Plot: Following a diverted collision course with an asteroid, the Alphans discover that the Moon is being drawn into a Black Sun. Professor Bergman devises a powerful force field in an attempt to protect the base, and a survival ship is launched. As the Moon passes through the Black Sun, Koenig and Bergman have an amazing encounter.
Quotes:
Paul: ‘Commander, it’s impossible, but we’re changing course.’
Alan: ‘I’ll send you a postcard.’
Helena: ‘I remember when I was a little girl, I was afraid of the dark. Isn’t that funny?’
Sandra: ‘And I was afraid of doctors.’
Victor: ‘I’m a scientist. I don’t know anything about God.’
Victor: ‘Ultimately, I suppose we all believe what we want to believe. Perhaps that’s what reality is. One thing, though – the line between science and mysticism is just a line. And sometimes it makes me feel quite old.’
Tanya: ‘Paul – mind if I share the music with you?’
Koenig: ‘So that everything is everything else.’ … ‘Everything is everything else, and the whole Universe is living thought.’
Mysterious Voice: ‘I think a thought, perhaps, in every thousand of your years. You are never there to hear it.’
Victor: ‘Are you God?’
Mysterious Voice: ‘It was good to have known you.’
Filming Dates: Thursday 31 January – Thursday 21 February 1974
Commentary:
Martin Landau: ‘I liked “Black Sun” early on and hoped that the entire texture of the show would be in that vein. Certain people in New York (at ITC) did not like “Black Sun”. They were nervous about it. We wanted to make a show of that kind of quality. When they saw “Black Sun”, there was some panic. Then, in the first year, they started changing the texture of the scripts … I was hoping that the series would continue to have that quality. It never quite did. Sometimes it got close to it, but it was always a fight. Not so much that “Black Sun” itself was a great episode, but it was the kind of show I felt the series should be. Well, there were a lot of episodes I liked. A lot of them were difficult.
‘We had relationships, humour, a bunch of us, and music … beautiful! Unfortunately you didn’t see the version I liked. It was jazzed up because some people said it was too slow. That was a period of finding out. That was the direction Barbara and I wanted the show to go in. Gerry also. We watched “Black Sun” and said it was really marvellous and it was what Space needed. It was the direction the rest of the show should have.
‘It was very intimate and character driven, and we had a female God, which doesn’t happen every day. There was something about that that was somewhat haunting. It had a sort of a mystical quality about it. Barry and me sitting there having that drink of brandy and waiting for doomsday, so to speak.’
Barbara Bain: ‘“Black Sun” was a beautiful one. That was a quality script. It was a direction the show was starting to take and I wish had taken more. That’s what the hope and excitement of doing it was. They were concerned that it was a [bit too] intellectual, which is unfortunate. I loved that – a beautiful script. The scene between [Barry and Marty] is marvellous … [Regarding the cigar and brandy in the episode.] ‘Barry. Yeah, that was his [idea]. I think he brought that in … We were always looking for those types of touches. We wanted a pet up there, but we didn’t get a pet.’
Barry Morse: ‘I do remember our third episode, “Black Sun”. It asked the question, “What’s it all about?” There was that famous scene between the two of us in which we drank brandy and talked about what we thought was our impending demise, expressing what we felt about the purpose of life. And that’s the occasion where we spoke those lines, which many people (I’m touched to discover) remember, when Martin – drinking the brandy – said, “To everything that might have been.” And I said, “To everything that was.” It’s one of the moments in Space: 1999 that I’m most proud of. It had human values and no explosions, just two human beings. It’s very gratifying to Martin and me, that on any list of the audience’s preferences among the different episodes, “Black Sun” will almost always come out very near, if not on, the top. I like to think that it was because of the input that we, the actors, had on the script. Incidentally, I think I improvised the scarf that I wore in that sequence because it was an opportunity to hint a little bit that Bergman was not entirely conventional in his tastes.
‘It was one of the episodes where we did get to grips with some more philosophical speculation, and I only wish we had done it more. It drew into question what we believe and how and why we believe it. That seems to have caught hold of the imaginations of our viewers in all the years since, perhaps more than any of the other episodes. If only the general production and the writing had had more of that sort of character about it. It certainly remains in my remembrance as one of the very best episodes, where Martin, Barbara and I were able to inject rather more in the way of human interest in the show. That, I always felt, was the sort of thing that might have been.
‘When Martin and I were drinking the brandy, we were actually consuming burnt sugar and water, as it always is when it comes from the prop department! [Viewers] sometimes imagine – and it has happened of course – that [actors] do use real alcoholic drinks. In the matter of shooting a television series, when you may have as many as seven or eight different takes of one scene, you’d drink yourself into insensibility and be flat on the floor if you drank real brandy! There’s always been a convention that the prop department would supply a liquid, which in this case looked satisfactorily like brandy. If you sip it and react in the manner that you probably would if you were drinking a good old brandy, well then the audience is convinced that you are indeed drinking a brandy.
‘I think I’m at one with most followers and fans of Space: 1999, because the question of favourite episodes is quite often asked at conventions and meetings … It’s very striking that a majority of people will tell you that their favourite episode is “Black Sun”.’
Zienia Merton: ‘“Black Sun” is a really good episode. The whole first series was. We really got shortchanged – it actually was a lot better than we got credit for.’
[Regarding God in the episode.] ‘I must admit when I heard it, the concept that He was a She was very advanced thinking. And the voice did sound like me, but it wasn’t. That would really have been cheap to use me, and one thing they were not on that production, was cheap.
‘[My character] had another boyfriend to begin with. I had Paul Jones and they kept saying, “You have a boyfriend in the next show,” and I thought, “Great!” I never met him! Because he was on the screen and I was in Main Mission. It was the most remote controlled romance anyone has ever had.’
Prentis Hancock: ‘The one I liked the best always was “Black Sun”. I think, for me, it encapsulated the best of what the series was about in terms of exploration and human spirit, and conquering the odds and not losing hope. It had a lot of very, very nice qualities. That’s the one I would take with me to the desert island if I had just one to take.
‘I’ve often thought about why I particularly enjoyed the opening episodes of Space: 1999 … I felt there was something really happening, which tended to dissipate a bit, I think. One always thought it was the money, the dreadful strikes, the three-day week, and all the stuff we had. Our whole industry was in a mess in the ’70s. I sometimes thought we were dragging a ’60s series into the ’70s. Well, I [still] think there were elements of that, but I think there were also other wonderful things. It is the intrinsic, sort of organic, quality that I think attracts the fans to the series. There’s something about the ideas in the centre of “Breakaway” and “Black Sun”, which are fairly universal.
‘“Black Sun” I would think is the favorite episode because it shows us off-duty, facing up to reality and those things that human beings have to do in television series without the fun and games of another episode. We’re just ourselves. I think one of the defining moments is
before Koenig and Bergman have their scene together; they dismiss me with a line, “He’s a good man, Paul.” So there was a continuity about relationship with each other. Had I been a bigger character, had I been a star, they’d have kept me in that scene. But I was second rank, and that’s fine – that’s the way that series was. But my character was also part of the command structure, so I never really went against what was going on, because my loyalty was to the Commander. Not to Nick Tate, who would sometimes take him on, but he was an outsider flying a spaceship around the place. So my loyalty was to Koenig; if Koenig had gone down, I would have taken over. There was no question of me going against the grain.
‘Lee Katzin was the director who – along with George Bellack and [Christopher Penfold] – engendered for me the spirit of the first series, with “Black Sun”, and then we lost Lee… he just vanished. But I think he deserves credit.’
Sylvia Anderson: ‘Barry Morse was playing with Martin (in one of the most notable scenes in “Black Sun”), and I think they worked very well together. I think “Black Sun” was a very good episode. It was a very intense subject, thinking about it, so when we had a chance to do something really serious and thought provoking, I think that’s when the show really worked for me. I think when it goes on to be a bit too pantomime, if you like, and weird creatures are showing up, then it lost it for me.’
Christopher Penfold: ‘David Weir is a wonderfully talented and imaginative writer, and it was my decision to approach him to write a script for the series. I had long admired the work he had done on other films and television drama series in Britain. The notion of travelling through a black hole was something that engaged both of us. We discussed, in broad terms, the outline of a story to encompass that theme. David then went off and wrote an episode, and – I remember I was actually shocked by this, because he was so experienced – the first draft that he delivered was actually twice as long as it should have been. It was quite clear that the very notion that David was dealing with had just blown his mind. So I was confronted initially, even with the first draft, with the almost impossible task of trying to cut down to 50 minutes something that, had it been shot in that form, would have run for 120. So I went back to David for a second draft and we got closer. But the pressures of production began to mount up, and the need for that episode to be finished was pressing. What I would ideally have loved to do would have been to work with David and educate him in the ways of this particular series, so that he could have done the work. And had there been time, I’m sure that would have been possible. But there came a cut-off point at which I had to take the script home on a Friday night and come back on a Monday morning with it ready to go into pre-production. In that weekend I wrote “Black Sun”. Johnny and I spent a Friday afternoon just kind of kicking around the idea. Then I drove back from Pinewood to my house in London on Friday night and sat down in the shed at the bottom of my garden on Saturday morning and wrote “Black Sun”, and took the script into the studio on Monday morning. It’s rough in all kinds of ways, but I think it has that kind of naked creative intensity behind it that can sometimes – not always – come out of crisis management, but occasionally it works well.
‘I think philosophy is a science, and “Black Sun” has a lot of philosophy. I was much more interested in the philosophical implications of stretching time and increasing time.
‘If scripts weren’t working, I had both Johnny Byrne and Edward di Lorenzo with me as script editors, and quite a lot of the episodes they and I were credited with were rescue operations … It was a very technical business writing for Space: 1999, understanding the requirements of that strange mixture of studio and special effects, and quite a lot of writers didn’t really get hold of it.
‘“Black Sun” is pretty much as I wrote it, actually, and it’s intentionally vague. I haven’t had many conversations with God myself, so I had little to go on. It was more a question of engaging with the idea of there being a super-entity. And of how one might respond in the face of that kind of direct encounter.
[Regarding whether or not “Black Sun” was influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey.] ‘Quite possibly. I think it’s a great movie. Who knows the extent to which other experiences or other films, movies, or poems by John Keats [are inspirations]? It’s very difficult to identify them as particular influences, but they very well could have been. I don’t remember making that immediate connection, but my enthusiasm for 2001 is very great … But, [with] “Black Sun”, having taken on David’s idea, I hope he felt and feels that we did some kind of justice to it. I felt pretty pleased with the way that one came out, too.’
Johnny Byrne: ‘“Black Sun” was a very interesting experience. Again, there wasn’t that much knowledge about black holes at the time. But I remember long sequences of Koenig and Bergman just sitting there, talking. It was amazing. Freddy [Freiberger – Year Two producer] would never have allowed that. Well, you see, the dictates of plot-plot-plot, relentless story-story-story deny you that.’
Bloopers: How does Alpha manage to see the side profile view of Ryan’s ship as it flies toward the Black Sun?
In the scenes of the survival Eagle, compare the effects shots with the interior shots of the pilot’s section. Specifically, watch for Carter’s helmet visor – it’s down for the effects shots and up for the interiors.
Observations: On the technology front, viewers are introduced to the watch-like vital sign monitors worn by everybody on Alpha. Their presence has previously been inferred in ‘Breakaway’, and the devices will appear again in future episodes.
Review: The rewards of this episode lie in the Alphan characters quietly biding their time – talking, playing guitar, sharing a drink and some philosophy. There are interesting parallels between the plight here of Moonbase Alpha and that of the Titanic. As the Moon is about to sink into the depths of the Black Sun, they even go so far as to launch a lifeboat in the form of the survival Eagle.
Some of the special effects in this episode are a bit unconvincing. There are several instances that stand out, including the shot of the laser beam firing into the Black Sun, as the two elements appear entirely out of proportion to each other – the Black Sun too small and the laser beam too large. As well, the superimposed explosion of the Eagle is entirely unconvincing. But these lapses are forgivable, especially in light of the overwhelming quality of the character drama; and other effects are absolutely stunning, including most of the views of the Black Sun itself.
This is an episode that allows the entire cast to shine brightly. ‘Black Sun’ is really a character piece. It focuses sharply on the people of Moonbase Alpha and stays there through most of the hour, and by doing so it provides the greatest wealth of subtle, rich characterisation to be found in the entire series. It is virtually unimaginable that the episode could have been more successful in portraying human warmth between the Alphans.
The relationships between the characters are continuing to develop. Paul spends what he believes to be his last moments playing guitar, and is joined by a lonely Tanya, trying to cover up her fear as she wraps herself in a jacket to keep warm. It’s one of the most sexually charged scenes in the series. Oh yes, and Sandra gets to faint – something that actress Zienia Merton quite correctly felt was inappropriate for a supposedly highly trained professional on Moonbase Alpha.
The long discussion between Bergman and Koenig leading up to their encounter with the Black Sun is compelling, and their toast (‘To everything that might have been …’ ‘… To everything that was,’) constitutes the single most memorable moment of Space: 1999. Not only that, but it’s a wonderful way to look at life.
The actress who provided the voice of God in the Black Sun was un-credited and her identity has long been a mystery to fans of the series. While this is not a confirmed fact, it has been suggested that Joanna Dunham might have performed the voice-over. She was at Pinewood Studios filming her role in the upcoming episode ‘Missing Link’ while ‘Black Sun’ was in post-production. Did she prov
ide the voice of God? Listen to her performance as Vana in that later episode and compare it against the voice in the Black Sun: there is a marked similarity.While ‘Breakaway’ was constructed around Koenig and ‘Matter of Life and Death’ focused on Helena, ‘Black Sun’ is primarily a character study of Professor Bergman. So much of his character is fleshed out here, as are his relationships with Koenig, Helena and Kano. It is obvious that the amiable Bergman is unimpressed with Alpha’s Computer and considers the human mind superior. ‘I ought to know better than to ask you,’ he says to Computer before shutting it off and doing some calculations himself. He also grows impatient with Computer’s slow calculations and says, ‘One jump ahead of you, Computer.’ Viewers are introduced to the fact that Bergman has an artificial heart – a plot device that will be used again in future episodes, although never to its full potential. Here Bergman is saved from electrocution by virtue of his mechanical heart. One of the most beautiful little scenes in the series features Bergman and Helena, just before her departure on the survival Eagle; he gives her a jacket, a kiss and a smile, and then they walk away, with neither of them having said a word. It’s incredibly touching. Bergman’s wisdom shines through the darkness of the Black Sun and shows him to be somewhat more of a metaphysical professor than a cold, hard scientist.
The science of ‘Black Sun’ has often been the subject of scorn from critics, but it is all quite convincing within the context of the episode itself. The descriptions of the Black Sun are in reference to what is commonly called a Black Hole. It can be surmised that the writers selected the term ‘Sun’ instead of ‘Hole’ for use in the Space: 1999 universe as an artistic, almost poetic, choice. Call it what you will, it doesn’t change what it is. This ‘Black Sun’ terminology will continue to be used in later episodes (‘Dragon’s Domain’ and ‘Seed of Destruction’), providing a very welcome element of continuity.
Destination: Moonbase Alpha Page 9