Production Guide
Observations: Mission Of The Darians
Production Guide
The Darian radiation suits are spacesuits from the Catherine Schell film Moon Zero Two (1969). Note the two helmets are slightly different; one is a spacesuit helmet from the UFO series.
On the left is the Moon Zero Two helmet (note the raised section at the bottom of the visor). On the right is the UFO helmet (note the crown section on the top of the helmet).
At least two spacesuits were made for Doppelganger by Jack Lovell Limited, and another was made for UFO, with a different helmet (with the crest on top, rather than ribs; normally this was worn by Michael Billington). It is this UFO helmet that appears in Darians. The UFO suits appeared in Doomwatch ("Re-entry Forbidden", 1970), a mashed potato advert from the early 1970s, and The Goodies ("Invasion of the Moon creatures", 1973).
Numerous spacesuits were made for Moon Zero Two, in different colours, and they were used in several TV shows, including Here Comes the Double Deckers ("Invaders from Space", 1970). For more information see David Sisson models.
The Moon Zero Two helmets appears on other spacesuits in Dr Who ("The Ambassadors of Death", 1970) and on a lunar cosmonaut in Superman II (1980).
The Moon Zero Two suits also appeared in the early 1970s UK public information film "Restricted View", a road safety short. The suits painted silver and both helmets had large antennas stuck on the sides. These may be the same suits used in Mission of the Darians, perhaps filmed immediately before or after the episode.
Aubrey Morris as the High Priest wears a collar and chest plate which were worn by Tom Clegg as Cleopatra's bodyguard Sosages in Carry On Cleo (1964). The costumes in that film were originally created for Cleopatra (1963), which started filming in 1960 at Pinewood but, after a lengthy shut-down, restarted in Italy in 1961. Joan Collins had originally been intended as the lead, while in the final film Martin Landau played Rufio. (Thanks to Chris Bentley in Space:1999 The Vault, 2022)
The door of the Darian cabinet that eats Lowry and the female mute is also seen on Thule in Death's Other Dominion
Both Alan and Paul have regular stun guns, without the slider. When Alan fights to free Helena, his stun gun has a slider. This was possibly in case a close up was needed when Paul cautions that they should use stun.
The large alien probe (studio prop) from The Last Sunset is seen as a fire
Moonbase Alpha computer panels are seen behind distorting perspex in the Daria command centre.
The perspex desk and red chairs were seen in Gwent in The Infernal Machine, and in Dixon's office in Dragon's Domain. Koenig's chair is seen in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), and later in Koenig's dining room in The Taybor.
The Darian guns were originally the direction locators used by the Alphans on Retha in The Full Circle. They are seen again in A Matter Of Balance
The Darian shot by Paul falls against a door, causing the whole set to shake. Thanks to James C.
When Koenig finds Helena, we see a close-up of her. Kara's legs are seen behind the Darian girl. In wide shot, Kara is in a different position.
Kara runs from them, and Koenig follows. The door is on the right, so why doesn't Koenig just go to the door, instead of following her round the table? Also note there are no bodies on the table in the first shot, but they appear in the second shot as Koenig runs round them.
Copyright Martin Willey.