The Day After Tomorrow (1976)

The crew of the lightship Altares are lost in space when the craft is struck by a meteor shower and goes out of control.

Director:

Charles Crichton

Writer:

Johnny Byrne

Stars:

Brian Blessed, Joanna Dunham, Nick Tate

Cast

Cast overview:
Brian Blessed	...	Tom Bowen
Joanna Dunham	...	Anna Bowen
Nick Tate	...	Captain Harry Masters
Ed Bishop	...	Narrator
Don Fellows	...	Jim Forbes
Katharine Levy	...	Jane Masters
Martin Lev	...	David Bowen

Storyline

The plot of The Day After Tomorrow concerns the interstellar mission of Altares, a science vessel of the future that can travel at the speed of light. From its initial destination of Alpha Centauri, the ship pushes deeper into space; there, her crew of three adults and two children encounter such phenomena as a meteor shower, a red giant and, finally, a black hole, which pulls the ship into another universe.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 May 1976 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

48 min

Color:

Color (seasons 1-3)

Did You Know?

Trivia

With a cast and crew including veterans of earlier Anderson productions, filming on The Day After Tomorrow ran from July to September 1975; this comprised ten days of principal photography and six weeks of special effects shooting. The visuals of Space: 1999 provided inspiration for both Martin Bower, who designed the scale model effects for the special, and production designer Reg Hill, who re-used set elements created for various episodes of that series to build the interiors of Altares. Newcomer Derek Wadsworth collaborated with Steve Coe to compose the theme and incidental music.

User Reviews

Lost in Relativity

This was actually for a pilot for a series by Gerry Anderson, around the same time he was making Space 1999. However, the idea was never taken up.

The premise is simple - a family (two men, a woman, a boy and a girl) are sent in the Earth's first faster than light ship to try and establish colonies in other parts of the galaxy. But "Lost in Space" this is not. They never leave the craft as such, but get to witness various scientific wonders, such as collapsing stars etc. There's a lot of exposition, especially from the boy, who seems to be some kind of child prodigy - which helps keep some scientific accuracy.

The characters are not well drawn (Although oddly Brian Blessed's one doesn't bellow or roar once), but this is more about spectacle than plot or characterisation etc. The music though is great, and really adds to the sense of excitement.

There are a few quirks. They never leave the craft as such. And though the craft has a cockpit, it seems to have no "leisure" space, or general living facilities for such a long journey.

There are some memorable scenes such as when "dad" has to fix the drive for the ship, and the finale, and this is well worth looking up. It's difficult to get hold of, but I believe that there are some badly synched copies around the net. I saw it as part of Brian Cox's night on BBC4. This was the first time it was shown on British television since the seventies...