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The Buried Spaceship

Synopsis:
The energy crisis on Mars is worsening and one solution is to ship water in the form of ice from Pluto. Galasphere 347 is despatched to oversee the freighters but a malfunction in the meson power forces it to land in a sector where the miners are still cutting ice. The Galasphere crashes through the weakened surface and becomes stuck deep under the surface. Dart is able to get out but the Galasphere continues to slip further into the frozen crust. Attempts to free the ship using lasers could result in further icequakes that would either crush it or cause it to be entombed for good...

The Buried Spaceship
Cast
Captain Larry Dart
Husky
Slim
Colonel Raeburn
Marla
Professor Haggarty
Cassie
Gabbler
The Martian President
Commander Brog
Brog's Deputy
Martian Miner
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 Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
Ronnie Stevens
Murray Kash
Libby Morris
Ronnie Stevens
Libby Morris
Libby Morris
Dick Vosburgh
Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
Murray Kash
And The Moral Is:
• It’s Better To Be In The Black.

Today I Will Be Mostly Learning... :
• Eskimos build their houses out of ice blocks - and so do Martian colonists on Pluto.
• Coal is made of ancient plants, and being black it absorbs light and heat.

Huskyisms:
• Husky tells Slim to "Stop Greeping", instead of 'griping'.

Slimantics:
• “I’ve been tossed so much, I feel like a pancake."

Gabblings:
• "He didn't solve it! I did! I'm the clever one! Me me me me me me!"

Is This A Joke ?:
• Haggarty jokes to Raeburn "Well mebbe you'll be wanting to take the Irish climate to Mars?"

Raeburnt:
• To which the Space Patrol chief responds "Can you do it... ?"

A Venusian Has...:
• The ability to be flattered... “A compliment from Colonel Raeburn... how extraordinarily delightful!”

“Don’t Call Me Pop!”:
• “I may be a genius but I’m not a magician.”
• “I’ll have you know I’m the meekest, mildest, gentlest, kindest man in the universe... and don’t call me Pop!”

To Coin A Phrase‘:
• Haggarty": Ice blocks... that’s the answer!”
• Slim: “Please transmit my love to Marla!” Dart: “I’ll do that. I... say, that’s given me an idea!”

‘I’m An Alien!‘:
• Gabbler has teeth - he complains that being given all the sugar will give him toothache.

Ooh, Bitch... :
• And as Haggarty adds “You’ll get jaw ache too if you don’t stop talking.”

Continuity:
• Galasphere 347 is already in Pluto’s orbit when sent on its mission.

Plot Device:
• The coal in this case, though it is conveniently used as a red herring suggesting there might still be life on Pluto. A pity that was never developed.

2100 ?:
• Imperial measurements are still in use (yards instead of metres). And the itty bitty mining trolley pulled on a cord?

Haven’t I Seen... ?:
• Brog is Professor Zeffer, and the Martian President puppet also appears as two of Brog’s miners.
• The Pluto Control Room was originally seen in the Radio Room in Space Headquarters.
• The receiving tower on Pluto is identical to the transmitter seen on Pallas in The Shrinking Spaceman and, of course, The Fires Of Mercury.
• And another building, the conical hospital, appears on a desk in Haggarty’s lab.

"Pluto's swallowed them!
We could dig for months and never get them out!"
Brog


For Those Of You Just Joining Us... :
• Haggarty bemoans teaching Gabbler to speak.
• Brog's new deputy gets an overview of the events in The Fires Of Mercury.

Take A Break:
• As Brog prepares to search for the collapsed Dart in the mining tunnels, one of his men says "I hope he hasn't frozen to death."

Astro Viewer Working:
• The polythene ice sheets from Lumen are apparent on Pluto, suggesting some scenes were shot back-to-back with The Planet Of Light.

Hoorah!:
• There is a nice shot down the column of the Galasphere through the ring as it falls into the crevasse.
• The allusions to there having once been life on Pluto are also notable, though regrettably are never refered to again.

Boo!:
• The Martian President speaks with Zeffer’s voice, whereas in Husky Becomes Invisible he had a very noticeable accent.

Computer Central:
• First screened: October 3rd 1963 (Westward)
• Running time: 24 minutes 21 seconds
• BFCC Classified - 24th February 1998
• VHS - Volume 3
• DVD - Complete Series Box Set, Disk 2

Listings
• London, January 16th 1963:
Col. Raeburn receives a message from Mars and learns that, as a result of terrible dust storms, the drought on the planet is getting worse. Operation Ice Cube is put into action, but when Dart and his crew are forced to land on Pluto, the frozen planet, the Galasphere slides down into a crevasse among the ice and things look bad for Larry, Husky and Slim
• Wales, February 14th 1964:
Drought on Mars is getting worse and the problem is tackled by sending shipments of ice from Pluto. Supervising the first shipment, Larry Dart and his crew become trapped in a crevasse.

Brahms & List
• There's some confusion over whether it is Spaceship, Space-Ship or Space Ship.

Ready To Lift ?:
A superb dramatic episode with a good and uncontrived resolution to the dilemma. One of the best in the series






On to the next episode
Episode Guide Series One
Episode Guide Series One
The Planet Of Thought
The Glowing Eggs Of Titan
The Planet Of Light
Time Stands Still
Husky Becomes Invisible
The Walking Lake Of Jupiter
The New Planet
The Human Fish
The Invisible Invasion
The Talking Bell
The Buried Spaceship
Message From A Star
Explosion On The Sun
Episode Guide Series Two
Episode Guide Series Two
We close on the blazing sun in space before fading to a view of ringed planet Saturn. A gyroscope-like ship, enclosed in a flickering bubble of energy, speeds past us and beyond accompanied by almost musical radiophonic tones. We see it pass the Moon before spinning away to the twilight of the Earth's curved horizon... As we hear a grinding rhythmic electronic score, we see scenes of a futuristic city under a dramatic sky. Some buildings and antennae rotate, light pours from other structures as bullet-shaped and spherical vehicles move rapidly back and forth... 'This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all.'
We close on the blazing sun in space before fading to a view of ringed planet Saturn. A gyroscope-like ship, enclosed in a flickering bubble of energy, speeds past us and beyond accompanied by almost musical radiophonic tones. We see it pass the Moon before spinning away to the twilight of the Earth's curved horizon... As we hear a grinding rhythmic electronic score, we see scenes of a futuristic city under a dramatic sky. Some buildings and antennae rotate, light pours from other structures as bullet-shaped and spherical vehicles move rapidly back and forth... 'This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all.'
We close on the blazing sun in space before fading to a view of ringed planet Saturn. A gyroscope-like ship, enclosed in a flickering bubble of energy, speeds past us and beyond accompanied by almost musical radiophonic tones. We see it pass the Moon before spinning away to the twilight of the Earth's curved horizon... As we hear a grinding rhythmic electronic score, we see scenes of a futuristic city under a dramatic sky. Some buildings and antennae rotate, light pours from other structures as bullet-shaped and spherical vehicles move rapidly back and forth... 'This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all.'