Journey to Where

"Journey to Where" is the third episode of the second series of Space: 1999 (and the 27th overall episode of the programme). The screenplay was written by Donald James; the director was Tom Clegg. The final shooting script is dated 18 February 1976, with amendments dated 2 March, 4 March, 11 March, 17 March, 18 March, 22 March and 25 March 1976. Live-action filming took place Thursday 1 April 1976 through Wednesday 14 April 1976.^[2]

Plot

As the

After this reality check, the senior executives review the facts. A neutrino transmission is an advanced method of communication which can cover billions of miles in an instant. A neutrino beam from Earth focused on the Moon could provide this miraculous two-way contact. Theoretical experiments had just begun in 1999. As their years in space would translate into the passage of decades on Earth, there would have been ample time for research and development.

Another voice—male, with an

Logan calls to transmit the schematics for the transfer apparatus. Still suspicious, Koenig quizzes him on Earth history to confirm his identity as a human being. The scientist gives all the correct answers, down to the winner of the

An impromptu celebration breaks out when amateur

Thirty hours prior to the eclipse, the transference dome is complete. An instrument package is prepared for a trial run; its systems will simulate human vital signs during the teleport. These will be read by a medical monitor (as worn on the wrist of every Alphan) re-tooled to transmit via neutrino carrier wave. As the transfer is initiated, Logan receives a forecast of seismic activity in the Gulf of Mexico. The test run continues and the instrument arrives on Earth intact and functioning perfectly.

Koenig is pensive. The imprecise quake forecast renders the transfer process unstable—but with the impending eclipse, they cannot delay. As three people can be conveyed at once, Koenig selects himself and volunteers

When Helena catches a chill, the three trudge through the damp forest in search of shelter...as unseen figures spy on them from the bushes. Soon, the doctor feels as if she is coming down with a cold. She hides her concern: after living in the germ-free atmosphere of Alpha, their resistance is low—a cold virus could prove fatal. Later, Carter hears sounds of pursuit. While searching the underbrush, the astronaut is attacked by a wild-haired, human-appearing man swinging an iron sword. Hearing the scuffle, Koenig rushes to Carter's aid. The two overpower the man, but he escapes into the woods. Having left Helena alone, they return to find the now-feverish doctor surrounded by a half-dozen armed men. The Alphans have no choice but to surrender.

On Moonbase, the staff is concerned over Helena's rising temperature. With eighteen hours remaining before the eclipse, Logan plans to recreate the seismic event with explosives. He hopes re-running the transfer procedure under the same circumstances will help locate the missing three. As the second quake jolts Texas City, their damaged instruments pinpoint a location: Earth. Logan is dismissive; the lost Alphans would be dead if exposed to Earth's polluted environment. His confidence dwindling, the scientist instructs Moonbase to make adjustments to the transference dome. If Koenig and company should be located, engaging the teleport will return them to the Moon.

The castaways are taken to their captors' headquarters and thrust into a damp, dungeon-like cave. Worse, Helena has a high fever and is wracked by coughing. Her diagnosis is viral pneumonia, incurable under present circumstances. As they look for any way out, Helena spies fungus growing on the cave walls. She tells the men that common fungoids are the basis of the barmycin range of drugs, the only known cure for viral pneumonia. If it possesses similar qualities, it could stave off the infection until they are rescued. If untreated, she will die in a matter of hours.

Koenig and Carter manage to dispatch their guards and flee the cell with Helena and the fungus. Hiding in the forest, they prepare the fungus as per the doctor's instructions. By now, she is delirious, staring into the night sky and moaning about the Moon. After feeding her a dose of the makeshift concoction, they follow her gaze and see a moon flitting in and out of view through the clouds. Taking a long look, the men recognise familiar features and realise it is their Moon. Astonished, they conclude they have been on Earth all along...but in a time before 1999.

With ten hours left, Maya is thinking along similar lines. The odds are a billion to one they could have randomly landed on a habitable planet. All Logan's recalculations have indicated their location as Earth. The inescapable conclusion is that they are on Earth—but in a past or future time. Logan reluctantly agrees to pursue this outlandish hypothesis. On the past Earth, Helena's condition is much improved due to the fungoid mixture. As she recovers, Koenig notices their wrist monitors flashing in a specific pattern—Alpha is trying to signal them via the medical telemetry channel.

Any chance to respond is lost when a band of soldiers crashes out of the surrounding bushes. Koenig is frustrated at not being able to communicate—then floored when the leader speaks to him in Scots-accented English. The Alphans soon discover their captor is the

As MacDonald reaches for Helena's monitor, she slumps, eyes glazed from sickness. Jumping to conclusions, the alarmed laird backs away and shouts in Gaelic that the English fugitives carry the Black Death. The clansmen herd Koenig and company away at swordpoint. The Alphans are taken to a torture chamber and manacled to the rock wall. Koenig tries to reason with the laird that Helena's illness is not the Plague and can be cured. Knowing only one cure for the pestilence, McDonald heaves his torch into the bales of straw and faggots piled at their feet. As flames rise, Koenig stretches out for Helena's wrist and desperately begins to tap her monitor's control stud in rapid succession.

With thirty minutes until the eclipse, both the Alphans and Earth scientists have accepted defeat. Suddenly, the readout for Helena's monitor goes berserk, flashing on and off in a series of long and short pulses—which an older astronaut realises is Morse code. Computer provides translation: Scotland...New Year...Bannockburn plus twenty-five. Logan's computer calculates the target date as 25 March 1339 and the transfer is initiated. The clansmen recoil as the three Alphans vanish from the pyre in an unearthly radiance.

Safe on Alpha, Koenig bids Logan and associates an appreciative farewell. As the eclipse commences and contact is broken, the Commander goes to check on the recovering Helena. The doctor reflects that, with Earth's rich history, what bad luck it was to have landed in 14th-century Scotland. Koenig kiddingly reminds her of even worse historical events they could have blundered into. She musters a sad smile; with that kind of history, who wants to go back to Earth?

Regular cast

• John Koenig
• Helena Russell
• Maya
• Tony Verdeschi
• Alan Carter
• Jeffery Kissoon – Doctor Ben Vincent
• Yasuko Nagazumi – Yasko

Music

The score was re-edited from previous Space: 1999 incidental music tracks composed for the second series by

Production

The final shooting script contained the characters of

Actor Freddie Jones was casting director Lesley de Pettitt's first choice for the role of Charles Logan. Others considered were Ronnie Barker, Colin Blakely, T. P. McKenna, Clive Revill and Patrick Troughton. Other contenders for clan laird MacDonald were Peter Jeffrey and Nigel Davenport. The old crone (played by Peggy Page) who would manacle Koenig and company to the dungeon wall was added by director Tom Clegg. He gave her the backstory of having contracted and recovered from the Plague, thus making her the only clan member to not fear touching the presumably infected prisoners.^[6]

The actual date for New Year's Day 1339 was 25 March as the Gregorian calendar (which defines the first day of each year as 1 January) was not observed in Scotland until 1600 (and 1752 in England).^[7]

Novelisation

The episode was adapted in the sixth Year Two Space: 1999 novel The Edge of the Infinite by Michael Butterworth published in 1977. This novel was not released in the United Kingdom and only as a limited edition in the United States and Germany.^[8]

The original German-published novel Der Stahlplanet (The Steel Planet) would provide a sequel to this story as, after a course change, the Moon moves beyond the eclipsing star cluster and contact is re-established with Earth. The Alphans are ultimately transported home, concluding the Space: 1999 narrative.^[7]

References

External links

• "Journey to Where" at
  IMDb
• Space: 1999 - "Journey to Where" - The Catacombs episode guide
• Space: 1999 - "Journey to Where" - Moonbase Alpha's Space: 1999 page