Catacombs of The Moon - Production Notes

Production Notes

• 'Catacombs of the Moon' is a 'Helena Double-Up' script and was produced simultaneously along with 'The AB Chrysalis'. Series regulars Barbara Bain, Tony Anholt and Zienia Merton carried the majority of the action. Martin Landau's brief scenes were confined to the Eagle command module; his only interaction with Bain occurred via TV monitor in the epilogue. Catherine Schell's two small contributions amounted to a cameo appearance. The episode is set primarily in the standing Alpha sets with moderate filming in the Stage ‘M’ cavern sets originally built for the 'The Metamorph'.

• This episode featured the return of Zienia Merton after a three-month absence; the actress had left the programme after filming 'One Moment of Humanity' because of her reduced involvement (sometimes only a half-day's work) and her new non-contracted 'day-player' status. Merton recounts that Barbara Bain had telephoned and asked if she would consider meeting with Gerry Anderson and Fred Freiberger to discuss her returning to the series. Bain's motivation was that she and Martin Landau would be on holiday for the majority of the shooting of an uncoming episode ('The Beta Cloud'). As this would result in a very brief appearance by the series' stars, the Landaus feared long-term fans would be alienated when tuning in and not seeing any familiar faces from the first series. Guaranteed a more involved role in the series (though still no contract), Merton accepted the offer. From this time forward, her character was referred to on-screen only by the diminutive 'Sahn' (sometimes 'Sahn Benes' in script character lists).

• In the shooting script dated 18 May 1976, Koenig's co-pilot, Bill, was supposed to be Astronaut Bill Fraser. Budgetary limitations led to John Hug's replacement with one-off actor Alan Hunter. Early drafts of the script had Helena and Ben Vincent referring to their prosthesis as the 'Bergman' heart, as it was identical to the mechanical heart implanted in the late Victor Bergman. One line of dialogue read 'Victor might have lived forever—given the chance.'