Production GuideObservations: The Exiles
Production Guide
Helena says "the stars are so close that we're constantly bathed in a lovely blue light.". This is not seen; we see a Moonbase Alpha in normal light, under sparse stars. This is a colour-altered image created by Craig Rohloff showing what we should have seen... Almost all the Moonbase shots after the first episode of each series were library footage, or photo cut-outs.
Notice the clear plastic tape (Sellotape) around the jet pack on the right. The EVA jet packs, previously seen in Space Brain, have lost their central black cylinder and the Letraset labelling is simpler.
How does the capsule get from the Eagle's grab to the cave? The pad does not descend to an underground hangar, and there are no visible crane structures.
The cave set is reused in One Moment of Humanity, with the danger signs removed and sand over the floor. The rock walls and the big white pipes were originally created for the caves in The Metamorph
Maya operates the laser. We see a full shot of Helena, Koenig, Mathias, Frank Maher, Maya and Vic Armstrong. We see a shot of the laser, then a close shot of Maya, panning up to Koenig, then across to Helena. In this shot, there is no-one behind our heroes; Mathias, Maher and Armstrong have disappeared. Yet when Maya turns off the laser, we see the same full shot with all six, back in the same positions. Thanks to Simon.
Just after the explosion, we see Helena, Mathias and the nurses through the observation window. In the next reverse shot, we see just Helena, but then Mathias runs from right to left behind her, towards the door. He should be already on that side. Thanks to Thomas.
The laser control is in a different position in close up. In longer shots, it is in the centre of the desk. In close up, it moves right, exposing an electrical connector in the foreground. The connector is probably the power for the Sorella lamp; in the long shots, they may have deliberately tried to conceal it by positioning the control over the connector, but for some reason they moved it for the close up. Thanks to Simon.
Helena and Mathias remove the leads attached to Cantar. Although disconnected, the heart and respiration lights continue to move on the panel above him. Thanks to Simon.
Zova's pyjamas are Alphan pyjamas - the VJC badge has been removed from the front (the stitching holes are just visible). These are lighter blue than normal pyjamas- they were worn by Regina in Another Time, Another Place. Presumably she was naked in the capsule, like Cantar. Jenny Cresswell carried her Golos costume when they wheel her into Medical; the costumes must have been in a compartment in the capsule.
These set of shots in the middle of the episode, while Helena narrates, are clips from other episodes. The Eagle hangar with boosters shot is from The Metamorph. The moonbuggy and the solarium sequence are from The Taybor (filmed 2 months later, indicating this was a late editing decision). The solarium shot here is a slightly different take to the one seen in The Taybor.
The wide shot shows Helena and Maya in Helena's quarters. The closer reverse shot of Helena with her sculpture uses the same background as behind Maya- the curved corner with the open cupboards beyond, and even the same small framed pictures. The split screen of the two Helenas shows there should be flat blank and lighted wall panels behind the real Helena.
Maya changes into Helena, before and after. The background has changed, from the curved corner to a flat panel, and a Medical computer, as seen in the Medical Center but not on this set.
In Helena's quarters, a filing cabinet is behind the clay head. In the later shot only, the "Visible Man" and "Visible Woman" model figures can be seen on top of the cabinet- they were not there previously.
In the sequence when Glenda Allen walks past the explosion, her ID badge is not hers- it belongs to another female extra, Jenny Cresswell (seen as a nurse in this episode), and the name is "L Picard". Later in the series, Allen's name badge shows the name "G Allen". Thanks to Chris Dale.
Barely visible on screen, Petrov's ID card shows the name "Reeves" (Robert Reeves plays "Peter", a Command Center operative, also seen in this episode).
Year 2 uniform tunics have three lines of colour-coded thread across the chest; three heavy lines for most Alphans, but two heavy lines and one neutral colour for Koenig, Helena and, later, Maya. In most of the episode, Maya's uniform tunic has three heavy lines. In two scenes, the Petrov scene, and the corridor scene with Tony, she has the two line version. These two scenes were filmed much later (by director Kevin Connor, not Ray Austin). Thanks to John Day.
On Alpha, the stun gun that Cantar takes from the guard has no stun/kill slider. On Golos, it does. Note that when the guard uses the gun, he does not press the button on top. Cantar keeps his thumb on the button.
The guard's body moves towards the wall between when Maya and Tony arrive and when Koenig arrives- not necessarily an error as he may have stirred.
As Maya leaps off, just before transforming into the panther, her name badge is "L Picard" with a picture of Jenny Cresswell. In other shots it is her proper "Maya" ID badge.
The panther jumps off a table or bench, visible at the bottom of the screen. The table doesn't exist in other shots. Thanks to Tobias Reid.
Zova's communicator is called a "torch-shaped transmitter" in the script. She doesn't have it in the Eagle in later scenes. It later appears in Medical in Dorzak.
Cantar is ambidextrous. He holds the stun gun with his right hand until Helena scratches him. He then changes to his left hand. Thanks to Thomas.
The passenger module uses the 8-seat configuration from Breakaway. The aisle walkway is covered with boards, hiding the gap between the aisle and the seats.
Koenig's glove is loose as he pushes Zova out, exposing his wrist to the vacuum of space. Note the safety ropes are close together on one side of the door. Thanks to Simon.
In the next shot, looking out the door, the safety ropes are more central in the doorway. The top of the keypad panel on the right is hanging away from the wall. Thanks to Simon.
Zova claims "Your life support systems are now tuned to my mental processes. I can destroy them by simple concentration." But when she is cast into space, she does not carry out her threat. If she is too far away from Alpha, the Alphans had neutralised her threat simply by having her on the Eagle. Her powers have interplanetary range: earlier she could torture Helena (on Golos) from Alpha. Koenig prevents Maya using the EVA backpacks, which must include an oxygen supply. Zova is pushed out without a backpack, and she will quickly suffocate. Koenig and Maya are in the Eagle and can access oxygen quickly. Thanks to Thomas, David Sobral and Fergus.
The stun gun is in a different position on the table in long shot.
Tony and Helena are only concerned with returning to Alpha. Golos is a habitable planet that presumably could have offered a home for the Alphans (if the Alphan life support system worked long enough to transport everyone - or Mirella could transport them).
When Sandra is overhearing Tony's conversation with Maya at the end, the close up shows her in a different position to the long shot. Thanks to Thomas.
When Maya changes into the old hag, we can briefly see the old woman's hair between Sandra's collar and Tony's arm, as she is standing up to replace Catherine Schell behind Tony. Thanks to Thomas.
In these shots, Maya's ID badge shows her picture with a dark background on the right side. There is no name on the badge.
In these shots, Maya's ID badge shows a picture with a light background. The name on the badge is "L.Picard", and the image is Jenny Cresswell. The badge is different because both Catherine Schell and Peggy Ledger were on set at the same time. Obviously 2 "Maya" ID badges were not available. Thanks to Fergus.
The Command Center doors start to open at the end of the scene. The scene would have continued with Koenig entering. He tells Tony and Maya to go down to the power room and observe Cantar and Zova. The sequence was scripted and shot to occur earlier in the episode, just before Cantar and Zova do their final test and then break into life support. Only in post-production was a decision to move this light-hearted scene to the end of the episode.
Space 1999 copyright ITV Studios Global Entertainment