Moonbase 3

Very nearly lost forever as a result of the BBC's mass clear out of tapes in the 1970's, this gritty and claustrophobic sci fi series was only recently rediscovered in the vaults of a Canadian TV station.

This is a long forgotten example of how much more interesting sci fi used to be be pre George Lucas. The BBC never had the budget for whiz bang special effects and so concentrated on characters, story lines and heavyweight theatrical actors. Check out Blakes'7 or Star Cops for other more popular examples of this.

Moonbase 3 also contains that other classic BBC sci fi trait, realism, both in characters and settings.

The characters here are not Star Trek goody two shoes types who all get along and can be guaranteed to do whatever is morally right, their team includes a manic depressive, an egotist and many other fascinatingly real characters. Some are manipulative and many are suspicious and distrustful of each others motives.

The base itself is understaffed and under pressure to deliver value for money,as the base commander says "I can't produce the results without the funding but they won't give me the funding because I can't produce the results!"

This sort of bureaucratic nonsense is in stark contrast with the very real dangers and practical hardships faced with living on the moon.

In an enclosed society (of sometimes unstable personalities) living under the constant threats of a hostile environment, moonbase 3 is a powerfully written and tension filled sci fi series. Perhaps the most depressingly accurate glimpse into the future of space exploration

There are some television shows which be labeled "brilliant but canceled" . Moonbase 3, a BBC science fiction series made in 1973 which ran for a mere six episodes, could very much be described as one of those. While there are aspects of Moonbase 3 that are no doubt dated, such as the production design and costumes, it was a show that nonetheless not only foresaw with some accuracy events in the future but remains a fine example of science fiction drama as well.

The show's six episodes are anchored by a good cast. Donald Houston gives solid performances as David Caulder, who takes over as Moonbase 3's director and becomes a very believable leader across the episodes. There's also Fiona Grant as the base's psychiatrist Helen Smith who serves as the base's voice of sanity so to speak. There's Ralph Bates as the base's deputy commander Lebrun who is torn between his loyalty to the base and his own ambitions. Last but not least is Barry Lowe as astronaut Tom Hill who oversees much of the base's maintenance and operations as well. Together they form a good group of leading players for the series.

The series also has a good set of supporting actors as well. This is especially true of the final episode which features Michael Gough (perhaps best known as Alfred from the Tim Burton Batman movies) as an aging Nobel Prize winner who comes to the Moobase 3 and gives a fine performance in the process. There's the reoccurring role of Director General of the European Space Program played by Peter Bathurst, who has a nice commanding presence in his appearances in a handful of the episodes. There's also the reoccurring staff of the base such as Christine Bradwell as Ingrid, Madhav Sharma as Rao and Garrick Hagon as Bruno Ponti for example. Doctor Who fans will recognize Michael Wisher (perhaps best known for creating the role of Dalek creator Davros) in the first episode and Peter Miles (Davros' henchman Nyder) in the first two episodes as well. Together they make for a fine group of supporting actors during the six episodes.

There are some incredibly dated aspects of Moonbase 3 though. Without a doubt what dates it most is its production design and costumes. These two things are indicative the most of the era the show was made in. For example there's aspects of the production design such as the large computes and tape recorders that, thirty-five plus years on, look out of place. The costumes with their loud colors and 1970's fashions are also far too indicative of the era the show was made as well to the point of being a distraction. There's also the special effects which range from good to the point of distraction. That said there are positive aspects to all of these aspects of course such as the space suits and the spacecraft used throughout the series which,while looking like those used on the Apollo Moon missions, still stand up rather well today as well. That said though these aspects serve mostly as a distraction which take away considerably from the other positive aspects of the series.

One of the outstanding aspects of the series is that, despite the above mentioned faults, it was meant (and remains) surprisingly realistic. Though it helped to hasten the end of the series, the decision by creators Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks (the creative team on Doctor Who at the time) to keep the series as close to reality as they could imagine a 21st century lunar base being. To this point they brought on James Burke, one of the BBC team that covered the Apollo moon missions, to help insure that the series would remain that way. The result is that the show predicted quite a few things such as the possibility of ice on the lunar surface or, as in the episode Castor And Pollux,international cooperation between the superpowers of the time two years before it first happened in reality with the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. Like 2001: A Space Odyssey before it, the series failed to predict both the lack of further major human exploration of the Moon or the fall of the Soviet Union for example. Yet, judging strictly from when the series was made, these predictions can not be faulted. At any rate the series did make quite a few accurate predictions and the realistic makes this more of a drama then other science fiction series's of the era such as Doctor Who for example.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the series then are the scripts. The scripts reflect the realistic tone with stories of people under stress (such as Departure And Arrival) and deadlines (Achilles Heal) or the effects of hysteria as seen in Behemoth. Perhaps the best episode, View Of A Dead Planet, deals with hysteria as well. In it a plan to detonate a nuclear bomb to free up arctic areas for development apparently leads to the destruction of the world. The episode therefore is a human drama of how a group of people react to the possibility of being the last of their kind. This episode is an example of the promise showed by the series and its ironic it would be the last episode as well. Being dramas these scripts are not for those expecting aliens and ray guns. The series strength lies in the fact that it is about people instead.

While dated to the point of distraction at times, Moonbase 3 is a fine example of science fiction drama. From its actors to its premise and scripts, it is a series dared to be a science fiction drama different from other shows at the time. Sadly the promise shown never got fully executed beyond six episodes, Moonbase 3 remains a show that was brilliant but canceled.

Moonbase 3 was an ambitious attempt by the BBC in 1973 to create a technically accurate science fiction program. It also followed the "New Wave" of science fiction writing then popular.

In traditional science fiction, larger-than-life heroes zoom across the galaxy, fight swashbuckling space battles with evil interplanetary despots, and woo beautiful alien women. On Moonbase 3, scientists and administrators attempt to conduct experiments while beset with budget cutbacks, equipment failures, work stress, personal isolation, and a heartless Earth bureaucracy.

The stories are often grim and depressing. The base is small and understaffed, the technology is unreliable, and everyone is under constant pressure to produce breakthroughs. Outer space is deadly and unforgiving; a tiny error in piloting your rocket can kill everyone aboard.

Small teams of researchers on a European moonbase are isolated for weeks at a time, leading to psychological stress and conflict. Many times in the series the researchers can only stand helplessly watching their experiments fail and their friends die. It's easy to see why the program was never an audience-pleaser.

However, the program has some extremely innovative themes which are never explored in other television or movie dramas. It shows how difficult, yet personally rewarding, scientific research is. It shows what a difference having a good manager makes. It shows how following the rules really can work, and how rule-bending seat-of-your-pants rocket jockeys can get everyone killed.

I'd never even heard of this series when I stumbled across a PAL DVD edition in my local video store. I've long liked Ralph Bates' work and figured I'd give it a chance. My time was not wasted.

The series is set in the early twenty-first century. A group of European countries has established Moonbase 3. It is an underfunded science station on the lunar surface, one of five such bases. Others are operated by the United States,

Soviet Union, China, and Brazil. The series' six episodes tell stories of everyday life at the post, mostly from the perspective of the senior staff. The plotlines of most episodes involve the psychological and character weaknesses of those

posted to the base. Events and characters from previous episodes are referred to in later episodes thus displaying continuity superior to many better known and more successful science fiction series. The final episode is downright

riveting and involves the possible extinction of life on Earth.

The series had many strong points. Special effects are acceptable by early

1970s standards and involve a lot of model work. The teleplays are intelligent and there was a genuine effort to portray the environment and space travel in a scientifically plausible manner. "Moonbase 3" is by no means perfect, but given the limitations of budget, it was a solid piece of work. It certainly warranted more than six episodes and is, in my opinion, superior to the better known "Space

1999." Hopefully BBC or some licensee will consider releasing this onto DVD in the U.S. one of these days.

moon base 3 breaks one of the first rules of TV SF and at first I didn't spot it. I took me some time to work out what was so peculiar about this show. I knew, from a few minutes into the first episode, there was something profoundly odd going on but couldn't put my finger on it.

At first I thought it might have been the flashing "Artificial Gravity is ON" signs that seem to litter the corridors - They are there more a sop to the nit-pickers in the audience rather than serving any internal logic to the story - surely even the densest of Astronauts would be able to tell the difference between 1/6 and a full 1 G. (though, to be fair to the show, it DOES attempt to simulate 1/6 G whenever anyone stepped outside the base by use of slow motion filming and bouncy, slow motion "I'm in space" acting).

Then I thought it might be the ropey camera work: this show seems to have been performed like a stage show, the actors doing long scenes with 2 or three cameras shooting simultaneously; the editor then cutting between the various angles. Obviously, as in all live performances, people didn't hit their marks exactly and the cameramen have to re-frame constantly to get people's heads in. This looks pretty amateur by today's standards but I'm not a connoisseur of 70s TV so don't have much to compare it with - I guess at the time it must have looked OK.

Then it might have been the downright dodgy accents. The European's moon base is populated by RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) trained actors assuming variable "French", "Spanish" and the standard "All purpose Eastern European" accents. Even Donal Houston's Welsh accent (and the man IS Welsh) sounds weirdly fake - (what is it by the way, that made the BBC at this time think the future would be populated by dynamic Welshmen? Blake of "Blake's Seven" was played by Welshman Gareth Thomas) - the only American on view (in at least the first 2 shows) has an accent that is totally bizarre: sort of constipated West Indian - sort of not.

Then I finally realised what it was that was so unsettling... the Door Handles! The doors on moon base 3 open like regular doors in houses! Hinged Doors in Space? Everyone knows that in the future all doors will slide into the wall as soon as anyone approaches them. Star Trek, Babylon 5, Space 1999, you name it, doors slide... ever since Buster Crabbe played "Buck Rodgers" way back in the 1930s, doors in the future slide... but not in the cash strapped BBC of the 1970s they didn't. Why pay 2 props guys to pull doors open when you've got an actor who will do it on cue for half the price?

All in all, this show is of historical interest but not worth getting excited over.