Production GuideObservations: The Seance Spectre
Production Guide
A jigsaw puzzle is seen in Recreation Center - still a popular pastime in Alpha after Space Brain. The box shows it is the Ravensburger 1000 piece puzzle of the painting Coquelicots (or "Poppy Field near Argenteuil") by Claude Monet, painted in 1873. The cylinder sculpture alongside used to be in Koenig's command office.
When Sanderson and crew attack the guard outside Command Center, a reflection of the film crew is visible in the communications post. At first we see the boom, later just one figure (director Peter Medak) closely watching as the guard is knocked out.
The communications post is at an odd angle- the signposts are pointing to the corners of the corridor intersection. When viewed inside Command Center, the communications post has rotated back to the normal position. Thanks to Fergus.
When Tony is shot, he falls backwards. Sanderson and the others do not move his body, but he should have fallen in the centre of the four desks, with his head towards the Big Screen. When he wakes up, he is between the desks alongside Sandra. Even if he fell to the side, his head is where his feet should be. Thanks to Thomas.
The effect of being stunned is inconsistent. When Maya is stunned, at close range, she slumps forward over a desk. Sandra falls to the side, and Tony backwards (although see above). When Koenig is stunned, at some distance, he is hurled through the air as if hit by a fast car. Thanks to Thomas.
After Sanderson first takes over Command Center, Koenig and Alan return their Eagle to Alpha, land, use the Travel Tube, and run down a corridor. Two guards also run up and they find the unconscious guard. It took the guards the same amount of time to travel to Command Center and find their colleague as it took Koenig to return. Thanks to John Day.
Koenig bangs the door frame, not the door, which should be thicker and transmit less sound. Alan's trousers touch the ground, much longer than Koenig's or the guards. Thanks to Fergus.
Eva turns off the computers, so the doors don't work. After The Beta Cloud, it is understandable that lighting and life support systems are now on a separate system and continue to function. However, non-essential systems such as Eagle docking controls and travel tube must also be running, as Koenig and Alan have to been able to get from the launch pad to Command Center.
After Koenig blasts the door control panel, the doors open automatically. In other episodes, they had to be forced apart manually. Thanks to Fergus.
The stun gun beam hits the centre of the door panel. The explosion is on the side of the panel (which is completely undamaged).
The fallen guard stands up and moves out of the way when Koenig and Alan arrive. When we see Koenig and Alan enter Command Center, through the door we can see the guard has lying face down on the floor again, this time on the other side of the communications post. He is helped up by another guard.
The ID badges for Sanderson, Cernik and Stevens just have a surname. Eva's badge is "E Lewis", the only one with an initial. All the ID badges show the section is "Command Center", although Sanderson has a brown sleeve (technical), Stevens has orange (pilot) and Cernik and Eva are both red (Main Mission). Sandra's badge originally read "S Benes" at the start of the series, but now it just reads "Sahn", and her section is "Command Centre" (the British spelling).
Sanderson's unruly hair is inconsistent in some scenes.
Sanderson's team have commlocks in the early part of the episode, but from the time they enter Medical until the end of the episode none of them are wearing a commlock. They may have been deliberately taken from them - although it doesn't stop them accessing vital areas of the Moonbase. They may have decided not to carry commlocks so they cannot be located by the Moonbase computers.
Eva's uniform is unusual: she has the "two-line" style stitching normally only seen on Koenig and Helena's uniforms (and also, from Dorzak, Tony and Alan). All the other cast have three thick lines of stitching across the chest.
Thanks to John Day.
Koenig also doesn't carry a commlock.
When Sanderson storms into Command Center, the wider shots show Tony and Alan holding up their stun guns. In a reaction shot, they are not holding their arms up. In the wider view, they only lower their guns when the two guards arrive with Helena. Thanks to John Day.
The close-up of Sanderson is a cheat so his back appears against the wall. The edge of the command desk shows it has been moved 45 degrees. If he were in the same position as in the long shot, we would see the fourth wall (which of course does not exist, because that's the normal camera position).
Whether or not it is an inhabitable planet, if the Moon collides it won't be any more. Nobody puts this point to Sanderson.
Eva signals a false emergency to clear the Medical Centre using an unusual means of communicator, which is located low at hip level next to a door. Why does the corridor have such a communicator when there is a communication post next to it? Thanks to Fergus.
Eva knocks out the Security Guards guarding Medical Centre by using an anaesthetic spray. Where does she get this spray? When she leaves Medical Centre she is empty handed and as noted above, she does not have a commlock to access any area on the Base to obtain such a spray. Thanks to Fergus.
Eva walks up to the Medical Center door, having knocked out the first guard. From the light on the floor, it is clear the door to Medical is open. We then cut to her standing next to the door, which is closed.
On the floor in front of the girl on the left are chalk marks- indicating the position where she should stand. The power cable to the communications post snakes past her feet.
As Sanderson and the others enter the Computer Room, the shadows of the camera and a cameraman's head are seen against the wall. Thanks to Thomas.
Sanderson escapes from Medical shortly after Eagle 1 lifts off for Tora. It's a 3 hour journey to Tora. By the time Eagle 1 gets there, Sanderson is still on the loose, yet no one in Command Centre appears to be aware of this, 3 hours after his escape. Thanks to Fergus.
The thick dusts and gases of the cloud would cause friction as the Eagle travelled through it. It would be thicker closer to Tora, effectively an atmosphere. As the Eagle is accelerated to the gravity mass, it would also start to burn up, like a conventional atmospheric re-entry. Thanks to Fergus.
This shot shows a stack of monitors on top of the console in front of Koenig. They are not there in other shots (fortunately, because they would be thrown into Koenig's face during the upcoming crash landing).
After the crash, Koenig and Maya reach out to hold hands. In the next shot, Maya stands up. Between the two shots, her seatbelt has been released. Thanks to Thomas.
In the crashed Eagle, they see Tony on the screen. The shadow of the microphone can be seen at the top, before moving out of picture. Thanks to Simon Rhodes.
The orange chair has fallen on its side. Cutting to a shot of Maya, the chair has suddenly moved.
Why does Maya have to go back to the passenger module to look for the spacesuit helmets? Surely it would be more practical on most space missions to keep them close to hand in the command module. Note there are two spare spacesuits in the Eagle in addition to the ones worn by Koenig and Maya, yet apparently only two helmets. Why not open the air valves of the spacesuit backpacks to release more air? (see more discussion of the science). Thanks to Chris Moore.
The Alphans know the Eagle has a pierced hull and damaged oxygen recycling. It also has only one landing pad, so touch-down is tricky. Why not send a rescue Eagle into space, to meet it in space. It would cut the time that Koenig and Maya rely on the broken oxygen supply and avoid a tricky landing. Thanks to Fergus.
"All emergency, fire and decontamination units to Eagle hangar bay one" says Tony, and we see Alphans rushing through the corridors. The first shot (a clip from A B Chrysalis) shows two astronauts, one of them Quentin Pierre, rushing towards us, as two Rescue Alphans run the other way (one of them is Harry Fielder). Both of them had been attacked by Eva earlier in the episode.
Immediately afterwards we see another corridor running shot, also from A B Chrysalis but earlier in that episode, with the same bearded astronaut followed by Harry Fielder, this time in a spacesuit (Quentin Pierre follows them both, but the shot ends earlier in this episode, cutting him out). In the first shot we saw a nurse crossing the corridor. She's also in the second shot, this time moving a stretcher with a colleague.
How does the Eagle move from the large cross-shaped pad to the smaller rectangular platform? (also seen in Space Warp). Seen from the surface, the black borders around the red platform overhang the lift shaft. But seen from inside the shaft looking up, there is no overhang. It is unclear where the covers that seal the top of the shaft come from (the top surface isn't movable).
Koenig and Tony inspect the damaged panels. In the alcove there are three illuminated panels at the top. Probably to get the camera in close, they have moved the computer wall back at a different angle, leaving a triangular gap between the top of the alcove (marked in red in the detail). There are additional blank panels put on top to disguise it. Thanks to Simon.
After Koenig's Eagle returns, Tony shows him the damage in the computer room. "He's in Travel Tube D." says Tony. In the next scene, Tony and Koenig arrive in Command Center, and Koenig says "Sahn, get me Travel Tube four, section D." Is it Travel Tube 4 or Travel Tube D? Thanks to Chris Moore.
In the travel tube seance, the lights fade by themselves - as if they do have supernatural powers. Also note that as the camera closes in, a shadow (probably of the microphone) can be seen moving in on the left.
Koenig says "We've got to get through to him in time." In time for what? Only in the following dialogue does Maya give them a time-scale (8 hours) and they discuss plans, and decide to evacuate. Thanks to Fergus.
The mutineers surrender. It would seem prudent to have guards escort them to the Eagles, but they only find out Sanderson is missing from the boarding lists. Thanks to Fergus.
When we first see the empty Command Center, the boxes are parallel to the Big Screen. When Koenig is shot, they are all moved to an angle.
When Koenig is shot, you can see the top of one box is wood. There is a wooden lip around the base of the boxes, which raise it slightly above the ground. The lip is visible here, so this box is upside down.
When Koenig is shot by Sanderson, he is wearing a stun gun. When he wakes up, his gun and holster are gone, and instead he looks at Sanderson's discarded stun gun. Thanks to John Day.
Also note that when Maya leaves him, his hand is on his stomach. When Sanderson aims at the still unconscious Koenig, the hand is by his side- but as he wakes in a few moments, this is understandable.
The close-up of the TV screen in Command Center reveals tape around the edges of the screen, perhaps a quick repair that would have been invisible from a distance.
Sanderson reaches the nuclear waste dump in a Moon Buggy in less than 2 hours. If they waste dumps were a bit further from the moonbase, would Alpha survive the explosion with less damage? It would also effectively prevent Sanderson from interfering with plan. Thanks to Fergus.
Why does this construction have no landing pads? There are two monitoring depots (like NDA 2 in Breakaway), which would normally be close to a landing pad. Why does Eagle 2 have to land among the lunar hills? Perhaps to avoid the Eagle being a clear target for Sanderson, although that plan isn't very successful. The real reason, according to the script instruction in scene 129, "This is to void the necessity of showing the Eagle when shooting moon surface, studio."
When Koenig leaves the Eagle door, some structures can just be seen outside the door. The backdrop is the painting of Moonbase Alpha that is normally behind the windows in Alpha.
Koenig makes the impressive bouncing leap over the lunar surface. The trampoline is just visible at the bottom of the frame.
Koenig mounts the first charge. In close up, he picks the charge from the far left. In wide shot, that charge is still in place, and he has taken the middle left.
The problem continues in the next shot. In close-up, he takes the middle two. In wide shot, he takes the left and the middle right.
The Eagle is hit by Sanderson's laser. The laser turret that we see in close-up is not visible. There is no visible damage to the Eagle, even though it causes an explosion inside the cockpit. Despite the explosion, Koenig and Maya are able to launch the Eagle later with no problems.
The first frame of the explosion in the Eagle cockpit reveals the stuntwoman playing Maya.
When Tony tells Koenig that he has lost contact with Maya, Koenig says "Tony, keep trying!". We clearly see his mouth is open but his lips aren't moving. Thanks to Thomas.
Koenig kicks Sanderson back. As Sanderson falls, the very large rock on the left moves. Thanks to David Sisson.
The red cap is blown off silo 5 (a full-size set on the soundstage). When the atomic trigger detonates, the special effects version has the number 2 on the side. We see a few wide shots (of a large special effects set). As the Eagle leaves the site, we see 5 silos, all with the red caps intact. The scaffolding over the top of some of the silos is just visible.
Maya, as a child, opens the door. She then leaves the module. We then cut to Maya (as herself) and Koenig running back in. As time was short, why did Maya leave the command module and come back in? Why not transform back to herself immediately? Thanks to Thomas.
The explosion is clearly behind them (presumably a plume of incandescent gases and dust). Why do Koenig and Maya shield their eyes from the windows in front of them? Thanks to Chris Moore.
Some of the medics from early in the episode are reassigned to other sections by the end. The blonde nurse joins Technical. The man with the moustache joins the service section and gets a red jacket. Strangely, he is seen leaving Medical with Helena to attend to Eva's false emergency, and is shortly afterwards watching Alan on the communications screen, already in his new uniform and jacket (the shoulder in the foreground right is probably the nurse).
Another nurse is L. Picard (Jenny Cresswell); in most other episodes she is a Command Center operative, although she was a nurse in The Exiles.
Thanks to Thomas.
Computer estimates "Anticipate severe damage in all sections. High fire risk." When we see the base at the end of the episode, there is no evidence of damage. Thanks to Fergus.
Koenig and Helena leave the Recreation Center, walk down a corridor, and arrive in Command Center. Presumably there is a lift or stairs during their journey, as the Recreation Center has windows and must be above ground, while Command Center is underground (at least according to series publicity). Thanks to Fergus.
The sound mix at the end of the episode emphasises the music a little too strongly, drowning out Alan's and Tony's final lines ("My mother was never like that."), possibly because the rest of the sequence (with Maya's transformation) was cut. Thanks to Chris Moore.
Copyright Martin Willey