Star Maidens

Star Maidens
Christiane Krüger (centre) and Lisa Harrow (right) in Star Maidens
Also known as	''Die Mädchen aus dem Weltraum (Germany) Les Filles Du Ciel (France and French Canada)
Genre	Science fiction
Created by	Jost Graf von Hardenberg
Developed by	Eric Paice
Written by	Eric Paice John Lucarotti Ian Stuart Black Otto Strang
Directed by	Freddie Francis James Gatward Wolfgang Storch Hans Heinrich
Starring	Judy Geeson Lisa Harrow Christiane Krüger Pierre Brice Christian Quadflieg Gareth Thomas Dawn Addams
Composer(s)	Berry Lipman and Patrick Aulton
Country of origin	United Kingdom West Germany
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	James Gatward
Location(s)	Bray Studios On location: Windsor, Bracknell, Black Park
Cinematography	Ken Hodges
Editor(s)	Alan Killick (supervising) Robert C. Dearberg
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Portman Productions Scottish Television Enterprises
Distributor	Amalgated Global Television
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3 (16 mm film)
Audio format	Mono
Original release	1 September – 1 December 1976

''Die Mädchen aus dem Weltraum (Germany)

Star Maidens is a British-German science-fiction television series made by Portman Productions for the ITV network. Produced in 1975, and first broadcast in 1976, it was filmed at Bray Studios and on location in Windsor and Bracknell, Berkshire, and Black Park, Buckinghamshire. The series was partly financed by a German company, Werbung im Rundfunk (Advertising in Broadcasting).

The series presents a "battle of the sexes" and role reversal scenario in which male protagonists must escape servitude to women of an advanced civilization. The planet Medusa, home to a highly evolved and technologically advanced humanoid race, was already ruled by its women when a rogue comet knocked it out of orbit. Drifting through space, the planet's surface became uninhabitable, and the inhabitants survived by building underground cities. The series begins with Medusa's entry into Earth's solar system. At first heartened to discover Earth, the Medusans are disappointed to learn that the human men are dominant there. Two Medusan men escape by stealing a ship and flying to Earth. Despite a successful escape, the two are pursued by the Medusan security forces. When the Medusans fail to re-capture the two men, they bring two human hostages—a man and a woman—back with them to their home planet. The series' 13 episodes concern the two groups' attempts to adapt to life on the different planets while brokering an exchange for the hostages. In the series finale, the Medusans' ship is pursued by another spacecraft, this one belonging to an alien race that has hunted Medusans in the past. Despite their technology and the antagonism they displayed throughout the series, the Medusans prove incapable of actually fighting an enemy, and only the intervention of a Medusan ship flown by an Earth man defeats the enemy. The saved Medusans return home, likely with an altered opinion of men.

Regarded as something of a novelty, Star Maidens tuned in to the sexual equality revolution of the time, and features some female dominance elements. The series has some similarities with the British science-fiction series Space:1999, whose second season was in pre production at Pinewood around the same time. Although Star Maidens was shot at Bray Studios by a different production company and did not benefit from as large a budget, both series featured the work of production designer Keith Wilson, whose props and set designs from Space:1999 were adapted for Star Maidens, leading to a very similar look and feel. Even many of the sound effects from Space:1999 were used. Lead actresses Judy Geeson and Lisa Harrow appeared in guest roles in the first season of Space:1999, Geeson in the episode "Another Time, Another Place" and Harrow in "The Testament of Arkadia".