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''Moonbase 3'' is a British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

programme that ran for six episodes in 1973. It was a co-production between the

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20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

and the American ABC network. Created by ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' producer

Barry Letts Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was an English actor, television director, writer and producer, best known for being the producer of '' Doctor Who'' from 1969 to 1974. Born in Leicester, he worked as an actor in theatre ...

and

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wi ...

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English people, English author and television screenwriter, script editor and Television producer, producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fictio ...

as a realistic alternative strand of TV science-fiction, it was not a commercial or critical success (Dicks himself has stated in a foreword to a collection of

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...

-era ''Doctor Who'' scripts that they "overdid the grimness and forgot about the sense of wonder that science fiction is all about"). It starred

Donald Houston Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and ''A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...

as Director David Caulder, who is appointed to the position after the previous director was killed while returning to Earth.

Ralph Bates Ralph Bates (12 February 1940 – 27 March 1991) was an English film and television actor, known for his role in the British sitcom '' Dear John'' and the original ''Poldark''. Biography Bates was born in Bristol, England. His parents were bo ...

was Michel Lebrun, the deputy director, who was concerned about keeping to the rules. Fiona Gaunt played Doctor Helen Smith, the base's

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, and Barry Lowe played Tom Hill, the head of the base technical section. The programme was notable for its combination of realistic

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in or ...

procedures, ensured by hiring BBC technical adviser James Burke, and its strong character-based writing. Although very dated in terms of its looks and assumptions about the future, it remains well regarded in retrospect.

Concept and setting

''Moonbase 3'' was set in the year 2003 – some 30 years into the future at time of broadcast – and dramatised life in the enclosed environment of the titular

moonbase A moonbase is a facility on the surface of the Moon, enabling human activity on the Moon. As such, it is different from a lunar space station in orbit around the Moon, like the planned Lunar Gateway of the Artemis program. Moonbases can be for ...

. Five world powers have colonised the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

: America (Moonbase 1, commanded by Bill Jackson), Russia (Moonbase 2), Europe (Moonbase 3), China (Moonbase 4, commanded by General ChengBrason, John (Writer) & Hannam, Ken (Director). (1973). "Behemoth" (Television series episode). In Barry Letts (Producer), ''Moonbase 3''. London: BBC One 1973-09-16 19:25) and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

(Moonbase 5).Letts, Barry; Dicks, Terrance (Writers) & Hannam, Ken (Director). (1973). "Departure and Arrival" (Television series episode). In Barry Letts (Producer), ''Moonbase 3''. London: BBC One 1973-09-09 19:25 The European Moonbase 3 has been in existence for 8 years at the time the series starts. With oversight provided by the European Space Assembly and the European Aeronautics and Space Administration, Moonbase 3 is a shoestring operation when compared with the Russian and American efforts and much of base director David Caulder's job is to stave off budget cuts or a complete shutdown in the face of sceptical bureaucrats. Alongside technical problems such as stranded astronauts,Lucarotti, John (Writer) & Barry, Christopher (Director). (1973). "Castor and Pollux" (Television series episode). In Barry Letts (Producer), ''Moonbase 3''. London: BBC One 1973-10-07 19:25 explosive decompressions and failed experiments,Lucarotti, John (Writer) & Barry, Christopher (Director). (1973). "Achilles Heel" (Television series episode). In Barry Letts (Producer), ''Moonbase 3''. London: BBC One 1973-09-23 19:25Brason, John (Writer) & Hannam, Ken (Director). (1973). "Outsiders" (Television series episode). In Barry Letts (Producer), ''Moonbase 3''. London: BBC One 1973-09-30 19:25 the inhabitants of the moonbase must also deal with psychological problems arising from the cramped, dangerous environment they live in. In "Departure and Arrival", a mental breakdown suffered by a shuttle pilot has tragic consequences. "Achilles Heel" and "Outsiders" deal with the fallout from crew members' difficulty with living up to the standards they have set for themselves. "Behemoth" and "View of a Dead Planet" deal with forms of mass hysteria.Winch, Arden (Writer) & Barry, Christopher (Director). (1973). "View of a Dead Planet" (Television series episode). In Barry Letts (Producer), ''Moonbase 3''. London: BBC One 1973-10-14 19:25

Principal characters

;Dr David Caulder (

) :Appointed Director of Moonbase 3 following the death of his predecessor, David Caulder is a scientist, academic and administrator. A lecturer at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, he rose to prominence when he was appointed

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the University during a period of student unrest and managed to calm the situation down, earning him a reputation as a "Welsh wizard". The Director-General of the European space effort describes Caulder as a "militant liberal, passionately committed to the middle of the road". Caulder sees himself as a buffer, who deals with the political aspects of running the moonbase, giving the others the room to perform the vital tasks of keeping Moonbase 3 operations going. ;Dr Michel Lebrun (

) :Deputy Director Michel Lebrun is noted for his rigid adherence to the rules and procedures, making him a somewhat inflexible individual who has difficulty understanding the human dimension involved when dealing with other base personnel. The

Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially th ...

is slightly resentful of Caulder's appointment to the position of Director, feeling that he has been overlooked for the job though Helen Smith reminds him that he is, perhaps, too young to take up the position at this time. However, when he is ordered to relieve Caulder of command during the attempted rescue of Tom Hill in the episode "Castor and Pollux", he remains loyal to Caulder and carries out the rescue as planned despite his misgivings about the risks. ;Dr Helen Smith ( Fiona Gaunt) :Helen Smith is the base psychologist responsible for preparing regular psychological record reports (or PSIs), assessing the mental state of all personnel. An expert in behavioural studies in an alien environment – her

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was titled "Human beings adjust" – she acts as a sounding board, enabling individual crew members to adapt to the situation of life on the Moon. However, she develops a trend of engaging in romantic relationships with her most troubled patients as seen in "Achilles Heel" and "Outsiders". ;Tom Hill (Barry Lowe) :Forty-two-year-old Tom Hill is director of operations on the moonbase responsible for flight control and base maintenance. An experienced astronaut, he became a minor celebrity six years before the events of the series take place when he rescued an escaped cat from a spacelab. A down-to-earth no-nonsense type, who dislikes having his work interfered with by management, he generally tries to maintain an informal, casual air, calling all female staff as "love" and calling Lebrun "Mickey boy", a moniker Lebrun hates. However, unhappy about the way Caulder conducted the investigation of his predecessor's death in "Departure and Arrival", Hill initially maintains a strictly businesslike relationship with Caulder before their relationship thaws in later episodes.

Production

Origins

Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts had been working together, as script editor and producer respectively, on ''Doctor Who'' since 1970. Dicks had begun his television writing career on '' The Avengers'' and ''

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'' before joining ''Doctor Who'' as its script editor in 1968. Former actor Barry Letts had changed career into television direction in 1967 and had worked on series such as ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted ...

'' and '' The Newcomers'' before being asked to take over as producer of ''Doctor Who'' in 1970, where he first met Dicks. In 1972, looking to move on from ''Doctor Who'', the pair started considering a number of ideas for other shows they could collaborate on. Their first idea arose from the successful collaboration they had with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

on the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''

The Sea Devils ''The Sea Devils'' is the third serial of the ninth season of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 1 April 1972. It was written by Ma ...

'' which led to them considering pitching a serial set on a

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

only to find they were too late – the BBC had just commissioned a series, ''

Warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

'', with that very premise. In late 1972, they developed the concept of ''Moonbase 3'', as an anthology series set on a lunar colony that would "provide intelligent, realistic drama rather than Science Fantasy", and submitted a pilot script, titled "Departure and Arrival", to

Shaun Sutton Shaun Alfred Graham Sutton (14 October 1919 in Hammersmith, London – 14 May 2004 in Norfolk) was an English television writer, director, producer and executive, who worked in the medium for nearly forty years from the 1950s to the 1990s. His m ...

, the Head of Drama at the BBC. The series was formally commissioned in December 1972 and would be made, as a co-production between the BBC and 20th Century Fox and the ABC network in America, during the break in production between Seasons 10 and 11 of ''Doctor Who''.

Production

The first ''Moonbase 3'' script to be formally commissioned was "View of a Dead Planet" on 15 December 1972. This was written by

Arden Winch Arden may refer to: Places ;Australia *Arden, an area in North Melbourne, Victoria near the Arden Street Oval ;Canada * Arden, Ontario ;Denmark * Arden, Denmark, a town **Arden Municipality, a former municipality, including the town of Arden ;U ...

, a respected writer who had written for ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramati ...

''. Two scripts, "Behemoth" and "Outsiders", were commissioned from

John Brason John Brason is a British script writer and script editor, best known for the series made in collaboration with television producer Gerard Glaister, ''Colditz'' and '' Secret Army'', both set during World War II. Brason was known for his anti-com ...

, who had written for ''

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of the c ...

'' and ''

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

''. The final two scripts, "The Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Gentle Rain" (later renamed "Castor and Pollux" and "Achilles Heel" respectively), were commissioned from

John Lucarotti John Vincent Lucarotti (20 May 1926 – 20 November 1994) was a British-Canadian screenwriter and author who worked on '' The Avengers'', ''The Troubleshooters'' and '' Doctor Who'' in the 1960s. Early life Born into an Army family in Ald ...

, a prolific writer whose credits included ''The Avengers'', ''Doctor Who'' and ''

The Troubleshooters ''The Troubleshooters'' (titled ''Mogul'' for the first series) is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. It recounted events in an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. Th ...

''. Lastly, Letts and Dicks retrospectively commissioned themselves in late May 1973 for their pilot script "Departure and Arrival". In order to achieve a high level of realism, Letts and Dicks hired a technical advisor, James Burke, a science correspondent who was well known to television viewers thanks to his work as anchorman on the television coverage of the Apollo moon landings and for presenting science series such as ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

'' and ''The Burke Special''. Burke decided that 2003 would be a realistic date for bases to have been established on the Moon, telling the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' that "Men won't go back to the Moon until the 1990s. Neither the Russians nor the Americans have any plans at present and no-one else can afford it. ..As for the base itself – it should look exactly as it would if they built one tomorrow. ..They'd be small, supporting 30 or 40 men and running on a shoestring. ..It'll be like life on a nuclear submarine". Cast as David Caulder was Donald Houston, an experienced character actor, who had appeared in ''

633 Squadron ''633 Squadron'' is a 1964 British / American war film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, and Maria Perschy. The plot, which involves the exploits of a fictional World War II British bomber squadron, was ...

'' and '' The Longest Day'', and was known for playing authority figures. Ralph Bates, who was cast as Michel Lebrun, had first made a name for himself playing the Emperor

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

in the

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

series '' The Caesars'' but was best known as a regular actor in the

Hammer horror Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

stable. Fiona Gaunt, playing Helen Smith, had been in a television adaptation of ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

'' while Barry Lowe, playing Tom Hill, had been a regular on the police drama ''

''. Two directors were assigned to the series –

Ken Hannam Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of three boys, Hannam lived in his youth in Sydney and ...

and

Christopher Barry Christopher Chisholm Barry (20 September 1925 – 7 February 2014) was a British television director. He worked extensively in BBC television drama and became best known for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He also directe ...

. Hannam had previously directed such series as ''Colditz'' and ''

Paul Temple Paul Temple is a fictional character created by English writer Francis Durbridge. Temple is a professional author of crime fiction and an amateur private detective. With his wife Louise, affectionately known as 'Steve' in reference to her jo ...

'' while Barry had worked extensively on ''Doctor Who'', having directed some 31 episodes at the time, including the stories ''

The Dæmons ''The Dæmons'' is the fifth and final serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in five weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 May to 19 June 1971. In the serial, the alien ...

'' and ''

The Mutants ''The Mutants'' is the fourth serial of the ninth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 April to 13 May 1972. The serial is set on and high above th ...

'' for Letts and Dicks, as well as episodes of ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were a dramatisation of a science f ...

'', ''Paul Temple'' and ''

The Onedin Line ''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, nam ...

''. Hannam and Barry alternated directing the episodes between them with filming on ''Moonbase 3'' beginning on 24 April 1973 at the BBC film studios in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

. The Ealing filming mainly centred around the scenes set on the lunar surface which proved a difficult experience for the actors. Star Donald Houston told the ''Radio Times'' that the spacesuits got "hot and claustrophobic. In the end they had to have oxygen standing by. ..the dust rose in clouds and the cameramen all wore surgical masks. The actors just choked". Recalling his guest appearance on ''Moonbase 3'', in the episode "Behemoth", Peter Miles told ''

TV Zone ''TV Zone'' is a British magazine that was published every four weeks by Visual Imagination that covered cult television. Initially, it mostly covered science fiction, but branched out to cover other drama and comedy series. History ''TV Zone'' ...

'' in 1991 that he was "asked to be like a gazelle and leap as I came down the hillock in full astronaut gear. ..The tech crew wondered why I was steaming up furiously in my astronaut's head. They'd forgotten to put air holes into the helmet. ..I said, 'Help help! Help help! I'm not breathing folks!' They took the helmet off before drilling the holes or I wouldn't be here now". Filming continued at Ealing until 30 May 1973 before production moved to

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, London, White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for ...

for the remaining scenes, mostly those set inside the moonbase, which would be recorded on

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...

beginning on 18 June 1973. The episodes were recorded in a different order than that in which they were broadcast with "Departure and Arrival" recorded first followed by "Castor and Pollux", "Behemoth", "View of a Dead Planet", "Outsiders" and, lastly, "Achilles Heel" with recording wrapping on 15 August 1973. Music was provided by

Dudley Simpson Dudley George Simpson (4 October 1922 – 4 November 2017) was an Australian composer and conductor. He was the Principal Conductor of the Royal Opera House orchestra for three years and worked as a composer on British television. He worked on ...

who, at this time, was the regular composer on ''Doctor Who''. Simpson composed the main title theme that accompanied the opening and closing credits as well as approximately 60 minutes of incidental music.

Transmission and audience reaction

''Moonbase 3'' was promoted by the ''Radio Times'' on the week of broadcast with a two-page article by Mike Bygrave, titled "The Facts of Life on the Moon", that interviewed James Burke about his ideas of life on the Moon and also spoke to star Donald Houston, dresser Leslie Hallam and costume designer Dee Kelly about their experiences making the show. Broadcast on Sunday nights at 7:25pm on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

, audience reaction to the series was disappointing with the debut episode garnering under 6 million viewers and ratings slipping as low as 2 million in subsequent weeks before stabilising at 4 million. A BBC Audience Research report slated the series as "banal, predictable and slow". Reviewing "Departure and Arrival" in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'',

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Yangtze Incident The ''Amethyst'' Incident, also known as the Yangtze Incident, was a historic event which involved the Royal Navy ships , , , and on the Yangtze River for three months during the Chinese Civil War in the summer of 1949. Description On ...

plus liquid oxygen".

Archive status

As was normal procedure at the BBC at the time, the original

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

master tapes of the series were wiped some time after broadcast and, for many years, ''Moonbase 3'' was believed to be lost forever. However, in 1993,

NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...

copies of all six episodes were found in co-producer Fox's archives and returned to the BBC. The series was subsequently released on VHS videotape over three volumes in 1994 by BBC Video and on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in 2002 by Second Sight.

Legacy

Terrance Dicks has felt that ''Moonbase 3'' was ultimately a failure: "The trouble was we built a too restrictive format for ourselves" and that the series "lacked a sense of wonder and outrageousness". Academic Peter Wright has said about ''Moonbase 3'' that its "appeal to realism resulted in a disquieting sense of claustrophobia and isolation that undermined the optimism of its premise and captured the general mood of insularity felt (and often desired) in Britain in the early 1970s". ''Moonbase 3'', although not directly influential, can be seen as an antecedent of similar realistic, near-future, British space series such as '' Space: 1999'', ''

Star Cops ''Star Cops'' is a British science fiction television drama series first broadcast on BBC2 in 1987. It was devised by Chris Boucher, a writer who had previously worked on the science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and ''Blake's 7'' ...

'' and ''

Space Island One ''Space Island One'' (or ''Raumstation Unity'' in German) is a British/German science fiction television series that ran for 26 episodes beginning in 1998. A co-production between the UK's Sky One channel and the German Vox channel, it starred ...

''.

Episode guide

Six episodes of ''Moonbase 3'' were made and broadcast on BBC One on Sunday nights at 7:25pm beginning on 9 September 1973.

References

External links

*
''Moonbase 3''
at OldFutures {{good article BBC television dramas 1970s British science fiction television series 1970s British drama television series Television series about the Moon 1973 British television series debuts 1973 British television series endings Space adventure television series Television series by BBC Studios Television series by 20th Century Fox Television