Production Guide
Observations: The Dorcons

Thanks to Thomas and others.

Not quite frozen: the most obvious change is the position of Helena's hands. At first her left hand holds the outside edge of the desk, then the inside edge, later it's not holding anything. Her outstretched right hand is palm-down in some shots, palm to the side in most others. There are also some slight differences in the close-ups: Koenig's position, how far Alibe is leaning, the position of Alan's hand on his desk.

The back of Alibe's desk is an open hole in some shots. In others, a plain panel covers it (the other desks have two grilles on the panel).

After Maya collapses, we have a good high view of the Command Center layout. Maya recovers and returns to her desk, and the Dorcon probeship transforms. The camera pans past the side desks. A large grey instrument has been placed alongside Helena's desk in the foreground, which wasn't there earlier. It's not there later; it's gone during the battle scenes.

Stewart's jacket is damaged at the shoulder (we presume by the roof collapse seen earlier). It seems to be Tony's navy jacket, which was damaged in The Immunity Syndrome, and has been (partially) repaired. Tony wears a green jacket in this episode. Thanks to Richard Totis.

During the confrontation between Varda and Malic in the corridor, the microphone can be glimpsed waving into view. It is the black shadow between the two at the bottom of the frame. This is not visible on the US A&E DVDs or the Network Blu-ray, which crop the lower part of the screen. Thanks to Ed Carlyle.

When Varda and the Dorcon soldiers beam into Command Center, we cut from one view of the Alphans to a view just including Alibe as the Dorcons appear. In the view of the Alphans, an operative stands alongside the yellow square panel. In the next cut he should appear behind Alibe, but instead he is missing, with the yellow panel clearly visible. Note the panels under the instruments have been removed, and the electrical cables can be seen inside.

When Tony and Alan fall, we can see through the grilles in Koenig's desk as he moves behind; the television screen has been removed.

Either Alan cannot punch, or Koenig has an iron fist. The Dorcon soldier in Command Center doesn't move when Alan hits him, twice, and forces him to the floor effortlessly. On the Dorcon ship, Koenig quickly defeats two soldiers.

Much of the plot takes huge dramatic licenses, and a heavy dose of cliche, the most blatant being the large ventilation ducts (Dr No, Alien and hundreds of other action films, although even by movie standards the Dorcon version are particularly clean and free of obstructions). Although this is a military spaceship, there seem to be no safety bulkheads, guarded areas, or electronic surveillance. And it takes a long time to switch off the transport beam.

Koenig's stuntman steps in for several scenes, with slightly different hair.

When Malic kicks Koenig, his position changes. The shot of Koenig establishes he is trapped by blank walls. He then seems to have shifted forward, and actually falls back against the lighted panels (which are to his right, not behind him).