The Bringers of Wonder Part 1

John Koenig takes an Eagle
to check reports of a surge in
the neutron count near the
nuclear waste domes. He begins
flying erratically, and when Tony
tries to contact him, he is
irrational and unresponsive.
Unable to remotely control his

Eagle, they watch helplessly
as he flies dangerously close
to the nuclear waste domes,
Koenig's Eagle strikes an
antenna on one of them, and
loses control. He crashes, but
manages to put on his helmet
before losing consciousness.

A rescue Eagle is dispatched,
with a few nuclear physicists
sent along to check for any
damage that the crash may
have caused. Koenig is pulled
from the Eagle, and there are
no signs of complications from
the impact with the domes.

Koenig is rushed back to
Medical Center, where Helena
has him hooked to an Ellendorf
Quadrographic Brain Complex.
Although an experimental
technology, Helena feels this
may be Koenig's only chance
for a full recovery. Back in

Command Center, Sandra
reports a sensor contact, that
turns out to be a ship moving
towards Alpha at faster-than-
light speeds. When in visual
range, the ship appears to
be a Super-Swift originating
from Earth. It moves in to land.

Tony has Alpha's lasers aimed
at the ship, but Sandra receives
a transmission from the vessel
and puts it on the big screen.
Tony recognizes the Captain
of the vessel as his brother
Guido! Clive Kander records
the reunion as the crew, which

consists of close friends and
family of several of the Alphans,
disembarks and is reunited with
their loved ones. On the Super-
Swift with Tony's brother were;
Helena's old tutor Dr. Shaw,
Sandra's fiancé Peter Rockwell,
Ben's fiancée Louisa, and an

old flame of Koenig's named
Diana Morris, among others.
Helena cringes at the thought
of dealing with her, but Dr.
Shaw leaves her to deal with
Diana, who has been looking
John since she arrived. Two of
the visitors, leave Command

Center, seemingly take control
of a medical technician they
see in a hallway, who returns
Medical Center and attempts
to kill Koenig by disrupting the
brain complex that John is
hooked up to. Dr. Vincent sees,
on one of the remote medical

monitors, that something is
wrong with Koenig, but Louisa
seems to have an hypnotic
control over him, causing him
to turn off the monitor. When
Alan pulls Louisa away, her
control is broken, and Ben
runs to Medical Center and

prevents Sandstrom from killing
Koenig. In Command Center,
Tony catches Maya trying to
sneak off, not wanting to disturb
the big reunion. He tries to
allay her fears, but Diana Morris
interrupts. She insults Maya, then
proceeds to flirt with Tony.

Maya transforms into a creature
behind Diana, but Tony catches
her, and she reverts before
Diana is any the wiser. Ben and
Helena discuss the possibility
of a connection between John's
erratic behavior and Sandstrom's
attempt on Koenig's life, but no

evidence could be found to
connect the two. Koenig wakes,
and Helena tells him about the
rescue ship. He listens with
incredulity to her description
of the Super-Swift's crew, until
he realizes she is serious. He
hugs her, and they proceed to

Command Center to join the
reunion. When they arrive,
John freezes upon entering,
seeing, not the friends from
Earth he was told about, but
grotesque aliens. He orders
their ship destroyed, but Tony
countermands his order.

He tries to shoot one of the
creatures, but Helena stuns him
before he can shoot Tony's
brother. Convinced that John
is suffering from delusions,
Helena puts him in restraints.
Tony and Helena try to calm
him, down, but he remains

very agitated, and needs to
be sedated. Maya contacts Tony
telling him that Kander has locked
himself in the Records Lab, put
the emergency oxygen full on,
jammed the door, and wrecking
the place. Maya tries to get him
out, but oxygen is ignited in the

struggle, and Kander dies.
Guido pushes Tony to select
three people to return to Earth
in a pilot ship, before the Earth
starts to move out of range.
Back in Command Center, Tony
draws lots for the three lucky
people. But the names he is

reading are not the ones on
the cards. He is clearly under
the control of Guido and Dr.
Shaw. Tony checks on Koenig
in Medical Center. John tries
to convince them that he is
rational, and that odds are
against the rescue team all

being friends and relatives,
and the three picked to return
to Earth being on the Nuclear
Monitoring Team. Sandra alerts
Tony that the pilot ship is ready
to lift off. John becomes agitated,
and is sedated. The launch is
watched in Command Center,

and all over the base. Alan,
Bartlett, and Erlich find that
they are approaching Earth
with little appreciable sense
of time passing. They contact
Alpha to let them know that
Earth is in visual range, and
can barely contain their

excitement as they approach.
Dr. Shaw visits the unconscious
Sandstrom, and plants a directive
into his mind. Sandstrom wakes
and breaks free of his restraints.
Tony and Maya are on their way
to show Koenig images from the
pilot ship approaching Earth,

to help convince him that
things really are as they have
been trying to tell him. Tony
is attacked by Sandstrom,
and Maya transforms into a
Kendo fighter, knocking out
Sandstrom. Dr. Shaw enters
Medical Center, where

Koenig is still in restraints.
John sees the repulsive creature
approaching, and strains against
the straps that bind him, unable
to free himself. He watches
helplessly as it moves in close...

end of part one

Screenplay.................................................................Terence Feely

Director........................................................................Tom Clegg

Guest Stars

Stuart Damon..........................................................Guido Verdeschi

Patrick Westwood...............................................................Dr. Shaw

Toby Robins..................................................................Diana Morris

Nicholas Young..........................................................Peter Rockwell

Cher Cameron......................................................................Louisa

Al Lampert....................................................................Ken Burdett

Billy J. Mitchell........................................................Professor Hunter

Robert Sheedy.......................................................................Henry

Albin Pahernik............................................................Lizard Animal

David Jackson...............................................................Alien Voice

Additional Cast

Zienia Merton.............................................................Sandra Benes

Jefferey Kissoon.........................................................Dr. Ben Vincent

Nick Hobbs.................................................................Clive Kander

Jeremy Young...............................................................Jack Bartlett

Drewe Henley..................................................................Joe Erlich

Earl Robinson.................................................................Sandstrom

This Episode surprised me by being much better than I had remembered... well, once I got past the horrible beginning. I never cared for the scene of Koenig losing control in the Eagle. Maybe it was the dialogue, but it just didn't work for me. Add to that the the worst "toy on a string" effects, on the Command Center screen, of Koenig's Eagle flying erratically... well, it's no wonder I might not have remembered it kindly. But once the unpleasantness passes, this show really gets into gear. The model work improves immeasurably with the crash sequence on the lunar surface, through the landing of the Super-Swift.

There is nice tension as the rescue team rushes into save Koenig, which is maintained pretty steadily until the pilot of Super-Swift is revealed to be Tony's brother Guido. Tony Anholt did a great job with this scene. His breathy shock was excellent without being overstated.

Gears shift nicely as the Alphans reunite with friends, family, and loved ones disembarking Super-Swift. A nice variety of back stories is revealed, giving us a nice glimpse into the pasts of some of the Alphans, and bringing a little more natural drama and humor to the show. Their are some great moments with Tony introducing Guido to Maya, then talking about their parents.

One of the highlights for me had to be the "Dynasty-esque" battle of wits between Helena and Diana Morris. I still find myself a little surprised at the over the top characterization of Diana. It's great to see Helena's subtle jabs in response to Diana's shark-like attacks. But her shockingly bad behavior really makes Maya's transformation into a creature that much more rewarding, when Diana has not only insulted her, but is hitting on Tony in front of her!

Martin Landau and Barbara Bain really impressed me with their scene in Medical Center where Helena explains to John that a rescue ship has landed. His incredulity and amusement, at her improbable description of the situation, giving way to belief and sheer joy, was great fun to watch. Jefferey Kissoon does a great job as Ben Vincent, just taking it in and reacting in the background. Speaking of which... It was nice to see some of the supporting cast get a little more development as well. It was great to meet Sandra's fiancé, Ben's fiancée, and learn about Alan's boxing championship, etc.

There really seemed like there were more people on the base in this episode than others. Not only did they have a much larger guest cast, but employed a wider selection of extras, many of which had speaking parts. I think this gave Bringers of Wonder a little grander sense of scale

I also liked the creature design. I thought they were one of the most unique alien designs
on Space: 1999 since the "dragon" in Dragon's Domain. Despite the fact that it is fairly
reminiscent of the dragon's design, it stands out because it is (somewhat) mobile,
and lit from within.

Now for a little nit... They really seemed to have a tremendous amount of difficulty keeping the fire extinguishing hoses attached to the handles in the scenes with the firefighters. For the better part of the scenes they are in, the firefighters seem to be holding the hose and handles together, and in the Records Lab scene the hose falls completely off!

Despite a really bad opening, I think Bringers of Wonder Part 1 is a really entertaining episode, with great performances and a nice mystery that is revealed slowly to the audience and then to the characters. I have really found a new appreciation for this episode, after not having seen it in a terribly long time.

Replies to comments made here are always welcome. You can contact me by using the commlock in the Communication Centre.

	Koenig loses control of his mind and his Eagle. (edited)
	"Moonbase Alpha status report, 1,912 days after leaving Earth orbit..."
	Helena hooks John to an Ellendorf Quadrographic Brain Complex.
	Something is approaching Alpha, at faster-than-light speed!
	Tony has an unexpected visitor.
	It's "Old home week" on Alpha.
	Saucer of milk to Command Center!
	Sandstrom develops authority issues.
	Diana Morris goes too far!
	Koenig wakes from his coma.
	Helena tells John about the rescue ship.
	John freaks out when he meets the rescue team.
	Helena drugs a hysterical Koenig.
	John tries to be rational about the "monsters".
	Background sound.