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 6 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 3 episodes, 1973
Tom Kempinski	...	Dr. Stephen Partness 3 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
Peter Miles	...	Prof. Heinz Laubenthal 2 episodes, 1973
Jürgen Andersen	...	Per Bengtson 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 | moon | scientific | moon base | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The series had strong connections to Doctor Who (1963). It was made by the Jon Pertwee era production team of Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks between that programme's tenth and eleventh seasons. It also featured regular Doctor Who (1963) director Christopher Barry and writer John Lucarotti.

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Quotes

Helen Smith: Make love, not science.

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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

What an innovative show!

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.