Production GuideObservations: The Taybor
Production Guide
The Solarium sequence is repeated in an earlier episode, The Exiles. It is a different take, however- the timings are slightly different.
Sarah Bullen is reading the magazine Spaceflight, the magazine of the British Interplanetary Society. The monthly magazine was first published in 1956, one year before Sputnik, and is still being published. The issue is Volume 16, No.9, dated September 1974 (thanks Jorge Carmo).
The three paintings, by Rick Sternbach with G. Harry Stein, accompany Dr R C Parkinson's article "Take Off Point for a Lunar Colony". and Stein's article "The Third Industrial Revolution: The Exploitation of the Space Environment", about using raw materials on the Moon and nearby space. Top left is a "space factory" complex in Earth orbit. Right is the re-entry of a "space box car" using the Avco drag-brake concept. Below is a lunar electromagnetic catapult firing cargo into space.
Stein was a science fiction author and model rocketry expert, Sternbach an illustrator who would later work on Star Trek The Motion Picture and Cosmos (for which he won an 1980-1981 Emmy Award), and later became one of the main designers for Star Trek The Next Generation and following series (1987-2001) (wikipedia).
The initial lines by Sarah Bullen are dubbed by another actress. This is a wide tracking shot, where it would be difficult to get the microphone close enough. Sarah Bullen speaks with her own voice in the next scene ("What are you talking about?") and again when she calls Helena on the communication post.
Helena and Vincent enter the Solarium Area (actually a converted Medical Section set). This is the room we see later used for Taybor's trading session with the Alphans. Why are there gym weights and a hat stand? While a solarium area and weights room may be part of the same fitness suite, it would be very odd to have them in the same room.
When Vincent kneels, his leg catches the end of his commlock and pushes it from his belt; it lands on the sun-bed by the girl. Thanks to Simon.
The grey-haired medic (played by Micky Clarke) seen in the Solarium scene appears moments later as a technician in a Moonbase corridor. Thanks to Chris Dale.
When Taybor first talks to Maya, Tony is immediately behind her in the close shots (and apparently leaning on her desk), but in long shots he is stood a bit further beyond. Thanks to Thomas.
Taybor's trading licence is written in English (TL no 490/C13); in the box marked "signature", Taybor writes his name in an italic script. The noun "licence" is used in the British English spelling; the American spelling would have been "license".
Taybor says it was the "Best meal I've had since the Rainbow Room on the Astra", but we only see them drinking; the plates have been cleared. There are small plates with hors d'oeuvres, which seem to include charcuterie and cheeses. These would normally be served as appetisers before the meal, not after it. They would be challenging to create without animals.
Oddly, Taybor drinks beer from a china coffee mug, refilling from a push-top coffee or tea dispenser. Apparently the Alphans are short of glasses and jugs.
When Taybor falls from his chair drunk, his wig slips slightly. Thanks to Thomas.
One computer panel between Taybor and Koenig here ("Scanners") has a long strip of duct tape along the bottom. It may be added to stop reflections in this shot. It wasn't present in earlier scenes (see below), but was still present at the end of the episode. It is gone by the next episode. Thanks to Simon.
Helena's "sculpture" is completely different from her conventional clay sculpture in The Exiles. She just holds electronic instruments up in front of the head, without touching it, and somehow adjusts the expression. This looks like 3D scanning and printing- technologies that became widespread in the 2010s. While 3D printing might be a hobby of Helena, it's not related to clay sculpture.
"What am I traded for this only one of its kind silver ball?" He then trades two of the "one of a kind" balls, one for Yasko's bonsai tree, the other for Vincent's ship in the bottle. At the end of the episode, we see Micky Clarke had one too (he got his Alpha binoculars back). Thanks to Simon Rhodes.
Taybor's mirror "from the mystics high in the mountains of the planet Shand" was previously seen as a conventional mirror in Medical and living quarters.
Taybor's "essence of the planet Hermosia" perfume appears in the episode Catacombs of the Moon in "Area three living quarters", at the end of Osgood's bed.
The model astronaut under the Emporium has no backpack (the astronaut is a Mattel "Major Matt" figure). Koenig does.
Micky Clarke appears again when Taybor is trading with the Alphans. He's wearing a medic uniform until the end, when, as the Alphans disperse, he passes in front of camera with a brown collar and sleeve. Thanks to Simon Rhodes.
The necklace that Taybor presents to Maya to mesmerise her is similar to the necklace she wore earlier at the dinner party. They are different, but they are both silver sun-flower shapes.
After the robot Maya explodes, straps are visible round her feet, keeping the dummy upright.
In certain shots of the Big Screen (actually the model version), the lights are turned off. In adjacent shots, the lights are on as normal. It occurs during close ups of Taybor after the Maya robot explodes, and shortly later after Taybor learns Maya is a transmorph. Thanks to Michael Thompson.
Maya routinely changes into alien monsters, so changing into something that Taybor doesn't like would be simple. Koenig's subspace message tells Maya something that she should be aware of. Why does the ugly human form cause the glass cage to shatter?
Taybor's plan disappears at the end of the episode. But it is seen again, in the Equipment Room in A Matter Of Balance
Copyright Martin Willey