It is mentioned in the episode and the novelisation that the 'planet' Triton, is actually the moon Triton. I can't remember whether it is a moon of Uranus or Neptune.

It was only a moon of Neptune in the novelization not the episode. In the novel, the story takes place before Black Sun while they're still in or near our solar system. In the episode Triton is an alien planet.

Sigh. This episode is a bore, even to a fan.
That ridiculous finger dancing that's supposed
to be working the computer's files. Alpha's
computer is one of the most useless pieces
of cr_p that ever failed to give the crew of a
science fiction vessel relevant information. It
just keeps giving them grocery receipts
instead. To top it off Koening gets to do an
unimpressive Kirk job by convincing an
artificial intelligence to self-destruct.

Makes you wonder just how few of those 3
,000,000 Pounds the Andersons had left over
after Breakaway.

What, I can't write "cr_p?" It comes out as
"••••".

Don't ever say that to a fellow named Petter Ogland. A off and on regular on the Space 1999 mailing list Ogland claims its the best episode of the series, and will go on and on about its wonderfulness. Its never been entirely clear however if he actually believes this or is just pulling a rather elaborate joke.

Watching it last night Vic Elms and Alan Willis' music really stands out. Some of it sounds like a less interesting throwback to Barry Gray's score for UFO. The music used when the rescue party first sets out for Carter's Eagle has the unfortunate effect of making the actors' walking seem like some kind of parody. The bit at the start when the Triton ship takes over Ted Clifford is more interesting, but sounds suspiciously like a early Pink Floyd outtake! If I'm not mistaken Vic Elms was a relative of Sylvia Anderson. He was also responsible for the brief guitar bit when Lee Russell tries to break out of Medical in "A Matter of Life and Death."

Nice to see a bit of continuity with that episode, with Koenig expecting Parks to be co-pilot when he first goes to confront the Triton ship and gets Alan instead.

Prentiss Hancock does the voice of the Triton ship, and at times sounds too much like Paul Morrow talking in a whisper, instead of an alien talking in a whisper.

The shots at the beginning of Sandra calling Koenig, and then security are filmed at an odd angle, and result in Zienia Merton having to do an uncomfortable and unrealistic looking crouch to stay in shot.

"Don't ever say that to a fellow named Petter Ogland. A off and on regular.."

Or just a regular who's a little off...I remember him well. I made the mistake of saying that I thought this episode was recycled horse sh** and got a diatribe on why this was the most magnificent hour on TV. Yeee-ikes. Frightening. I heard he finally got the boot from the mailing list. Not soon enough, IMHO.

Funny I had fond memories of this being a brilliant episode when I first saw it but recent (mature) viewing unfortunately rates this as the poorest of the Year 1 stories. I think the visualisation of Triton is superb though but the characters and script are poorly served in this somewhat bizarre outing!

Didn't MST3K frequently vocalize the cheesy guitar sound (used in the rescue moonwalk of this S:99 episode) in several films? I'm guessing as to the spelling, but it was something like "Wakka-chuka, wakka-chuka."

So, does the make the scene a "moonwalk-a-chuka?"

OK, seriously now...

This is the one time I thought the accepted "production order as timeline" idea should be changed. I feel this episode would be better following "Matter of Life and Death" and preceding "Black Sun," which would thus have "Earthbound" following "Black Sun."

Here are a few examples of why this would work: After Terra Nova proved uninhabitable, the Alpha crew's morale would be understandably low. This is evidenced in various crewmembers' testiness in "Ring Around the Moon." In order to boost morale, or at least distract people, perhaps some remodelling (or other 'busy work') was assigned; Ted Clifford tinkers with the window frame in Main Mission (prior to his takeover by the Tritonian probe), perhaps in preparation for the removal of the steps along that wall. Other things we see continuity-wise include Koenig's mention of pilot Parks (from "MoLaD") and his concern for Helena Russel's well-being just starting to grow into something more than command responsibilty.
If, then, we follow "RAtM" with "Black Sun," we witness growing character relationships, but still laced with a bit of "getting to know each other" uncertainty. Certainly Koenig and Russell start to realize they may have feelings for each other, though prospects for development appear grim. Back to continuity, perhaps the Bergman Shield could be viewed as an extension of the shield used on the Eagle in "RAtM."
After the moon's trip throught the black sun, the crew starts to accept their place on Alpha a little more, which is a nice lead-in to "Earthbound," where the opening Command Conference discussion deals with how well people are adapting to their life in deep space. (Simmonds excepted, of course...aparrently he was unmoved by the trip through the black sun. Pity, too, since in the next adventure, "Antoher Time, Another Place," he'd have gotten back to Earth, in a way.)

Food for thought, anyway.

E.C. Tubb must have agreed with you, because when he wrote the first adaptation book the order he presented also put RATM before BS.

Yes, which is interesting, but Tubb also killed Simmonds at the end of "Breakaway," thereby completely erradicating "Earthbound." I wonder why that came about? (We could continue this line of thought on the S:99 novels board.)

I think that may have been either because Simmonds WAS killed in an earlier version of the draft script (note that Tubb's adaption contains a lot of different dialogue and scenes than does the aired episode) or that Tubb knew he would not be adopting "Earthbound" and decided to do away with Simmonds in the fashion he did.

...Or we could just continue right here on this board. :-)
Regarding Tubb's adaptation of "RAtM," the resolution is less explosive than that of the aired episode. Instead of the Tritonian probe self destructing, it let the moon go, rationalizing that the moon's journey was at an end due to its trajectory toward the black sun anyway. I don't recall what the probe was going to do with itself.
Of course, this is nowhere near as spectacular as the fireworks at the end of the actual episode, but story-wise it's a little more interesting, to me at least. Special effects are nice, but don't always make for good storytelling. Of course, if the episode had ended like the novelization, "RAtM" would HAVE to have preceded "Black Sun."
I wonder if something like that wasn't originally intended, but left out before actual production.

By the way, regarding my March 8th post that started this: 'aparrent' = 'apparent' Oops, typo!

"Yes, which is interesting, but Tubb also killed Simmonds at the end of "Breakaway," thereby completely erradicating "Earthbound." I wonder why that came about? (We could continue this line of thought on the S:99 novels board.) "

Strangely enough that was done on the Channel 5 'Alien Attack' tape (Breakaway and War Games mashed together with parts cut).

That's right; I'd read that elsewhere. But I believe 'Alien Attack' was created after the novelizations were already in print (at least the first one).
I don't remember...did "RAtM" ever get mashed into a "movie" format? I know there was a revised version of "RAtM" with enhanced special effects shown at one of the big conventions a couple years ago. I guess I'm wondering if a clipped version (if mashed into a "movie" as other eps were) of this episode would have been any worse than it already was, or would it actually have been an improvement?

An Italian film, I think, cut together Ring Around the Moon, Breakaway and Another Time, another Place. It was called Spazio 1999

http://www.space1999.net/~catacombs/main/epguide/t00spazio.html

No Craig, the situation with 1999 tapes at first was that Breakaway and War Games were mashed into one tape.
Black Sun and Collision Course into another called Journey through the Black Sun.
Metamorph and Space Warp into yet another, called Cosmic Princess. Now if that doesn't sound like a B movie what does?
And finally, Bringers of Wonder Part 1 and 2 were called Destination Moonbase Alpha.
Eventually the other episodes were released in original format, but the movie format ones stayed with the original release company for a time due to copyright and licensing issues.

Just to clarify, Destination Moonbase Alpha, the combining of the two parts of "Bringers of Wonder" was released in '78, followed by Alien Attack, the compilation of "Breakaway" and "War Games" in 1979. The episodes were largely intact. In 1982 came Cosmic Princess and Journey Through The Black Sun. These were intended to be part of ITC's Super Space Theatre package and were edited on video tape, resulting in poorer quality than the earlier "films." They also were more heavily edited than the earlier ones, which had minor edits and in the case of Alien Attack those annoying Lunar Commission scenes added.

Interestingly enough, I remember a back-to-back airing of Breakaway and War Games in 1975, during the shows initial broadcast run on WPIX-TV in New York, predating the Alien Attack movie. The impression I got was of a single big (and traumatic) episode. And thus a fan was made...

When the shield-equipped Eagle finally penetrates the Triton Probe's "shell,' it becomes enveloped in near total darkness; only a dim light from somewhere ahead of the Eagle enables the viewer to see the Alphan ship at all, except for its cockpit windows and...RUNNING LIGHTS ON THE LANDING GEAR???

At first I thought it was just a reflection off the landing gear, but each time I view this scene, it really looks like the Eagle's landing pods are equipped with lights. It only makes sense that there would be lights there, to facilitate landing in dark areas (the moon's infamous "dark side," for example).

I'll expand on this topic over on the 'Alpha Technical Section' board...

When Alan is trying to put the Eagle on automatic, he pulls down a flap covering the button and struggles to press the button.

Moments later we see him still struggling, but the flap is covering the button.

Obviously these two shots are the wrong way round.

This episode doesn't stand up too well. Firstly, early in the episode Koenig asks Bergman if he has any information on Triton. Where exactly is he going to get this information from considering mankind's knowledge of infinte space? Lo and behold, later he does find it, only a few million light years away, no problem. Secondly, when confronting the brain Koenig shows it images of its galaxy, star system, universe and sun. Universe?? Not only in the wrong place in the scale but any image of anything anywhere is in Triton's universe.

OK, here's something that I've never been able to get a grasp on since I first saw this ep over twenty-five years ago...

After Helena is returned to Alpha, she undergoes a medical exam, loses her balance and tests her eyesight. That eye test involves laying three pens side by side on a tabletop and picking up the center one. Koenig asks "How many do you see?"
"Two," she replies. Interesting, I think to myself, She's got double vision from the probe controlling her. Helena then continues: "There should be four."

HUH?!

Watching the ep tweny years later on laser disc reminded me that I never figured out where she got the idea there were four pens, and almost another ten years later, the dvd confirms that I'm still confused.

So, am I really missing something (besides my mind ), or does that dialogue make no sense?

Good thing is wasn't Gul Madred asking her how many pens... (TNG: Chain of Command)

Best guess. If she focuses on the pen she picked up, which is closer to her face than the ones on the table, then everything on the table should be seen double. So she should see four pens on the table. The one in her hand doesn't count.

I tried it, but the results were inconclusive. Our brains are good and filtering out that kind of confusion.

I think the message is: she no longer has sterio vision, because she's seeing with something other than her eyes.

OK, the double vision making two pens on the table look like four makes more sense. I was thrown by the one in her hand, because I thought she was looking at that one.

I remember that guy on the 1999 mailing list fervently defending this piece of trash.

Is the list still going?

Yep, Online Alpha is still active. Its a Yahoogroup now. Petter Ogland is the "Ring" fanatic, but he's not an active member these days. He might be a silent reader of the list but I'm not sure, for obvious reasons.

I like the music played during the episode's opening credits. It seems to be a slowed down version of the Year One theme.

You're right about that opening music, Mark.
I've heard the other musical cues from this ep, and some of it sounds a bit like the cheesey music heard in "adult entertainment" films.

Based on an idea by Curious on the Sink 1999 2 board, here's my list of improved effects for "RatM":
The "ring" effect.
The Eagle force-field, which should encompass the whole Eagle. Maybe it could look like a miniature version of the Bergman shield from "Black Sun" (after that, too has been improved, of course!).
The effect of the "ring" ray deflecting off of the Eagle force-field.
The Triton "brain-eye." Not that it wasn't a very intriguing design (and creepy to me as a child), but I would just make it look less like a slide projection and more three-dimensional.
The "universal tour" scenes Koening shows the Triton probe. I would use better quality pics that correspond with the words Koenig is uttering, as well as editing the monologue to have better order... start with Universe (or do away with that one altogether), work down through galaxy, stellar group, solar system and planet, or rather a nebulous cloud that was a planet. Of course, that doesn't explain how Alpha would have obtained said pics, but at least they'd look better.
There are a couple of minor film jumps/skips during the Helena teleportation scenes that need a little cleaning up. (One thing I did like was how the crumpled paper Bergman tosses after her bursts into flame!)

Am I the only one who actually likes the look of the Titan probe in this ep (it has an 'organic' look much like a brain).
Glad you mentioned the scene with Bergman tossing the paper. I love that scene. It couldn't have been done any more effectively with CGI.
The close-up of the probe exterior (as the Eagle enters/exits) could definately stand some enhancing.
Mr. Bernard is right about reducing the running time. There's a lot of boring filler material in this one.
A wish the running lights on the underside of the Eagles would have been shown in more episodes (rather than just "Ring Around the Moon").

I agree about the running lights on the Eagle.

As for the Triton probe, I liked the design, I just wish it looked less flat. That doesn't mean, however, that I want to see a globular thing floating around the set, either. (Speaking of globes floating around sets, I just had a terrible flashback to the 1970's sci-fi spoof Dark Star, wherein--I'm not kidding here--a beach ball with Creature from the Black Lagoon hands tormented a crew member. Of course, it wasn't supposed to be serious!)

What was it called?...the Trident probe?

Actually, I don't know if it ever had a name in the filmed episode, but it came from a world called Triton. The novelization tried tying it in with the large moon of the same name around Uranus (not to be confused with Titan, the large moon around Saturn).

By the way, that reminds me of recent American chewing gum adverts citing dentists... My parody: "Four out of five aliens surveyed prefer Trident probes over the leading deadly space probe!"

I was just kidding about Trident (Tritan).
You love to point out typos! I think some people might be hastily typing while eating lunch!
As to Titan,...the animated film "Titan A E" features a segment inspired by Piri in "Gaurdian of Piri". It might be intersting to discuss S99's influence on later shows/movies.

Oops, I spelled Triton as "Tritan"!!!

You love to point out typos! --Mark

Nothing personal; it's just the nitpicker in me! (And yes, I've made a few typos myself!)

I figured you might have been kidding about Trident, hence my parody about the Trident gum ads.

I thought fans might have been a little hard on Peter Ogland. I came across a couple his reviews for War Games and Ring Around the Moon. I just looked at his reviews as being from a more philosophical point of view. I noticed some interesting bits of philosophy in War Games too. The premise of an alien probe questioning its existence (in 'Ring') also lent itself to philosophical observations (the basic premise was good enough for Star Trek:The Motion Picture). The reason I feel some are being a bit hard on him is that I appreciate someone taking the ideas presented seriously. Reading interviews with writers such as Johnny Byrne, I've come to realise that a lot more thought was put in some Y1 eps than I'd previously been aware of. I found it very interesting to read a review from another point of view, and a very respectful one at that. It's nice to read a review where one has a love for the show (and doesn't want to slam it, as so many reviewers do).
That said, I think he did go a bit overboard in his praise for Ring Around the Moon. He states "I don't think I've ever seen scientific behaviour so efficiently and well described on TV ever as in RING AROUND THE MOON." It's hardly a superb example of science given some of the scientific inaccuracies contained in the story.

I also found some of Mr. Ogland's points interesting; heck, they enabled me to have more respect for this ep than I would have otherwise. I think the problem people had with his overt praise of this ep was that often non-related discussions/threads would get dragged into a debate about "RAtM" rather than the topic at hand.
For those who aren't familiar with the whole thing, please check for yourselves... I believe many of the Online Alpha posts are still archived at Metaforms, which can be reached via Space 1999.net.

I also believe that Mr Ogland really got rather vitriolic at times when people didn't think this episode was the best. We do each have differing opinions after all, a lot of people think The Last Enemy is silly and I rather like it.

I used to be on the mailing list, and I agree that some people were a little too hard on Peter. Many may have found his constant praise of this episode ridiculous, but he certainly has a right to name ROTM as his favorite episode and to express that opinions in posts. There is nothing inheritly annoying or abusive in this (although others may find it so). If I remember correctly, at one point one of the list moderators said he was going to forbid any further discussion of this episode. I disliked this attitude, after all ROTM was a Space:1999 episode, and now you're telling us we can't talk about one of the episodes? I believe this fascist policy was a secondary factor in my leaving the list. (And if Peter were ever to visit and post to this board, I as moderator would never impose such restrictions on him.)
I can also sympathize a bit with Mr. Ogland - my favorite episode of Star Trek:TOS typically appears on a short list of that series' worst episodes compiled from various fans and sources, and I find myself having to defend that episode to people (although I've never done this with quite the gushing laudation Peter usually bestowed upon ROTM . . .)

I can certainly sympathise with someone who enjoys what is generally regarded as a lesser episode. I like "The Taybor" even though it is generally hated by many fans and critics.
Even in non-genre magazines, some pretty mean-spirited views are expressed. A couple of years ago, the British film review magazine "Sight and Sound" wrote a short review of the Space:1999 DVD releases. The reviewer described S99 as "a fondly remembered" show from the 70's. Sure enough, next issue a letter was printed from some jerk who contested the opinion of the show being "fondly remembered".

OK, not one of the better episodes.

I think I missed something - what was the deal about 5 1/2 days?

Dr. Russell's blood pressure was given as normal 80/120. Hardly a normal blood pressure....

Loved the melting film effect of Triton blowing up. Very cheesy.

One other thing - how come when Carter and Koenig take off in the Eagle for the second time, they are not wearing their space suits?

"the melting effect"?...I thought it looked more like bubbling water!

As for Carter and Koenig, in "Missing Link" their Eagle is conveniently missing the seatbelts (in the cockpit) allowing them to be knocked unconscious for plot reasons. Nits like that occur throughout the series.

this ep sucked the stiff one. No argument possible, from Petter or anyone else. Worst of Season One, or your money back!

Petter is very active on the cosmos1999 list, now giving his own insights about S2 episodes. As for the RATM discussions while he attempted to connect everthing in S1999 to RATM, he tried to steer them always into a philosophical tone and was never unpolite or rude to anyone. On the contrary, he always had an huge amount of fair play even to those that were rude to him. And believe me it weren't so few... I've stopped writing to the main list after they've censorship him.

petter needs to wake up and smell the Hydroponics. RATM is Freiberger before there was Freiberger. Just boring as hell.

Freiberger isn't the reason why Space:1999 is considered one of the worst scifi programs ever- Anderson is to blame. After coming up with the ludicrous premise for the Doppelganger film ( an exact duplicate of Earth on the other side of the sun), he outdid himself and came up with an intergalactic moon for Space:1999. I've never seen a review which said that Maya was the worst thing about Space:1999. Petter will have to dig deep to find anything to praise in Rules of Luton though.

worst ep evah

When Ted Clifford is taken over and begins fiddling with the computer, Kano, and then Paul try to drag him away. He fights them off. Soon, Koenig gets into the act. How come no one just STUNS THE GUY??

cuz the ep would then be ovah, brah


worst ep evah, brah

And why doesn't Sandra call security straight away instead of calling for Koenig and then for Helena?
Why doesn't Koenig stun Ted Clifford?

Because it happened so fast.

Lasers are faster!

SSS (Short Show Syndrome)