Journey to Where Archive

A neutrino transmission is being
transmitted to Alpha from an
unknown source. When asked to
identify themselves, they reply
that they are from Texas City,
planet Earth! Dr. Charles Logan
tells the Alphans that a galactic
eclipse is moving between the

Moon and Earth in 72 hours, but
if they act quickly, and do as he
says, a return to Earth is possible.
The Alphans are thrilled at the
prospect, but Koenig is not sure
that the message is from Earth.
When Logan asks if they are ready
to start work on the Transference

Dome, Koenig tells him no. He
asks a few questions to see if
he really is from Earth. The rest of
the Alphans start to bristle, but
Logan answers the questions with
no problems, and Koenig agrees
to start work on the apparatus.
Carla begins to tell them of the

the Earth of 2120. Mankind has
been forced into domed cities
by the pollution of the 21^st century,
but with the use of their "personal
telesensual systems" can create
the illusion of spring in the Rocky
Mountains or fall in old New
England, at the touch of a button.

Construction of the Tranference
Dome is completed quickly and they
are ready to test the procedure.
A test package is conctructed to
simulate vital signs, and transmit
the readings to back to Alpha.
The package is transferred back
to Earth without a hitch. Now it

is time to try the procedure with
people. With a limit of three people
at a time, Koenig ask for two
volunteers to go with him. Helena
and Alan join the party. An earth-
quake strikes as the transfer begins,
disrupting the process. Koenig,
Helena, and Alan disappear from

Alpha, but do not appear in Texas
City. They do, however, appear in
a lush wilderness. The question is,
if the Earth is uninhabitable outside
the domes, where are they? As they
explore, Alan is attacked by a man with a sword. Koenig manages to
save him, but when they go back

for Helena (who is quite ill), they
find that she has been captured,
and are taken as well. Back on
Alpha, they're recieving data from
the medical monitors. Knowing
that they are alive somewhere,
they are trying to locate their lost
comrades. Dr. Logan has a team

set explosive charges to recreate
the conditions that threw off the
transfer process. He figures that if
they can recalculate their location
they can be returned to Alpha by
reversing the magnetic field on
the projection pods on Alpha's
Tranference Dome. Meanwhile,

Helena's temperature is rising.
She sees a fungus that is the basis
for a cure growing on the wall of
their cell, but they need fire to heat
it. Koenig and Alan create a ruckus,
drawing the gurds into the cell. As
Koenig startles them with the light
from his medical monitor, Alan

jumps one of the guards, then
John takes the other. They escape
to the woods, and while preparing
the medicine, Helena sees the
Moon. John thinks that she is
delirious and starts to give her the
remedy. Alan and John look and
realize she is right. They must be

on Earth at some point in time
before the Moon left orbit. They are
recaptured and brought to the table
of the lord of the castle. He asks
why three Englishmen would be
wandering through the forests of
Scotland. When he learns that
Helena is sick he assumes that

they have been turned out by
some English lord because she has
the plague. And to prevent the
spread of disease to his people,
he commands that they be burned.
They are shackled to a wall, and
a pyre is assembled before them,
Koenig tries to send a message

to Alpha in morse code by
clicking Helena's monitor on and
off. The message is recieved on
Alpha, the "old" code recognized,
and decoded by the computer.
The information is then passed on
to Logan. He has Carla recallibrate
the transport coordinates for

Scotland in 1339. As the flames
rise, Koenig, Helena, and Alan
are transported back to Alpha.
Logan contacts Alpha to tell them
all communication channels will
be closing. Koenig says goodbye
and thanks Logan for trying,just
before the eclipse severs all

communication between them.
John visits Helena in Medical
Center. She says it was a shame
that, of all times, they landed in
1339 Scotland. John lists a few
worse possibilities. Helena says
"With a history like that, who wants
to go back to Earth anyway?"

Screenplay....................................................................Donald James

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

Guest Stars

Dr. Charles Logan...........................................................Freddie Jones

Carla Cross..........................................................................Isla Blair

MacDonald......................................................................Roger Bizley

Jackson................................................................Laurence Harrington

Journey to Where is probably one of the better episodes that the second season of Space: 1999 has to offer. There are a few glaring faults, such as... How can Alpha talk back to Texas City in "real time" if they do not have the benefit of neutrino transmissions? This could have been easily rectified by taking a moment to show them getting a transmission from Dr. Logan telling them that they need to set up a neutrino transceiver. Considering how quickly they assembled the Transference Dome, they should have been able to do that in no time flat! That might have also helped explain the fact that they could receive signals from the wrist monitors across that distance (not even mentioning across time).

On the positive side, there is some terriffic acting by both the regular cast and the guest cast. Barbara Bain shines as the ailing Helena. She really impressed me with how convincing her performance was, and how natural it came across. She didn't seem to care if she looked less glamourous. I fully expected her nose was going to start running at any second!

Martin Landau also did an excellent job. The character interaction between Koenig and Helena was very well done, without being too over the top. I especially loved the tenderness with which he cared for Helena.

I thought that was wonderfully played, and very moving. If they had kept the personal interaction between the charcaters at this level, rather than bad beer jokes... the second season might have been more effective. Having said that... my favorite "beer joke" moment was in this episode. When Maya tries to cheer Tony up after being left back on Alpha by saying "You know? This stuff doesn't taste so bad after all." And she moves to take a sip, and he stops her. Not exactly hilarious, but the very best, and most touching use of that running gag.

Freddie Jone was a riot as Dr. Charles Logan. I still get a kick out of how incredibly crabby he is. I think that was an interesting characterization. You would tend to imagine that it would have been written as a more benevolent role, but I like the fact that it wasn't. To quote Maya: "It's more fun that way!"

Isla Blair is great as Carla Cross, and lovely, despite that terrible wig. I like to listen to her voice as she tells the Alphans about Texas City and the other metro complexes, the culmination being when she mentions the "personal telesensual devices" creating "the illusion of spring in the Rocky Mountains, fall in old New England... simply at the touch of a button!"

The story is a pleasant change of pace from the typical second season "alien threat" theme. It is a little more like the survival stories of the first season, complete with a slightly less than happy ending. It is also a decent time travel story without the additional complications of worries about changing the time-line etc.

Did I mention that I love the domed city miniatures? They are really well done, although I could have lived without the disco light tubes. They just seem to be enormous by proportion to the cities themselves. Any replies to comments made here (or if you would just like to say hi) are always welcome. You can contact me by using the commlock in the
Communication Centre.

	The Alphans recieve their first neutrino transmission.
	Dr. Logan tells Koenig that he can return the Alphans to Earth.
	Carla tells the Alphans about the Earth in the year 2120.
	Earthquakes threaten the safety of the transfer process, and Koenig asks for volunteers.
	John, Helena, and Alan teleport back to Earth... or do they?
	Logan does his Jim Lovell impression and Tony is not sympathetic.
	Texas City's computer calculates the location of the missing Alphan's... sort of.
	Tony asks if anyone else would like to try the transfer process, and Yasko's eloquent reply.
	Helena sees the Moon, but is dismissed as feverish. John feeds her drugs, but soon learns the truth.
	The Scots learn that Helena is sick and prescribe a cure. (edited)
	Logan gives up hope of finding the lost Alphans, but Tony will have none of it.
	Helena laments the missed opportunities of their visit to Earth's past. John suggests some alternatives.
	Background sound.