Space 1999 On Location: Black Park

Black Park is bordered by the A412 Uxbridge Road to the south, and Pinewood Studios to the east. It consists of various plantations of coniferous and deciduous trees, and Black Park Lake, which Koenig and Maya swim across in The Rules Of Luton. The lake is also seen in two still shots in The Seance Spectre.

Black Park has been used in many television and film productions from The Saint and Dr Who to Superman 2, The Mummy Returns and the Harry Potter movies.

The park extends over 530 acres (215 hectares). The lake is 13 acres (5 hectares), deep and wide in the west side, shallow in the east end. Public paths surround the lake. At the west end, adjacent to the road and car park, the paths are at the water's edge, and flat. Around the east end, the path is generally a little further from the water's edge, more uneven, and the banks are a little steeper, with areas of reeds in the water.

Below: the lake, looking from the west bank towards the east.

The distant shot of Koenig and Maya swimming clearly shows people and a canoe on the far bank. There is a designated swimming area on the south bank; if the stuntmen are swimming there, the distant shore is the north bank adjacent to the car park, the busiest part of the lake shores. The pictures below show the lake from the south-east bank, looking to the north and east.

Wide shots show a distant bank, probably filmed in the middle of the lake. Benches are visible.

Above: photos from the south bank. Below: photos from the north bank.

When Koenig and Maya emerge from the water, the far bank is noticeably closer.

Near the east end of the lake, where the lake is narrower and shallow.

This is where Koenig and Maya confront the aliens, in 1976 and in 2006/2007. Maya is standing next to the white birch tree also visible in the 2007 panorama view from the northwest bank. Pictures and location thanks to Marcus Lindroos and Monica Eriksson. The map below shows the precise location.

The tree where Maya tends to Koenig's wounds - in 1976 and 2006/2007. Montages and location thanks to Marcus Lindroos and Monica Ericsson. Another surviving tree can be seen in the background, seen from a slightly different angle.

Panorama view of the Black Park Lake west bank as seen from the "Koenig tree", in 2007. Montage by Marcus Lindroos.

Shots of the actors on the banks would also have been filmed at the narrower east end of the lake, so they could easily film across the water. For a few shots it is possible they laid a platform into the water to place the camera, which is easy in the shallows. The shot below of Maya seems to have been taken from a platform or boat (roughly the same area is shown in this 2007 photo; the "Koenig tree" is visible at far right while the white birch is at far left).