Moonbase 3 

The adventures of David Caulder and his crew stationed on Moonbase 3 on the moon's surface. In 2003, representatives of many of the world's governments live in bases on the moon. Moonbase 3... See full summary »

Stars:

Donald Houston, Ralph Bates, Fiona Gaunt

Cast

Series cast summary:
Donald Houston	...	Dr. David Caulder 6 episodes, 1973
Ralph Bates	...	Dr. Michel Lebrun 6 episodes, 1973
Fiona Gaunt	...	Dr. Helen Smith 6 episodes, 1973
Barry Lowe	...	Tom Hill 6 episodes, 1973
Cy Town	...	Technician 2 episodes, 1973
Christine Bradwell	...	Ingrid 4 episodes, 1973
Madhav Sharma	...	Rao 3 episodes, 1973
Garrick Hagon	...	Bruno Ponti / ... 3 episodes, 1973
Peter Bathurst	...	Director General 3 episodes, 1973
John Hallam	...	Dr. Peter Conway 2 episodes, 1973
Tom Kempinski	...	Dr. Stephen Partness 2 episodes, 1973
John Moreno	...	Juan Benavente 2 episodes, 1973
Jonathan Sweet	...	Walters 2 episodes, 1973
Mary Ann Severne	...	Sandy 2 episodes, 1973
Robert La Bassiere	...	Cmdr. Bill Jackson 2 episodes, 1973
Anne Rosenfeld	...	Lisa 2 episodes, 1973
Patsy Trench	...	Jenny 2 episodes, 1973
Victor Beaumont	...	Franz Hauser 2 episodes, 1973

Storyline

The adventures of David Caulder and his crew stationed on Moonbase 3 on the moon's surface. In 2003, representatives of many of the world's governments live in bases on the moon. Moonbase 3 was built by many Europeans, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy.

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Plot Keywords:

tv series | outer space | number 3 in episode title | number in series title | moon | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Formally commissioned by the BBC in December 1972, the series went before the cameras with Moon surface 16mm filmwork at Ealing Studios on Tuesday 24th April 1973. The actual videotaping of episodes was largely out-of-sequence: "Departure and Arrival" (episode 1), "Castor and Pollux" (episode 5), "Behemoth" (episode 2), "View of a Dead Planet" (episode 6), "Outsiders" (episode 4) and finally "Achilles Heel" (episode 3) - originally meant to have been recorded first - closing the production schedule on Wednesday 15th August.

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Quotes

Sir Benjamin Dyce: I've always held that the last words of mankind will not be the secret name of God, but "What is this knob for?"

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Connections

Referenced in People Power and Puppetry (2011)

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Soundtracks

Moonbase 3
Composed by Dudley Simpson
Realised by Dick Mills and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
[series theme tune]

User Reviews

Accents, production methods, and above all - Doors!

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.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1973 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1