Episode by Episode:
'Dorzak'
From: South Central (Tamazunchale@web44tv.net)
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 09:34:20 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Space1999: ExE
This week's episode is Dorzak....
"You will convey to me the knowledge of molecular transformation...and
you will discuss this episode from Monday, November 2 to Sunday,
November 8...."
Mateo (or is it?)
From: David Acheson (dkach@hot44mail.com)
Subject: Space1999: DORZAK
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 16:25:36 EST
I believe this is DORZAK week. Its nice that Christopher Penfold was
enticed to write a script for the second season, after his departure at
the end of year one, but it was unfortunate that the Freiberger regime
reworked Penfold's story (so he claims) to the point of it being
unrecognizable. What actually sounds like a great premise (good turned
evil) ended up even more as a CHARLIE'S ANGELS in space than Bob
Kellett's THE LAST ENEMY. Female security dressed in evening gowns and
stilettos? Housed in luxurious quarters? Catfights over the prisoner? I
don't think so. Penfold must have cringed when he saw the final result.
This was another one of those double-up episodes so Koenig was not
around for the action. So instead we get he-man Alan in love with
beautiful space girl Sahala and Maya and Tony hissing and spitting in
the corner at them. Yesta and Clea were nothing more than window
dressing and a temporary vehicle to make it appear that Sahala was the
bad one. Helena did have her moments but where did Ben Vincent go? Now
we have Doctor Ed Spencer in his place. Of course, in the end, we find
that Maya is wrong (for a change thankfully)and that it is the prisoner
Dorzak that is the evil in their presence.
In what can be the only good thing to be said about the episode, Lee
Montague does a reasonably good job as the Psychon poet-turned-killer
but unfortunately he did not have a lot of meat to work with -
scriptwise. A potential Balor-type ended up rather average. Jill
Townsend was not bad either but her character was mainly a love interest
for Alan and cannot be put down as one of the more memorable 1999
aliens.
It would be terrific to see how Christopher Penfold originally
envisioned DORZAK to see if it was really all that much better.
David Acheson
From: Petter Ogland (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no)
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 11:30:24 +0000
Subject: Re: Space1999: DORZAK
CHARLIE'S ANGLES indeed.
It was nice that Penfold was commisioned for another go, but format
changes from Year One to Year Two sadly makes this one of the less
successful episodes in my opinion.
On the other hand, the essence of the story, that fight for survival makes
us into monsters, is nice and pure Penfold, not unlike THE LAST SUNSET,
WAR GAMES and SPACE BRAIN I would say.
Unlike Johnny Byrne, however, whose scripts fitted almost equally fine
with both seasons, some of them at least, Christopher Penfold philosophy of
life and style of writing seems much more fit with Year One the way I
see it.
The banalities of Alan in love beautiful space girl Sahala and Maya and
Tony hissing and spitting in the corner at them does not seem to help
to the image of Penfold as the brain behind the wonderful Year One of
SPACE:1999. In fact, far from being the peak of performance for
Year Two, some of the less successful ingrediants of this episode almost
makes it fall down to the Pip and Jane Baker level, I feel. it is not a
very satisfiable episode from my point of view.
Perhaps in some ways it is comparable with Johnny Byrne's THE DORCONS,
the episode when Byrne finally gave in and just wrote the sort of
trash that Freiberger expected him to make instead of the usual
socially and philosophically interesting comments he used to make.
Just like Byrne, Penfold is still good, I feel, even when he has the
odds against him, and just like THE DORCONS cannot hide the contempt
Byrne had for Maya and his general dissatisfaction with how Year Two
ignored everything that was nice about SPACE:1999, DORZAK is also an
episode with an attitude.
While Penfold seemed to use most of his writing time during Year One
to make halfbaked scripts work, he at least accomplished three episodes
that were completely his, based on his own premises. As far as I can
see this Penfold trilogy consists of THE LAST SUNSET, WAR GAMES and
SPACE BRAIN.
While LAST SUNSET and WAR GAMES were written quite early on, in fact I
believe they were two of the original eight scripts made before production
commenced, SPACE BRAIN is perhaps Penfold's goodbye to the series, a
collage of previous episodes such as BLACK SUN and RING AROUND THE MOON in
particular.
In THE LAST SUNSET the human race is perceived as a potential danger,
and is tricked by the Ariels not to colonize their world. STINGRAY and
THUNDERBIRDS have been analysed to have been popular in Britain because
they delt with the trauma of the decline of the British Empire by still
making the dream be carried over to the next generation.
I don't know if something similar can be used for explaining Penfold's
pessimistic world views, even more clear in WAR GAMES than in LAST SUNSET
by declaring the human race as a virus and saying that perhaps our
final struggle is hour finest hour of existence.
While the humans were prevented from destroying worlds in WAR GAMES,
in SPACE BRAIN the dilemma is carried on even further as in the fight
for survival and total lack of understanding and control of situation
we are destroying not only hostile or dead unknown planets but, in fact,
sources of intelligence representing a galaxy of worlds.
I wonder if what Penfold was describing here was similar to Nietzsche's
"God is dead" doctrine, because as Nietzsche continues in his metaphorical
writings, God, or perhaps the civilised world as other would put it, was
killed by the masses as he perhaps was contemplating the change of face in
Europe during the most intense period of industrialisation during the
second half of the previous century.
It is interesting then, I think, that Chris Penfold in his SPACE:1999
swansong DORZAK puts the poet and philosopher into such a central
position. Very nice indeed, and were this done in a Year One context
I believe DORZAK could have been a very interesting episode indeed.
While everybody knows that Fred Freiberger was a very nice man that
everybody admired and loved to work with and so on, his main contribution
as I see it in terms of SPACE:1999 was to turn a highly intelligent
television series, made by some of the finest writers, actors, technicians
and crew of its time into complete rubbish.
DORZAK illustrates very clearly, I think, how Freiberger, no doubt only
doing his job, and doing it very well too, willingly and gleefully
danced on the grave of original SPACE:1999, making high art into pure
crap. Nowhere is this as visible as in the Byrne and Penfold episodes,
I think, the most obvious links with the previous season.
> It would be terrific to see how Christopher Penfold originally
> envisioned DORZAK to see if it was really all that much better.
Personally I think Johnny Byrne's total rework of THE BIOLOGICAL SOUL more
than says it all. After THE BIOLOGICAL SOUL was turned into THE METAMORPH
SPACE:1999 was metamorphed into trash as well, and it would be close to
impossible for someone being so closely connected with Year One as Penfold
to make much of contribution, Freiberger more or less stating explicitly
with his rework of the series that he had no understanding of Penfold's
previous work.
Nevertheless, I'm happy he tried however, and just like Johnny Byrne's
THE METAMORPH he does not give up completely, trying to pass some of the
philosophy and dignity of Year One over to Year Two.
Petter
From: "Simon Morris" (simes01@global44net.co.uk)
Subject: Space1999: DORZAK
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 12:57:49 -0000
I'll have to be brief about this one as I'm really pressed for time.
Basically,I liked this episode. Its not one of Y2's best(at least,not for
me)but at least there is a certain amount of continuity with previous
episodes and its not just an "actionfest" like BETA CLOUD/SPACE WARP et al.
Its nice to see that another Psychon other than Maya survived,but not so
nice to find out that he has degenerated into a bastard. I liked Lee
Montague's performance(Montague was seen on British TV a lot in the
seventies but less so now..). He was both icily polite to everyone("Mr
Carter" etc)and yet totally evil. From what Maya tells us,we know that he
was once an honourable man:a poet,philosopher and man of peace. And yet
because I myself see no evidence of his previously uncorrupted life I
cannot sympathise with him as I did with Sanderson for example. OK,so
Dorzak says that its the struggle for survival that makes monsters of
everyone(as if this is a half hearted attempt by Christopher Penfold to
justify Dorzaks actions)but that theory is basically smashed by Maya
herself who points out that the Alphans aren't warped(generally..)and that
they saved her life! Incidentally,much as I enjoyed Montague's performance
I couldn't help but wonder what an actor like Peter Bowles(END OF
ETERNITY)would have made of this role. Oh yes...and I would like to have
seen a bit more detail as to *why* his struggle for survival turned him
into a proper bastard. This was totally glossed over. Maybe Penfold's
original script was more complete in terms of the motivation of Dorzak?
I also liked Jill Townsend as Sahala. Nice looking gal...I wasn't always
convinced by her acting but I still think that she came over as a
combination of hard experience and yet of a certain amount of innocence. I
was less comfortable with the way Carter is apparently smitten by her but I
suppose there was a lot of conflict generated by way of the fact he was-to
start with-the only one to believe her and doubt Dorzak's story.
Interesting really that the Alphans loyalty to Maya means they are more
likely to believe her than an alien with a reasonably convincing
story(quite rightly I suppose...just as their caution in releasing Dorzak
despite their trust of Maya's judgement is also realistic). So how do we
explain Alan Carter's fairly blind trust in an alien who he's only just
met? It seems to me that he is reacting on a fairly basic male response to
an attractive girl. What a shallow chap eh? (Not that I'd be any different
heh heh....).
I can't decide whether Verdeschi's reaction to Sahala's gunning
down("staser-izing"??)of Maya in the teaser is realistic or not. OK so his
sweetheart is lying inert on a bed(*presumably* he's not used to seeing
that....!)and he is angry. But he is second in command of Alpha and seems
to lose control of his emotions totally! If it was thought to be so wrong
that Sandra Benes fainted at the slightest sign of trouble,then surely the
same logic must apply to Verdeschi? Personally I was disappointed that
DORZAK did not feature Martin Landau,though to be completely impartial I
was also disappointed that DEVILS PLANET did not have the usual regulars
either.
Anyway, a generally enjoyable episode with less Y2-type humour than
usual(as with many latter episodes of the season). A little of the witty
dialogue of the sort that Feely wrote for NEW ADAM NEW EVE wouldnt have
gone amiss. Penfold has stated he was unhappy with the finished product but
never went into details as to what actually changed. Certainly I was more
impressed with his Y1 stories(that goes for Johnny Byrnes Y2 scripts as
well of course)but then we know that both Penfold and Byrne were
uncomfortable to say the least with the Freiberger style!
Simon
From: Simon Morris (simes01@global44net.co.uk)
Subject: Re: Space1999: DORZAK
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 13:50:09 -0000
Petter recently wrote:
>It was nice that Penfold was commisioned for another go, but format
>changes from Year One to Year Two sadly makes this one of the less
>successful episodes in my opinion.
Well not so much that,as a disappointment compared to some of the scripts
that Penfold provided for Year 1
>On the other hand, the essence of the story, that fight for survival makes
>us into monsters, is nice and pure Penfold, not unlike THE LAST SUNSET,
>WAR GAMES and SPACE BRAIN I would say.
Indeed...I'd agree with that. The only unsatisfactory element in the script
is that there is nothing that clearly states what happened to Dorzak that
turned him into a bastard. Saying that the "struggle for survival" made him
into a monster is a get-out,because its a generalisation. (Maya points out
that the Alphans haven't been warped by their struggles,after all......)
>Unlike Johnny Byrne, however, whose scripts fitted almost equally fine
>with both seasons, some of them at least, Christopher Penfold philosophy
>of life and style of writing seems much more fit with Year One the way I
>see it.
Agreed again Petter. Though I don't think Johnny fitted in particularly
well either. I thought THE METAMORPH and IMMUNITY SYNDROME were
great(funnily enough when it was screened 20 years ago I didn't care for
IMMUNITY SYNDROME at all,but I like it now...)wheras I was extremely
disappointed with THE DORCONS in just about every aspect.
>The banalities of Alan in love beautiful space girl Sahala and Maya and
>Tony hissing and spitting in the corner at them does not seem to help
>to the image of Penfold as the brain behind the wonderful Year One of
>SPACE:1999. In fact, far from being the peak of performance for
>Year Two, some of the less successful ingrediants of this episode almost
>makes it fall down to the Pip and Jane Baker level, I feel. it is not a
>very satisfiable episode from my point of view.
I wasn't really convinced by the Sahala/Carter aspect either,I have to say.
And I too had trouble visualising Penfold writing this sort of thing.
Verdeschi seemed totally unprofessional and his barely disguised anger at
Sahala(in front of her,Carter and(horrors)a security guard :"SHE GETS
NOTHING!" etc I found faintly embarrassing. And before you all
say:"well,its understandable..he's in love with Maya!" let me say that he
is supposed to be Koenig's number 2. Let's have a modicum of good judgement
and deliberation.....
>Perhaps in some ways it is comparable with Johnny Byrne's THE DORCONS,
>the episode when Byrne finally gave in and just wrote the sort of
>trash that Freiberger expected him to make instead of the usual
>socially and philosophically interesting comments he used to make.
I must be feeling ill as I tend to go along with you Petter. I didn't care
for THE DORCONS at all and it does seem to have been dashed off in a day or
so. What a pity given Johnny's fantastic Y1 scripts......
>Just like Byrne, Penfold is still good, I feel, even when he has the
>odds against him, and just like THE DORCONS cannot hide the contempt
>Byrne had for Maya and his general dissatisfaction with how Year Two
>ignored everything that was nice about SPACE:1999, DORZAK is also an
>episode with an attitude.
I'd be interested to know what you mean by "an episode with attitude"?
>In THE LAST SUNSET the human race is perceived as a potential danger,
>and is tricked by the Ariels not to colonize their world. STINGRAY and
>THUNDERBIRDS have been analysed to have been popular in Britain because
>they delt with the trauma of the decline of the British Empire by still
>making the dream be carried over to the next generation.
Ah! I thought it was too good to be true......! Petter,where *have* you got
your ideas about STINGRAY and THUNDERBIRDS?!! I don't claim to be an expert
on either of these programmes,but any suggestion that they were popular
over here beacuse they dealt with the trauma of the decline of the British
Empire is utter tosh. Mind you,I'm not saying that a lot of people weren't
traumatised by the breakup of the Empire...merely that those sort of people
didn't tend to watch STINGRAY and THUNDERBIRDS...:-). Next time I see the
aquaphibians fighting Troy Tempest I shall look at them in a totally new
light...heh heh.
>While the humans were prevented from destroying worlds in WAR GAMES,
>in SPACE BRAIN the dilemma is carried on even further as in the fight
>for survival and total lack of understanding and control of situation
>we are destroying not only hostile or dead unknown planets but, in fact,
>sources of intelligence representing a galaxy of worlds.
Yes indeed, I'd agree...but we're looking at DORZAK,not WAR GAMES and SPACE
BRAIN,Petter!
>It is interesting then, I think, that Chris Penfold in his SPACE:1999
>swansong DORZAK puts the poet and philosopher into such a central
>position. Very nice indeed, and were this done in a Year One context
>I believe DORZAK could have been a very interesting episode indeed.
In my post on DORZAK,I do say that I couldn't help but see Peter Bowles in
the central role. Actually I suppose there are some similarities between
Dorzak and Balor...the fact they're both psychos for one thing. I too
believe that DORZAK would have fitted nicely into the Y1 scenario though
presumably along the lines of Penfold's original script rather than that
televised(Of course I am guessing here as we don't know how different
Penfold's original draft differed from what was on the screen).
>While everybody knows that Fred Freiberger was a very nice man that
>everybody admired and loved to work with and so on, his main contribution
>as I see it in terms of SPACE:1999 was to turn a highly intelligent
>television series, made by some of the finest writers, actors, technicians
>and crew of its time into complete rubbish.
Hey! Hang on a minute Petter! I don't remember any Y2 fans universally
trashing Y1 so don't do it to Y2. I hate this high-handed attitude(very
brave of you though...<grin>). The series were different in approach. There
were good episodes and excellent episodes in each season(IMO of course)and
there were some crap ones in each season as well (RING AROUND THE MOON
springs readily to mind in Y1....) SPACE 1999 in either year was never
Dostoevski(or even Ray Bradbury for that matter...how ever much some like
to think it was).It was meant as entertainment. The fact that certain Y1
episodes had a lot of subtext and resonance is down to the individual
efforts of writers like Johnny Byrne and the fact he invested body and soul
in the series. I have always said that his loss on Y2 was tangible and that
its a pity that the many good ideas of Freiberger could not have married
with the philosophies of Johnny Byrne(and his great writing). But lets not
have this intellectually superior "Year 2 is rubbish" stuff,eh?? Because it
leaves a bad taste in my mouth....we're all supposed to be on the same
side.
>DORZAK illustrates very clearly, I think, how Freiberger, no doubt only
>doing his job, and doing it very well too, willingly and gleefully
>danced on the grave of original SPACE:1999, making high art into pure
>crap. Nowhere is this as visible as in the Byrne and Penfold episodes,
>I think, the most obvious links with the previous season.
"High art into pure crap....". A dangerous phrase Petter. I suggest you
rephrase it. I'm glad I'm not as seemingly intolerant as you appear to be!
People can find shit absolutely *anywhere* if they look long and hard
enough for it. Its a fact of life sadly :-(
>> It would be terrific to see how Christopher Penfold originally
>> envisioned DORZAK to see if it was really all that much better.
Phew! Well I agree with that. It would be a pity if the original draft
wasn't any better though wouldn't it? And we will never know for sure that
it wasn't either!
>Personally I think Johnny Byrne's total rework of THE BIOLOGICAL SOUL more
>than says it all. After THE BIOLOGICAL SOUL was turned into THE METAMORPH
>SPACE:1999 was metamorphed into trash as well, and it would be close to
>impossible for someone being so closely connected with Year One as Penfold
>to make much of contribution, Freiberger more or less stating explicitly
>with his rework of the series that he had no understanding of Penfold's
>previous work.
I can just visualise Petter indignantly hammering away at his computer
keyboard while typing the above. Sorry Petter but I can't agree that Y2 was
trash because.....well. Why bother? I've said all this before and yet still
there are people like Petter who are so bitter that there was never another
SPACE 1999 series that someone or something has to take the blame. And its
always Freiberger and Y2 that are the fall guys.....Yes there were faults
with Y2. But there were also faults with Y1 and everyone was aware of them.
Its only now with hindsight that Gerry Anderson and all the rest say they
were "happy" with Y1. Had the series been renewed for another year I doubt
that it would have changed back to a Y1 version of it?. Everybody's always
wise *after* the event...
>Nevertheless, I'm happy he tried however, and just like Johnny Byrne's
>THE METAMORPH he does not give up completely, trying to pass some of the
>philosophy and dignity of Year One over to Year Two.
Well I suppose thats what they call "damning with faint praise".......
Simon
From: Petter Ogland (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no)
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 17:11:35 +0000
Subject: Re: Space1999: DORZAK
> Indeed...I'd agree with that. The only unsatisfactory element in the script
> is that there is nothing that clearly states what happened to Dorzak that
> turned him into a bastard. Saying that the "struggle for survival" made him
> into a monster is a get-out,because its a generalisation.
I also feel that this basic premise could have been somewhat more elaborated,
but, nevertheless, it feels very consistent with Penfold's regular
writing in Year One from where I'm standing.
Very much like in, say, SPACE BRAIN, in order to survive, without any
particular menace, the Alphans are again and again creating disaster
and misery around the universe.
By introducing Dorzak as a psychon he should represent the human race
perhaps at an even more advanced level, at least if Penfold agreed with
Freiberger's understanding of Psychon as in episodes like THE RULES OF
LUTON, and what have the humans turned into? Monsters.
I believe this is very much the same warning that Johnny Byrne wanted
to present in his unproduced script about the children of Alpha which
was hailed by Gerry Anderson as a masterpiece although rejected by
Freiberger as not fitting with the philosophy of Year Two.
My impression is that Penfold is somewhat more pessimistic than
Byrne, as the Alphans appear even more fatalistically tossed around
in his episodes. The essence of DORZAK is not all that bad, I would say,
and certainly fitting with his previous writing for the series.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: From here, much of the discussion digresses into a very
tense yet redundant note on Y1 vs. Y2.]
From: South Central (Tamazunchale@web44tv.net)
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 10:04:31 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Space1999: Dorzak
Well I won't repeat everything that's been said, so ONCE AGAIN the
Alphans meet a friendly race of people with considerable intersteller
capabilities and DON'T ASK FOR ASSISTENCE!! Come on! The Norvans could
have easily assimilated 300 Alphans into their society (which spanned a
number of star systems). They are OBVIOUSLY compatible with humans.
This is just ridiculous. It is like a cruise ship docking at Gilligan's
Island and the castaways (a movie star and the rest...) just playing
host for 30 minutes and then saying, "Bon voyage!!!"
They could have included a few lines about how the Norvans COULDN'T
accept the Psychon refugees because of their inherently xenophobic
natures. THIS could caused the conflict. It would also have added an
element of depth to the Carter/Sahala relationship as
she--incredibly--begins to realize that perhaps outsiders are not
anathema. In the end she could say, "Although I have begun to realize
that our xenophobia is perhaps mistaken, Alphans would never be welcome
on Norva and eventually the same conflict would arise as arose with the
Psychons."
Mateo
From: South Central (Tamazunchale@web44tv.net)
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 11:03:39 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Space1999: Dorzak
Makes you want to scream HELLOOOOO! Maya says, "The Alphans aren't
warped by their struggle.." WHAT STRUGGLE? The struggle to find a
home, to get OFF of MBA. To find A HABITABLE PLANET!!
The Norvans, the Archanons (! who have been to Earth !!), who else did
they ignore?
Where is the dilemma that Koenig faced in Mission of the Darians?
Mateo
From: TERALISHA@aol4tag.com
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 15:55:51 EST
Subject: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
Hello everyone!
Finally worked up the nerve to subscribe to the list after reading everyone's
wonderful & sometimes humerous insights into the Alphan galaxy.
I see the episode being discussed is Dorzak. The question that gets me is why
and what happened to this man to change him into the power questing individual
that he became?
Is there some kind of quirk about Psychon males or something that makes them
evil?
It probably would have made a good two part episode if "someone" would have
let a good writer tackle it. Complete with flashbacks from Dorzak after
leaving Psychon up to meeting Sahala's people - can't remember their exact
name - Norvians??
Oh well, we will leave that idea up to the fan fiction department and see what
they come up with.
As for Yr 2 versus Year 1 arguments:
[EDITOR'S NOTE: These are moved to the Year One vs. Two thread
referred to earlier. This is true of most of the notes that follow. I will
only part this with a [first part] notation.]
From: "Ariana" (ariana@ndirect4tag.co.uk)
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak [first part]
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 14:42:54 -0000
>Finally worked up the nerve to subscribe to the list after reading
>everyone's wonderful & sometimes humerous insights into the Alphan galaxy.
Welcome to the list -- glad to see you made it after all these weeks of
indignantly grumbling at the conversations here! <g>
>Is there some kind of quirk about Psychon males or something that makes
>them evil?
One of the nice things about this episode is precisely Maya asking if
there's some flaw in Psychons which turns them into monster. I guess
she's lucky she wound up with a bunch of humans -- they're so reasonable
and friendly... er, moving on...
Maybe it's just as well there aren't going to be any more pure blooded
Psychons around -- looks like the species is well and truly going extinct
if Maya and Dorzak were the last remaining Psychons. They evidently blew
their chance to perpetuate... um, yuck, what an idea! No wonder Tony was
running around like a chicken without a head. :)
Talking about Tony: I found his unprofessional behaviour rather
interesting in my twisted fan writer kind of way. He's evidently one of
these men (and I'm sure we've all met at least one) who loses all sense
when the woman he loves is involved. Given a choice between commanding
Alpha and, say, moving to some passing planet with Maya, he'd probably
choose the second option. No, this doesn't make him very reliable command
material, but OTOH, it's a flaw that would only have become apparent at
the time of "Dorzak"; he probably looked quite promising back before "The
Metamorph". As a writer, this gives me a fascinating key to the
character, even if it only makes him look like a twerp on screen. But
more on our friend Verdeschi later...
>Oh well, we will leave that idea up to the fan fiction department and
>see what they come up with.
I think the fan fiction department is very small and very busy these
days, but it could be fascinating. Maybe David Welle has some ideas on
this?
From: TERALISHA@aol4tag.com
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 21:26:16 EST
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak [first part]
Must say Thank You to everyone who has welcomed me to the list so far! It's
great to be here.
>Welcome to the list -- glad to see you made it after all these weeks of
>indignantly grumbling at the conversations here! <g>
Yes, I know & thanks so much for listening while I awaited my friendly
computer.
>One of the nice things about this episode is precisely Maya asking if
>there's some flaw in Psychons which turns them into monster.
My recommendation - if you encounter a Psychon male in your lifetime - run,
Run, RUN away!
>Maybe it's just as well there aren't going to be any more pure blooded
>Psychons around -- looks like the species is well and truly going extinct
>if Maya and Dorzak were the last remaining Psychons. They evidently blew
>their chance to perpetuate... um, yuck, what an idea! No wonder Tony was
>running around like a chicken without a head. :)
Hmm.... Wonder what Psychon/Italian children are like? Oh wait, that's in one
of my stories - can't share the details yet...
>more on our friend Verdeschi later...
Yes, remember little Alphans - Verdeschi is our friend - he's in charge of
base security - And our beer! And I'll have you know I've never doubted his
command decisions!
>I think the fan fiction department is very small and very busy these
>days, but it could be fascinating. Maybe David Welle has some ideas on
>this?
Small but growing!
From: "Brian Dowling" (hellion@easy44net.co.uk)
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 22:14:32 -0000
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak [first part]
Hi folks,
> >Is there some kind of quirk about Psychon males or something that
> >makes them evil?
We only ever see two Psychon males, so we can't know for certain that
they're all unhinged.
> Maybe it's just as well there aren't going to be any more pure blooded
> Psychons around -- looks like the species is well and truly going extinct
> if Maya and Dorzak were the last remaining Psychons. They evidently blew
> their chance to perpetuate... um, yuck, what an idea! No wonder Tony was
> running around like a chicken without a head. :)
Pregnant Psychons? I dread to think of the kind of cravings Maya could
end up having, or her behaviour during her mood swings...
> Talking about Tony: I found his unprofessional behaviour rather
> interesting in my twisted fan writer kind of way. He's evidently one of
> these men (and I'm sure we've all met at least one) who loses all sense
> when the woman he loves is involved.
So you're saying that this isn't true of all men? I thought that was the
case... :-)
> Given a choice between commanding
> Alpha and, say, moving to some passing planet with Maya, he'd probably
> choose the second option.
With his success rate thus far? At least with Alpha Maya can only run so
far away. If they went to a planet and Maya wanted to resist Tony's
advances, she could take off and fly miles away. His best chance is to
stay on Alpha.
> No, this doesn't make him very reliable command
> material, but OTOH, it's a flaw that would only have become apparent at
> the time of "Dorzak"; he probably looked quite promising back before "The
> Metamorph".
And then some alien lass comes along and screws his head up...
> >Oh well, we will leave that idea up to the fan fiction department and
> see what
> >they come up with.
I'm still waiting to find out if it's going to get published or not. If not, it's
going on the web for everyone to read.
> I think the fan fiction department is very small and very busy these
> days, but it could be fascinating. Maybe David Welle has some ideas on
> this?
Y2 is easier to write for than Y1 - discuss.
From: Ariana (ariana@ndirect4tag.co.uk)
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak [first part]
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 14:55:26 -0000
Brian wrote:
>
>We only ever see two Psychon males, so we can't know for certain that
>they're all unhinged.
True. We only Maya's word for it that there might be some "flaw" in the
Psychon nature that turns them into monsters.
>Pregnant Psychons? I dread to think of the kind of cravings Maya could
>end up having, or her behaviour during her mood swings...
I forget if we've discussed this or not, but meeting Dorzak might have been
Maya's last chance to become pregnant anyway: who's to say that Psychons can
breed with humans?
>So you're saying that this isn't true of all men? I thought that was the
>case... :-)
Come to think of it, I suppose John has momentary lapses of reason where
Helena is concerned... Ellen's the specialist on this subject - opinions?
>With his success rate thus far? At least with Alpha Maya can only run so
>far away. If they went to a planet and Maya wanted to resist Tony's
>advances, she could take off and fly miles away. His best chance is to
>stay on Alpha.
Hmm, I think you're confusing my story with the show, Brian. ;)
From: TERALISHA@aol4tag.com
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 19:56:28 EST
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak [first part]
>I forget if we've discussed this or not, but meeting Dorzak might have been
>Maya's last chance to become pregnant anyway: who's to say that Psychons can
>breed with humans?
Well I say they can, but that's only because it's being written in my story,
what do they call that Emma, a literary license? an author's perogative?
Whatever, you know what I mean.
And as for Maya & Dorzak - I think Maya had better drink her way into alcohol
oblivion real da... quick!
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no)
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:26:40 +0000
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
Quite interesting, I think, ideas currently discussed about the relationship
between Maya and Dorzak. Personally I've never seen anything that might
indicate romantic or seductive undertones in the conversation between
Dorzak and Maya. To me this relationship seemed to be much like the
relationship between Victor and Helena during Y1, lots of between-the-lines
conversation, but not really much to support of a romantic relationship.
It is been brought up on this list earlier, however, that the notoriusly
romantically oriented husband-and-wife writers Pip and Jane Baker may
have been involved in this episode as some stage. While most of us, I
suppose, believed that this was due to a misunderstanding, the romantic
relationships that prevail much of the episode, Alan and Sahala, Maya
and Tony, and perhaps, more interestingly and certainly more subdued,
a possible relationship between Maya and Dorzak seem much more
Pip and Jane Baker than Christopher Penfold.
Dorzak's power over women is certainly a central aspect of the
episode, his costume and make-up obviously being based on Bela Lugosi's
title character in Tod Browner's DRACULA (1931). It is not unlikely
that Penfold (or the Bakers) may have been influenced by this performance,
many of the brain control sequences are almost completely remade after
the original, just like Ray Austin obviously used F.W. Murnau's
NOSFERATU (1926) as a model for much of END OF ETERNITY, a similar
psycho-on-the-loose story, although obviously less oriented towards
investigating the darker sides of relationships between men and women
than DORZAK.
Penfold using Dracula as a role model is perhaps even less surprising when
thinking of the enormous success of the Hammer revivals of the classic
Universal horror films of the 1930's and 40's beginning with CURSE OF
FRANKENSTEIN (1957) and HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), making Peter Cushing
and Christopher Lee into international superstars due to their
extraoridinary performances, surpassing Lugosi and Karloff in some
ways I suppose or at least adding psychological believability to the
characters that would amaze audiences into watching each of the seven or
eight films in each of the two series that were made until the collapse of
Hammer in 1973 or there about.
Interestingly, the Hammer films were shot at Pinewood too, using Black
forrest for location shots representing spooky central-European rural
places. No doubt Christopher Penfold, growing up with these very popular
films, may very likely have been influenced by them to such an extent as
to wanting to use some of the major psychological elements of the
Dracula myth into his similarily named DORZAK.
Even if Emma, Teralisha and perhaps Ellen too, have sensed that there
was something in the air between Maya and Dorzak, very natural, of course,
come to think about it, either I haven't paying too much attention
while watching it or it director Val Guest wasn't paying too much
attention. I suspect it was I who wasn't to receptive, but, nevertheless,
making more out of Maya's fascination with Dorzak, Tony's jealousy
and pairing it with the new-found love between Alan and Sahala could
be emphasised more clearly and dramatically than was done in this
episode, I feel, mostly by making Maya's invitation to Dorzak less
ambigvious.
Perhaps more so, although it is possible to understand Maya being insecure
and giving off a whole spectrum of signals shooting off in every direction,
Dorzak himself should have been more congruent, I believe, having him
holding her hard, stroking her over the thighs and her behind while
dominating her totally by his mental capabilities. Maya should then,
I suppose, behave as if close to reaching an orgasm, while, of course,
Tony is watching it all with raging jealousy, sweating wildly and
making suitable facial expressions.
If Val Guest had been more perceptive in the reading of the script,
making necessary adaptions in order to focus on the central point of
conflict and drama in the story, it would be much easier to understand
what it was all about apart from the usual Penfold misanogy and
concern for the future of human kind as so fully explored in previous
masterpieces such as LAST SUNSET, WAR GAMES and SPACE BRAIN.
Petter
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 08:16:14 -0500 (EST)
From: "Ellen C. Lindow" (sfdxb@scfn.thpl4tag.lib.fl.us)
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
Petter,
Emma, Terralisha and I were all speculating on what we _didn't_ see in
Dorzak. And we weren't talking about romance and relationships, we were
talking about sex and procreation. I like your comparison of Dorzak to
Dracula, but there really was no sexual undertones that I saw.
As I told Emma off the list the other day, Dorzak treats Maya as if she is
a child, not an adult. This may be megalomania on his part, and he
beleives no one is his equal. It may be other things, all of which would
be speculation on my part. As far as I can tell, there wasn't any sexual
tension or attraction between the two.
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no)
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 13:48:28 +0000
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
Okay, thanks for clearing things up, Ellen. In my experiece women
sometimes have a greater ability of reading what's between the lines, so
I was beginning to wonder if I had been completely asleep while watching
this episode, completely missing the point. On the other hand, there are
some scenes, I suppose, that could indicate a mutual attraction between the
two, just as Dorzak is waking up, although the atmosphere is quickly broken
by his parent-to-child type of conversation as you say.
Apparently then there wasn't all that much tension between Maya and Dorzak
after all. It is an interesting speculation, nevertheless, I remember a
similar insidence when analysing THE LAST ENEMY and END OF ETERNITY, people
were having rather different opinions on what the between-the-lines
communication between Helena and Dionne and Helena and Balor was all about.
Always interesting to speculate about what people are actually meaning when
they are saying something, isn't it?
Therapy group indeed, well said Ellen.
Petter
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:01:19 -0600
From: David Welle (dwelle@itol4tag.com)
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - D!nt*43~ Space1999: Space:
1999 Re: 1999 To: s19 Re[2]: FWD Re: [] [relevant parts only]
Okay, my apologies for now being *way* late on "Dorzak," even though I
don't seem to be the only one continuing the thread; but I've had email
problems for almost a week, and missed a lot of the discussion, so I'll
pull in the comments I had already wrote for when my email would return,
and adapt them to reply to this morning's note from Petter (plus replying
to a bit of one from Mark, several days back).
(Simon, I'll get to your direct note over noon; I just wanted to get this
out as early as I could.)
I'll get to "Devil's Planet" shortly, I hope.
>>I forget if we've discussed this or not, but meeting Dorzak might have been
>>Maya's last chance to become pregnant anyway: who's to say that Psychons can
>>breed with humans?
Well, that is an interesting question to consider, one I have been
considering for fan fiction myself -- and which has been looked at in other
stories. At least one story that I know of already directly addresses this
(one of Philippa Sidle's, though which title escapes me at the moment). At
least a couple others indirectly address this. All indicated that it is at
least possible. Makes for more interesting stories, I would think, though
her ultimately not being compatible could make for a story as well.
Magus believed it was possible to interbreed Psychon and Human, but we saw
the results of his genetic experimentation, so who knows. I like that the
series brought up this issue at least once, but didn't resolve it.
>Quite interesting, I think, ideas currently discussed about the relationship
>between Maya and Dorzak. Personally I've never seen anything that might
>indicate romantic or seductive undertones in the conversation between
>Dorzak and Maya. To me this relationship seemed to be much like the
>relationship between Victor and Helena during Y1, lots of between-the-lines
>conversation, but not really much to support of a romantic relationship.
Romantic relationship? I agree there weren't any signs of a romantic
relationship. The way she reacted for the first part of the episode, it
was more in awe and surprise at even finding another Psychon, and of
outrage that he was imprisoned. Her reaction to Dorzak himself was a
mixture of respect and mutual sadness about the winds of fate that had
destroyed their planet and scattered its few remaining people. The fact of
"respect" is important, for on a personal level, Maya reacted to Dorzak as
something of a hero, or at least a sort of leader. This was indicated by
both the phrases she kept describing him in to the Alphans, and her own
personal reactions, I think.
To put it bluntly, I don't think perpetuating the species was the first
thing on Maya's mind, nor did their seem to be any love at first sight
thing for Maya. Maybe they'd have drawn together romatically, given more
time; but Dorzak's behavior soon dashed that chance.
Dorzak, OTOH, seemed to have repopulation on his mind. The things he said
indicated that, like he wanted to spirit Maya away and refound the Psychon
people (or at least a new branch, since we simply don't know whether or not
there are any other Psychon survivors in ships elsewhere). She was soon
starting to be horrified by him, and in that sad moment she talked about
Psychon nature, she suddenly sounded about forty years wiser than Dorzak
and his Mind Games. For those few seconds, speculating on Psychon nature
and commenting on Alphan response to severe struggle, she had outdone the
poet philosopher himself in words and perhaps even wisdom. The way she
reacts, in sadly sickening but calm horror, is an incredible moment, again
driven through by Catherine Schell's heartfelt acting.
At this moment, Maya probably had doubts about her people. Dorzak, for his
part, would have had to use more of his mental influence to have any hope
of actually procreating with her, which amounts to rape. Given his
coldness, and his ability to convincingly make people act the way he wants,
I have little doubt he was deluded enough to do that, with hardly another
thought.
The great question is how he got so distorted. Psychon seemed to pick
leaders in an interesting manner, with a scientist and a poet philosopher.
This was probably a good thing for much of Psychon, given Maya's hints
about Psychon throughout the season; but it didn't prevent flaws from
turning into major cracks when the blows started coming. So Maya's
question leaves one wondering about flaws in personal nature. On Earth,
power can and often does corrupt; the implication for Psychon is that power
alone doesn't necessarily corrupt, but chaos can. Yes, it can seem just a
bit to "pat" to blame it all on the tragic situation, but Maya's statement
keeps pointing back to the people themselves. She's willing to consider
the possibility, which I find interesting, while Dorzak blindly plunges
along his path to damnation, not only for himself, but at least a good
chunk of the Psychon people, considering his dark ideas lead to disaster on
Norva.
Oh, though it seems tragedy brings out the worst in Psychon men, we see
only two Psychon men, which is hardly statistic evidence. Maya is so
completely different from both of them, in regard to that, and we heard of
Maya's mother, who sounded like a great woman too. It's one of those
curious places that seems to be making statements about the sexes, but only
in a teasing manner, like in "The Last Enemy," where one planet seems to be
of (or at least run by) women, and one by men, but where we only see a few
individuals.
>It is been brought up on this list earlier, however, that the notoriusly
>romantically oriented husband-and-wife writers Pip and Jane Baker may
Aren't they writers for "Doctor Who?" Not much romance there, at least in
terms of the central characters (The Doctor and the companions).
>have been involved in this episode as some stage. While most of us, I
>suppose, believed that this was due to a misunderstanding, the romantic
>relationships that prevail much of the episode, Alan and Sahala, Maya
>and Tony,
Alan and Sahala struck things up pretty quickly, but that isn't
unbelievable. He is willing to believe her reasons for her attack on Maya
-- perhaps partially because he is offended by Tony's strong reaction and
decides to give her chances because Tony isn't. Then he grows to believe
and like her. The relationship is cut off before much of a chance for
anything really happened, and there is a sad but not overplayed parting.
Maya and Tony having a relationship had implications in regard to the
sudden appearance of Dorzak. Though Dorzak was older than Maya, the fact
they were the only two Psychons in evidence certainly lead to fretting in
Tony, on top of his concern over Maya's being attacked by Sahala.
As far as Tony blowing his top in regard to Sahala, he was being very
harsh, indeed, but I don't find this unbelievable. He's sometimes been
hot-headed, and we have had debates in previous episodes as to his fitness
to command. Still, he seems a bit more restrained than Alan, curiously
enough. Alan had a tendency of trying to shoot-to-kill first, and asking
questions later, that nearly got Helena killed in Y1 and Maya in Y2.
Plus, it's not like Alphans have a pool of thousands of officers to call on
from Earth if a commander isn't quite fitting the bill anymore. I'd say
Tony, Paul, and Alan -- as well as a couple others who occasionally filled
in on command -- have been, despite flaws, good in command, if not
necessarily great. Not bad, considering the situation the moonbase is in.
>and perhaps, more interestingly and certainly more subdued,
>a possible relationship between Maya and Dorzak seem much more
>Pip and Jane Baker than Christopher Penfold.
That's the thing, though: it never progresses beyond "possible," and even
if Dorzak had managed to take Maya from Tony, romance -- as opposed to just
procreation -- would have never entered the picture, unless he forced her
to act in ways he considered romantic.
>Dorzak's power over women is certainly a central aspect of the episode,
Well, yes and no. His mental power didn't seem confined to women, for he
seemed to expect Tony to comply with his force, and was surprised and
defeated when he wasn't.
>his costume and make-up obviously being based on Bela Lugosi's
>title character in Tod Browner's DRACULA (1931).
Sorry, Petter, I think his costume and make-up were both based on a closer
source, namely "The Metamorph." Do we know if the actor had "widow's peak"
type hair?
Some parallel's between Dracula and Dorzak can still be drawn, perhaps,
given his power over the women, but even there, I think it's somewhat
different. In Dracula, there seemed to be a sort of sexual tension
involved, but with Dorzak, his taking over women seemed nothing more than a
means to ends. The women felt much the same sort of fascination, but it
still seemed different. I don't think I've seen the version of "Dracula"
you mentioned, so perhaps my comments are off base, or perhaps I am missing
something "in the air" between Maya and Dorzak, or more specifically from
Maya. I don't have the keenest eye for that anyway, so it's entirely
possible I'm missing something that you mention Ellen, Emma, and Teralisha
see.
>as a model for much of END OF ETERNITY, a similar
>psycho-on-the-loose story, although obviously less oriented towards
>investigating the darker sides of relationships between men and women
>than DORZAK.
Interesting that you say that, Petter, because I think that is why I like
"Dorzak" more than "End of Eternity." Balor was an out and out psycho, and
never seemed to have been anything but that. Pure evil. Dorzak was more
interesting, for having started out admired and ending up twisted. Sure,
the reasons weren't described, but that's part of what makes it so much
more interesting.
"Dorzak" wasn't a perfect episode by any means. There were some awkward
points, and the dialogue mixed it up from excellent to sometimes only fair,
and it's still beaten by episodes like "The Metamorph" and "New Adam New
Eve"; but the characterizations were good to very good, the plot was good,
and the themes were very interesting. "Dorzak"s central points regarding
Psychons -- and Alphans -- made this a very good episode as well, and added
to the reasons I prefer Y2, for the most part.
One nit already mentioned was the Alphan's recognizing a "universal plague
signal," in the same sort of way they recognized the symbol in "Mark of
Archanon." I can assume Maya explained or was asked, drawing some symbols
and describing others that she knew about, to help them communicate in
space; or I can assume it was the same thing that allowed them and most
aliens to speak more or less easily. I've addressed the latter subject a
couple times in the past, so I won't now.
>Penfold using Dracula as a role model is perhaps even less surprising when
>thinking of the enormous success of the Hammer revivals of the classic
>Universal horror films of the 1930's and 40's [....]
Speaking of Hammer, Catherine Schell, as well as several of the guest
starring women in Space: 1999, also appeared in at least one Hammer film.
On one search, though I wasn't looking for Hammer, I stumbled on a website
called, of all things, Hammer Glamour. If you're interested, it's at:
http://www.hammer.gotoinfo.ch/
>Perhaps more so, although it is possible to understand Maya being insecure
>and giving off a whole spectrum of signals shooting off in every direction,
>Dorzak himself should have been more congruent, I believe, having him
>holding her hard, stroking her over the thighs and her behind while
>dominating her totally by his mental capabilities. Maya should then,
>I suppose, behave as if close to reaching an orgasm, while, of course,
>Tony is watching it all with raging jealousy, sweating wildly and
>making suitable facial expressions.
Huh? Petter, for as long as I have seen you commenting on Y2, you keep
talking as if Y2 is too emotionally exaggerated (whereas I think it's
closer to the mark than Y1), but really! The fact you vividly describe how
much more explicit it could have been implies it was more subtle than you
often give it credit for!
It's moments like those in "Dorzak" -- the way they were shown -- that
provide one of the reasons I still prefer Y2. I like much of Y1 too, but
there were often just too many little or big problems with episodes or
characters that really started to overshadow and cripple the interesting
themes Y1 presented.
Petter said:
>
>If Val Guest had been more perceptive in the reading of the script,
>making necessary adaptions in order to focus on the central point of
>conflict and drama in the story, it would be much easier to understand
>what it was all about apart from the usual Penfold misanogy and
Misanogy? I can't find that word in my unabridged dictionary. Are you
refering to "misogyny," the hatred of women, or "Misogamy," the hatred of
marriage? There's also a word for the hatred of men, but can't seem to
remember or find it now. Any way, though, I really can't see any of these
on first thought, given the fair variety of portrayals of men and women.
>concern for the future of human kind as so fully explored in previous
>masterpieces such as LAST SUNSET, WAR GAMES and SPACE BRAIN.
Well, that is one of the major points of the series -- both seasons -- as
it is explored from the viewpoint of the Alphans, with mentions of possible
Earth futures, and implications from seeing how aliens have dealt -- or
failed to deal -- with the same sorts of issues. "Dorzak" fits this
pattern well, even though...
I am disappointed that the Alphans don't at least ask for help from the
Norvans, just to see if it is possible, which also lessens the episode
somewhat. But it's still a good episode, IMO.
My 1.999 cents,
----David
P.S. Thanks Petter and Mateo, for the compliments on MetaForms. I'm
working on updates that will complete the Y1 part of the ExE archive, and
get part way into the Y2. Just been working overtime at work and such, and
haven't had much chance to keep updating the website, or even participating
in the ExE discussion lately.
From: TERALISHA@aol4tag.com
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 13:10:29 EST
Subject: Space1999: Re: Dorzak
Oops!
Confusion on the Dorzak episode. No, it's not that there is a romantic thing
between Dorzak and Maya. It's the fact that Dorzak is probably thinking that
-
Ah! Here is a female Psychon..........and as far as we know there's just her &
me...
I doubt that Maya would ever respond to Dorzak in "that" way, unless of course
something tragic had happened to her Tony and all of Alpha.
The more I think of this man Dorzak, it frightens me. I wonder exactly how
the other Psychons who were with him died, if Sahala's people aren't capable
of killing?
As for him having powers that Maya doesn't, perhaps the Psychons are capable
of this and Maya and Mentor simply didn't discover this ability while on
Psychon. Or, perhaps Dorzak and a few other Psychons experimented on
something along the way, leading to his insidious ability? Tis a pity that
they didn't expand on this a little.
The use of Sahala's flashback was very effective for what happened on her ship
and the same could have been done for Dorzak. It would have ended up being a
2-part episode, but heck, why not? BOW was.
All in all I do think there is some good acting going on here and I don't mean
in terms of verbal.
Barbara Bain does some wonderful things with just the human touch, the way she
places her hand on one of her costars - instances in the Command Center with
Tony in the very beginning scene, then later with Maya. Very real and very
emotional things. I have never found her to a cold or wooden character in
either Yr1 or Yr 2. It's just a shame Koenig wasn't in this episode too.
And yes, I like Verdeschi's part in this episode. Very believable, when you
consider the fact that it's his girl who just got blasted by this unknown
alien. And they just happen to be transporting another Psychon across the
galaxy. With out any prior knowledge of the situation, Tony's hostility
towards Sahala is very real and very convincing on Anholt's part.
But all along you can see that he is questioning - he wants Maya to be right
because it would make her happy and that is, of course, what he wants for her
but you can see the wheels spinning in his head - something doesn't sit right
from the very beginning for him so he keeps his eyes open.
I do think, excellent and appropriate behavior, not only for a security
officer but for our 2nd in command. Think first, shoot later - if needed.
Now, one question - Does anyone know of any scenes being chopped out of
Devil's planet by the sci-fi channel - because that's where I got my episode
from?
If so, please let me know so that I can get the full impact of this episode.
All right then, I will go where I haven't gone before - and I'm supposed to
look out for that grey outfit? hmm...
Everyone have a great day!
Tera Alisha
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 14:33:48 -0600
From: David Welle (dwelle@itol4tag.com)
Subject: Space1999: Dorzak, Psychon Future in General, SFC Editing
>Ah! Here is a female Psychon..........and as far as we know there's just
>her & me...
I would imagine he was thinking something along those lines.
>I doubt that Maya would ever respond to Dorzak in "that" way, unless of
>course something tragic had happened to her Tony and all of Alpha.
Given Dorzak's nature, no, I too doubt she would. However, what if the
situation were totally different, that he wasn't such a criminal, and ended
up staying on Alpha, with the only other Psychon being Maya? He'd almost
certainly go after her, as opposed to any Alphan woman, and who knows.
Maya wasn't married to Tony, and may have eventually went for Dorzak,
whether out of love (again, if he wasn't the creep we saw here) or some
sort of sense of duty to her people.
On the other hand, Tony wouldn't let go that easily, and there is still the
question of whether there are any other Psychons left. If there were, Maya
might resist Dorzak's advances on the grounds there were others left to
keep their people going and she loved Tony; if there weren't, she could
argue two Psychons alone couldn't refound the species anyway, given -- if
they are like most of the species on Earth -- the immediate inbreeding
problem their children would face.
In the end, it may not have mattered much if Maya went with Tony or this
hypothetical version of Dorzak, because unless more Psychons turned up in
the Alphan next generation, Psychons would have had to mix with humans anyway.
>The more I think of this man Dorzak, it frightens me. I wonder exactly how
>the other Psychons who were with him died, if Sahala's people aren't capable
>of killing?
That is left very unclear, so unclear to me that I still think one (of
several) possibilities is that when their leader (Dorzak) was taken
prisoner, that the rest may have fled in their ship. Another possibility,
if the rest weren't telepathic, they might have been taken prisoner and
jailed on Norva instead of dragged to a higher security facility as Dorzak
was. Of course, worse could have happened to the Psychons as well. Dorzak
implied that; but he turned out to be deceptive in so many ways that we
can't be sure.
>As for him having powers that Maya doesn't, perhaps the Psychons are capable
>of this and Maya and Mentor simply didn't discover this ability while on
>Psychon. Or, perhaps Dorzak and a few other Psychons experimented on
>something along the way, leading to his insidious ability? Tis a pity that
>they didn't expand on this a little.
Ack, I knew I was forgetting to comment on something, and that's it. I was
bothered by his abilities, because they seemed without precedent. Perhaps
it was something he alone, among the Psychons, was blessed/cursed with from
birth, or as Teralisha said, maybe it was something he and perhaps others
gained over the journey. Perhaps, if he gained that after leaving Psychon,
it was a contributing factor in twisting him: too much power, too quickly,
corrupting him, or further cracking an existing flaw in his or Psychon
personality.
Maya certainly never displayed the slightest hint of telepathic ability,
though she obviously had some sort of "body sense" that allowed her to
"scan" the biological/molecular makeup of other living beings.
Even with Dorzak's psychic talents, I still found it a little hard to
believe he so quickly picked up on metamorphosis, however.
These are a few of the things which made it the "good, if not necessarily
great" episode as I mentioned (IIRC) in my previous note -- I just forgot
to comment on them!
>The use of Sahala's flashback was very effective for what happened on her ship
>and the same could have been done for Dorzak. It would have ended up being a
>2-part episode, but heck, why not? BOW was.
Could have. It would have been interesting, but too much use of flashbacks
can annoy some people. A few short ones might have helped, though, even
with a one-episode limit. Yet Dorzak is left as something of an enigma,
and curiously enough, that is consistent with the points of view this story
was written with. We get Sahala's flashbacks because she was talking to
Alan about the very incidents being recalled. We never get that, in the
sense of the truth, anyway, from Dorzak, and when he is taken away, Maya
and the rest of the Alphans are really no wiser to Dorzak's viewpoint.
Poor Maya is left wondering about the nature of her Psychon people.
>All in all I do think there is some good acting going on here and I don't
>mean in terms of verbal.
Agreed.
>Barbara Bain does some wonderful things with just the human touch, the way she
>places her hand on one of her costars - instances in the Command Center with
>Tony in the very beginning scene, then later with Maya. Very real and very
>emotional things. I have never found her to a cold or wooden character in
>either Yr1 or Yr 2. It's just a shame Koenig wasn't in this episode too.
Yes, these sorts of things helped improve her character in Y2, IMO, though
I disagree about her in Y1.
>And yes, I like Verdeschi's part in this episode. Very believable, when you
>consider the fact that it's his girl who just got blasted by this unknown
>alien. And they just happen to be transporting another Psychon across the
>galaxy. With out any prior knowledge of the situation, Tony's hostility
>towards Sahala is very real and very convincing on Anholt's part.
Agreed, as well as with the rest of your interpretation (snipped) of Tony's
actions and probably thought process.
>Now, one question - Does anyone know of any scenes being chopped out of
>Devil's planet by the sci-fi channel - because that's where I got my episode
>from?
In general, they tended to chop out up to four minutes of each episode,
ranging from bits that could more easily be let go (I hate things being
cut, but I'm talking comparatively) to more important scenes that made the
episode cloudier when cut. Some of their edits were downright bad. I
rediscovered S19 through the SFC, though, and can't complain too much
because of that; but yes, the cuts they make sometimes hit hard.
As to specific scenes from "Devil's Planet," does anyone else know?
Otherwise, I may end up mentioning scenes I haven't seen in SFC's that I
see in uncut episodes, though it might be a few days before I get to do
that, and it would be inside the rest of my commentary. Does anyone else
know offhand?
----
David Welle
From: actingman-jc@Worldnet.att4tag.net
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 17:05:57 -0500
Subject: Space1999: Dorzak (sorry this is late)
It's a little silly to have Dr. Russell wearing her id badge on her silver
contamination suit.
The alien computer's analysis of earth and "ruled by the laws of the
ancient continent" is just silly. Sounds like whoever just did not know
what to have the voice say.
The only thing missing from the inside of the alien ship was disco.
The actress (?) playing Clea...where did they find her? And her lines were
completly dubbed. Reminds me of a line from the Making of Space:1999,
where one of the editors is complaining about some actress in the shots
that they had to completly redub because she was not very good.
An operation is underway, and Dr. Spencer has his nose sticking out of his
mask??!!!
Dorzak looks like he is wearing a super hero costume.
Why didn't they plant a camera or a bug in the ship so they could hear the
confrontation between Maya (as Sahala) and Dorzak? Opps...that must be the
plot alarm going off again.
Tony does his corny stuff with who he thinks is Maya in front of his staff?
Oh, I get it...he must have thought the episode was over then.
The former jcg@vh.net
From: actingman-jc@Worldnet.att4tag.net
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:55:34 -0500
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
>It is been brought up on this list earlier, however, that the notoriusly
>romantically oriented husband-and-wife writers Pip and Jane Baker may
>have been involved in this episode as some stage.
Funny Petter should mention that. On the American laser disc, they are
listed as the writers, not Penfold. I've noted before that the discs
sometimes have original titles on them.
From: South Central (Tamazunchale@web44tv.net)
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:28:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
Clea, in a hypnotic stupor, falling into an embrace with Dorzak as if he
were her forbidden love--that smacks of sexuality to me--and of Dracula.
Mateo
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no)
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 11:45:06 +0000
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - D!nt*43~ Space1999: Space: 1999 Re: 1999 To: s19 Re[2]: FWD Re: []
> Romantic relationship? I agree there weren't any signs of a romantic
> relationship. The way she reacted for the first part of the episode, it
> was more in awe and surprise at even finding another Psychon, and of
> outrage that he was imprisoned. Her reaction to Dorzak himself was a
> mixture of respect and mutual sadness about the winds of fate that had
> destroyed their planet and scattered its few remaining people. The fact of
> "respect" is important, for on a personal level, Maya reacted to Dorzak as
> something of a hero, or at least a sort of leader. This was indicated by
> both the phrases she kept describing him in to the Alphans, and her own
> personal reactions, I think.
Nice to have your comments on this, David, this rings very much a bell
with me, and is definitely in line with how I originally viewed the
proceedings of the story in spite of the intruiging ideas put
forward by Emma, Tera Lisha and Ellen.
For those few seconds, speculating on Psychon nature
> and commenting on Alphan response to severe struggle, she had outdone the
> poet philosopher himself in words and perhaps even wisdom. The way she
> reacts, in sadly sickening but calm horror, is an incredible moment, again
> driven through by Catherine Schell's heartfelt acting.
This makes me think of WAR GAMES again, perhaps the most personally
felt of all the Penfold scripts that he made for Y1, at least according
to how he speaks about it in the DOCUMENTARY. While in WAR GAMES the
Alphans were the "villains", doing anything to survive and have their
species prosper, this role is now assigned to the Psychon outsider,
which, I suppose, is very similar to assigning it to the Alphans themselves,
but, nevertheless, not entirly equivalent although perhaps as close as
Ernst Queller in the similarily thoughtful VOYAGER'S RETURN.
> The great question is how he got so distorted. Psychon seemed to pick
> leaders in an interesting manner, with a scientist and a poet philosopher.
> This was probably a good thing for much of Psychon, given Maya's hints
> about Psychon throughout the season; but it didn't prevent flaws from
> turning into major cracks when the blows started coming.
It is interesting that you mention this, David. My impression is that
just like his VOYAGER'S RETURN, the Y2 pilot THE METAMORPH or at least
the part of it that was based on Johnny Byrne's original idea THE BIOLOGICAL
SOUL, was to a great extent a question about a society whose religion
is that of science and progress, THE END OF ETERNITY being another fable
about the very same thing.
Interestingly the picture we get of the Psychons is a two-fold one,
partly the questionable Byrne and Penfold idea about a civilisation
that is intellectually and hence scientifically driven, the reason for
the name "Psychon" I suppose, and, on the other hand, the Hindu goddess
of transformation, Maya, and Freiberger's views of adaption, flexibility
and survival as explained in episodes like THE RULES OF LUTON.
In the case of DORZAK, however, it is the Penfold misanthropic, sorry
about previous slips of the toungue when referring to characteristic of
much of his writing, that seem to be the central point of view on
perhaps both Alpha and Psychon, but definitely Psychon with Dorzak
being the poet and philospher who perhaps embodies all the wisdom
of contemporary 20th century civilized man ignoring the wisdom of the
child as examplified by Maya.
Petter
From: "Petter Ogland" (petter.ogland@dnmi4tag.no)
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 12:28:51 +0000
Subject: Space1999: Dorzak vs. Dracula
> Sorry, Petter, I think his costume and make-up were both based on a closer
> source, namely "The Metamorph." Do we know if the actor had "widow's peak"
> type hair?
Obviously you are right here, David, but, nevertheless, cape and hairdo,
facial expressions, lack of humour, mental or rather hynotical control over
women etc. does make him seem fairly similar to Lugosi's Dracula from
my point of view, and very different from Brian Blessed even if their
outfits are, of course, identical.
> Some parallel's between Dracula and Dorzak can still be drawn, perhaps,
> given his power over the women, but even there, I think it's somewhat
> different. In Dracula, there seemed to be a sort of sexual tension
> involved, but with Dorzak, his taking over women seemed nothing more than a
> means to ends. The women felt much the same sort of fascination, but it
> still seemed different. I don't think I've seen the version of "Dracula"
> you mentioned, so perhaps my comments are off base
It was the 1930's version of Dracula I was thinking of. Christopher
Lee's character in the late 1950's, 60's and early 70's was a sometimes
somewhat disturbing combination of erotisism and sadism, at least in
some of the latter films that from my point of view seemed more to
have been made as an exorcism for emotionally disturbed script writers
than containing much of suspence. The first one, however, HORROR OF
DRACULA (1957), shows an extremely potent and suade prince of darkness
whose control over women is an exercise of an understanding of how the
human psyche works. Absolutely recommended as a companion piece to
DORZAK, I would say.
> Interesting that you say that, Petter, because I think that is why I like
> "Dorzak" more than "End of Eternity." Balor was an out and out psycho, and
> never seemed to have been anything but that. Pure evil. Dorzak was more
> interesting, for having started out admired and ending up twisted. Sure,
> the reasons weren't described, but that's part of what makes it so much
> more interesting.
I'm happy you feel that way, David. For me, however, it is quite the
oposite, feeling there is much more flesh and bones to Balor than Dorzak,
although this may have more to do with my fascination on the behalf of
Peter Bowles interestingly complex and realisitic portrayal, I think, of
a psychotic may dominate a whole community by pulling emotional strings
and with very few words cause surmountable disaster. In fact, this
episode comes very close to RICHARD III, I think, well written, but
perhaps mostly successful because of the extreme talents of actor Peter
Bowles and master director Ray Austin who in partnership make the
episode sparkle.
Nevertheless, you may be right, David, that Dorzak may potentially be
a more interesting character. Johnny Byrne is reported not to be all that
happy with END OF ETERNITY for similar reasons as you mention above, in
other words, a lack of some deeper motivation for Balor to cause havoc,
and I must admit that END OF ETERNITY looses some of its original
impetus in the final real when it just boils down to "getting rid of a
killer that can't be killed". Not much to explore with such a context,
I feel, although, of course, ALIEN (1979) and perhaps to a lesser
extent its sequals where huge successes with a similar simplistic plot.
> "Dorzak" wasn't a perfect episode by any means. There were some awkward
> points, and the dialogue mixed it up from excellent to sometimes only fair,
> and it's still beaten by episodes like "The Metamorph" and "New Adam New
> Eve"; but the characterizations were good to very good, the plot was good,
> and the themes were very interesting. "Dorzak"s central points regarding
> Psychons -- and Alphans -- made this a very good episode as well, and added
> to the reasons I prefer Y2, for the most part.
To me DORZAK was about the same level as THE METAMORPH, a very similar
episode I would say, and perhaps a very natural episode to compare it
with. NEW ADAM/NEW EVE is a very different sort of thing, the way I
see it, although the educated sort of writing that prevail in that
episode could make some links with Penfold's Oxford background, I suppose,
or was it Cambridge?
Petter
From: Ariana (ariana@ndirect4tag.co.uk)
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 08:57:28 -0000
Yes, it's yet another Dorzak post! If the number of individual posts is
a
problem, then perhaps compiling things as I have done will help. OTOH,
the
result is that you get a *long* post of my opinions...
From: Petter Ogland
>I would like to hold my arms around you when you too see the similarities
>between Sautet and Austin/di Lorenzo!! Superb! (Oops, I hope Emma's
>boyfriend is not reading this...)
Er, let's not get carried away here -- yes, my boyfriend does read this
list, and no, I don't like Ring Around The Moon!
From: Ellen C. Lindow
>As I told Emma off the list the other day, Dorzak treats Maya as if she is
>a child, not an adult.
This is an interesting point which Ellen raised in our conversation: what
if, by Psychon standards, Maya was still a child? Both Mentor and Dorzak
treat her like one, and her impish humour is sometimes childish. Who knows
how fast Psychons mature? Of course, the consequences for our friend Tony
would be interesting to study if it did turn out that Maya was immature...
(poor fellow: everyone hates him and now we're making out to be a child
molester!? :)
OTOH, Dorzak's treatment of her could simply be because he's her father's
contemporary; the last time he met Maya, she probably *was* a child so he
considers her the same when he meets her as an adult. Plus, Helena said she
was "a big girl" in All That Glisters (otoh, what does she know?).
From: David Welle
Psychon/human interbreeding:
>
>Well, that is an interesting question to consider, one I have been
>considering for fan fiction myself -- and which has been looked at in other
>stories.
Hey, me too (as Ellen can attest). I guess it makes sense that people from
different species wouldn't be able to interbreed, like, say, lions and
tigers... OTOH, lions and tigers can be *made* to interbreed with some
genetic engineering. Maybe all Maya and Tony need to produce offspring is
for Helena to spend a lot of time in her lab... (OTOH, I doubt Helena or any
of her staff have much of a background in reproductive genetic engineering)
> At least one story that I know of already directly addresses this
>(one of Philippa Sidle's, though which title escapes me at the moment).
I'm looking forward to reading some of these ellusive stories I keep
hearing about (thanks to Lynn!).
>Magus believed it was possible to interbreed Psychon and Human, but we saw
>the results of his genetic experimentation, so who knows. I like that the
>series brought up this issue at least once, but didn't resolve it.
It makes more sense than the plethora of hybrids hopping around the Star
Trek universe, I should say (although there *have* been numerous attempts
to explain that in TNG and DS9).
>To put it bluntly, I don't think perpetuating the species was the first
>thing on Maya's mind,
Hardly! I just brought this up as something which might have occurred to her
later. I totally agree that there was no time and no opportunity for this
question to arise in the actual show. Maya's delight at finding another
Psychon was simply delight at not being alone in the universe (though I
notice Tony had a firm hold on her during that whole scene <g>)
>At this moment, Maya probably had doubts about her people.
I can imagine Maya feeling very betrayed and disillusioned by her father's
actions in "The Metamorph", and not having met any more of her people after
that, she was probably left with a bitter impression of her own species.
This is further reinforced by Dorzak who is yet another Psychon nut intent
on destroying the Alphans. The poor girl must be suffering from a serious
identity crisis at this point! She might also start worrying about her own
mental health...
>only two Psychon men, which is hardly statistic evidence. Maya is so
>completely different from both of them, in regard to that, and we heard of
>Maya's mother, who sounded like a great woman too.
Well, Maya thought Mentor and Dorzak were great men too, until proven
otherwise. We can't take her word for it that her mother wasn't helping
Mentor build Psyche in the first place...
>Alan and Sahala struck things up pretty quickly, but that isn't
>unbelievable.
Another instance of him being even more hot-headed than Tony, perhaps?
> He is willing to believe her reasons for her attack on Maya
>-- perhaps partially because he is offended by Tony's strong reaction and
>decides to give her chances because Tony isn't.
This is exactly how it struck me, too. I think we've already mentioned that
there is some level of competition between Alan and Tony in several
episodes, and although I don't think this amounts to animosity between them,
I do think this dynamic is at play here. Koenig is away and a crisis
situation arises which directly involves Tony's girlfriend; Alan will
naturally have doubts about the second-in-command's objectivity. Of course,
the fact that Sahala is a rather cute lady further encourages his actions: I
doubt he would have been so quick to take her side if she had been some ugly
guy.
>Maya and Tony having a relationship had implications in regard to the
>sudden appearance of Dorzak.
The nature of their relationship was played up a lot more in this episode
than in previous ones, no doubt to emphasize the contrast between
Alan/Sahala and Tony/Maya -- aside from the crummy chat up speech (more on
that later), Tony has his hands all over Maya when they're in the Norvan
ship (figure of speech -- he only touches her shoulders! crickey, I have to
watch what I say here ;)
> Though Dorzak was older than Maya, the fact
>they were the only two Psychons in evidence certainly lead to fretting in
>Tony, on top of his concern over Maya's being attacked by Sahala.
Yes, although we agree that perpetuation of the Psychon species wasn't top
of *Maya's* mind when meeting Dorzak, Tony, being less innocent, and jealous
to boot, may have thought about that sort of thing straight away. (I've
known certain people to get somewhat worried whenever I spoke to a Frenchman
;)
>As far as Tony blowing his top in regard to Sahala, he was being very
>harsh, indeed, but I don't find this unbelievable.
I agree with this and your following comments about Tony. Unlike Alan, he
doesn't panic and throw up his hands exclaiming "Oh, boy, what do we do
now?" (from Space Warp). If these are the only two Koenig had to choose from
as second-in-command, I guess he made the best choice. As David said, it's
not like Alpha is some starship crawling with military-trained officer
material. Koenig had to take what he got, and what he got could have been a
lot worse (who knows, maybe there was a Will Riker on board -- ack! <g>)
>enough. Alan had a tendency of trying to shoot-to-kill first, and asking
>questions later, that nearly got Helena killed in Y1 and Maya in Y2.
Leading ladies beware!
>Well, yes and no. His mental power didn't seem confined to women, for he
>seemed to expect Tony to comply with his force, and was surprised and
>defeated when he wasn't.
I'll spare you the silly comment that came to mind reading this paragraph.
;)
>Maya. I don't have the keenest eye for that anyway, so it's entirely
>possible I'm missing something that you mention Ellen, Emma, and Teralisha
>see.
Please, let's not extrapolate on Petter's extrapolation on our comments
about my extrapolation on the show... I think we've cleared things up now.
<g>
>Interesting that you say that, Petter, because I think that is why I like
>"Dorzak" more than "End of Eternity."
Ed (my other half) and I were discussing End of Eternity and agreed that it
was stylish, but ultimately rather empty. The usual cardboard cutout
problem; Balor kills someone right in front of Helena and all she does is
wince. I didn't dislike it as much as Ed did, but I do prefer Dorzak,
because at least this ep doesn't involve a complete baddie who talks in slow
motion.
>"Dorzak" wasn't a perfect episode by any means.
Agreed -- the flashback scene verged on the embarrassing, for one -- but it
still raised some interesting issues about the nature of Psychons and
featured some very interesting character dynamics.
>characterization. Hey, Y2 is far from perfect and could have used
>improvements itself, and there are a lot of great moments in Y1; but I just
>enjoyed more of Y2.
Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that! :)
>There's also a word for the hatred of men, but can't seem to
>remember or find it now.
The word that came to mind was misandry, but it doesn't appear to exist?
Maybe it never occurred to the men who invented these philosophical concepts
that anyone might hate males as opposed to females? Of course, there's also
the term misanthropy, for the hatred of mankind.
>P.S. Thanks Petter and Mateo, for the compliments on MetaForms.
They're definitely deserved. Now, if you had more of your stories up and
finished there... <g>
From: TERALISHA@aol4tag.com
>Ah! Here is a female Psychon..........and as far as we know there's
>just her & me...
The sort of situation I think many human males wouldn't mind being in
(provided the last female was Catherine Schell ;).
>All in all I do think there is some good acting going on here and I
>don't mean in terms of verbal.
I agree. I liked Jill Townsend and I thought the regulars did a good
job, too.
>emotional things. I have never found her to a cold or wooden character in
>either Yr1 or Yr 2.
We-ell... I'm with David on this one. I think one of the unseen events in
the interseason hiatus was the visitation of the Blue Fairy who un-woodened
her.
>galaxy. With out any prior knowledge of the situation, Tony's hostility
>towards Sahala is very real and very convincing on Anholt's part.
He's certainly at his best when he has something else to do than wisecrack
(though as I may have mentioned before, I appreciate the wisecracking too).
It's rather a pity the actor buried himself in theatre: he certainly had the
advantage over a lot of people you see on TV in that he could actually act
(something I think everyone agrees with, their opinions on the *character*
notwithstanding).
>But all along you can see that he is questioning - he wants Maya to be right
>because it would make her happy and that is, of course, what he wants for her
Yes indeed...
>but you can see the wheels spinning in his head - something doesn't sit right
>from the very beginning for him so he keeps his eyes open.
This was an advantage he also displayed in Seed of Destruction. Although the
prompting from Maya actually spurred him into action, it was clear he'd been
doing some thinking beforehand. In Dorzak, it took some concrete evidence to
convince him, but I think we've already mentioned Maya's ability to addle
his brain -- maybe Dorzak's abilities weren't so out of the blue, Maya may
have been exercising telepathic influence on Tony for ages... um, just
before anyone takes me seriously: no, I don't really mean that, just an idea
that came to mind...
>All right then, I will go where I haven't gone before - and I'm supposed to
>look out for that grey outfit? hmm...
Hmm indeed. I suppose I should really pluck up my courage and watch Devil's
Planet too -- though I'm going to find it difficult to cast from my mind the
disturbing alternate version Petter suggested!
From: David Welle
>Given Dorzak's nature, no, I too doubt she would. However, what if the
>situation were totally different, that he wasn't such a criminal, and ended
>up staying on Alpha, with the only other Psychon being Maya?
Tony would probably have given him the Balor treatment and chucked him out
of an airlock. OTOH, he might have stepped aside if it looked as if this was
what Maya wanted. OK, who's going to write this? :)
>question of whether there are any other Psychons left. If there were, Maya
>might resist Dorzak's advances on the grounds there were others left to
>keep their people going and she loved Tony;
There's also the possibility that some reproductive imperative might come
into play (pheromones, for instance), but that's another topic for
fanfiction. ;)
>Even with Dorzak's psychic talents, I still found it a little hard to
>believe he so quickly picked up on metamorphosis, however.
Yes, that was just plain silly; why not have Dorzak a metamorph from the
start, imprisoned in the stasis field to stop him from morphing as well as
exercising his insidious mind control? I don't think it would have taken
that many changes in the script to accomodate this idea -- even though it
would perhaps have made Tony more suspicious more quickly when "Maya"
suddenly developed such enthusiasm for his beer.
The bit where Tony chats up Maya was a scene with some measure of a cringe
factor, btw, not least because we've never seen Tony so smarmily overt in
his advances -- "we can have a nice relaxing time floating around in outer
space"... huh? I think the real Maya would have zapped him.
While we're on the subject of Little Things That Annoy... why did they all
insist on pronouncing that word "stah-sis" instead of "stay-sis"? I don't
know which, if either, is the British as opposed to American pronunciation,
but most of the cast were behaving as if they had never come across the
word before.
To conclude, I like Dorzak; although I wouldn't place it top of my list of
favourite episodes, it does have the character moments and "realistic" plot
that make me like most of the Y2 episodes. It also raises some fascinating
questions which I am sure have fuelled plenty of interesting fanfiction.
And while we're on the subject of fanfiction, you'll be glad to know I've
updated my page to include the season information for each story + I've
finally got around to adding synopses for Ellen's stories. So pop by for
a visit at http://www.alpha.ndirect.co.uk/s1999/
Emma
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 15:07:48 -0600
From: Robert Gilbert (bcpgd@shaw.wave4tag.ca)
Subject: Re: Space1999: RE: Space 1999 - Dorzak
> Hey, me too (as Ellen can attest). I guess it makes sense that people from
> different species wouldn't be able to interbreed, like, say, lions and
> tigers... OTOH, lions and tigers can be *made* to interbreed with some
> genetic engineering. Maybe all Maya and Tony need to produce offspring is
> for Helena to spend a lot of time in her lab... (OTOH, I doubt Helena or any
> of her staff have much of a background in reproductive genetic
> engineering)
Oh come on --- I'm sure there must've been a course in Genetic
Engineering at --- (GenEng
1O1?)! <grin>.
> >Maya and Tony having a relationship had implications in regard to the
> >sudden appearance of Dorzak.
Not to mention that whenever they got into "Lovers' Quarrels" Maya would
turn into an Italian Purple People Eater (just to scare the CRAP out of
poor Antonio)!
> Yes, although we agree that perpetuation of the Psychon species wasn't top
> of *Maya's* mind when meeting Dorzak, Tony, being less innocent, and jealous
> to boot, may have thought about that sort of thing straight away. (I've
> known certain people to get somewhat worried whenever I spoke to a
> Frenchman
Are you French?
> >enough. Alan had a tendency of trying to shoot-to-kill first, and asking
> >questions later, that nearly got Helena killed in Y1 and Maya in Y2.
No kidding eh? Still, he probably hadn't been left in Command as many
times as TV --- so he wouldn't have had the experience to act like that!
--
Robert C. Gilbert