Dragon's Domain
Encyclopedia
"Dragon's Domain" is the twenty-third episode of the first series of Space: 1999
. The screenplay was written by Christopher Penfold
; the director was Charles Crichton
. The final shooting script dated 21 January 1975, with blue-page amendments dated 29 January 1975 and yellow-page amendments dated 30 January 1975. Live-action filming took place Monday, 27 January 1975 through Monday, 10 February 1975.
is passing through a stretch of peaceful empty space between galaxies. Doctor Helena Russell
is alone in her quarters, typing a report on a World Space Commission Medical Department form regarding the status of one Captain Tony Cellini. Her voice-over narration giving the history of this case leads the viewer into an extended flashback...
Hours earlier, during the simulated 'night-time' on Moonbase Alpha
, astronaut Tony Cellini awakens from a fitful sleep in a cold sweat. Sensing danger, he seizes an antique tomahawk
from a decorative weapons display. After making several lunges at an imagined enemy (which he perceives as a swirling display of light and an electronic screeching), Cellini ends up hacking the tomahawk deep into the communications post in his quarters.
Medical Computer alerts Helena of Cellini's elevated pulse and metabolic rate. When she contacts him, he assures her that it was just a bad dream. Though not entirely convinced, she bids him a good night. After contemplating the space sky from his window, Cellini leaves his quarters—still in his pyjamas—and makes for the Embarkation Area. His entry into this restricted area while off-duty attracts attention: John Koenig
, overseeing the night shift in Main Mission, receives the report from Computer. Suspicious, the Commander orders Cellini's commlock cancelled.
Cellini's progress is halted by his now non-operational commlock. He encounters Alan Carter
and clobbers him, appropriating his commlock. He uses it to gain access to the stand-by Eagle. By the time Koenig arrives at the launch pad, Cellini is firing up the ship's engines. The Commander overrides the safety protocols and re-connects the boarding tube; the lift-off is automatically aborted by this action. Koenig boards the Eagle and each man grabs a stun-gun from the weapons rack. During the face-off, Cellini says, 'Let me go, John,' and moves for the command module, but is rendered unconscious by the Commander's point-blank stun-blast.
As Helena cares for the unconscious Cellini, she discusses his case with Koenig. She believes that Cellini is mentally unstable and a threat to the safety of himself and others. Koenig will not accept her diagnosis—he is a long-time friend of Cellini, whom he knows to be an accomplished astronaut, athlete and poet. Five years before, he had a traumatic experience during his mission to the planet Ultra, and never recovered. The two quarrel when she reveals that, at the time, she saw Cellini as a patient; her report to the Space Commission may have helped further damage his reputation. As Koenig storms out of Medical, Helena's narration takes the viewer to a flashback within the flashback...
9 March 1996. At Alpha's Technical Section, Astronauts John Koenig and Tony Cellini and Professor Victor Bergman
were working out the final details of the Ultra Probe
, a high-profile deep-space mission to explore the then-newly discovered planet Ultra. This tenth planet, discovered by Bergman in 1994, showed every indication of being habitable. Cellini and Koenig could not decide which of them would command the mission. Leaving it up to a coin-toss, Cellini won.
The Ultra Probe departed from the Interplanetary Space Station
on its seven-month journey on 6 June 1996. Cellini and his crew (astrophysicist Doctor Darwin King, radiation expert Professor Juliet Mackie and medical officer Doctor Monique Bouchere) experienced no difficulty during the voyage. On arriving at Ultra, they marveled at its similarity to Earth and preparations were made for a manned landing. While orbiting behind Ultra—out of direct communication with Alpha mission control—the ship encountered a collection of alien spacecraft. No life signs were detected from any of the derelicts. By consensus, the crew decided to dock with one of the silent vessels.
As the airlock opened, there was an unexpected phenomenon—swirling light, raging wind, screeching noise—and King shouted to Cellini to close the airlock. Emitting a deafening electronic scream, a huge, vaguely octopus-like creature with prehensile tentacles, one blazing eye and a fiery maw materialised, filling the aft portion of the main module. When King attempted to seal it off with the emergency bulkheads, its incredibly strong apendages prevented the closure of the doors—which shorted out the ship's auto-systems. The crew's efforts to defend themselves came to naught. One by one, they were hypnotised into inaction by the creature, devoured alive, and their smoking remains regurgitated.
Cellini was trapped in the command module by the system failure. After a hasty repair job, he released the jammed door in time to witness the death of the last of his shipmates: Monique Bouchere. He fired on the creature, the laser beams bouncing off its armoured hide. Cellini retreated to the command module, pursued by the monster. Fending off the creature's tentacles with a fire axe, he sealed the doors. He then blasted the command module free from the body of the probe-ship to use as an escape craft. In a brilliant manoeuvre, Cellini managed to slingshot around Ultra on a return vector for home.
After a six-month journey, he reached Earth barely alive, sustained by survival rations and sheer courage. His accomplishment was soon overshadowed by the world-wide disbelief of his horrific tale of the alien monster. While recuperating in an Earthside hospital, Cellini was visited by one Helena Russell on behalf of the Space Commission Medical Department to evaulate his competency. From the start, the Italian astronaut poured on the charm, discussing diverse topics ranging from Father Christmas
to his own sex life. When the conversation turned to the Ultra Probe incident, he became physically and verbally agitated. Helena was forced to order sedation as Cellini pleaded with her to believe him.
World Space Commission executive Commissioner Dixon summoned Cellini, Koenig and Bergman to his offices on Earth. He stated bluntly that there was no evidence on the flight recorder
of any 'monster'. He judged that Cellini bungled the decompression procedure, killed his crew and refused to either admit or accept the blame. When questioned, Bergman and Koenig tried not to implicate their friend, but were forced to admit there were no facts to support his tale—or refute it, Koenig cheekily rebutted. Dixon ended the interview by stating the ultimate fact was that 'space adventuring' was terrifically expensive. His overwhelming priority was protect the space programme from the financial ruin the probe's failure would bring. Dixon grounded Koenig and Bergman as punishment for their ‘misguided’ support of Cellini. The scapegoat himself was then sent for extended psychiatric assessment
.
Time passed, and Dixon's tenure as commissioner ended. Bergman was again welcome on Alpha as a visiting scientist, and Helena was posted there as head of the Medical Section. In September of 1999, Koenig was appointed base commander to resolve the Meta Probe
crisis, and he transferred his friend Cellini back to Alpha's Reconnaissance Section. After the Moon's breakaway
, all memory of the Ultra Probe incident was obliterated by their struggle to survive in a hostile universe—until Cellini's irrational behaviour on this night revived the controversy...
The viewer returns to the present-day flashback as Koenig and Helena reconcile; Koenig apologises for his temper and presents her with a peace offering—a hyacinth he has managed to grow, in spite of his black thumb. As they discuss Cellini, which almost results in another argument, the man regains consciousness. He tells Koenig and Helena that his attempt to depart Alpha was in response to an unconscious feeling that the Ultra Probe monster was near and he needed to go out and face it. Koenig is unsure what to believe.
A summons from Main Mission calls him away from Medical Centre; waiting for him on the big screen is an image of a jumbled assortment of alien craft. Despite five years' time and a distance of uncountable light-years, Koenig uncannily knows it is the spaceship graveyard Cellini had described encountering behind Ultra. Further investigation reveals the main module of the Ultra Probe still docked with one of the derelicts. Koenig agrees to investigate, and Cellini feels redeemed. Helena, though, is concerned by Cellini's unnatural calmness.
Boarding Eagle One, Cellini tells Koenig he is going up front to apologise to Carter for his earlier assault. However, he again knocks Carter unconscious and hijacks the Eagle, leaving the passenger module (and Koenig and company) behind on the launch pad. He radios his old friend, informing him that the beast is his enemy and he must face it—alone.
Koenig orders Eagles Three and Four to pursue Cellini and Eagle Two to pick up his abandoned passenger module. He still supports Cellini, even though his friend's actions could be interpreted as a desperate attempt to destroy evidence. Running three minutes ahead of the posse
, Cellini docks Eagle One's command module where the probe-ship's pilot module had been affixed. Taking a fire axe and rope, he enters the eerie darkness of main module and secures his lifeline to a support girder. His presence causes the monster to materialise in full attack mode. After Cellini lands several telling blows with the axe, the monster gets a stranglehold around his neck.
Koenig's Eagle Two docks with the probe-ship; he and the Security team enter the main module to witness the epic battle. Cellini's lifeline is yanked free by the monster and the astronaut is devoured, his ravaged corpse ejected to lie by those of his fallen comrades. Koenig reckons the monster's weakness could be its massive, exposed 'eye', and retrieves Cellini's axe. Evading the flailing tentacles, Koenig dives in and, hacking away at the eye, slays the monster.
Back on Alpha, after the Moon has drifted out of range of the spaceship graveyard, we return to the present. Helena Russell sits at her typewriter
, ruminating that when the Alphans finally settle on their new home, they will need a whole new mythology. She suggests to Koenig the tale of Tony Cellini and the Monster. She then hands him the completed report, closing the case and giving the tortured Cellini final vindication.
score (drawn primarily from 'Matter of Life and Death
' and 'Another Time, Another Place
'), Tomaso Albinoni
's composition 'Adiago in G Minor for Strings and Organ in G Minor' is played over the flight sequences of the Ultra Probe
and the 'space horror music' composed by Vic Elms and Alan Willis for 'Ring Around the Moon' is used during the encounters with the monster.
, published in 1975. In the novel, the characters Tony Cellini and Monique Bouchere retain their original names Jim Calder and Olga Vishenskaya.
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
. The screenplay was written by Christopher Penfold
Christopher Penfold
Christopher Penfold is an English scriptwriter and editor.Television shows that he has worked on include Pathfinders, Take Me High, The Tripods, One by One, All Creatures Great and Small, EastEnders, Casualty and Midsomer Murders.Penfold is perhaps most well-known for being one of the brains behind...
; the director was Charles Crichton
Charles Crichton
Charles Crichton was an English film director and film editor. He became best known for directing comedies produced at Ealing Studios...
. The final shooting script dated 21 January 1975, with blue-page amendments dated 29 January 1975 and yellow-page amendments dated 30 January 1975. Live-action filming took place Monday, 27 January 1975 through Monday, 10 February 1975.
Story
It is 877 days after leaving Earth orbit, and the MoonMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
is passing through a stretch of peaceful empty space between galaxies. Doctor Helena Russell
Helena Russell
Helena Russell is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. She was played by Barbara Bain. She is American and apparently in her mid-thirties....
is alone in her quarters, typing a report on a World Space Commission Medical Department form regarding the status of one Captain Tony Cellini. Her voice-over narration giving the history of this case leads the viewer into an extended flashback...
Hours earlier, during the simulated 'night-time' on Moonbase Alpha
Moonbase Alpha
Moonbase Alpha is a fictional moon base and the main setting in the science fiction television series Space: 1999.-Moonbase Alpha:Located in the Moon crater Plato and constructed out of quarried rock and ores, Moonbase Alpha is four kilometres in diameter and extends up to one kilometre in areas...
, astronaut Tony Cellini awakens from a fitful sleep in a cold sweat. Sensing danger, he seizes an antique tomahawk
Tomahawk (axe)
A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan word.Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans and European Colonials...
from a decorative weapons display. After making several lunges at an imagined enemy (which he perceives as a swirling display of light and an electronic screeching), Cellini ends up hacking the tomahawk deep into the communications post in his quarters.
Medical Computer alerts Helena of Cellini's elevated pulse and metabolic rate. When she contacts him, he assures her that it was just a bad dream. Though not entirely convinced, she bids him a good night. After contemplating the space sky from his window, Cellini leaves his quarters—still in his pyjamas—and makes for the Embarkation Area. His entry into this restricted area while off-duty attracts attention: John Koenig
John Koenig
John Koenig is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Martin Landau. He is American, apparently in his early forties.-Character Biography:...
, overseeing the night shift in Main Mission, receives the report from Computer. Suspicious, the Commander orders Cellini's commlock cancelled.
Cellini's progress is halted by his now non-operational commlock. He encounters Alan Carter
Alan Carter (Space 1999)
Alan Carter is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Nick Tate. He is of Australian origin and is in his early thirties.-Character biography:...
and clobbers him, appropriating his commlock. He uses it to gain access to the stand-by Eagle. By the time Koenig arrives at the launch pad, Cellini is firing up the ship's engines. The Commander overrides the safety protocols and re-connects the boarding tube; the lift-off is automatically aborted by this action. Koenig boards the Eagle and each man grabs a stun-gun from the weapons rack. During the face-off, Cellini says, 'Let me go, John,' and moves for the command module, but is rendered unconscious by the Commander's point-blank stun-blast.
As Helena cares for the unconscious Cellini, she discusses his case with Koenig. She believes that Cellini is mentally unstable and a threat to the safety of himself and others. Koenig will not accept her diagnosis—he is a long-time friend of Cellini, whom he knows to be an accomplished astronaut, athlete and poet. Five years before, he had a traumatic experience during his mission to the planet Ultra, and never recovered. The two quarrel when she reveals that, at the time, she saw Cellini as a patient; her report to the Space Commission may have helped further damage his reputation. As Koenig storms out of Medical, Helena's narration takes the viewer to a flashback within the flashback...
9 March 1996. At Alpha's Technical Section, Astronauts John Koenig and Tony Cellini and Professor Victor Bergman
Victor Bergman
Professor Victor Bergman is the name of a recurring character on the UK science fiction television series Space: 1999. The role was portrayed by actor Barry Morse.-Character Biography:...
were working out the final details of the Ultra Probe
Ultra Probe
The Ultra Probe was a fictional spacecraft in the Space: 1999 episode "Dragons Domain".A long-range explorer ship, the Ultra Probe was designed to take a crew of four to the planet Ultra, which had been discovered by Professor Victor Bergman in 1994...
, a high-profile deep-space mission to explore the then-newly discovered planet Ultra. This tenth planet, discovered by Bergman in 1994, showed every indication of being habitable. Cellini and Koenig could not decide which of them would command the mission. Leaving it up to a coin-toss, Cellini won.
The Ultra Probe departed from the Interplanetary Space Station
Space Dock (Space: 1999)
The Space Dock was a fictional space station in the television series Space: 1999 . Referred to simply as the Space Dock it is also called the Meta Probe Launch Platform in "Breakaway" and the Interplanetary Space Station in "Dragon's Domain" episodes of the series...
on its seven-month journey on 6 June 1996. Cellini and his crew (astrophysicist Doctor Darwin King, radiation expert Professor Juliet Mackie and medical officer Doctor Monique Bouchere) experienced no difficulty during the voyage. On arriving at Ultra, they marveled at its similarity to Earth and preparations were made for a manned landing. While orbiting behind Ultra—out of direct communication with Alpha mission control—the ship encountered a collection of alien spacecraft. No life signs were detected from any of the derelicts. By consensus, the crew decided to dock with one of the silent vessels.
As the airlock opened, there was an unexpected phenomenon—swirling light, raging wind, screeching noise—and King shouted to Cellini to close the airlock. Emitting a deafening electronic scream, a huge, vaguely octopus-like creature with prehensile tentacles, one blazing eye and a fiery maw materialised, filling the aft portion of the main module. When King attempted to seal it off with the emergency bulkheads, its incredibly strong apendages prevented the closure of the doors—which shorted out the ship's auto-systems. The crew's efforts to defend themselves came to naught. One by one, they were hypnotised into inaction by the creature, devoured alive, and their smoking remains regurgitated.
Cellini was trapped in the command module by the system failure. After a hasty repair job, he released the jammed door in time to witness the death of the last of his shipmates: Monique Bouchere. He fired on the creature, the laser beams bouncing off its armoured hide. Cellini retreated to the command module, pursued by the monster. Fending off the creature's tentacles with a fire axe, he sealed the doors. He then blasted the command module free from the body of the probe-ship to use as an escape craft. In a brilliant manoeuvre, Cellini managed to slingshot around Ultra on a return vector for home.
After a six-month journey, he reached Earth barely alive, sustained by survival rations and sheer courage. His accomplishment was soon overshadowed by the world-wide disbelief of his horrific tale of the alien monster. While recuperating in an Earthside hospital, Cellini was visited by one Helena Russell on behalf of the Space Commission Medical Department to evaulate his competency. From the start, the Italian astronaut poured on the charm, discussing diverse topics ranging from Father Christmas
Father Christmas
Father Christmas is the name used in many English-speaking countries for a figure associated with Christmas. A similar figure with the same name exists in several other countries, including France , Spain , Brazil , Portugal , Italy , Armenia , India...
to his own sex life. When the conversation turned to the Ultra Probe incident, he became physically and verbally agitated. Helena was forced to order sedation as Cellini pleaded with her to believe him.
World Space Commission executive Commissioner Dixon summoned Cellini, Koenig and Bergman to his offices on Earth. He stated bluntly that there was no evidence on the flight recorder
Flight recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...
of any 'monster'. He judged that Cellini bungled the decompression procedure, killed his crew and refused to either admit or accept the blame. When questioned, Bergman and Koenig tried not to implicate their friend, but were forced to admit there were no facts to support his tale—or refute it, Koenig cheekily rebutted. Dixon ended the interview by stating the ultimate fact was that 'space adventuring' was terrifically expensive. His overwhelming priority was protect the space programme from the financial ruin the probe's failure would bring. Dixon grounded Koenig and Bergman as punishment for their ‘misguided’ support of Cellini. The scapegoat himself was then sent for extended psychiatric assessment
Psychiatric assessment
A psychiatric assessment, or psychological screening, is a process of way of gathering information about a person within a psychiatric service, with the purpose of making a diagnosis. The assessment is usually the first stage of a treatment process, but psychiatric assessments may also be used for...
.
Time passed, and Dixon's tenure as commissioner ended. Bergman was again welcome on Alpha as a visiting scientist, and Helena was posted there as head of the Medical Section. In September of 1999, Koenig was appointed base commander to resolve the Meta Probe
Meta Probe
The Meta Probe was a fictional spacecraft in the Space: 1999 episode "Breakaway", it appears in just a few scenes of this pilot episode.-Mission Profile:...
crisis, and he transferred his friend Cellini back to Alpha's Reconnaissance Section. After the Moon's breakaway
Breakaway (Space: 1999)
"Breakaway" is the first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by George Bellak ; the director was Lee H. Katzin. Previous titles include 'Zero-G', 'The Void Ahead' and 'Turning Point'. The final shooting script is dated 22 November 1973...
, all memory of the Ultra Probe incident was obliterated by their struggle to survive in a hostile universe—until Cellini's irrational behaviour on this night revived the controversy...
The viewer returns to the present-day flashback as Koenig and Helena reconcile; Koenig apologises for his temper and presents her with a peace offering—a hyacinth he has managed to grow, in spite of his black thumb. As they discuss Cellini, which almost results in another argument, the man regains consciousness. He tells Koenig and Helena that his attempt to depart Alpha was in response to an unconscious feeling that the Ultra Probe monster was near and he needed to go out and face it. Koenig is unsure what to believe.
A summons from Main Mission calls him away from Medical Centre; waiting for him on the big screen is an image of a jumbled assortment of alien craft. Despite five years' time and a distance of uncountable light-years, Koenig uncannily knows it is the spaceship graveyard Cellini had described encountering behind Ultra. Further investigation reveals the main module of the Ultra Probe still docked with one of the derelicts. Koenig agrees to investigate, and Cellini feels redeemed. Helena, though, is concerned by Cellini's unnatural calmness.
Boarding Eagle One, Cellini tells Koenig he is going up front to apologise to Carter for his earlier assault. However, he again knocks Carter unconscious and hijacks the Eagle, leaving the passenger module (and Koenig and company) behind on the launch pad. He radios his old friend, informing him that the beast is his enemy and he must face it—alone.
Koenig orders Eagles Three and Four to pursue Cellini and Eagle Two to pick up his abandoned passenger module. He still supports Cellini, even though his friend's actions could be interpreted as a desperate attempt to destroy evidence. Running three minutes ahead of the posse
Posse
Posse may refer to:* Posse comitatus , a group of men assembled to assist in law enforcement* Posse , starring Kirk Douglas* Posse , starring Mario van Peebles...
, Cellini docks Eagle One's command module where the probe-ship's pilot module had been affixed. Taking a fire axe and rope, he enters the eerie darkness of main module and secures his lifeline to a support girder. His presence causes the monster to materialise in full attack mode. After Cellini lands several telling blows with the axe, the monster gets a stranglehold around his neck.
Koenig's Eagle Two docks with the probe-ship; he and the Security team enter the main module to witness the epic battle. Cellini's lifeline is yanked free by the monster and the astronaut is devoured, his ravaged corpse ejected to lie by those of his fallen comrades. Koenig reckons the monster's weakness could be its massive, exposed 'eye', and retrieves Cellini's axe. Evading the flailing tentacles, Koenig dives in and, hacking away at the eye, slays the monster.
Back on Alpha, after the Moon has drifted out of range of the spaceship graveyard, we return to the present. Helena Russell sits at her typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
, ruminating that when the Alphans finally settle on their new home, they will need a whole new mythology. She suggests to Koenig the tale of Tony Cellini and the Monster. She then hands him the completed report, closing the case and giving the tortured Cellini final vindication.
Starring
- Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
— Commander John KoenigJohn KoenigJohn Koenig is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Martin Landau. He is American, apparently in his early forties.-Character Biography:... - Barbara BainBarbara BainMillicent Fogel , known professionally as Barbara Bain, is an American actress.-Early life:Bain was born in Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She moved to New York City, where she was a dancer and high fashion model. Bain studied with...
— Doctor Helena RussellHelena RussellHelena Russell is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. She was played by Barbara Bain. She is American and apparently in her mid-thirties....
Guest Artists
- Gianni GarkoGianni GarkoGianni Garko is an Italian actor who found much fame as a leading man in Spaghetti Westerns...
— Captain Tony Cellini - Douglas WilmerDouglas Wilmer-Early life:Wilmer was born in London and educated at King's School, Canterbury and Stonyhurst College. He trained at RADA but was called up to the Army in World War II. Posted to an antitank battery in the Royal West African Frontier Force, he was invalided out after he acquired tuberculosis. He...
— Commissioner Dixon
Featuring
- Prentis HancockPrentis HancockPrentis Hancock is a British actor, best known for his television roles.He was a regular cast member of the first season of science fiction series Space: 1999 as Paul Morrow, and also appeared in a number of Doctor Who stories throughout the 1970s - Spearhead from Space and Planet of the Daleks...
— Controller Paul MorrowPaul MorrowPaul Morrow is a fictional character who first appeared in 'Breakaway', the premiere episode of the science fiction television show Space: 1999, and was portrayed by Prentis Hancock. He is a British national who appears to be in his early thirties.... - Clifton JonesClifton JonesClifton Jones is an actor, mostly known for his roles on British television.His most prominent role is probably that of David Kano during the first season of the science fiction series Space: 1999....
— David KanoDavid Kano (Space 1999)David Kano is a fictional character who regularly appeared during the first season of the science fiction television series Space: 1999. He is of Jamaican origin and in his mid-thirties. He was played by actor Clifton Jones.-Character biography:... - Zienia MertonZienia MertonZienia Merton is a British actress born in Burma. Her mother was Burmese, and her father half English, half French. She was raised in Singapore, Borneo, Portugal, and England....
— Sandra BenesSandra BenesSandra Benes is a recurring character in the British science-fiction television series Space: 1999. She is of Western European/Burmese origin and is in her late twenties. Her role was played by actress Zienia Merton.-Character Biography:... - Anton PhillipsAnton PhillipsAnton Phillips is an actor who found success appearing in British television. He remains best known for his role as Dr. Bob Mathias in the science fiction series Space 1999.-Early life and education:...
— Doctor Bob MathiasBob Mathias (Space: 1999)Bob Mathias is a fictional character from the British science-fiction television series Space: 1999. He is played by actor Anton Phillips.-Character Biography:... - Nick TateNick TateNicholas John "Nick" Tate is an Australian actor best known for his role as Eagle pilot Alan Carter in both seasons of the 1970s science fiction television series Space: 1999, as well as for playing the role of Gordon Hamilton's errant brother James in the 1980's soap opera "Sons and...
— Captain Alan CarterAlan Carter (Space 1999)Alan Carter is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Nick Tate. He is of Australian origin and is in his early thirties.-Character biography:... - Barbara KellermanBarbara KellermanBarbara R. Kellerman is an English actress, noted for her film and television roles. She trained at Rose Bruford College. Kellerman's Jewish parents had fled Nazi Germany and settled in Leeds, briefly living in Manchester before returning to Leeds by 1952...
— Doctor Monique Bouchere - Michael SheardMichael SheardMichael Sheard was a Scottish actor who featured in a large number of films and television programmes.-Early life:...
— Doctor Darwin King - Susan JamesonSusan JamesonSusan Jameson is an English actress who is best known for her television work.Jameson was born in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, England, UK. She is married to actor James Bolam with whom she has a daughter, Lucy...
— Professor Juliet Mackie
Uncredited Artists
- Suzanne RoquetteSuzanne RoquetteSuzanne Roquette is an actress, who remains best known for her role as Tanya Alexander in the science fiction television series Space 1999....
— TanyaTanya AlexanderTanya Alexander is the name of a semi-recurring character on the UK science fiction television series Space: 1999. The role was portrayed by German actress Suzanne Roquette.-Character Biography:... - James Fagan — Astronaut Pete Johnson
- Bob ShermanBob Sherman (actor)Robert Sherman was an American-born dramaturge, playwright, and film and television actor, best remembered for his role as CIA agent Jeff Ross in the British television series The Sandbaggers.-Select television:...
— 'Space News' Newsreader - Gwen TaylorGwen TaylorGwen Taylor is an actress who has appeared in many British television programmes, including Z-Cars, Murder Most Horrid, Yes, Prime Minister, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders and Belonging...
— Earth Hospital Nurse
Music
In addition to the regular Barry GrayBarry Gray
Barry Gray was a British musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson.-Life:...
score (drawn primarily from 'Matter of Life and Death
Matter of Life and Death (Space: 1999)
"Matter of Life and Death" is the second episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Art Wallace and Johnny Byrne; the director was Charles Crichton. The original title was 'Siren Planet'. The final shooting script is dated 8 January 1974...
' and 'Another Time, Another Place
Another Time, Another Place (Space: 1999)
"Another Time, Another Place" is the sixth episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was David Tomblin. The final shooting script is dated 20 January 1974, with blue-page amendments dated 25 January and 1 April 1974. Live-action filming...
'), Tomaso Albinoni
Tomaso Albinoni
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni was an Italian Baroque composer. While famous in his day as an opera composer, he is mainly remembered today for his instrumental music, such as the concertos, some of which are regularly recorded.-Biography:Born in Venice, Republic of Venice, to Antonio Albinoni, a...
's composition 'Adiago in G Minor for Strings and Organ in G Minor' is played over the flight sequences of the Ultra Probe
Ultra Probe
The Ultra Probe was a fictional spacecraft in the Space: 1999 episode "Dragons Domain".A long-range explorer ship, the Ultra Probe was designed to take a crew of four to the planet Ultra, which had been discovered by Professor Victor Bergman in 1994...
and the 'space horror music' composed by Vic Elms and Alan Willis for 'Ring Around the Moon' is used during the encounters with the monster.
Production Notes
- The story, a take on Saint George and the DragonSaint George and the DragonThe episode of Saint George and the Dragon appended to the hagiography of Saint George was Eastern in origin, brought back with the Crusaders and retold with the courtly appurtenances belonging to the genre of Romance...
, was originally conceived as a vehicle for Nick TateNick TateNicholas John "Nick" Tate is an Australian actor best known for his role as Eagle pilot Alan Carter in both seasons of the 1970s science fiction television series Space: 1999, as well as for playing the role of Gordon Hamilton's errant brother James in the 1980's soap opera "Sons and...
with Alan CarterAlan Carter (Space 1999)Alan Carter is a fictional character from the television series Space: 1999. He was played by Nick Tate. He is of Australian origin and is in his early thirties.-Character biography:...
having commanded the Ultra Probe and vindicating himself in this story by slaying the beast. Reports indicate that Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
(always cautious of his male castmates—especially Tate—receiving any significant exposure) influenced the production staff to rewrite the part as a one-off guest role. Story consultant Christopher PenfoldChristopher PenfoldChristopher Penfold is an English scriptwriter and editor.Television shows that he has worked on include Pathfinders, Take Me High, The Tripods, One by One, All Creatures Great and Small, EastEnders, Casualty and Midsomer Murders.Penfold is perhaps most well-known for being one of the brains behind...
had already resigned from the show and, knowing that he himself did not, script editor Johnny Byrne presumes the rewriting was performed by executive producer Gerry AndersonGerry AndersonGerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
and Landau himself.
- In the final shooting script dated 21 January 1975, the Tony Cellini character is named 'Jim Calder' and Doctor Monique Bouchere is 'Olga Vishenskaya'. This draft contains no reference to Koenig, Bergman and Dixon mentioning evidence about the spaceship graveyard or the Ultra Probe's docking with the alien ship apart from the scanner contacts and Cellini's testimony. This dialogue must have been part of the last-minute script amendments: in the final cut, it seems a little odd that Dixon says they have only a series of unidentifiable bleeps on the scanner, but then Koenig states that the black box recorded a tight docking seal and a breathable atmosphere inside the alien spaceship.
- Fulfilling their agreement with RAIRAIRAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
, the Italian production company co-funding the first series, Italian actor Gianni GarkoGianni GarkoGianni Garko is an Italian actor who found much fame as a leading man in Spaghetti Westerns...
would be cast in the role of the tortured astronaut; Jim Calder would be re-christened Tony Cellini. Garko, though a talented actor, was not a fluent speaker of the English language and, in a ironic twist, asked Nick Tate to help teach him his lines in English.
- Many of the spacecraft miniatures seen in the graveyard sequences had been used before in the series: the Sidon ship from 'Voyager's Return', the Atherian ship from 'Collision CourseCollision Course (Space: 1999)"Collision Course" is the thirteenth episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Anthony Terpiloff; the director was Ray Austin. The final shooting script is dated 13 August 1974...
', the battleship used in 'Alpha Child' and 'War GamesWar Games (Space: 1999)"War Games" is the seventeenth episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Christopher Penfold; the director was Charles Crichton. The final shooting script is dated 15 October 1974...
' and the front piece used to transform the battleship into the Deltan gunship in 'The Last Enemy'. Reports indicated that the visual effects crew shot a sequence including Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
's USS EnterpriseStarship EnterpriseThe Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. It is considered a name of legacy in the fleet...
and Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
's TARDISTARDISThe TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, but saner heads prevailed and the shot was never used.
- The blue quilted nylon jacket worn by Bergman would be used in the second series as Alan Carter's excursion jacket. The orange versions of the jacket seen on Koenig and Cellini would be worn next episode by Security personnel and later, in series two, by MayaMaya (Space: 1999)Maya is a fictional character who appeared in the second series of the science fiction television program Space: 1999. Played by actress Catherine Schell , Maya was introduced in the second series opener 'The Metamorph'...
and a variety of guest artists. The older-style computer banks seen in the main module of the Ultra Probe ship originated in SHADO Control from the Andersons' previous live-action science-ficton series UFOUFO (TV series)UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
. Commissioner Dixon's office on Earth was a redress of MM (James Bond)M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
's office from the James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film series. The signature red-leather padded door can be seen at the top of the scene.
Novelisation
The episode was adapted in the sixth Year One Space: 1999 novel Astral Quest by John RankineJohn Rankine
John Rankine is a British science fiction author, who has written books as John Rankine and Douglas R. Mason...
, published in 1975. In the novel, the characters Tony Cellini and Monique Bouchere retain their original names Jim Calder and Olga Vishenskaya.
External links
- Space: 1999 - 'Dragon's Domain' - The Catacombs episode guide
- Space: 1999 - 'Dragon's Domain' - Moonbase Alpha's Space: 1999 page
| Last produced: "Mission of the Darians Mission of the Darians "Mission of the Darians" is the twenty-second episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was Ray Austin. The original title was ‘Mission of the Darya’. The final shooting script is dated 7 January 1975... " |
List of Space: 1999 episodes | Next produced: "The Testament of Arkadia The Testament of Arkadia "The Testament of Arkadia" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was David Tomblin. The final shooting script is dated 5 February 1975, with a revised final shooting script dated 25 February 1975... " |
| Last transmitted: "Alpha Child" |
Next transmitted: "Mission of the Darians Mission of the Darians "Mission of the Darians" is the twenty-second episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Johnny Byrne; the director was Ray Austin. The original title was ‘Mission of the Darya’. The final shooting script is dated 7 January 1975... " |