One Moment of Humanity - Production Notes

Production Notes

• The shooting script, written by former UFO script editor Tony Barwick, contains an epilogue cut for time from the final edit. The viewer would have seen a restored Alpha dispatching a recovery Eagle, and Alan Carter arriving on Vega with cold-weather gear for Koenig and company. With the Vegan city powered down, the Alphans discuss the future with the Numbers, who are looking forward to re-learning the basics of survival in their world's harsh environment. Helena and Koenig then exchange banter regarding Zarl; though the android was a good-looking and masculine Iago, Helena states she much prefers her Othello. The script's status-report date is stated as 415 days by Helena and was changed in post-production.

• After completing this episode, series regular Zienia Merton decided to leave the programme. She was disastisfied with her lack of a contract and diminished involvement in the second series. Feeling the new American producer Fred Freiberger did not appreciate her contribution to the previous series and not seeing any potential change in the foreseeable future, she opted to depart. During her absence, her character would be replaced by Japanese operative Yasko, portrayed by Yasuko Nagazumi, the wife of Space: 1999 director Ray Austin.

• Coming off her critically acclaimed, award-winning performance as Mrs. Baylock in the 1976 horror film The Omen, Billie Whitelaw was cast as the sensuously diabolical android Zamara. A veteran of British theatre, her stage-trained voice had to be modulated in post-production to prevent it from overwhelming all other elements of the soundtrack.

• Costume designer Emma Porteous recalls how she and production designer Keith Wilson closely collaborated to produce a cohesive look for the beautiful and sensual world of Vega. The sets for this production were revamped from the Grove of Psyche, the corridors of Psychon and the underground caverns left over from 'The Metamorph'. The red nylon quilted jackets introduced in 'Dragon's Domain' were worn here by Catherine Schell and background extra Robert Reeves.

• A large quantity of publicity stills for the second series were taken during the filming of this episode. The regular cast, alone or in combinations, were photographed in a variety of action poses involving attacking aliens. Among these aliens were stuntmen dressed in the Vegan android costume and 'Number' costume, a Highlander from 'Journey to Where' and stuntman Frank Maher in his Decontamination Unit coverall from 'The Exiles', his face smeared with grey greasepaint.

• Apart from simple laser-beam overlays, teleportation energy-flares and one big-screen shot with a burn-in of the star-chart showing the before-and-after positions of the Moon, there are no substantial visual effects in this episode. Verdeschi's POV shot of the surface of Vega and the single shot of the planet over Moonbase Alpha were library footage both taken from the first-series episode 'Death's Other Dominion'