Production GuideObservations: Dragon's Domain
Production Guide
The initial words being typed are "All good men should come to the ". It's a version of the typing exercise invented by Charles E. Weller in 1857 ("Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party"). This is completely different to Helena's dialogue "It was the 877th day since our Moon left Earth. We were between galaxies, drifting through empty space. When Tony Cellini began to believe..."
In the first shot when Cellini wakes, his hair is ruffled. In the next longer shot, he has combed his hair.
The painting on the wall is "Wise Old Elephant" by David Shepherd. Born in 1931, Shepherd was a British artist and wildlife conservationist (he died in 2017). "Wise Old Elephant" was first produced as a poster print by Boots in 1962 and in the 1960s became the best selling print in the world.
The painting on the wall is "Elephants at Amboseli" by David Shepherd. Another of Shepherd's popular elephant prints, also from 1962.
Cellini's bedroom has a variety of old weapons, including knives, spears, axes, a boomerang and a rifle. The spears seen here were seen in the episode The Full Circle.
Cellini embeds the axe is the communications post. The clock panel on one side is replaced specially for this shot. In close up we can clearly see this is painted wood. Note the illuminated "LQ" panel at the top of the side facing camera has something on each side (maybe tape to hold it in place?). There is something immediately to the right leaning against the post, perhaps bracing it in case the whole post fell over.
When Cellini's axe hits, an inner section of the panel bends in, with a large lateral split above the axe. In the close-up two additional (relatively neat) grooves are seen above and below the axe, crossing the vertical break. They are not visible in the long shot. Otherwise it seems to be the same panel, even with the black tape hanging over the top edge of the recessed section. There are also small painted-over marks above the white buttons, which may be from rehearsals.
In the early scenes Koenig and Kano are playing chess. The moves are correct and Kano really does place Koenig in checkmate (how Kano got his rook onto the second row is a complete mystery though). The real error is that the board itself is incorrect! A chessboard is always placed with the white corner on the players' right, they have it set up with the black corner on the right. Also, Koenig's penultimate move (which is seen in close up in the THIS EPISODE sequence) is extremely poor. He takes Kano's knight instead of his rook - which Kano then uses two moves later to place him in checkmate. DOH! [commentary thanks to Patrick Zimmerman]
Note the position of Cellini's discarded commlock.
When Koenig arrives, the commlock has moved- Koenig turns over Alan, and only then is Cellini's commlock close by.
As Cellini enters the Eagle in his pyjamas, the camera looks forward as he strides to the pilot section. The pilot section door is closed..
...the next shot shows him from the opposite angle, through the open pilot section door. The same thing happens after the launch is aborted and he leaves the pilot section. The studio set does not include the front of the pilot section, so they could not shoot forwards. Thanks to Martin Daoust.
When Koenig storms from Medical, he walks first to the Embarkation Point, and the next shot shows his striding away from it (there was only one corridor set, which is supposed to be two different but identical corridors here).
The Ultra Probe crew say goodbye. At the end of the line, we briefly see the reception desk with a pink jacket on it. These jackets were worn by the cast between takes to keep the uniforms clean.
This farewell scene, filmed on 5th February 1975, has an unusually large cast. Many of the cast appear later in the episode (so their duty tours lasted from 1996 to 1999): Bergman, Tony Allyn and Quentin Pierre are prominent. We can also see regular Alphans Roy Everson, Ann Maj-Britt (working in Main Mission in this episode too), and Lesley Stamps. We can also glimpse Paul Kirby and Mary Burleigh. Also listed on the call sheets, but not visible on screen (probably legs and shoulders), are many of the Main Mission crew: Sarah Bullen, Loftus Burton, Andy Dempsey amd Andy Sutcliffe. Other named actors include Erica Svenson and Jacqueline Thompson as nurses.
The Probe is docked with its starboard to the Space Dock. The crew board through the port side.
As the Ultra Probe leaves the Space Dock, we can briefly see through the ship to the docking cradle (the shot was a double exposure).
The commlock photos of the Ultra Probe crew may show other actors. Monique's commlock picture may be Kate. Juliet's picture shows someone with longer hair, although it may be Susan Jameson. Darwin's faded picture may be Warren. Thanks to Craig Rohloff.
Why aren't the ships all docked together? (Orbital stresses may have broken them apart, but there is no apparent damage).
The Probe docks with its underside to the dragon ship. There is no floor hatch.
The shot when the dragon appears shows the top of the pillars, with wood just above them.
The dragon first appears, the image dissolves from the shot of the empty doorway to the dragon. During the dissolve, the chair on the right just in front of the pillar moves round.
In the cupboard with the axe are the yellow caps from the Nuclear Disposal Area 2 silos, from Breakaway
Cellini hacks away at the tentacles. Through the door, the bright light of the monster. Below it is a stand (holding up the light).
After Cellini hacks away at the tentacles, the door starts to close- before he pushes the lever down. Thanks to elliotpav
The nebula seen as Cellini's command module flies through space was originally created for an unused shot in The Last Enemy (later used in Message From Moonbase Alpha). Thanks to Craig Rohloff.
The "Laser Control Unit X5" panel is a long thin panel normally seen mounted over surgical beds in Medical (apparently being used to control anaesthesia). During this episode the word "Laser" is removed (the other captions "Re-pressurize" and "Medical M501" are still readable). Cellini is monitored using it after being stunned by Koenig. It is also seen over Cellini's 1996 bed on Earth. And it is part of the pilot controls of the Ultra Probe.
Cellini's headphones are Sennheiser HD 424. The HD 424 was launched in the early 1970s. It has the same distinctive yellow ear pads as the HD 414, from 1968, which became the world's best selling headphones.
On the left in the background of the 1996 Alpha lab is a whiteboard. It shows Bergman's plan for operation shockwave from Collision Course
In Dixon's office, an intray at the front of his desk shifts from one side to the other as we change camera angle.
Eagles in scale with the Ultra Probe. In both shots, we see the 2.5 foot Ultra Probe. In the Space Dock shot, the 5.5 inch Eagle is used; in the dragon ship shot, the 11 inch Eagle is used.
Eagles don't normally have knives, ropes, axes and grappling hooks. Cellini puts a knife in his belt, and takes an axe and a coil of rope with a small grappling hook (we don't see the hooks, but they are smaller than the two remaining hooks). He leaves two large grappling hooks behind, which we see clearly in close-up. When we next see him, he has one of the large grappling hooks, using himself to tie himself to the pillar. The orange box with a handle is a halogen lamp.
The Eagle docks the portside to the Ultra Probe. They leave the starboard side of the Eagle- and enter the Ultra Probe correctly on the starboard.
The tentacles are operated by thin wires, visible briefly in this shot.
Copyright Martin Willey.