The Production Guide
Martin Landau archives
Pilot storyline

This is a 4-page storyline for an untitled pilot episode. There is no date or author credit. It comes from Martin Landau's archives.

The hero is named Commander John Koenig. Professor Sabatini is a supporting character, the obvious prototype for Bergman. The villain is scientist politician Grivas, who is the direct ancestor of Commissioner Simmonds. Compare this to the early Gerry and Sylvia Anderson script Zero G, which has different character names and a different plot (involving aliens). The spacecraft (or astronauts, it's a little ambiguous) are still called "space probers". It's possible this was still a 30 minute episode, rather than a full hour.

This storyline introduces nuclear waste to blow the Moon out of orbit, a concept that remains in all later versions. The environmental aspects would have been clearer in 1973 (the Minemata mercury poisoning exposed in Life magazine, 1972, the Buffalo Creek disaster 1972, and early 1973 the Arab oil embargo and consequent debate about nuclear energy and waste, while the US clean air and water acts passed into law that year). There is a strongly cynical view of politicians, which survives in weakened form to the George Bellak scripts.

There are no other named characters, in particular no Helena. This suggests the storyline was written before the casting of Landau and Bain. After she was cast, the storyline would have to be reworked to include a female co-star. This storyline, along with Keith Wilson's designs, were probably shown to the Landaus in Los Angeles to persuade them to take the roles. The name Sabatini may indicate Italy's RAI was already involved for co-financing (see also writer's guidelines).

This story will open with the moonbase already in operation for sometime under the command of someone other than John Koenig. Koenig has just been appointed the replacement Commander, and is about to leave on the space shuttle for the base.

One of the side operations of the moonbase has been the solution of a very vexing earth problem, namely, how to dispose of the generations of worn out, but still highly radioactive nuclear fuel which have resulted from earth installations.

For some time now an area on the dark side of the moon has been used as a dumping ground for all of this material, so as to leave earth uncontaminated. In the last twenty years a new and highly sophisticated metal has been used for nuclear energy and the residue of this material has also been deposited on the moon. This "garbage" program is overseen by a technical group headed by a scientist-politician named Grivas. Grivas is an older, once important scientist who, now worried about his position, has left science behind and is much more subservient to the political winds that blow. Since this agency is internationally run, Grivas makes more concessions than he should to pressures and ideas.

Professor Sabatini has taken an interest in this nuclear dumping and, with only theoretical evidence to back him up, has told John Koenig that he is fearful of some kind of accident on the moon due to the mingling of specific quantities of this new nuclear material. Koenig agrees with him, but Grivas, for political reasons does not. Thus, even before leaving earth, Koenig is in conflict with Grivas over an issue he considers potentially dangerous.

John Koenig goes to take up his command. Sabatini goes along to check out nuclear waste piles in an attempt to confirm his theory.

Once at Moonbase and while Commander Koenig is getting acquainted with the installation, taking charge, etc., it becomes apparent that efforts to research the disposal dump and experiment upon it are being thwarted by Grivas' orders. Koenig fights against this as best he can. There are moves and counter moves, and suddenly it appears the instruments indicate the nuclear temperature and radiation, etc. of the slagpile is rising rapidly towards a crisis point.

Alert is called. Methods of dealing with the emergency and cooling the pile are invented instantly, and, cautiously, with great danger to all concerned, are put into operation. But to no avail. The pile goes up. There is an incredible nuclear explosion and chain reaction at the site of the disposal area. The moon undergoes violent shock. The tip of the moon, a large area of perhaps one hundred miles square, wrenches itself loose and becomes solar dust. The moon itself is pulled out of its orbit and goes careening off in an unknown trajectory.

The effect on Moonbase can be cataclysmic. Koenig and his people fight to keep the bases environmental stability going. They manage, in the end, to do this. Moonbase Alpha survives, partly crippled but operative. The question now is, however, with all communication with earth broken, and all hope of ever getting back home dimmed, where will they go and how will they survive.

The only answer is to zoom through the heavens on this monumental moon journey and to hope to find some place in the cosmos which they can colonize and make their own again. But even as this decision is taken, word comes in from the space probers that all indications are that immediate space dangers confront them. But with no way out they must now go on and face them.