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The Dark Planet

Synopsis:
Professor Haggarty and Cassie discover that a plant brought back from Uranus can walk. Raeburn sends Galasphere 347 to the distant planet to make contact with the creatures in an attempt to find out what happened to an earlier expedition which vanished. But on landing, Slim is attacked by the plants and Husky and Dart have to fight their way through to rescue him...

The Dark Planet
Cast
Captain Larry Dart
Husky
Slim
Colonel Raeburn
Marla
Professor Haggarty
Cassie
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 Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
Ronnie Stevens
Murray Kash
Libby Morris
Ronnie Stevens
Libby Morris
And The Moral Is:
• Talk To Your Plants... even if they are scheming to kill you.

Today I Will Be Mostly Learning... :
• Bats use ultrasonic sound.
• Uranus has 'hot poles' and a 'cold equator'. Actually the planet's axis is 93 degrees so unlike the Earth where the poles is almost always receiving the least heat from the Sun, on Uranus the polar regions face the Sun once every Uranian year.

Huskyisms:
• “The vegetation is fantasticacious!”

Slimantics:
• To which Slim replies, “There is no such word, but I comprehend your meaning.”
• “I am desirous to visit Venus again.”
• “Uranus is one planet I intend to erase from my travel itinary.”

A Venusian Has...:
• According to Dart, “Venusians always obey, unlike some Martians I know!”

Raeburnt:
• On hearing about the 'walking, talking vegetable': “Sometimes, I think Professor Haggarty needs a long trip to the Emerald Isle!”

“Don’t Call Me Pop!”:
• “You can’t compare your father to a vegetable!” And Haggarty is trying to create artificial beef.

Is This A Joke ?:
• Disbelieving Cassie's insistence that the Uranian plant is moving, Haggarty threatens, "If you're joking..."

The UGO Needs You:
• Dart: “You know the rules, Slim. A Galasphere must never be left unattended.”

‘Riding Along In My Monobile... ‘:
• Raeburn requests his monobile and takes Dart with him to see Haggarty.

‘I’m An Alien!‘:
• The ‘leeks’ (as they are called here) communicate ultrasonically at 90,000 sound cycles.
• What’s cool for a Venusian is hot for a Martian.

Ooh, Bitch... :
• Cassie: “Everything on Uranus is upside-down... just like your inventions.”
• Haggarty: “Women in the lab are more bother than they’re worth.”

Continuity:
• The rocks from the Uranus polar region have radiation traces from 4,000 years ago, which Cassie believes may have been due to an atomic war.
• Twenty men were lost on Uranus on a previous mission.
• Husky ponders if Raeburn is getting interested in gardening.
• Dart has to leave the freezer cabin to check how long they have been in flight, seemingly contradicting The Swamps Of Jupiter.
• Slim states they have been in the freezer for 86 days.
• Robot control is used for the first time for a planetary landing.
• Like Jupiter, the air on Uranus is poisonous but the gravity is not too different from Earth.
• Recordings of the Uranian plants ultrasonic speech are taken to be translated.

Harmony For Strings:
• Slim and Husky almost manage a convincing run from the Uranian plants.

Haven’t I Seen... ?:
• The laser gun was seen as a vibra gun in The Swamps Of Jupiter.
• The Galasphere’s return from Uranus past Saturn, the Moon and towards Earth is from the title sequence.

Take A Break:
• Raeburn says "We'll learn what happened to the twenty men we lost on Uranus."

"You know what this means?
We're the first human beings to meet a walking, talking vegetable."
Professor Haggarty


Astro Viewer Working:
• The version of the theme opening this episode is different from the 'standard' version, with a higher pitch to the Galasphere 'theme'. It is also heard on The Swamps Of Jupiter and The Shrinking Spaceman.
• The molungs are referred to as ‘space helmets’.
• The shot of Space Headquarters shows the landing platform raised but unlit.
• The angular, rotating building from the New York miniature can be seen on the wall of Haggarty’s laboratory.

Hoorah!:
• There is some nice dialogue between Husky and Slim on Uranus which speaks volumes for the friendship and loyalty the two crewmen have for each other.

Boo!:
• The electrical impulses of the small Uranian plant are measured on a mach meter.
• There is no large version of the small plant, so whereas it appears reasonably large next to the puppets, it is notably smaller in the close up when held by a ‘real’ hand.
• The Galasphere 024 launch is used again.
• There is some confusion over drives, as the primary drive is switched off (rather than the interplanetary overdrive) prior to going into orbit on approach to Uranus.
• Husky says there are hundreds of plant creatures after them when he rescues Slim. This translates on screen as five of them.

Computer Central:
• First screened: April 14th 1963 (ABC Midlands)
• Running time: 24 minutes 6 seconds
• This episode has the smallest speaking cast of all, only featuring regular characters, and is probably a very early episode in production order.
• BFCC Classified - 24th February 1998
• VHS - Volume 1
• DVD - Complete Series Box Set, Disk 1

Listings
• London/Westward, July 12 1963:
Larry Dart and his Galasphere crew have an exciting and dangerous time when they are sent to bring home one of the mysterious plants of Uranus.
• Wales, September 25th 1963:
Colonel Raeburn’s ambition is to have every planet in the solar system becoming a member of the United Galactic Organisation. The latest candidate for membership is Uranus - peopled by talking, walking plants!
• Melbourne, Australia, June 29 1964:
Prof. Haggarty, an Irish scientist with a touch of madness and a touch of genius who works with his daughter Cassiopeia, discovers a plant that can walk and talk.

Brahms & List
• Poor Dart gets his first name spelt Lary in the original London listing.

Ready To Lift ?:
A somewhat slow start is balanced by some creepy scenes on Uranus, which is as dark as the title suggests. After The Swamps Of Jupiter suggests that aliens are cute and friendly, we return to the hostile type though it is a cool move not to explain why, leaving an opening for a follow up episode.






On to the next episode
Episode Guide Series One
The Swamps Of Jupiter
The Wandering Asteroid
The Dark Planet
The Slaves Of Neptune
The Fires Of Mercury
The Shrinking Spaceman
The Robot Revolution
The Cloud Of Death
The Rings Of Saturn
Volcanoes Of Venus
Mystery On The Moon
The Miracle Tree Of Saturn
The Forgers
Episode Guide Series One
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.'