Earthbound
| Denmark |
Retur til Jorden? |
Return to Earth? |
16 Jan 1977 |
| France/Canada |
Direction Terre |
Direction: Earth |
16 Oct 1976 |
| Germany |
Captain Zantor |
Captain Zantor |
12 Mar 1978 |
| Italy |
Destinazione obbligata: Terra |
Obligatory Destination: Earth |
7 Feb 1976 |
| Japan |
No Return to the Earth! |
10 Apr 1977 |
| Netherlands |
Aan de aarde gebonden |
Bound to the Earth |
11 Aug 1978 |
| Portugal |
Rumo à Terra |
Course To Earth |
12 Mar 1977 |
| South Africa |
Bestemming, Die Arde |
Destination Earth |
27 Jan 1978 |
| Spain |
Rumbo a la Tierra |
En route to Earth |
7 Oct 1976 |
| Sweden |
I Riktning mot Jorden |
At course for Earth |
8 Dec 1977 |
| Hungary |
Irány a Föld! |
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14 Apr 1977 |
| USA (New York) |
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28 Feb 1976 |
| USA (San Francisco) |
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14 Feb 1976 |
| UK (ATV) |
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4 Dec 1975 |
| UK (LWT) |
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6 Dec 1975 |
Representatives from a dying planet land on the moon. Their spacecraft has been programmed to take them to Earth. Is this an opportunity for key Moonbase personnel to return to Earth? Commander Koenig is faced with unexpected drama. ITC summary
- Story outline "The Earthbounders" undated. See To Everything That Might Have Been by Wood, Hirsch (2022) pages 149-153
- Script undated. Filmed 15th March to 1st April 1974
- Keith Wilson:
I had a little problem with Christopher Lee on Earthbound. In the first series, l had more of a total control over the make-up, the hair, the costume, particularly with our aliens. I would always design the alien, in whatever form, even if it was Christopher Lee. I designed his out of it, and of course, when creating an alien like this, you're designing the makeup as well, so I would work with the make-up and hair departments. We built his nose up, I wanted it absolutely straight, but he didn't want this, he was not happy about having this on his face. And after the first day's shooting, they removed the make-up, and it took the skin off his nose!
- When Zantor stands up in the Kaldorian ship, he stands on an apple box so he towers over Koenig and the other Alphans. (Christopher Lee is 6 foot 4 inches tall; all the Kaldorians were supposed to be over 6 foot 6 inches tall).
- The Kaldorian ship was built by Space Models in two sizes. It is a relatively basic model, with a simple shape unlike the intricate and well-worn Martin Bower designs seen later. The SFX crew called it the "humming top". The landing reveals how difficult it was to film. The design is similar to the spaceship in the 1982 Spielberg film "E.T." In September 2009, the large model sold on an ebay auction for £2052.
- A number of publicity shots showing the ship in the Eagle hangar were taken; the high angle usually shows the distant Eagles are cardboard cut-outs. In the episode the views are from a low angle and look more convincing.
- Perhaps because it was the first alien spaceship of the series it was made into a tiny die-cast toy by LJN Road Stars.
- Kaldorian ship model photos
- Library Special Effects
- Eagle hangar publicity shots
- Library track Thunderbirds "The Imposters" by Barry Gray (slowed down in this episode)
- ITC Music Cue Sheet
- Alpha has sensors that detect life signs. How?
- "Activate gravity control and atmosphere." Obviously the Eagle pod can extend an artificial gravity field. If the interior of the Kaldorian ship is at ambient gravity, why doesn't Simmonds float when he is encased at the end of the episode?
- This episode is definitely pre-Another Time, Another Place as it is stated "We're not even sure the Earth still exists." But did the Kaldorian ship follow the Moon through the Black Sun? If 2074 is 75 years in the future, it is still 1999.
1 left Alpha: Simmonds (presumably deceased).
- There is a guard called Tony- but he is played by Tony Allyn, not Tony Anholt (he appears in most Year 1 episodes, but this is the only time he is named).
Alpha Technology:
- Victor uses an instrument that is based on a Braun HLD 6/61 hair-dryer to scan the Kaldorian ship hull (the 1971 model, designed by Jurgen Greubel). Presumably it is supplying data to Kano's Spectro X analysis.
- Simmonds uses a stun gun with a piece of black tape over the middle. Possibly this is to disguise a damaged prop in close ups.
- This is the first episode to lose the steps up the viewports in Main Mission.
- The nuclear power station is the same set as the Main Power Unit in Black Sun- actually a revamp of Koenig's office.
- We briefly see a gravity tower.
- There is a Command Conference finishing at the start of the episode. At the end of the episode there is another meeting with Koenig, Helena, Bergman and Mathias at the conference table.
Eagle 1 (Alan, Rescue); 2 (Rescue). The first appearance of the red striped pods. There is a rare view of the docking tube, which uniquely has a corrugated seal. A winch pod is seen in the Eagle hangar.
None. We learn about the dying planet Kaldor.
Aliens:
Kaldorians
Props:
- In the Eagle vacuum chamber, Koenig is holding the Geiger counter seen in Breakaway (now with leads attached).
- The Kaldorian round door is reused in Arra's ship in Collision Course
Footage:
- This is the first episode to feature a shot of Barry Morse in the titles.
As Zantor lies down in the casket at the end of the episode, his wig falls off revealing dark hair beneath.
When Simmonds is battering his casket, at the end of the shot we briefly see beyond two aliens- one turns his head round, the other sits up. The director had probably called "cut" but the editor decided to use slightly more of the shot.
- The first "big name" star, Christopher Lee. Also a change in story direction, from science fiction mysteries to relatively straightforward storytelling with a twist at the end.
- The Kaldorians in their multi-coloured kaftans and pacifist philosophy seem to be intended to be space hippies- perhaps wisely the episode shows them aloof and dignified, although a little cold (Zantor's attraction to Helena is suggested in the vaguest possible terms.)
- A reprise role for Simmonds, last seen in Breakaway.
- How did Simmonds get his stun gun? One explanation (from Chris Moore) is that Koenig's commlock gives access to areas where guns are stored, such as an Eagle or armoury.
- In February 1993 to promote the UK video release of this episode, Christopher Lee appeared on The Little Picture Show and was interviewed by Mariella Frostrup about the episode (Transcript here).
- During filming of this episode, on 13 March 1974, a special "fake" scene was shot in Main Mission, with Prentis Hancock, Zienia Merton, Mike Stevens and Lesley Stamp, and Dotrice. Dotrice was surprised to be the subject in the popular TV programme This Is Your Life (broadcast 7pm 20 March, 1974). More.
As the first episode featuring an alien spaceship, the Kaldorian ship was widely used in merchandising. Christopher Lee's Zantor was also popular.
External Links
Episode Guide
Year 1 - Episode 5 
