New Adam New Eve
A saintly, impressive figure claims to be God, the creator of mankind. He offers Koenig and his companions a new Earth, a new Eden, where life can begin again. But who is he really? What are the fantastic powers he possesses? ITC summary
- Shooting script dated 29th April 1976. Filmed 2 June-18 June 1976
Originally the SFX crew intended to use stop motion for the cave animals, but time and expense forced them to use the small lizards (they have green and yellow mottling with black stripes on their back).
History
- Magus is the singular of Magi, the Latinized form of Maogi, an ancient Greek transliteration of the original Iranian word. The word is the root of the English word "magic". The Magi were the priestly caste of Zoroastria in ancient Media and Persia. They were reputed to possess supernatural powers. The New Testament (Matthew) says the wise men who visit the infant Christ were Magi.
- "I was Simon Magus, who offered to buy the Nazarene's powers from his Apostles." The story is Acts chapter 8 and 9.
- "I was Merlin." The magician in Arthurian legend is derived from several figures in Celtic mythology, especially the Welsh magician Myrddin.
- "I was Nostradamus" Michel de Nostrame (1503-1566) was a French doctor who wrote a book called "Centuries" in 1555 predicting the future. Some people have interpreted his highly obscure and vague verses as predicting world war II and catastrophic events in 1999.
- "I was the magician in Ancient Egypt who contested in magic with Moses." The reference is Exodus chapter 7 to chapter 9. The Pharaoh summons a group of Egyptian magicians and sorcerers to reproduce the miracles of Moses and Aaron. They succeeded in turning their staffs into snakes, the Nile into blood and created a plague of frogs, but they cannot duplicate a plague of gnats and are then themselves afflicted with terrible boils.
Technology
- The light decelerator sounds like a solar cell, which converts light into electricity. Slowing light down is easy but brings no particular benefits. James Maxwell showed in the 1800s that the speed of light depends on the square root of the ratio of the electric and magnetic permeabilities of a particular medium. Thus it travels about 30% slower through glass. In 1998 Dr. Lene Hau prepared a Bose-Einstein condensate by cooling sodium atoms to less than 1 billionth of a degree above Absolute Zero. The index of refraction was so high inside this new state of matter that the speed of light inside it was about 38 miles/hour.
- The magnetic field cocoons would not just repel Koenig from Helena but would attract (not in a romantic sense) Koenig to Maya- and Tony.
- The secret of the creation of life is more likely to be found in proto-Earth conditions, not in advanced mammals (unless he is actually interested in reproduction).
- His powers are strangely limited- he can stop a planet breaking apart but strains to stop Alan's Eagle taking off.
1095 days after leaving Earth orbit (Thu 12 Sep 2002)
0 fatalities.
Alpha Technology:
Eagle 1 (Alan); 4 (Koenig)
- The passenger module has all seating with no computer wall. Note the seats face the back of the ship!
- We see more strap-on boosters attached to the Eagle. Only the near side ones are detailed, the far side boosters are only rough EMA shapes.
Owl, fan-eyed alien.
This is the first episode where Maya's ears are pink, not brown.
New Earth
Aliens:
Ape creatures and humanoid, created by Magus.
Footage:
- The shot of Maya transforming into an owl is seen in flashback in Devil's Planet
When the stun gun magically transports from Koenig to Magus, a bare arm is briefly seen moving out of frame, having placed the gun in Magus's palm. This is cut from the Network 2015 Blu-ray release, but appeared on all previous releases.
Another change made in the restoration (more minor and less objectionable) is the addition of Tony's laser beam in the caves (see observations)
After his gun disappears, Koenig looks at his empty hand and lowers his arm. When the gun reappears, he is posed precisely the same as when the gun disappeared. Thanks to Martin Daoust.
- The influences are the Eden legend, here as a positive story (mankind asserts his independence), and H G Wells Dr Moreau, a man who played god by creating animals.
- It also strongly recalls the 1967 Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?", featuring a god-like being who addresses the crew as "beloved children" and insists selected members stay on his planet to worship him. After zapping someone, he retreats to another side of the planet to recover. The crew escape by destroying the energy source that gives him great powers.
- Magus calls religion "works of fiction" and the message of the story is anti-religious, but he takes his name from Zoroastrian priests and his previous "incarnations" have tried to find the secrets of the Judeo-Christian god.
- Both Martin Landau and Guy Rolfe both played the role of the High Priest Caiaphas. Rolfe played him in the 1961 film King of Kings and Landau played him in the 1965 film The Greatest Story Ever Told. Thanks to Chris Moore.
External Links
Episode Guide
Year 2 - Episode 10 
