Episode Guide

• Background
• Cast/Sets
• SFX
• Music
• Science
• Continuity
• Errors
• Observations
• Links
• Transcript
• Images

The AB Chrysalis

A planet on which people enter a chrysalis stage when they reach their allotted span.... Reborn, they attain new heights of mental and physical perfection...but for Moonbase Alpha, the planet threatens disaster. ITC summary

Background

• Shooting script titled The Chrysalis A B C dated 18th May 1976. Yellow page revisions June 30th (during filming, from 18th June-6th July).
• A "Double Up Koenig" script, filmed simultaneously with Catacombs Of The Moon
• Shooting schedule (now titled "The A-B Chrysalis") issued 14 June 1976 (although page 3 is dated 12 June), scheduled from 18th June to 1st July (10 days, with 23rd June an extended day).
• Filming (as "The A-B Chrysalis") Friday 18th June - Tuesday 6th July (13 days; 23rd was a regular day)

SFX

• The spheres were 5ft (1.5m) tall, so big that Martin Bower couldn't get them out of his workshop door; he had to saw through the door frame. The spheres were reused as the waste domes in Bringers Of Wonder
• The effect of the final explosion is also used in Space Warp.
• The voice probes were fibreglass and blown by compressed air. They were filmed at 4 times normal speed (96 frames a second) and reversed, so the voice probes bounce in slow motion up to the stands. In some shots the stand wobbles before the probe reaches it. There is only one shot of the actors and probes together.
• The DVDs contains behind-the-scenes footage taken at Bray Studios during the filming of this episode (especially the Eagle landing on the planet), with a commentary by Brian Johnson.
• SFX storyboards

Music

• ITC Music Cue Sheet

Science

• Chlorine is a greenish yellow gas, a very powerful oxidising agent that is highly toxic to all life. It is like oxygen in that it burns with very exothermic reactions, so it is possible that another type of life could evolve to breathe it. Naturally it is rarely released (like oxygen), so a chlorine atmosphere must be created by an evolved biosphere (as Earth's atmosphere was). It is unlikely that lifeforms so identical to humans would evolve, so similar as to be attracted to Koenig.
• Alan collapses and is unconscious for some time. This probably means permanent lung damage. Chlorine attacks the capillary blood vessels in the lungs, causing the lung tissue to inflate into a wet spongy mass through which gas exchange is not possible (a condition called pulmonary oedema); the victim suffocates to death. It was used this way in gas attacks in World War I.
• Although some animals undergo metamorphosis from a larval to an adult form, the aliens use it to rejuvenate and have a long lifespan suggesting it is an artificial hibernation.
• Explosions at regular 12 hour intervals do not necessarily suggest intelligence- as the Alphans prove by slipping past the defence easily. The explosions actually draw attention to the planet.
• Electric charges cannot travel through the vacuum of space. The effects suggest a real explosion with a slower-than-light debris shockwave.
• Maya calculates their ETA to 2 decimal points of a second- absurd precision which takes longer to say.
• The orbit of the moons is never completely regular. Each moon is subject to gravitational tidal forces and the gravity of the sun and other moons, causing the different types of precession (axial, apsidal and nodal). There is also tidal acceleration over time, eventually leading to tidal locking. The "shockwave" forces would also have to continually adjust the orbits of the moons to keep them in regular orbits. Thanks to John Day.

Continuity

Chronology:

1288 days after leaving Earth orbit (Mon 24 Mar 2003)

Alpha Personnel:

0 fatalities.

Alpha Technology:

Eagles:

Eagle 1 (Koenig)

• The Eagle laser turret is used. It is also seen in The Seance Spectre and Devil's Planet. The laser controls are the same as Osgood's trigger in Catacombs of The Moon. It is different to the one in The Seance Spectre, which was also used to control the Research Station laser in The Exiles.
• The forward view screen is seen for the first time. It is also seen in Seed Of Destruction, Space Warp, Bringers Of Wonder part 2, The Seance Spectre and Devil's Planet.
• One scene shows eleven Eagles in one shot. Four have booster pods.

Maya transformations:

Kreno animal

Planets:

Unnamed planet

Aliens:

A, B, C, guardian, all humanoids

Props:

Footage:

• Pan over Alphan buildings is reused from The Exiles
• Shot of a corridor explosion and the wreckage inside is reused from The Exiles
• Shot of an Eagle landing on a steaming launch pad is reused in Catacombs Of The Moon
• Weapons Section shot zooming into a screen saying "Evacuate" is from Brian The Brain

Cast:

• Robert Rietty also dubbed the voice of Luke Ferro in Testament Of Arkadia

Errors

See more observations

Observations

• Tony is absent (filming Catacombs Of The Moon). Tony Anholt is uncredited, and no-one mentions Verdeschi. Moonbase policies on leave must be exceptional if even the destruction of Alpha can't bring him back on duty.
• At the end, Helena questions Koenig about "those women on the planet. Beautiful and naked, I understand." and he claims he didn't really notice. In the script she throws her commlock at him.

These shots never appeared in the episode- Koenig wears his jacket throughout on screen.

Merchandise:

• Novelised in Planets Of Peril by Michael Butterworth published by Star (UK paperback), Allan Wingate (UK hardback), Warner (US), Bastei (Germany), Mikasa (Japan) and re-edited in Year Two (Powys, 2006).
• Novelised in Il Ritorno Degli Ibernati by Gianni Padoan (AMZ).
• UK video: ITC volume 16 (1993)
• UK DVD: Carlton (2001)
• UK Blu-ray: Network (2015)
• US video: Columbia House volume 3 (1997)
• US laserdisc: Image Entertainment volume 18 (1991)
• US DVD: A&E (2002)
• US Blu-ray: Shout! Factory (2019)
• Australia DVD: Magna Pacific (2003)
• Japan DVD: Pioneer (2001)
• France DVD: TF1 (2002)
• Germany DVD: EMS (2005)
• Germany DVD: Sunrise Entertainment / Crest (2013)
• Germany Blu-ray (SD): Crest (2012)
• Germany Blu-ray (HD): Fernsehjuwelen (2016)
• Italy DVD: Pulp Video (2004)
• Italy DVD: Collector's Edition Mondo Home (2007)

Links

• Images
  • High Definition Images
  • Publicity Images
• Transcript Copyright Martin Willey
• More observations
• Critics comments Chris Bentley, Anthony McKay, John Kenneth Muir et al
• Panini story summary

External Links

• FAB #63 (July 2009); The Midas Touch: AB Chrysalis review by Peter Dolphin p24-27
• Ken Scott's episode guide
• Mailing List discussion