I decided to create From the
Archive: A British Television Blog in 2007 for a couple of reasons. One reason
was that after I finished grad school that I was accustomed to writing papers
of mass-volume weekly. I didn’t want to completely lose that skill. I was
already picking British television programs randomly to watch on the weekends
so this seemed like a fun extension of that. Then, there was a man named Andy
Henderson.
At the time I started my site, Andy
was writing a blog called The Lost British Television Blog Site. It was
what I always wanted my site to strive to become. This site was all about lost
British television but not the stuff one always associates with the subject. It
wasn’t articles only about Dad’s Army or
Doomwatch but of stuff that had
deeper connections to the earliest days of British television. I consider
myself a collector of this material but he truly was the greatest at it. His
site would publish articles that would educate people. By the time I was done
reading an article, I was smarter for it. I use the word article. He did not do
blog posts, he would write articles. They were informed by his expertise. It is
one of those sites that I would not know what he was talking about but was glad
he wrote about it; I learned from him.
There was one thing he was adamant
about. Doctor Who is not the only
lost British television series. It shouldn’t always be about Doctor Who. It is certainly the most
known program to be lost but it is not the only one. Most of us know this but
it is important, at least for me, to not to lose sight of this. I specifically
started this site to showcase other series beyond Doctor Who. It is very reasonable that with the 50th
anniversary year that a lot of attention went to this series and don’t get me
wrong, I love Doctor Who. Doctor Who introduced me to a load of
other British television series that I now adore. When I think of British
television, I always set Doctor Who
to the side. It’s too special to be lumped in with the other series. Just look
around the site and there is a ton of evidence to suggest how much I adore it.
I just want to make sure I don’t lose sight on the fact that not only is there
a lot of great television out there; there is a lot of great missing television
that is not Doctor Who. How does one
rectify this situation?
In a couple of weeks, I plan on
writing an article called “Missing Believed Wiped in St. Michael”. I look at the
2003 Timeshift documentary about the
subject and I pick 4 episodes of something that has relatively recently been
returned. Not Doctor Who. For this,
I will need your help to give me direction on what to watch. I am going to
spend some time writing articles on archival programs on Warped Factor where a lot of the content is more
current. On their site, there is a need for articles on Doomwatch, Survivors, Adam Adamant Lives, etc and I have been
asked to fill that void. I am very humbled by the offer and I accept.
Currently, my 3 part article about Quatermass II is
getting a run on the site. There will be more to come. Finally, I will continue
to run articles on this site about the programs that might not exist in full. Today
I look at such a series.
Back in April of 2012, I wrote an
article about A For Andromeda titles
Yay For Andromeda. It was a decent overview
of the entire story, some background information and a form of tribute to Peter
Halliday who had recently passed away. As far as an overview for the first
series, I thought it came out pretty well. Jumping to May of 2014, as for
picking an article that I would write next I randomly had chosen once again A For Andromeda. Anyone who knows this
site well knows that I generally watch the last episode of a series during May.
I do so because it mimics a network television season in the US. I thought this
was a great idea to watch some of this series again. I hadn’t seen any of it
since I watched it for my article two years ago.
The premise of the series thus far
is pretty simple. As the series opens, Professor
Reinhart oversees the construction of a new radio telescope designed by John
Fleming (Halliday) and Dennis Bridger. Fleming is a bit of a hot head and is
very passionate about what he is doing and what he believes in. They pick up a
signal from the Andromeda Nebula. Fleming believes it is a computer program.
Fleming deciphers further to realize that the message is to build a more
powerful and complex computer. Fleming gets the help from a young assistant
named Christine. Meanwhile Bridger has sold out to another international
organization called Intel. It’s actually kind of funny that Bridger gives
information about a powerful computer to a company named Intel. Don’t forget
this was 1961! Intel is represented by a man named Kaufman played by John
Hollis.
This new super computer is now sending out instructions for the
creation of living cells. This is where Fleming gets nervous. It’s a new life
form that may be treacherous to human life. Reinhart brings in his old friend
biologist Number 2. Actually the character’s name is Madeline Dawnay played by
Mary Morris who had also played Number 2 in The Prisoner. Dawnay follows the code given by the computer to
create this new form of life. Bridger has been found out the by the British government
about giving secrets to Intel . Being confronted while at the military
establishment in Scotland, Thorness, where all of these messages are being
received and deciphered Dr. Bridger slips and falls to his death.
It’s now been about a year since this project has started and a life form that Dawnay created is being cultured. They call him Cyclops because….well he has one eye. The new computer has two terminals on either side that affects people’s brainwaves. Cyclops and the computer mesmerize Christine who grasps both terminals and is electrocuted and killed. With Christine dead, the team at Thorness tries to move on with their work. The Computer orders the creation of a human embryo which Dawnay agrees to do. The embryo rapidly grows to become a human woman. In fact, the form of Christine with the exception of her hair no longer black but long and blonde. She is named Andromeda which is the nebula the messages originally came from. Andromeda learns quickly and is soon the intermediary between the Computer and the humans. This gets Fleming really nervous as it is clear that there is a bigger plan that the computer wants Andromeda to carry out. Essentially Andromeda is an upgrade from Cyclops. The Computer destroys Cyclops.
The Face of the Tiger TX: 7/11/61It’s now been about a year since this project has started and a life form that Dawnay created is being cultured. They call him Cyclops because….well he has one eye. The new computer has two terminals on either side that affects people’s brainwaves. Cyclops and the computer mesmerize Christine who grasps both terminals and is electrocuted and killed. With Christine dead, the team at Thorness tries to move on with their work. The Computer orders the creation of a human embryo which Dawnay agrees to do. The embryo rapidly grows to become a human woman. In fact, the form of Christine with the exception of her hair no longer black but long and blonde. She is named Andromeda which is the nebula the messages originally came from. Andromeda learns quickly and is soon the intermediary between the Computer and the humans. This gets Fleming really nervous as it is clear that there is a bigger plan that the computer wants Andromeda to carry out. Essentially Andromeda is an upgrade from Cyclops. The Computer destroys Cyclops.
Andromeda creates a program that helps deter the enemies of the
UK who are firing missiles over the country as a show of power. Andromeda is even going to create and enzyme
which will heal damaged cells. No one is listening to the warnings from Fleming.
He is worried about the Computer and Andromeda. He doesn’t trust either of them
and knows that whatever their plan is will be dangerous to the human race.
Fleming goes as far as trying to trick the computer into thinking Andromeda is
dead. Once the Computer knows she isn’t, it punished Andromeda by making her
touch the terminals on the Computer and she badly burns her hands. Yet she
heals herself with the enzyme. As a way to get back Fleming, Andromeda does
something to the enzyme to make everyone ill who is working on it. This
includes Dawnay.
This is the sort of production I love. There are enemy agents
who wish to do harm on the UK. They fire rockets over the UK but these enemy countries
are never named. It’s like everybody knows who they are so they won’t say their
name as if we are all supposed to know. It’s kind of like we can fill in the
blank to whoever we want it to be. Another aspect to this episode I love is the
entire Whitehall storyline. The fact that the workings of Thorness makes its
way to the Prime Minister and he has a hand in the decisions being made to stop
this threat from another country. This is the sort of thing I love in these
telefantasy series that go right back to Quatermass. It’s heavily seen in
series such as Doctor Who, Timeslip, Adam Adamant Live! and of course Doomwatch. It’s part of the storyline to these series I never get
bored of when I watch it. There is something procedural & English proper
about it that I love even when they are doing something underhanded. It
probably bores people to tears but it really fascinates me. Kind of like The Sandbaggers which is a series about
people going from one government office to another to have meetings. There
might be something about spying involved with that too. Yet for some reason it
is really good.
We start to see Fleming press his luck in this episode. By this
point, he is no longer someone anyone listens to at Thorness. He believes the
super computer built and Andromeda herself have malevolent intent. No one will
listen to him. He even tries to push Andromeda to see what she really is. There
is a sequence literally about good touch and bad touch with her. He wants to
see how she reacts to these sensations. He is curious if there is anything
human about her or if she has purely taken a human form. He kisses her to see
her reaction. Maybe it is for his own benefit. Who knows?
The Last Mystery TX: 14/11/61
Everything is too much for Fleming who finally gets access to go
back into the Computer room and destroys it. It no longer has a hold over
Andromeda. We learn that Andromeda hated the Computer but had no choice but to
do what it wanted. Fleming knows that although the Computer is destroyed, the
original code to make it still exists in the room. He persuades Andromeda to go
back to the room and set fire to all the notes and codes. Troops at Thorness
begin a massive hunt for Andromeda. Fleming tries to save her and they flee on
boat to an island. It all ends suddenly as they try to escape Andromeda falls
into a deep pool and apparently drowns.
The ending feels odd compared to the rest of the story. It all
happens so fast. Andromeda is suddenly gone and there is a loss. Even just
seeing her in a couple of episodes, I feel the emptiness that Fleming feels. It’s
very strange.
The whole thing about the enzyme is odd to me. I am going to
check the script but there is no mention of Dawnay recovering in the
reconstruction. Mary Morris is not in the final episode. We know she must since
she is back in The Andromeda Breakthough.
It is clear that Fleming corrected the formula that Andromeda gave to Dawnay so
one could make the leap that the antidote was given to Dawnay in time to save
her. I do find it hard to believe that it would be Fleming to know how to correct
the formula and not Dawnay. In fact I am surprised that she didn’t catch the
problem to begin with. I would have thought Dawnay would have been more skilled
at that than Fleming. I also love the fact the Jack May (one of my favourite
character actors) is in this as Major Quadring (episodes 3 & 7) yet he is
awfully blood thirsty. Once Andromeda turns on them by destroying the computer
and fleeing, he wants her shot. I would think that the Prime Minister might
have some different ideas about that.
I really do think that this production propelled the BBC into
modern looking and feeling television productions than before. It is really fun
and a privilege to watch the Quatermass serials and watch them progress into
more contemporary looking productions especially with Quatermass and the Pit really standing out but even that still has
the look of a 1950s production.
There is something really slick and cool about A For Andromeda. This goes beyond the
look of the settings but also the people. I have said before that Julie
Christie in this role is just a beautiful woman but as I was watching this, I
would go as far as her being in this is the BBC equivalent to Ursula Andress
coming out of the sea in Dr.No. It was like the
beginning of the modern era of women in British television. She was a sexy
woman who was powerful. She commanded every scene she was in. She was simply
captivating.
I think the opening credits are some of the most haunting of any
series. It is serious eerie music with visuals of outer space and familiar
smoke (looks like from the 1954 production of Nineteen Eighty-Four). This emotionless head of the Greek goddess
Andromeda turns to stare blankly at us. Purely wonderful stuff. I also laugh at
the fact that the credits incorporate that Hartnell font for the credits. Of
course calling it a font is horribly wrong if not also calling it Hartnell
since this series came first but my point is made. Or so I think!
The existing film footage looks good. I really never noticed it
before but The Face of the Tiger has
what appear to be tramlines going down the left side of the screen. I also
never put it together that there is something substantial missing from the
episode. Each episode starts off with a segment from Professor Reinhart that
takes place some years after the events of the episodes we are about to see. All
the episodes have this yet the footage is not part of the episode returned. In
the Viewing Notes for this release written by Andrew Pixley on page 28, he
states “During the development of this DVD set, the return of the penultimate A For Andromeda episode, The Face of the Tiger, was returned to
the BBC as a 16mm overseas film recording in an arrangement brokered by Ian Levine
and Ralph Montagu.” I tried to get a hold of Andrew Pixley and Ralph Montagu
for this article to see if they could elaborate on the episode find but I could
not get a hold of them in time. I also tried to see if Ian Levine could shed
some light on how this episode was returned but did not have time to do so.
Hopefully I can update this article in the future to get some further detail on
this. I certainly would like to know.
The final episode, The
Last Mystery, has a surprising amount of material existing for it. In fact
the final two reels. I still desperately want to hear the audio that has been
found of the complete episode made at the time of broadcast. I am hoping that
this becomes available to all of us at some point.
It also needs to be pointed out that most of episode 7 was
presented as a telesnap reconstruction. I go into great detail about this
reconstruction and telesnaps in general in the original article located here. I also mention how Derek Handley put this together. I
have always enjoyed his work but didn’t realize more of a background story of
the reconstruction. Here is information that Richard McGinlay left in the
comments section of my original article, “The reconstruction works well, though
it could have been a little better. This is not Derek Handley's fault, by the
way. I have read elsewhere (on a forum post by Handley himself) that he was
specifically asked by the DVD producers to provide captions for the telesnaps,
which would play like a manually operated photo gallery, with each image
advanced by the viewer using his/her remote control. Derek suggested that a video
file might make for a more pleasurable viewing experience, but the producers
insisted that they just wanted stills and captions. Afterwards, somebody (not
Derek) edited the images and captions into video files! I'm sure that if
Handley had been allowed to supply video files in the first place, he would
have combined the stills and clips in a more seamless fashion, blending the
title sequence with the episode title telesnap, for example, or prefacing the
car park clip with a still frame from the start of that clip rather than a
blank screen and caption. Just occasionally I got a bit confused because (I
think) an incorrect character name is used once or twice in the captions.” It’s
very interesting especially as I quite like the reconstruction but I see what
Richard means. If Richard’s name seems familiar he is one of the authors of the
excellent The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes – The Lost Stories of The Avengers Series 1. This
fantastic book can be purchased here.
When speaking of Andy Henderson, I make it sound like he was
dead. To my knowledge he is not. He just stopped his site and took it all down.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because people kept asking him about Doctor Who. Would Andy be proud of me
for trying to write about British television that was maybe a little lesser
known and not Doctor Who or that his
sight heavily influenced what eventually became my site? No, in fact I think he
would be quite mortified. I always got the impression he didn’t like Americans.
Knowing that doesn’t bother me a bit. Little did he realize that he inspired at
least one person. Even if that person is a rotten Yank!
Next Review: Us rotten Yanks have been lucky.
As I pointed out in my Poirot Series 12 review, the US gets Blu Ray releases of
these series a lot of other countries don’t. A great example of this came out
May 27th with the Doctor Who
origins docudrama An Adventure in Space
and Time. I will look at this really good value 3-disc set.
Next week: It is an interesting American
perspective to think all of their favourite BBC series came from BBC1. In 2004,
I was quite surprised to find that so many things that I assumed aired on BBC1
actually aired on BBC2. Did you know BBC2 turned 50 in April? I am going to
spend time watching a program created in 2004 to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of BBC 2 by decade and also explain how ignorant someone can be
just because something has the number two behind it and not number one.
Have a great week!
Do you have feedback, article requests or want to talk about a program but do not want to leave a public comment? Feel free to drop me an e-mail at FTA13867@gmail.com
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1 comment:
Nice sharing article :)
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