Alpha Scorpio
| Alpha Scorpio | |
|---|---|
| Created by | James Davern |
| Written by | James Davern |
| Directed by |
Keith Wilkes Ric Birch David Zweck |
| Starring |
Peter Hepworth Kevin Wilson Terry Gill Neville Thurgood Alexandra Hines Kurt Ludescher Ian Smith |
| Theme music composer | Rick Wakeman |
| Opening theme | "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" |
| Composer(s) | William Doyle |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | James Davern |
| Location(s) | Aireys Inlet, Victoria |
| Editor(s) | Geoff Satchell |
| Camera setup | Clifton Ellis Keith Furguson Terry Michell Phil Seymour Dick Willoughby |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Production company(s) | Albatross Film |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC Television |
| Original release | 21 June – 26 July 1974 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Andra |
Alpha Scorpio was a short-lived Australian children's science fiction television series, written and produced by James Davern, and which aired on ABC Television in 1974. It starred Peter Hepworth and Kevin Wilson as two university students who begin to witness strange events while camping at Aireys Inlet in Victoria. The two soon discover that their friend Mirny (Kurt Ludescher) is a member of a group of aliens who have recently landed from the 5th planet of Antares. The series lasted only six episodes.
Andy has brought a seismograph to the holiday hut because he studies geology. The instrument does not record much except artificial vibrations from passing ships and nearby road vehicles. One afternoon the instrument records an event with a duration of about 10 seconds and the local distribution voltage dips at the same time.
On subsequent odd days, the event continues to occur, but slightly earlier each day. Occasionally a weaker, but similar event is recorded by the machine, but it does not seem to follow any set pattern. Steve is out fishing when one of the weaker events occurs and an albatross seen flying overhead mysteriously disappears in front of this eyes.
As the story develops, Steve observes other happenings, such as the lighthouse emitting a beam during the day which seems to match the timetable of passing cargo ships and the occurrence of the weaker event.
Steve works out that the more powerful event occurs every time the star Antares passes through the zenith over Airey's Inlet and a weaker event has occurred earlier that day. (Even though the declination of Antares is −26 deg. 25 min. and the latitude of Airey's Inlet is −38 deg. 27 min. These must be the same for an astronomical object to transit the zenith at that location once each siderial day.) All the while, Steve is fostering a relationship with the mysterious old fisherman, Mirny, and police detectives in fedoras are seen poking about near the base of the lighthouse.
...
Wikipedia