The Catacombs The Production Guide
Martin Landau archives
Summary of Executive Meetings

This summary was written by script editor Johnny Byrne, probably in July 1975, after the first series had completed and while they were waiting for a decision on the second series. It is 6 pages long.

SUMMARY OF EXECUTIVE MEETINGS RELATING TO "SPACE 1999"

Once the good sales news on the first series of "SPACE 1999" was received, immediate planning began on ways and means of improving a possible second series. With this end in, view, numerous meetings, too many to document here, took place between March and June of this year. Among those consulted, singly and in groups, were the regular writing team, potential new writers, science fiction authors who had written books based on the scripts, artistes and technical crew. The widest possible spectrum of opinion was canvassed, and all this activity culminated in a day-long meeting at Pinewood Studios to define the precise nature of the improvements that could be made. Those present at this meeting included the Executive Producer, Gerry Anderson, Story Editor Johnny Byrne, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, regular writers, special effects Director Brian Johnson, and Floor Director Charles Crichton. After intensive discussion and analysis, certain conclusions were reached. These conclusions are summarised as follows:-

The "science fiction authors who had written books based on the scripts" were E C Tubb and John Rankine. There are some people who were not present, mainly as they were working on other productions: co-star Barry Morse, producer Sylvia Anderson, story consultant Christopher Penfold and designer Keith Wilson.

SCRIPTS:

It is generally true that scripts are the heart-beat of any series. Should difficulties arise in this area, the reverberations are quickly felt throughout the entire production. The script position on the first series, prior to shooting, very quickly went wrong because there was no clear sense of direction. There were too many opinions as to what, the network wanted, with the result that the early scripts were trying to please a number of people with conflicting views on the series. Thus, once in production logistics took over from the creative element and the early lack of unanimity of purpose produced the following results.

  1. Due to time pressure, scripts which had not had the necessary detailed study and analysis, got onto the floor. Correcting the resulting faulty shows involved unnecessary waste of human and financial resources. Clearly these resources should have gone towards making good shows better rather than having to make bad pictures acceptable.
  2. The late delivery of scripts imposed unnecessary limitations on the directors, since it was not possible to choose story material most suited to their individual talents.
  3. With no finished approved scripts in hand, there was a serious failure to capitalise on the re-use of expensive one-off sets.

Scripts being late, and being revised even during production, would still be a problem in Year 2 (and is a common problem in many TV series). There was a notable lack of reuse of medical sets in year 1, when most episodes featured medical but a new set had to be built each time. In year 2 most of the Alpha sets were standing sets, but the results were virtually identical, and obvious compared to, say, Koenig's office revamps in several year 1 episodes.

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SCRIPTS (contd.)

CONCLUSION: If this situation is to be avoided in a possible second series, the following conditions must prevail. We have to:-

  1. Establish a clear line of direction for the series and rigidly adhere to it.
  2. Commission a number of scripts - at least six - prepare these scripts to the point where they are ready to go on to the floor at a moment's notice.

These two vital conditions must be met if the objective of really first-class scripting is to be achieved. Their acceptance would eliminate most of the errors in the first series since it would:

  1. Allow time for more careful scrutiny and selection of story material.
  2. Allow time to develop difficult, but very promising stories.
  3. Allow time for effective liason to take place among the departments concerned in getting shows onto the screen.
  4. Eliminate the inevitable wastage that occurs on having to rush shows onto the floor.

A script situation thus established, would also allow time to improve the quality of the story content by devising means to include at nominal expense the expertise of established science fiction authors. An effort of this kind is necessary since experience has shown that:

  1. Not many screen writers are capable of originating good science fiction ideas.
  2. Science fiction authors are rarely competent at writing for the screen. A promising pilot scheme has already been launched, aimed at fusing these quite separate skills to the undoubted benefit of the series.

We guess the initial authors approached were E C Tubb and John Rankine, who were mentioned above. Johnny Byrne had written for 1960s science fiction magazines. Gene Roddenberry also did this on the original Star Trek, reaching out to SF authors via writer Sam Peeples. Some were already experienced screen-writers (Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch and Harlan Ellison), others were novices (Theodore Sturgeon, Norman Spinrad), and some proved to be "both marvellous storytellers and lousy dramatists" (A E van Vogt, in the words of Herb Solow and Bob Justman). Roddenberry also befriended Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, but neither was interested in pitching for the series. All the accepted writers were heavily rewritten by Roddenberry (notably upsetting Harlan Ellison).

No science fiction writers were engaged in year 2, although some (such as Terrance Dicks, Tony Barwick, Donald James and Jack Ronder) had experience in other TV science fiction.

Also an important ommission in the preparation of the scripts in the first series would be rectified. Due to time pressure, it was not always possible to research and check out errors and inaccuracies in the factual scientific content of the stories. This is obviously undesirable if we are to avoid criticism from the scientific community and the more knowledgeable section

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3

SCRIPTS (contd.)

of the viewing audience. With this in view, Professor John Taylor, Professor in Mathematics at Kings College, London, has already been approached and has expressed willingness to act as scientific censor on the scripts. His role would simply be to make sure that the factual scientific concepts employed in the stories, if not accurate, were at least acceptable to the more discerning viewers of the general public.

Taylor was mentioned in The Making of Space 1999 (1976), but it is not clear he was ever consulted.

FORMAT:

A lot of positive discussion took place concerning the existing format. The experience gained in producing the first twenty four episodes pointed to areas where quite definite improvements could be made. The following is a summary of some of the weaknesses and suggested alterations to the format:-

JOHN KOENIG

It was felt that the lead character had now established a commanding presence on the screen as a dedicated, intense, and very credible human being. No change was forseen in his basic characterization, however care will be taken to maintain and extend, wherever possible, his involvement in action, personal conflict, and emotion. The more the character of Koenig is stretched, the better the results on the screen.

HELENA RUSSELL

Helena's character suffered from a major flaw in the series format, a fault directly traceable to her role as Chief Medical Officer on Moonbase Alpha. This role was found to be too restrictive for a lead character, whose presence in any one episode requires strong story involvement. The problem with Helena was that as a doctor it was necessary to devise plots with a strong medical bias. While in stories without a medical angle it was difficult to justify her involvement with any real degree of credibility. This situation was obviously bad for the artiste, bad for the writer and bad for the series.

In a second series, Helena will now be given a new position on Moonbase Alpha. Instead of being Chief Medical Officer, she will now be a Space Environmentalist. In her new position Helena will still be in overall charge of Medical Section, but in addition will be responsible for all aspects of survival in space. By this change, Helena will now be vitally concerned in a widest possible area of story involvement. She will be solely responsible for the life

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4.

FORMAT (contd.)

support systems on the base, in charge of prospecting for food and mineral resources on alien planets, evaluating alien environments etc. In terms of story involvement the possibilities are endless. Also in a second series, careful provision will be made to involve Helena in more jeopardy situations. These are situations in which the artiste has proved most effective.

This change was made in Year 2. Helena is on a geology prospecting mission in All That Glisters, because the mineral is "vital to our life support systems". The effect was minimal, it was hard to justify her presence.

PROFESSOR BERGMAN

The general feeling was that though Bergman was a very important character, he has not always been as effective as he might have in many of the episodes. As he stands, Bergman is a humane, father-figure, fascinated by science and the mystery of space. Born just after the Second World War, he is a man who has seen phenomenal change in his life, and on Alpha his values reflect an older, more easy going era.

Although his values provide welcome relief from the efficient clinical world of Moonbase Alpha, his fascination for science and space has weakened many tense scenes, especially act endings, by his too casual reactions. In general there was too much agreement between Helena and Bergman, while any advice Bergman gave to Koenig on vital issues was on a "take it or leave it" basis.

These performance points need to be revised to strengthen Bergman's character. Careful scripting in the future will ensure that Bergman will react in moments of stress or danger with real fear, anger or whatever other strong emotional response is required. Bergman's character potential will be further exploited since, as one of the two people Koenig heavily relies on, he is in a position to push harder for what he believes and in doing so, influence the vital decision-making process on Alpha.

To sum up, Bergman will continue to be his usual, easy- going self until under stress, when he will react like any other human being. He will also reveal a steadiness of purpose, a stubborness in situations where he feels his solution to any one life or death dilemma, is the right one. There will be moments when, because of the deep emotional relationship between Koenig and Helena, Koenig's decision to side with Helena on some vital issue is open to a number of interpretations by Bergman, thus creating conflict by doubting Koenig's judgment.

The reference to Bergman's "too casual reactions" is a little odd, and hard to pick any specific moments for this. Bergman is at his most effective moments were in disagreement with Koenig, notably Matter of Life and Death and the fake Bergman in Missing Link

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5.

FORMAT (contd.)

These changes are largely concerned with the scripting of the character. If the writers incorporate them into scripts, the artiste has the ability to bring them to life on the screen: They will make for much stronger interaction between the principle artistes, and in doing so will filter down to the rest of the supporting cast with beneficial results for the series, in terms of character believability.

COSTUMES:

The Executive Producer, artistes and Directors made several points concerning the Moonbase costumes. These points can be summarised as follows:-

  1. They are too unisex and generally fail to exploit the basic physical differences between men and women.
  2. They limit the acting talent that can be used. in guest roles, because they are unsuitable on people who are not in good physical shape.
  3. In the clinical atmosphere of Moonbase Alpha, where to a certain extent the Artistes have already been robbed of their individuality, the costume design was an added burden. Artistes deprived of their essential props - cigarettes, cigars, spectacles found that they had no sleeves to roll up to show them setting to work, no jackets to take off at the end of a tough day, not even pockets to fumble with. Martin Landau described it succinctly when he said that he could play his scenes more effectively with both arms amputated.

These points were accepted and in the event of a second series, planned changes will take place to the costumes. These changes will include the addition of pockets, roll-up sleeves and use of occasional jackets to be worn around the base.

In the second series, the costumes were adapted, and the principal cast wore jackets, with pockets. We never saw anyone rolling up their sleeves.

CASTING:

One of the undoubted successes of the first series was the quality of guest artistes the show was able to attract. But the general high quality was rarely extended to the casting of the minor roles, which left a lot to be desired.

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6.

CASTING (contd.)

This was due in part to the limitation imposed by the costumes, hairstyles and an obsession with creating a so-called science-fiction look (whatever that is). Another weakness in casting related to roles which called for physical toughness. These were too often filled by weak and unsuitable physical types, with the effect that believability suffered. The guiding principle in the casting of minor roles in a second series will be to populate Moonbase Alpha with the widest possible spectrum of human beings, making the show more interesting, more believable, and allowing most people to find physical types they are able to identify with.

While the supporting cast were slim and smaller, stuntmen aside, we're not sure that a mixture of body builders and overweight people would be accepted, then or now.

MOONBASE ALPHA:

In future stories set on Alpha, the writers will be instructed to open out more areas of the base. This will give viewers a wider view of the life- styles of the personnel, their environment, their loves, hates, jealousies. The overall intention being to highlight wherever possible, the tensions of a community living on borrowed time, searching for somewhere to live. However the feelings of optimism, usually reflected by Koenig, will be retained. To demonstrate this optimism, Alpha has extended its activities down into the lunar surface. Large subterranean areas have been excavated for the controlled growing of food, the discovery and replenishment of mineral resources and a quest for frozen water, which some believe to exist somewhere beneath the lunar surface.

We did indeed see more of the "catacombs" beneath Moonbase Alpha in year 2, although the concepts were not explored in any episodes.

CONCLUSION:

The weakness and mistakes of the first series as seen from the production end have necessarily predominated in this summary. It should be noted in passing that the achievements and successes are taken for granted, since all the criticism and soul-searching represents a keen desire to improve.

In terms of sales, it seems the series will justify the work and expense that went into its creation. Shortly to come are the reactions of the viewing public. Should they share the belief that "SPACE 1999" deserves a second lease of life and the 'start button' is pressed, the result of all this intensive effort will be a more creative and efficient product.

Copyright Martin Willey