These EpisodesVoyager's Return
These EpisodesFrom the These Episodes documentary originally on the 2005 Network DVD boxset.
They see this object returning through the sky, and it's the Voyager. It's got a lethal power thrust that contaminates everything, you know millions of square miles of space. And it was only meant to ignite when it was well away from inhabited areas. In fact there had been an accident and many people had been killed, among them Morrow's father and the assistant of this man, played by Jeremy Kemp.
The ship is coming close to them, which will annihilate moonbase. And suddenly they discover that the person who created, after whom it's named, the Queller drive, is actually a fugitive scientist among their company.
Now he stepped forward out of deep cover. Says I can stop this, I can switch it off. And when Morrow and this young man who'd idolised him, realise who he is, the person who did in effect killed their fathers, of course there's dreadful upset and conflict.
Jeremy was none too keen on on wearing that tight fitting alpha cossie, so I think he got the overall and the pockets. I think that was the first departure when anybody wasn't just in that very, very stark outfit.
And this man, played by Jeremy Kemp, he's like one of those tortured Nazis. Or even Oppenheimer, the man who invented or created, was responsible for the atomic bomb that was ultimately dropped on Japan. These people are haunted by the advances that they had made in technology; the evil that they created has lived on. And this evil that this man is created despite all the wonderful technological advances, had lived on.
The Alphans have a choice, do we destroy this thing which is returning from a voyage that may have unbelievable knowledge in it data banks? Bergman believes that knowledge is an end in itself, and Helena believes, what about the people? Meanwhile the two bereaved sons of the people who died are saying "we want his guts". So the whole thing in the play-off with this. And the dramatic issues.
Voyager's Return was an interesting story, because the Voyager was sent out into, and it would have symbols on it that would allow people to appreciate where we're at, technologically and so on. Without a thought, whatsoever. Because their intentions were good. We believe that our results would be good. You play that back through history, you see where that goes.
There is a situation where we sent so called civilization to indigenous peoples everywhere and they can be the cause of their death, not their life. When you talk about the Mandan Indians and people like that, they were wiped out in the millions. It really hard for mankind in general, having forever failed to understand and learn from my mistakes. We're forever doomed to repeat them.
Contents copyright Martin Willey