Catacombs of the Moon
| Original Title |
The Catacombs Of The Moon |
| Belgium (Flemish) |
Maancatacomben |
|
| Spain |
Las catacumbas de la Luna |
The catacombs of the moon |
| France/Canada |
Les catacombes de la Lune |
The Catacombs Of The Moon |
| Germany |
Gegen die Zeit |
Against Time |
| Italy |
Il Tiranium |
The Tiranium |
| Japan |
S.O.S., The Moon is a Hell!
|
| Portugal |
Catacumbas na Lua |
Catacombs On The Moon |
| Portugal |
O Visionário |
The Visionary |
Dr. Helena Russell wages a desperate fight for the life of a girl whose husband has visions of Alpha being destroyed by fire...visions made all the more ominous when a fire storm sweeps towards the moon. ITC summary
- Shooting script titled The Catacombs Of The Moon dated 18th May 1976. Revised 26 May, 9th June, 14 June, 17 June.
- A "Double Up Helena" script, filmed simultaneously with The AB Chrysalis. Filmed from Monday 21st June 1976- Tuesday 6th July (12 days).
- From 23rd June 1976, UK experienced a real heatwave, with temperatures 30 C or above from this date until 8 July.
- During filming the dream sequence with Michelle in bed surrounded by fire (Friday July 2nd), the fire got out of control. The fire brigade was called and production was closed for two days.
Normal fire cannot burn in space, but they could be colliding with a proto-star or dense gas cloud, the gravity of which would heat up the gases. It would also create the shockwaves and explosions seen.
The first artificial heart was implanted in a patient in 1983. Complete mechanical hearts can damage red blood cells and are vulnerable to infection. More success has been found with small titanium pumps sewn directly into the left ventricle, a type that was used for the first successful long term artificial heart patient in 2000. The first entirely internal artificial heart (with no leads or pumps) was implanted in 2001. The box-like device in this episode looks more like a pacemaker than a blood pump. The operation and post operative care look nothing like modern medical procedures (especially putting a man covered in blood and dirt next to a patient recovering from a major operation).
- The Moon's surface temperature is said to rise to 40 Centigrade, and a temperature gauge shows 45. This is a hot day on Earth- the upper range of hot deserts, occasionally experienced in Europe and North America in summer heatwaves. The average daytime temperatures on the Moon in Earth orbit reach 120 Centigrade. Just after the episode finished filming, starting on 23 June 1976, a heatwave settled over England, with temperatures over 30 C for over 2 weeks, with 5 days around the start of July reaching over 35 C.
- The catacombs are also seen but not so named in Mark Of Archanon. Most caves on Earth are formed by water, which is not present on the moon. They are too small and uneven to be excavated by modern mining methods. They may be lava tubes. These are formed as the surface lava cools and insulates lava flowing in channels under it. The best known examples on Earth are in Hawaii, and the Craters Of The Moon National Monument, Idaho, USA. They can meander like a river, and typically have flat floors and roofs. As there is no geothermal heat on the Moon the air would freeze against the rock walls. The first evidence of lava tubes on the moon was discovered in 2010.
- Cats cannot see in pitch dark. They can see in much poorer light than humans as their eyes have a reflective layer behind the retina (the tapetum lucidum) which bounces back light to the optic nerve. This also makes the eyes of cats and other nocturnal animals glow in the dark. But there is no light at all in the caves. Only radar-like sound would allow a creature to navigate in a cave, so Michael Butterworth's adaption of the story had Maya change into a bat-like alien.
1196 days after leaving Earth orbit (Sun 22 Dec 2002)
0 fatalities.
Alpha Technology:
- Alpha has a store of heat sensitive Hyper-nitro. Luckily it hasn't detonated in all the violent breakaways, collision courses, space battles and space warps they have endured thus far.
- The unit which tests the artificial heart is the Ellendorf Quadrographic Brain Complex later to be seen in Bringers Of Wonder part 1 and also in The Lambda Factor.
Eagle 1 (Koenig)
Alsatian dog, tiger
None
Aliens:
None
Props:
When Osgood is asleep in bed, in the shelf above his head is a bottle of Taybor's "essence of the planet Hermosia" perfume from The Taybor.
Footage:
- Shot of two technicians gassing the Golos capsule is reused from The Exiles
- Shot of a moonbuggy driving towards the lunar hills (SFX) is reused from The Taybor
- Shot of an Eagle landing on a steaming launch pad is reused from The A B Chrysalis
In the first scene of Act 3 we see guards searching the catacombs; in fact one of the figures is Tony, as this is a scene from later in the episode.
- The emphasis on faith (and the plot device of a space collision) echoes the episode Collision Course also by Anthony Terpiloff.
- The guard played by Brendan Price is named Morgan, according to his ID badge.
External Links
Episode Guide 
Year 2 - Episode 11 
