The scene of the Moonbase crewman popping a balloon with a
cigarette in the Leisure Sphere, at 2:48 on the DVD, is
symbolic of the depressurization of the sphere that is about
to occur from the gunshot fired by the alien through the
sphere's viewport.
At 3:01 on the DVD, a copy of
Design magazine is seen on the coffee table in the
Leisure Sphere. This was a real magazine at the time the
series was made.
As debris is seen rushing out the shattered window of the
Leisure Sphere, a copy of
Brides
magazine is seen at about 4:40 on the DVD. The periodical
has been published since 1934. Seems like a strange
periodical to find on a moon base!
As the atmosphere rushes out of the
Leisure Sphere at 4:53 on the DVD, a
torn page from a magazine shows a
cartoon for Kent cigarettes, using
their slogan at the time the series
was made, "It's a Kent." |
|
During the loss of atmosphere in the Leisure Sphere, the
SHADO emblem on Bill Grant's uniform somehow gets peeled off
his chest and sticks first to his left sleeve (at 4:55 on
the DVD) and then onto the floor (at 5:05).
At 5:21 on the DVD, a
Revlon
ad slaps into Grant's face as the atmosphere rushes out.
At 5:58 on the DVD, we can see that some of the blown-around
papers in the Leisure Sphere have landed halfway under the
seam of a wall and the floor, making it obvious the wall is
just a set piece.
Though Grant is supposed to be dead after the decompression
of the Leisure Sphere, the actor is obviously still
breathing after collapsing!
Grant's body is consigned to space after his death. Is this
standard procedure for SHADO agents who die on the moon?
Since SHADO is a secret organization, wouldn't relatives of
the deceased question his absence, or at least the absence
of a body?
Straker comments that they know that UFOs will disintegrate
if they stay too long on Earth. They believe it is a
reaction to Earth's atmosphere. Is it an intentional
reaction built into the structural materials of the UFOs by
the aliens to prevent access to their technology in the
event of a captured craft?
Foster's girlfriend Tina Duval lives in the Windermere Hall
apartments (#19). Journalist Jo Fraser was seen to live in
these same apartments in
"The Responsibility Seat".
Windermere Hall is a real world apartment complex located in
Stone Grove, Edgware, England. (In the novelization, she
lives at Parkcrest Court instead, a fictional complex as far
as I can determine.)
Tina is listening to a song on a record when Foster arrives
at her apartment. Thanks to PopApostle reader H. Dollarsign
for identifying it as 1967's "My Life Ain't Easy" by The
Equals.
There are two different styles of
helmet worn with the Moonbase
spacesuits, as depicted below. |
|
|
As Foster stumbles into the rock outcropping at 22:58 on the
DVD, the rock set piece jiggles under his weight!
At 23:54 on the DVD, notice that the space helmet worn by
one of the mobile co-pilots has some scuff damage to the
side. Later (at 43:17), Foster's helmet is seen to have
almost identical scuff marks even
though the two were wearing their
respective helmets "simultaneously"! |
|
|
Co-pilot |
Foster |
At 31:18 on the DVD, Bradley is seen to be wearing a net
shirt, like the ones worn by the crew of Skydiver, even
though he is stationed at Moon Base.
The sleeping quarters in the Sleep Sphere of Moon Base has a
swirling light panel installation similar to the one in
Straker's office on Earth.
When Straker believes Foster to be dead, it seems odd
that Bradley is given the promotion to Moonbase commander
instead of Lt. Ellis, who seems to be in command when Foster is
otherwise away.
At 36:25 on the DVD, Foster shows
the alien a geological survey map of
the Moon that indicates that
Moonbase is located in Mare Imbrium. |
|
|
Survey map |
Red-lined area
indicates Mare Imbrium (from
Wikipedia). |
At 46:13 on the DVD, the same clock that appeared in the
Roper's bedroom in "Flight Path" is also seen on a table in
Tina's living room.
|
Notes from the novelization of
"Survival"
by Robert Miall, published as UFO-2 in Great
Britain and UFO: Sporting Blood in the USA.
(Roughly speaking, chapters 9-14 (pages
76-124)
cover the events of
"Survival". The page numbers come from the 1st
printing, UK paperback edition, published 1971.)
|
This book is actually a novelization of several episodes,
interwoven into a single story in a way the televised
versions are not. It features the plot and characters of
"Computer Affair",
"The Dalotek Affair", and
"Survival". For purposes of this study of "Survival", only the chapters covering this
episode will be covered here. The chapters covering others
are dealt with in the studies of those episodes.
On page 77, Foster daydreams of going to the best restaurant
in London's new International Centre with Jane Carson. Jane
was the Dalotek employee he met in
"The Dalotek Affair". London's International Centre, as far
as I can tell, is fictional, which makes sense considering
the book was published in 1971, so there was no way for the
author to know of a "real world" new plaza in 1981 when the story
takes place.
In the novel, the UFO was able to land on the moon due to
the alien signal jamming that was taking place previously in
"The Dalotek Affair". In the televised episode, Foster
mentions instead a recent meteorite storm that played havoc
with Moonbase's tracking system.
On page 95, Foster compares a jagged rock formation on the
moon with one of the giant statues on Easter Island. The
statues, called moai, are representative of deified
ancestors of the Polynesian colonizers of the island from
about 1250-1500 CE.
In the novel, Tina's last name is Waring instead of Duval as
it is in the televised episode.
Page 108 describes the eyes of the alien who has captured
Foster as "glutinous". However, in the televised episode,
the alien has the same lenses inserted over them as seen on
previous aliens when encased in their liquid-filled
environment suits.
On page 108, Foster, not being held at gunpoint by the
alien, wonders if the alien will simply kill him and carve
off chunks of his flesh to use for regeneration as they've
experimented with before. This specific aspect of the aliens'
interest in humans has not been previously presented in the
series.
In the novel, one of Foster's rescuers is Lew Waterman. In
the televised episode, the rescuers are two unknown men.
On page 123, Tina implies that about a month passes from the
time she was told by Freeman that Foster was dead to when
he came back to her alive. It seems like a long time for
SHADO to have kept him away from her. Why didn't he let her
know he was still alive sooner?
Page 125 reveals that a new Alaskan dock for Skydiver
has recently been completed.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
After this episode, we never see Lt. Bradley
as commander of Moonbase again. Did he lose his
promotion entirely simply because Foster turned up alive?
MEMORABLE DIALOG
the best man for the job.wav
there's
an alien.wav
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