The Full Circle

=Quote= "Oh, God, what has happened? What is happening to me? You must know me!"

=Summary= The centuries roll back for the occupants of the moon through a time warp of 40,000 years to the Stone Age, and meeting up with themselves as cavemen.

Prologue
After a reconnaissance Eagle exploring the planet Retha cannot be reached by Main Mission, Commander Koenig has Paul fly the Eagle back by remote control. When the ship lands at the base it is searched for clues as to what happened to the crew. The only evidence found on board is the body of a caveman.

Act One
Koenig orders an autopsy to see what killed him. Meanwhile, they still have no idea what happened to the original crew. Koenig gathers two teams to investigate the planet and search for the missing crewman. Upon landing on Retha, the teams split up, and Alan and Sandra take off to search from the air. John and Helena find the markers left by the original team, and follow them into an area of mist. The second team tries to catch up to them before night approaches. Paul tries to raise the landing parties but cannot. He contacts Alan and Sandra in their Eagle to see if they are still in touch with them. Alan tells him that they had not heard anything from them since their last report. He says he is going to land for the night and will try to find them in the morning.

Act Two
When Sandra awakes to find Alan gone, she fears the worst, but once she gets hold of him on his commlock she relaxes. Victor and Kano decide to come to the planet and aid Alan in his search for the others. They alert Sandra of their plans, only to find out that Alan is now missing. While Sandra is preparing the meal for their arrival she is attacked and carried away by one of the cavemen. Kano and Victor arrive to find she is gone. Alan who fell into a trap and was attacked by one of the cave men, manages to escape, and joins Victor and Kano back at the Eagles. Due to Rethas quick rotation, it is dark again and the search must be held off til dawn.

Act Three
Sandra escapes from the cavemen by hitting the leader in the head with a rock. The enraged band hears the ruckus and tries to find her, but she hides in the woods and eludes her captors. When morning comes Alan, Victor, and Kano follow the markers to the area of mist, where Alan tells them to stop. He realizes that they lost contact with everyone after they entered the mist. They decide to go around and find a cave populated with more cavemen. Victor sees the injured leader of the cavepeople and can't help but notice his striking resemblance to John Koenig. Alan finds Sandra's tunic and goes off to find her. The leader of the cavemen runs off and Victor and Kano follow. At the same time Sandra is recaptured and taken back to the cave. The leader of the caveman goes into the mist, when Victor and Kano arrive at the other side they find Koenig's body with a massive contusion on his head.

Act Four
They rush him back to Alpha to take care of his wounds. In Medical Centre Bob Mathias tells Victor that the caveman that died had caps on his teeth! The caveman was in fact, Santos the Eagle pilot of the first mission! And if he was turned into a caveman, then the rest of the Alphans could have been. They rush back to stop Alan and to save the others. They arrive in time to stop them from killing Sandra in retribution for her attack on their leader. They lure the cavemen back to the mist, and force them into it with their stun guns. Once the cavemen enter it, they rush around to the other side to see if their theory was correct. The Alphans emerge from the mist returned to normal.

Epilogue
Everyone is fine physically, but they are unable to recall any of their experiences as cavemen, much to Victor's chagrin. After some reflection, they realize that the motivations of men have changed very little over time.

=Notes= Scenes on the planet Retha were shot on the backlot at Pinewood Studios and in Black Park next door - this was the only location filming during Space:1999's first season and the only exterior filming apart from the rainfall sequence in The Last Sunset.

Director Bob Kellett reports that Barbara Bain relished the opportunity to "get down and dirty" in her cavewoman persona and would spend lunchtimes in her trailer practicing her animal-like screaming.

The percussive incidental music featured in this episode was Barry Gray's final contribution to the series, and his last work for Gerry Anderson.

Filming Schedule
Tuesday, September 24th - Tuesday, October 8th, 1974