The Bringers of Wonder - Part 2

Plot
People from Earth have landed on Moonbase Alpha, promising to take the Alphans back home. Commander Koenig, however, sees not fellow human beings, but aliens, and tries to kill some of them. Horrified, Helena stuns him with a laser gun and later, as he lies unconscious in the Medical Center, Koenig is approached by one of the aliens (for that is what they really are) who tries to smother him...

Synopsis
Prologue: Helena uses the latest Moonbase Alpha Status Report to recount recent events - John Koenig crashing an Eagle Transporter among the Nuclear waste domes, and his claim that the crew of a newly arrived Super-Swift are hostile aliens, impersonating friends and relatives of Moonbase Alpha's personnel

Act One: Helena and Maya arrive in Medical Center to find Dr. Shaw checking on Koenig. When he leaves, Helena wakes John. She and Maya have brought a recording of the pilot ship approaching Earth to see if John will react favorably to proof that things are as they say are. But when John sees the images he tells them what he sees is not the pilot ship, but an Eagle. He asks the to consider the possibility that the brain complex shielded his mind from the telepathic control of the aliens. Maya starts to piece together some events of the last few days that do help to support his claims.

Koenig wins them over when he mentions that time would have passed much faster on Earth, than it has on Alpha, making their "friends" hundreds of years older than they appeared. John convinces Helena to hook Maya up to the complex, to affirm his story, and help fight them if he is proven right. While Carter, Erlich, and Bartlett prepare to land on Earth, Maya has finished her treatment. She takes a look down the hall and sees the alien creatures that Koenig has been describing. What they believe to be the pilot ship lands, not on Earth, but in the middle of the nuclear waste domes on the Moon.

Act Two: The crew disembarks, believing that they are checking into a hotel, when they are, in reality, entering one of the waste domes. On Alpha, Koenig has Maya turn into one of the alien creatures to find out what their purpose is. When they see her, they realize she is not one of their group, and follow her. She hides in a doorway and barely manages to change back before they catch up to her. She tells John and Helena that they need radiation to live, but only the intense radiation of a nuclear explosion. Koenig checks the location of the "pilot ship" crew. He locates their Eagle by the nuclear waste domes. Now Maya can see the Eagle as well, but Helena still sees the pilot ship.

Koenig finds the crew, loading nuclear fuel into a moonbuggy and has computer lock them in the Atomic Fuel Store. They immediately start to cut their way out with a laser. John rushes to go out and stop them, but is caught and stunned by Tony, under the control of Dr. Shaw, when he gets to launch pad 4. He is brought back to Medical Center, where Helena is chastised for not raising the alarm when Koenig "broke loose". Koenig is secured, and a security guard is left to keep watch. Maya stuns him, so they can stop Alan and the others before they can trigger the waste domes. John wants Helena to process all the Alphans on the brain complex, to break the aliens control. She says it would take too long, but comes up with another way to break the aliens hold over them. The three head to Command Center to broadcast the "white noise" to everyone on the base. They are met with resistance, as several security guards try to stop them on their way.

They arrive at Command Center, and after stunning the guards there, hold everyone at gun point, while Helena tries to activate the white noise. Dr. Shaw begins to take control of her, but Koenig kicks him away, takes the card and inserts it into the control panel. The sound breaks the aliens control, and they are revealed for what they are. Everyone is shocked as their loved ones turn into hideous creatures. Tony shoots one but Koenig tells him that they feed on energy. The creatures disappear, and they think they have defeated them, until Koenig checks the nuclear waste area, to see that Carter and Erlich are bringing the nuclear trigger to Bartlett, as all three are still under the aliens control.

Act Three: John, Tony, and Maya take an eagle out to stop them. Koenig orders all non-essential power cut on Alpha to lessen the available energy to the already starving aliens. They locate Carter and Erlich's moonbuggy but can't land in front of it due to the weight of the Eagle, so Koenig has himself lowered to the surface in a harness. His attempts to talk to Carter and Erlich fail. He tries to wave them down, but they see him as a masked bandit. After narrowly missing Koenig with the moonbuggy, they get out and attack him. Seeing this in the Eagle, Tony lowers Maya to even the odds.

She arrives as they remove his oxygen hose, and pulls them off. Erlich's air tank is punctured in the fray. While Koenig and Maya seal it, Alan takes off in the moonbuggy. Koenig pursues on foot, while Maya gets Erlich back to the Eagle. Alan arrives at the waste domes and brings in the nuclear trigger, while Bartlett brings in the laser they will use to seal the door shut. Koenig gets there to find all the aliens gathered around the waste dome. He contacts Maya who assures him they are focusing all their energy controlling Carter and Bartlett and cannot harm him. Koenig tries to open the door with his commlock but can't.

Acr Four: He sees that it has been sealed with a laser, and tries ramming the door with the moonbuggy to break it loose. After several attempts he breaks through. He contacts Maya and asks why the aliens are still able to control Carter and Bartlett. Maya speculates that the electrical activity of the brains of the Alphans may be enough to keep the aliens at survival level. John contacts Helena and has her knock out everyone on the base, but the chief engineer and herself. He finds Carter and Bartlett preparing to place the fuel into the core. He stops Bartlett, who then breaks free of the aliens control, and manages to pin Alan to the ground.

He asks Bartlett for help, but between the aliens hypnotic words, and whatever mind control they are able to manage in their weakened state, Bartlett is no help. Alan breaks free and gets the upper hand over Koenig. Alan chokes John into unconsciousness, then picks up the nuclear fuel again and staggers towards the core. John wakes in time to stop him from fully inserting the fuel. They struggle until Koenig punches Alan, knocking him out. The aliens tell Koenig that he is "a truly primitive organism", telling him that they could have given the Alphans an eternity of happiness in an instant of time. Koenig replies that "it's better to live as you own man, than as a fool in someone else's dream". With no more energy to be had, the aliens vanish.

Epilogue: Back in Command Center, Tony Maya, Alan, Helena, and John watch as the alien ship on the launch pad fades away. John asks Helena if there is any way to wake up his sleeping crew. She tells him no, but it will only be about ten more minutes until they should start to wake up. John asks how he is supposed to run a base of "sleeping beauties", and sits down. Before Helena can finish reminding him that it was his idea to sedate everyone, she turns to see that he has fallen asleep in his chair.

Background
Shooting script dated 23rd June 1976. Filmed 25th August- 28th September 1976

Edited with part 1 in the compilation movie Destination Moonbase Alpha

The scene when Maya stuns the guard in Medical. Promptly after the guard had fallen, Shaw trips over the guard's body (seen on "It'll Be Alright On The Night" UK blooper program).

International Titles

Sets

 * Int. Command Centre
 * Int. Medical Centre
 * Int. Alpha Corridor
 * Int. Travel Tube
 * Int. Eagle Pilot Section
 * Int. Eagle Passenger Section
 * Int. Pilot Ship
 * Ext. Moon Surface
 * Int. Fuel Store (airlock)
 * Int. Monitoring Station
 * Int. Reactor Core Corridor
 * Ext. Earth forest (location)
 * Ext. Bartlett's garden (location)
 * Int. Bartlett's home

SFX
The alien ship was built by Martin Bower with projecting panels like the alien ships in UFO. Only the side facing the camera was built. It was a late addition to the script (Johnson and Bower only had one day's notice that the model was needed).

On the underside of the pilot ship the top of an Airfix Eagle leg pod can just be seen

Stock footage of New York is seen (sc 119)

There seem to be just 3 sculpted alien "blobs"- where more appear, full-sized photo cut outs are used. (thanks to Patrick Zimmerman for spotting this!)

Music
Bartlett plays Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (a 51 second extract).

Science
White noise is like white light, all frequencies heard together. It is commonly used for relaxing. It is not ultrasonic or anaesthetic.

Contact gases affect on skin contact; they do not need to be inhaled. Helena would be affected herself. Any air circulation system needs to have filters and protections to prevent, for instance, the spread of infection- here Helena is able to override or disable the atmosphere controls for the entire moonbase with a single, simple alteration.

A human brain runs on 4 watts, which is considerably less than the lights and other electrical equipment in Moonbase Alpha.

Intense radiation is ionising and causes genetic damage. In addition, explosions have a tendency to tear up and scatter cells in an often violent manner. If they need intense radiation, they should fly closer to a star. It seems unlikely any complex organism could withstand such treatment. How do they build a spaceship with such little kinetic energy?

There is a spacecraft flight path over lower Manhattan. On the other hand, this is all an illusion which need not be realistic.

The World Trade Centre towers (finished in 1977, destroyed 2001), Battery Park and 1 New York Plaza (the black building) are the most prominent features in these shots. The aerial shot was probably taken in early to mid 1972. The Bankers Trust building (later the Deutsche Bank Building) at 130 Liberty Street in front of the towers has a yellow stripe near the top. The upper levels were still being built when this film was taken (it would open in 1974; it was badly damaged in 2001 and demolished by 2011). Fortunately more recent developments such as the World Financial Centre and Battery Park City are not visible.

Continuity
Alpha Personnel: 0 fatalities.

Alpha Technology: The thermal lance/sonarscope is used. It is also seen in The Mark of Archanon and The Immunity Syndrome.

Eagles: 1 (Pursuit Eagle, although spacesuit badges indicate Eagle 5). Unnumbered Eagle used by Alan (spacesuit badges indicate Eagle 2).

The forward view screen is seen. It is also seen in The AB Chrysalis, Seed of Destruction, Space Warp, The Seance Spectre and Devil's Planet.

We see how an astronaut can be lowered by harness from an Eagle.

Maya transformations: Larren, alien blob

Planets: None

Aliens: Aliens, non humanoid

Props: The Central Core door inside the steel corridor was used in Force of Life as the nuclear reactor door.

Errors
At the end of part 1, Tony and Maya are going to show Koenig pictures. At the start of part 2, Helena and Maya arrive. Helena probably offered to take Tony's place due to: a) Her status as Chief Medical Officer, b) Her understanding of Koenig's personality, and c) The need for Tony to return to Command Centre as Temporary CO.

Part 1 is 1912 days after leaving Earth orbit; part 2 is 2515 days

When Helena & Maya look at Eagle/pilot ship they see the pilot ship-not in New York, but by the waste domes.

Koenig's spacesuit visor knocks open during the fight on the lunar surface (also a bare wrist is glimpsed).

When the Command Centre staff fall asleep, they are improbably leaning over their desks.

Observations
In the recap of part one, alternative shots of Koenig's Eagle hitting a dome and the Superswift landing are seen.

Note the number of shots of eyes: the aliens, Koenig, the larren's cyclops eye.

There are some dramatically different reactions to the aliens appearance. Koenig and Kander go mad. Maya merely looks repulsed. Tony says "ugh". Helena has no reaction whatsoever.

The vehicle they drive in the forest has a UK-style registration number, LPN 355.

A large number of publicity shots were taken of Alan's girlfriend Jeanie.

The ending, with Koenig fighting Alan as he tries to insert the nuclear fuel rod, is replayed in the climax of the 1999 James Bond film "The World Is Not Enough". James Bond tries to stop the villain putting a fuel rod into a submarine reactor and causing a nuclear explosion. Unlike Alan, the villain does not survive...