monster and over powers him. However, as soon as she reverts back to herself he escapes and disappears. Maya then flies the now recovered Koenig to the nuclear waste dumps in an Eagle and he goes out onto the moon to set up the explosives. High above the surface, in another Eagle, Verdeschi, Dr. Russell, Carter and others scan the moon's surface for Sanderson. And as Koenig prepares the explosives that will trigger the nuclear explosion, Sanderson rises from behind some rocks, a laser rifle at his shoulder and Commander Koenig in his sights.....
"SPACE 1999" - SERIES II
CAST LIST
EPISODE NO. 20 - "THE SEANCE SPECTRE"
DIRECTOR: PETER MEDAK
KOENIG - MARTIN LANDAU
HELENA - BARBARA BAIN
MAYA - CATHERINE SCHELL
VERDESCHI - TONY ANHOLT
CARTER - NICK TATE
SAHN - ZIENIA MERTON
SANDERSON - KEN HUTCHINSON
EVA - CAROLYN SEYMOUR
CERNIK - NIGEL PEGRAM
Thanks to Allen Barnella