Production Guide
Observations: Space Warp

Helena passes the scanner over Maya's face. There is a cut to Helena, during which we can still hear the scanner bleeping. In the next cut, Helena is now mopping Maya's head with a cloth, and the scanner has abruptly disappeared. Thanks to Thomas.

Filming the space warp sequence. Note the sophisticated technique to simulate desks being rocked by turbulence, left picture, bottom right.

When Sandra and Alan are searching for the Eagle, we see one nebula twice, once inverted and more distant. When Koenig is searching in the Eagle, he views the same nebula. This nebula was originally seen by Tony Cellini from his quarters at the start of Dragon's Domain, and appeared among Alpha's star charts in All That Glisters and The Taybor.

"This is our position now". If the distance between the two points is 5 light years, the viewpoint is many light years away from either position. Is there another Eagle also light years away transmitting this view? Was the Moon at this position in the past? (a few hundred years in the past, if it didn't skip through other space warps).

In the shots with Maya in bed, there is a stand alongside the bed with bottles (which is unaffected by the space warp turbulence, incidentally). When Animal One appears, the stand has gone, and the adjacent bed has moved closer. On the other side of the bed we first see a short cylindrical table (a Giano Vano Ruote telephone table), but this moves to the other side of the bed when Animal One replaces Maya.

Close ups of Animal One's face reveal pink eyelids behind the scaly mask.

Terry Walsh is beaten up by Maya twice. He is attacked in the corridor. Later, he is in the Launch Area, the trauma having made him grow a moustache.

Animal One's ability to use Alphan controls varies from scene to scene. When it leaves Medical, it forces open the door causing small explosions. When it uses the elevator, it carefully presses the correct buttons. At the Launch Pad reception, it is again forcing open doors, but shortly after in the Eagle it presses the correct buttons to launch the Eagle.

As the Eagle searches for the disappeared Moon they see this nebula. At the end of the episode, as they come through the warp, they see a closer view. The same nebula was seen by Tony when he was looking for Koenig and Maya in The Rules of Luton.

When Animal One reaches forward to press a console button, which retracts the boarding tube, the edge of cockpit set is seen top left, out of focus. It is also seen later, when the animal lurches forward at the bottom of the lift shaft. The publicity shot here shows it more clearly, and on the top of the fight console is a wooden plank (what the crew call a "paganini"). Thanks to Dominik Kuhn.

As the Eagle rises up and hits the hangar roof, the interior view shows the command module pointing downwards, in the opposite direction.

The fire around the Eagles is huge and fierce. How can the two firemen get in and rescue Maya? Presumably the hangars would be able to dump halon gas in a section to suffocate the fire, or even vent the air into the vacuum of space. However, the firemen would be unable to enter without spacesuits, and unless the Eagle command module remained intact, Maya would have been suffocated too. Thanks to Thomas.

The camera looks through the observation window as the firemen bring Maya back past the Main Mission stairs. The camera pans to the closed door, and there is a cut, visible as the slight shake of the camera disappears, before the door opens with a blast of flame. The cut was probably to set up the fire effect. Thanks to Simon Rhodes.

The medical center transformations are unusual for the series. First there is a straight dissolve from the face of Animal One to the Psychon. Second, we pan from the Psychon's kicking feet to the head of Animal Three- the actor is wearing the Pyschon costume with the head of the creature.

During the fight with the Psychon, the other beds move position between shots. In the first shot above, there is only one bed, against the wall. In the second, as Vincent is thrown over, a second bed has appeared, and the tray has moved further down the room (it was in a third position during the preceding operation). In the third shot, there is clearly no second bed (it would be where Alan is standing), but a third bed has appeared where the tray was (the tray itself has disappeared).

When Alan is thrown into the corner, one of the medical computer panels is sticking out from the wall. In the high shot as the Psychon approaches Helena, parts of the overhead light can be seen, and shadows of the other lights are visible on the roof.

The Psychon is stunned, falls to the floor and thrashes about. At the start of the sequence, the Pileo lamp by the door has the shade on normally. Later in the sequence, it has been knocked down, although no characters have gone near it.

The derelict interior includes a screen from The AB Chrysalis and control cylinders from The Taybor. The white tube seen on the floor at Koenig's feet is familiar too- it is normally seen in Command Center. It is seen briefly at the start of the episode falling from a desk onto the floor (in the shot above, it's on the left). The "visor" section in the middle can be seen breaking off (leaving brown wood behind). The base shatters, which may be why the prop is not seen in Command Center again.

The initial formulae. This is the same formulae that Maya uses in The AB Chrysalis to convert from "elliptical progressions" to "miles per hour, feet per second, our system".

Data cartridges #3. "Look at that one. It's a different colour." Koenig picks up the red-tabbed cartridge, number 8. In the foreground left, 20 is back in place, and 26 is beyond again.

The formulae on cartridge 26 is the same formulae that Maya uses in The AB Chrysalis for "working our trajectory through space, time and distance, those are just elliptical progressions".

In the long shot to the door of Airlock 7, the corner with the emergency air supply valve is in shadow. In the close shots of Alan and Helena, it is brightly illuminated. Thanks to Thomas.

As the creature bangs on the outer airlock door, the door looks like vacuum formed plastic over wood (which it is) - with the wood visible at the edges. One shot of the corner of the door shows a clear gap.

Various papers are sucked into space when the airlock opens. Among the stationery is the blue headed "World Space Commission Medical Authority" forms, as used by Helena in Dragon's Domain. Why are medical forms stored in an airlock?

A close-up of Helena as they drive in the moonbuggy- and another close up after she has fallen out of the moonbuggy and the creature is advancing towards her. Obviously filmed together, as in both shots you can see the camera crew reflected in her visor. There's at least one guy reflected by her nose, another man with his hand on his hip over her cheek on the right, and someone possibly seated and with folded arms on the bottom right of her visor.

When the creature throws Alan, not only does his helmet visor open widely, a long strand of creature hair is stuck to his left hand.

Where is the rock that damages Alan's air pack? Alan jumps off a rock to kick the creature. In close up we see him on his back on the large rock, rolling off it. But the shot immediately before clearly shows he landed on his back on the flat lunar soil, clear of the rock. In subsequent shots Alan is in front of the rock.

During the space warp return sequence, there are a number of flopped scenes (left for right, so Koenig appears in the pilot seat, the door label "Eagle" appears in reverse, and jacket badges appear on the wrong side), the door is sometimes open and sometimes closed, and Tony sometimes disappears. Thanks to James C.

Maya was repeatedly stunned, seriously injured in the Eagle crash (presumably), and severely knocked about on the lunar surface. Does transforming cure all these injuries? Why couldn't she cure her fever in the same way?

The shot of the Eagle being refuelled is an out-take from The Rules Of Luton (the third 44 inch Eagle has the refuelling arm). The shot when the refuelling arm folds back was shot for this episode- but this time it is the first 44 inch Eagle with the refuelling arm.