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The Planet Of Thought
Synopsis:
The Neptunian leader Tyro journeys to Earth to negotiate an order of robots to work for them. Tyro becomes enchanted by the beauty of Marla and uses his telepathy to mesmerise her into leaving with him. Raeburn objects but is powerless as the UGO’s own laws protect freedom of choice and Marla doesn’t want to return. Haggarty devises two sets of portable brain wave protectors - one for Dart and one for Marla - and Galasphere 347 is despatched to Neptune but a way has to be found of getting her to wear it in order to save her...
Cast
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Captain Larry Dart
Husky
Slim
Colonel Raeburn
Marla
Professor Haggarty
Cassie
Tyro
Jano
Radio Officer
Duty Officer
Replacement Secretary
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Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
Ronnie Stevens
Murray Kash
Libby Morris
Ronnie Stevens
Libby Morris
Libby Morris
Dick Vosburgh
Ronnie Stevens
Ronnie Stevens
Ronnie Stevens
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And The Moral Is:
• It’s The Thought That Counts
Today I Will Be Mostly Learning... :
• Neptune is far from the Sun and is very cold.
Slimantics:
• “Why don’t you examine it, Husky. You are clever with your hands... “
A Venusian Has...:
• The ability to choose between being worshipped as an alien princess or being a secretary. And they say there’s no such thing as a dumb blonde on Venus...
To Coin A Phrase:
• Slim: “Indeed they are. They resemble earrings.” Dart: “Earrings! Slim, you’ve found the answer... “
Riding Along In My Monobile... ‘:
• Raeburn drives Dart to see Haggarty.
‘I’m An Alien!”:
• According to Raeburn, the Neptunian minds are highly developed but their bodies have become weak.
• Martians knew nothing of science before joining the UGO, and the Venusians knew nothing of engineering.
Ooh, Bitch... :
• “Nagging daughters” and an extended scene where Haggarty proves his brain shield to Raeburn.
• Tyro and Jarno also have a dig at ‘the minds of all earthmen are empty’ when they fail to detect Dart’s presense.
Continuity:
• Tyro’s visit to Earth to join the UGO seems to be a result of negotiations with Colonel Raeburn at the end of The Cloud Of Death.
• Raeburn refers to a single robot being responsible for communications at Space Headquarters. This would seem to contradict other episodes, as well as a later scene in this one, where a human duty officer is seen.
• Every ocean bed is now a farm.
• Tyro orders 10,000 robots.
• The flight time to Neptune is four months, twenty days.
Plot Device:
• The brain wave protectors, but the use of the filaments from them is quite clever.
Haven’t I Seen... ?:
• Marla, when enthorned on Neptune, wears the dress she wore in The Fires of Mercury - did Tyro raid her wardrobe too?
Take A Break:
• Having left Earth for Neptune, Dart tells Raeburn they are going into the freezer, ending with the "Over and out.".
"What an exquisite creature! Who is she?."
Tyro, seeing Marla for the first time
Astro Viewer Working:
• Believed to be the first of the second production block of thirteen episodes (it has fewer end credits, as per the Series One episodes), this features a slightly revamped Galasphere control room and Raeburn's office gets a makeover.
• With the change in Marla's hairstyle, the pre-launch check sequence is reshot for these thirteen episodes as well, though in this episode it is not used.
Hoorah!:
• Tyro’s comment about being nervous that he cannot read Dart’s mind pre-dates a similar scene in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Tin Man, where a telepathic Betazoid is unnerved by the android Data by over twenty-five years!. It also hints at why the Neptunians reject the use of robots later in the series.
• Nice to see they have male secretaries in 2100.
Boo!:
• Slim seems to be having a bad hair day - in close up in the rest area, his hair is decidedly wispy!
• In the first view of the robot at the sea farm, the top of the backdrop can clearly be seen.
• Marla’s voice is still used in the launch check (though to be fair we never see her and it could be one of the four secretaries Raeburn goes through in Marla’s absense).
• Bar usage of the freezer, there is little evidence of a protracted voyage - the flight to Neptune usually taking three to four months - in this episode.
Computer Central:
• First screened: August 25th 1963 (ABC Midlands)
• Running time: 24 minutes 39 seconds
• BFCC Classified - 22nd September 1998
• VHS - Volume 6
• DVD - Complete Series Box Set, Disk 4
• The sleeve notes on the video and DVD release for this episode call Marla ‘Maria’.
Listings
• London, November 7th 1963:
It is a disastrous day for Col. Raeburn when Tyro, the leader of the planet Neptune, persuades Raeburn’s secretary, Marla, to go to Neptune with him. The Colonel does not believe she has gone of her own free will and gives Dart the task of bringing her back.
Ready To Lift ?:
A clever follow-up to The Cloud Of Death and a nice use of the idea of telepathy and the brain wave protectors.
 
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