The Infernal Machine (Space: 1999)
| "The Infernal Machine" | |
|---|---|
| Space: 1999 episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 21 |
| Directed by | David Tomblin |
| Written by | Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows |
| Original air date | 8 January 1976 |
"The Infernal Machine" is the twenty-first episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Anthony Terpiloff and Elizabeth Barrows; the director was David Tomblin. The final shooting script is dated 11 December 1974. Live-action filming took place between 20 December 1974 and 9 January 1975.
As the day watch commences, John Koenig leaves his office and enters Main Mission. A recent accident has left Paul Morrow with fractured ribs and a broken ankle. With his second-in-command recuperating in the Medical Centre, Koenig is working even longer hours than normal. He offers Winters, one of the senior operatives, the opportunity to temporarily assume Morrow's position. When the man gladly accepts, Koenig adjourns to his quarters for some much-needed rest. The Commander has scarcely sat down when he hears Winters paging him. Scanners have detected an unidentified powered object approaching the Moon.
The executive staff gathers to witness the most outlandish spacecraft they have ever encountered. Measuring a quarter-mile wide, the crab-like vessel consists of a central hull flanked by two rotating sets of abstract legs. Amazed, Victor Bergman declares it, like the bumble bee, violates every known rule of aerospace engineering. Voice contact is established. The alien requests permission to land, stating it is in need of assistance. Koenig is suspicious of the stranger's intentions when Computer vocally refuses to provide any information on the vessel; more so when it becomes apparent every word spoken on Alpha is heard by the eavesdropping alien.
Koenig grants permission to land—away from Moonbase Alpha. The voice acknowledges, but the mammoth craft approaches anyway, coming to a halt on a bluff overlooking the base. The stranger announces its wish to receive a special delegation, asking for Koenig, Bergman and Helena Russell by name. Realising they have little choice, the trio drives over to the ship in a moon buggy. They board and a lift conveys them to the control centre. The chamber is built on an enormous scale, its complex mechanisms indistinguishable from works of art. After the doors slam shut behind them, the three are examined by a probing beam of light.
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