Space Warp

Plot
Eagle 1 gets lost in space and, as if that isn't enough, Moonbase Alpha has problems of its own when Maya's ability to transform herself into any living entity goes out of control.

Prologue:
A derelict Spaceship appears in Alpha's third quadrant. John and Tony take an Eagle out to investigate. Maya is suddenly taken ill, having developed a fever of unknown origin that resists all of Helena's attempts to treat it. She can't help but wonder if the two occurrences are in some way related. In Maya's feverish state, she is seeing the breakup of Psychon, and trying to convince Mentor to leave the planet. In a brief moment of lucidity, she tells Helena that she is afraid. Maya asks for Tony, and Helena has Alan contact them in Eagle 1 to get an estimate on their return to Alpha. John tells Alan that they will be back after they board the alien ship. The Moon starts to shake and the Alphans are tossed around. John and Tony watch on their screen as the Moon disappears from sight.

Act One
John figures that it must have passed through a space warp. Back on Alpha, they reach the same conclusion when they learn that the Moon is five light years away from it's previous position in space. Alan questions the likely hood of the Commander ever making it back to Alpha. Sandra suggests the possibility of him finding a window in the space warp. Alan has a refueling Eagle launch on the off chance that they do find their way back. Maya asks Helena to put her in restraints, fearing that she is losing control over her powers of molecular transformation, and might be dangerous. Helena reluctantly agrees at Maya's insistence. When she contacts Command Centre, Alan tells her that the Moon passed through a space warp, and that Eagle 1 is on the other side. Helena goes to Command Centre for more information. Helena learns that the odds of Eagle 1 making it back are astronomical. Shaken, she returns to Medical Centre to check on Maya. When she arrives, she finds Maya has transformed into an alien, and broken free of her restraints. The creature attacks Helena, knocking her unconscious, and leaves Medical Centre. She begins a rampage attacking everyone she come into contact with. Reports start flowing into Command Center about alien attacks. Alan orders the creature to be shot on sight.

Act Two
Security finds it in an elevator between floors. Ben Vincent finds Helena and she tells him that Maya has broken free. He tells her that Alan has given a "shoot to kill" order. Helena contacts him just in time to have the order rescinded before Maya is shot. They try to stun her, to no effect. Helena suggests using a tranquilizer dart with "more of a kick" instead, and prepares one for the task. They catch up to Maya just before she enters a travel tube. When she does not respond to Helena's pleas, they shoot her with the dart. She enters the travel tube heading for launch pad 4. Alan shuts down power to the travel tube to try to trap her underground. Maya breaks out, attacks the crew of launch pad 4, and boards Eagle 4. She retracts the boarding tube, so they have to lower the platform in order to stop her flying off to the, now, non-existent Psychon. The Eagle is brought into the hangar remotely. The tranquilizer begins to take effect and the creature (Maya) tries to lift off underground, crashing into the ceiling, and then flipping over, and colliding with another Eagle. The hangar is engulfed in flames. A team of fire fighters is sent in to rescue Maya. They get her out, but she is dying from injuries sustained in the crash, and Helena is just not familiar enough with it's anatomy to be able to operate.

Act Three
When they return to Medical Centre, Helena tries to get Maya to revert, so she can operate. Maya transforms, but into a Psychon male, who immediately goes berserk, and tries to fight it's way out of Medical Centre. After Alan hits the alarm, Security shows up and stuns him. He collapses, but transforms into a large creature, and exits the room. On the other side of the space warp, John and Tony have docked with the alien vessel to see if they can use it's fuel stores to supplement their own. They board the alien ship, John finds a data bank, and discovers a message left by Captain Duro, of the scout ship Menon, who details his crew's search for the space warp, after their mothership, Admenon, had passed through it, and their tragic end, when they were on the verge of success. With his dying breath, he outlines the steps necessary to find the correct coordinates using the Space Warp Locator. Back on Alpha, Maya is trying to break out of the base through an airlock. Helena suggests trying an anesthetic gas cylinder to knock her out before she breaks through, causing explosive decompression of that section of the base. She opens the inner airlock door, trapping Maya inside, then fills the airlock with anesthetic gas. It has no effect, and Maya breaks through the outer door. Amazingly, Maya survives, as she has turned into a creature that can store oxygen, "like a camel stores water". But they still have to get her back before she transforms again or she will die on the lunar surface.

Act Four
She and Alan suit up, and take a Moonbuggy out after Maya. John and Tony hook up the space warp locator to the Eagle, and program it according to Captain Duro's instructions, hoping that it will work. Maya attacks Alan and Helena, when they catch up to her. Alan manages to take down the tiring creature down, but ruptures his air tanks in the scuffle. Helena repairs it, and calls for an emergency Eagle to pick them up, before Maya runs out of air, or changes back. John and Tony program their Eagle with the coordinates given by the space warp locator. They tow the derelict with them as they head towards the designated point in space. The space warp opens before them and they enter. As they pass through, Maya begins cycling through her recent transformations. As they emerge on the other side, she returns to normal, her fever gone. Back in Command Centre, Sandra reads a large disturbance near refueling Eagle. Alan has her put it on the big screen. It's Eagle 1. Alan relays this to Helena, who joins them in Command Centre.

Epilogue
Koenig says that he wants Maya to check out the derelict ship. Helena says "as soon as she's awake". Tony and John assume that means the rest of the Alphans have been taking it easy, and Helena let's them believe it.

Background
Shooting script dated 13th July 1976. Revised 27th July.

A "Double Up Helena" script, filmed simultaneously with A Matter of Balance. Shooting schedules dated 30th July, 16th August. Filmed 6th Aug- 24th Aug1976

For the scene when the Maya animal throws Alan in Medical, a low camera angle meant a false ceiling was installed. The stuntman (Tim Condren) bounced off a trampoline, but was so intent on missing the ceiling he landed two feet short of the mat. He broke two teeth and his collar bone.

Edited into the 1982 compilation movie Cosmic Princess

Cast

 * Commander John Koenig-Martin Landau
 * Doctor Helena Russell-Barbara Bain
 * Maya-Catherine Schell
 * Tony Verdeschi-Tony Anholt
 * Alan Carter-Nick Tate
 * Sandra Benes-Zienia Merton
 * Doctor Ben Vincent-Jeffery Kissoon
 * 1st Security Guard-Tony Osoba
 * 2nd Security Guard-John Judd
 * Gary (refuelling Eagle pilot)-Trevor Thomas
 * Petrov-Peter Porteous
 * Grasshopper (Capt. Duro)-Andrew Lodge
 * Command Centre Operative Peter Reeves-Robert Reeves
 * Security Guard Pierce Quinton-Quentin Pierre
 * Guard-Jack Klaff
 * Security guard At Elevator-Joe Dunne
 * Nurse (hangar control room)-Suzanne Heimer
 * Guard (Medical)-Nick Hobbs

Sets

 * Int. Command Centre
 * Int. Medical Centre
 * Int. Launch Area
 * Int. Control Room
 * Int. Corridor/Airlock 7
 * Int. Moonbuggy Airlock
 * Int. Alpha Corridor
 * Int. Corridor/ Elevator
 * Int. Travel Tube
 * Int. Eagle Pilot Section
 * Int. Eagle Passenger Section
 * Ext. Moon Surface
 * Int. Derelict

The first episode to feature an elevator (it also appears very briefly in The Seance Spectre).

SFX
The Menon cruiser is a redressed version of the Archanon spaceship from The Mark of Archanon, with a new nose section. In long shots it is docked with the 22 inch Eagle. Closeups of the 44 inch Eagle docked use a larger version of one bulkhead built for this episode.

The 2nd Eagle model is in the foreground, the 3rd is barely visible behind flames which severely damaged the model. The first Eagle model, with a striped rescue pod, and a moonbuggy are also in the shot (top right), almost completely hidden by the flames.

The hangar crash scene severely damaged one of the 44" Eagles.

Science
The data bank cartridges have arabic numerals.

"Area Copernicus of the Copernicus depression". There is a Copernicus crater on the Moon; obviously it must be in walking distance of Moonbase Alpha. Copernicus is incorrectly called a mountain in Journey to Where.

The Betanon scout cruiser is said to be 12 parsecs from the mothership Admenon when it entered the space warp. That is considerably farther than the 5 light years the Moon moves. Although they use space warps, they evidently have faster than light capabilities anyway.

Continuity
Chronology: Tue 24 Aug 2004 (1807 days after leaving Earth orbit)

Alpha Personnel:0 fatalities.

Alpha Technology: Medical thermographic scans are used. They are also featured in Breakaway, Matter of Life and Death, Ring Around the Moon, Another Time, Another Place, Missing Link, Force of Life and Dorzak.

The Alphans capture a faster than light spacecraft and a space warp detector. The space warp detector is seen in The Lambda Factor (in the Engineering workshop, as an engine tester - possibly a similar device with a different operating programme.), Devil's Planet (in Eagle 1, showing a street plan) and The Immunity Syndrome (in Eagle 4).

The Eagle remote control appears on Alan's desk in Command Center and in the Eagle 4 cockpit.

A lunar tank from The Infernal Machine is visible in the Eagle hangar. Also visible are side boosters from New Adam New Eve and the spine boosters from The Metamorph.

Eagles: Eagle 1 (Koenig); 2 (Refuelling); 4 (Maya, crashed)

The refuelling arm is also in Rule Of Luton and was a grab arm in The Exiles.

The forward view screen is seen. It is also seen in The A B Chrysalis, Seed Of Destruction, Bringers Of Wonder part 2, The Seance Spectre and Devil's Planet.

Maya transformations: Space Animal 1, Mentor/male Psychon, Space Animal 3

Maya changes into her father Mentor, from The Metamorph. Although scripted as such, it is plainly not Brian Blessed and could be another Psychon (the costume is Dorzak's).

Planets: None

Aliens: "Grasshopper" (credits) / "Captain Duro" (dialogue), captain of the Menon, (scout ship for the mothership Admenon). Humanoid.

Props: Mentor's costume created for this episode is used again as Dorzak's costume.

The perspex screen (see Duro picture) was featured as the alien screen in The AB Chrysalis. The space warp detector equations were Maya's equations in that episode.

In the recording of Capt Duro, the round panel behind him is the communications panel from the Golos Life Support Centre in The Exiles.

Errors
During the space warp sequence, the spinning Command Center is flopped left for right.

The Maya Animal enters elevator 7. However, when she leaves the elevator, the door is marked "elevator 3". Thanks to John Day.

When Alan is fighting the Maya/creature on the moon's surface, his visor flips up and down as he is thrown over a rock. This of course would have killed him. Maybe he managed to hold his breath long enough to close the visor without the Maya Creature reaching him.

Observations
Space: 1899 is a spoof version of this episode, conceived and produced by Gareth Randall and first shown at fan conventions in 2000. In 3 minutes, 30 seconds, it reveals the episode as a black and white silent movie, complete with caption cards. It is available on the Fanderson documentary DVD (2004).