''Target Luna'' was a British television serial broadcast by

ABC Weekend TV ABC Television Limited, popularly known as ABC Weekend TV, was a British broadcaster which provided the weekend service in the Midlands and Northern England regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. It was one of ...

in April 1960. It was written by

Malcolm Hulke Malcolm Ainsworth Hulke (21 November 1924 – 6 July 1979) was a British television writer and author of the industry "bible" ''Writing for Television in the 70s''. He is remembered chiefly for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Wh ...

and Eric Paice, directed by Adrian Brown and produced by

Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (; April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian producer and screenwriter who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, he was app ...

who later co-created ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. The first serial featured

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English actor. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Iago in ''Othello'' (1965). His first leading television role came in 1971 in '' Casanova''.

as Conway Henderson and Michael Craze as Geoffrey Wedgwood. The success of the ''Target Luna'' spawned three sequels: ''Pathfinders in Space'' (September 1960), ''Pathfinders to Mars'' (December 1960 – January 1961) and ''Pathfinders to Venus'' (March 1961), starring

Gerald Flood Gerald Robert Flood (21 April 1927 – 12 April 1989) was a British actor of stage and television. Early life Flood was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, but lived for most of his life in Farnham, Surrey, where he regularly appeared on stage at ...

and Stewart Guidotti in the recast roles, as Henderson and Geoffrey respectively.

Serials

Over four serials, ''Target Luna'' and the ''Pathfinders'' proved successful with the viewing public, with episode 4 of ''Pathfinders to Mars'' getting to second place in audience ratings on New Year's Day 1961.

''Target Luna''

Number of episodes: 6 * ''The Rocket Station'' * ''Count Down'' * ''The Strange Illness'' * ''Storm in Space'' * ''Solar Flare'' * ''The Falling Star''

Synopsis

Professor Norman Wedgwood ( David Markham) is the head of an experimental rocket group on remote Buchan Island in Scotland. His children, Geoff ( Michael Craze), Valerie ( Sylvia Davies) and Jimmy ( Michael Hammond) visit him to watch the launch of his latest rocket, along with journalist Conway Henderson (

). When the pilot is taken ill, Jimmy finds himself taking his place on a mission to the Moon along with his pet hamster, Hamlet. After several harrowing hours in space, Jimmy, Hamlet and the rocket are finally brought down to earth.

''Pathfinders in Space''

Number of episodes: 7 * ''Convoy to the Moon'' * ''Spaceship from Nowhere'' * ''Luna Bridgehead'' * ''The Man in the Moon'' * ''The World of Lost Toys'' * ''Disaster on the Moon'' * ''Rescue in Space''

Synopsis

Professor Norman Wedgwood (now Peter Williams) and his team are planning another rocket mission to the Moon. Once again, Geoff, Valerie and Jimmy (now Stewart Guidotti, Gillian Ferguson and

Richard Dean Richard Dean may refer to: * Richard Dean (model), American athlete, model and photographer * Richard D. Dean, United States Army general * Richard Dean (civil servant) (1772−1850), British civil servant * Richard Dean (curate), Anglican minister ...

) are on hand to witness the launch of a new rocket MR1 (Moon Rocket 1), along with journalist friend Conway Henderson (now

). However, when the automatic supply ship MR2 (Moon Rocket 2) fails to launch Henderson and the children make a desperate rescue attempt with Jimmy's pet Hamlet (now a guinea pig). Henderson, Geoff and Jimmy (and Hamlet) set off in MR2, only to discover Valerie has stowed away. MR1 lands first with MR2 preparing to land via radio control. But on entry, MR2 nearly collides with an unknown object. Having landed safely, but a hundred miles off, the two parties set off to meet each other. On the way, Jimmy (and Hamlet) fall down a hole which turns out to be an airshaft that leads to a large cavern. Inside, the MRI group discover an airlock, which leads them all to discover an alien craft. After the party of MR2 arrive, they discover the fossilised body of a man and find an ancient journal regarding the man was once part an alternative human, among others, who fled earth from a war only to die from lack of supplies on the Moon. Elsewhere, meteors strike MR1 and the rocket explodes, meaning that only two members of the expedition of can leave in MR2. Then Wedgwood makes an attempt to fly the alien vessel. Eventually, the entire group return safely to earth. Once back home, Wedgwood remarks ''"As man reaches out to touch the stars, who knows what he may find."''

''Pathfinders to Mars''

Number of episodes: 6 * ''The Imposter'' * ''Sabotage in Space'' * ''The Hostage'' * ''Lichens!'' (broadcast live) * ''Zero Hour on the Red Planet'' (broadcast live) * ''Falling into the Sun'' (broadcast live)

Synopsis

A secondary mission in a new rocket, MR4 (Moon Rocket 4), to the Moon takes off from Buchan Island. This time Henderson takes the lead role as pilot accompanied by Professor Wedgwood's oldest son Geoff as radio operator, Professor Mary Meadows, Henderson's niece Margret ( Hester Cameron) along with Hamlet. However one of the crew turns out to be science writer named Harcourt Brown (

George Coulouris George Alexander Coulouris (1 October 1903 – 25 April 1989) was an English film and stage actor. He was perhaps best known for his collaborations with Orson Welles, most notably ''Citizen Kane''. Early life Of Anglo-Greek origin, Coulouris ...

) who has plans to divert the ship to Mars determined there is life on the planet. Brown succeeds in getting MR4 to Mars, but with the length of the journey, the crew decide that the only way to get home is to find water on Mars. Thankfully, MR4 has landed within a hundred miles of the polar ice cap so the group set off, Brown too, believing there to be life on Mars. Encountering

Lichens A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

, crevasses and other perils, Brown is devastated when he discovers no intelligent life and feels cheated by the others. In doing so, he intends to leave the others behind on the planet. However, lichens manage to infiltrate MR4, stopping Brown and giving the Rocket crew a chance to overpower him. However, Earth has moved out of the Martian orbit, thus, making the journey home impossible. Yet Brown creates a theory that if they can use the gravity pull of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

to get home. Some time after setting off, the crew all slowly succumb to gamma rays from the Sun one-by-one. By a miracle, there is a total

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

and Mercury shuts of the rays from the Sun but they quickly find themselves being pulled into Mercury's gravity pull. The crew then realise that Buchan Island has made various satellite fixes on Mercury, thus enabling MR4 to make the home journey to Earth. As MR4 falls out of danger from the Sun's gamma rays, Brown ponders of the idea of other life on another planet and sees

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

as a possibility...

''Pathfinders to Venus''

Number of episodes: 8 * ''S.O.S From Venus'' * ''Into the Poison Cloud'' * ''The Living Planet'' * ''The Creature'' * ''The Venus People'' * ''The City'' * ''The Valley of the Monsters'' * ''Planet on Fire''

Synopsis

Returning from their unexpected trip to Mars the crew of MR4 intercept a distress signal from Captain Wilson, a U.S astronaut, and must change course for Venus to attempt a rescue in space. However, through the space periscope, Brown sees what appears to be a settlement or a city of some sort. Desperate to investigate, Brown edits Wilson's message and tricks the crew into landing on Venus so as they can rescue him. Landing on Venus, the crew discover, much to Brown's delight, that the planet is capable is sustaining life and is a vast jungle. Investigating further, the party find Wilson's rocket-capsule, the ''US V7'', ransacked and ripped apart from the inside by something. Brown gets separated from the others and finds Wilson, who then tricks him into finding his 'city'. Henderson, Meadows, Geoff, and Margret find the trail leading into the caves of the volcano and get separated. Whilst separated, Henderson, Geoff, and Meadows find cavemen whilst Margret (and Hamlet) finds Wilson, Brown, and a Venusian cave-child whom she names 'Kiki'. Reunited, the group are forced to escape the lava flow and find themselves in a desert. Keeping to the left and through the desert, the Wedgwood party discover Venus is a living duplicate of Earth, with dinosaurs and prehistoric humans existing parallel to each other. As the journey progresses they discover diamonds and uranium deposits. When they get nearer Brown's city, they find it to be nothing but an ancient burial ground for Kiki's ancestors. Finally returning to the jungle, they discover the lava has set the jungle alight in the direction of MR4. Brown, determined that the planet must not be ruined from what they've seen, decides to set the rocket to overload. However, Henderson turns the tables on him, just in time to see a Russian rocket land nearby. The pilot, Colonel Korolyov, explains they have extra fuel for MR4, in exchange for Wilson's secret mission - an experiment in stellar telecommunications. Preparing to leave, Brown announces he is remaining behind since Kiki has lost her parents and aware of the responsibilities of hijacking MR4 in the first place, and that to him Venus is an unspoiled paradise. MR4 takes off and is given fuel for the return journey in space. Finally after months away from home, the rescue party finally return to Buchan Island.

Full cast

''Target Luna''

The director for ''Target Luna'' was Adrian Brown. * David Markham as Professor Norman Wedgwood *

John Cairney John Cairney (16 February 1930 – 6 September 2023) was a Scottish stage, film and television actor who found fame through his one-man shows on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Service, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William McGo ...

as Ian Murray *

as Conway Henderson * Michael Craze as Geoffrey Wedgwood * Sylvia Davies as Valerie Wedgwood * Michael Hammond as Jimmy Wedgwood * William Ingram as Flt Lt Williams * Deborah Stanford as Jean Cary * Robert Stuart as Dr Stevens * Phyllis Kenny as Pat Maxwell * Michael Verney as Mr Field * Annette Kerr as Mrs Wedgwood * Mel Oxley as the Newscaster

''Pathfinders in Space''

With a change of director, Guy Verney, all the returning roles in ''Pathfinders in Space'' were recast. Another key addition was that Jimmy's pet hamster, Hamlet, was also made into a guinea pig so it would be noticeable on screen. Despite the mass recast, many references were alluded of the previous serial, making this serial and the follow-ups canonical. * Peter Williams as Professor Norman Wedgwood * Harold Goldblatt as Dr O'Connell *

as Conway Henderson * Stewart Guidotti as Geoffrey Wedgwood *Gillian Ferguson as Valerie Wedgwood *

as Jimmy Wedgwood * Pamela Barney as Professor Mary Meadows *

Irene Sutcliffe Irene Sutcliffe (12 July 1924 – 3 May 2019) was an English actress. She was best known for playing Maggie Clegg in ITV's ''Coronation Street'', a role she played from 1968 until 1975. She had a long career; her first credited TV role was in 1 ...

as Jean Cary * Hugh Evans as Ian Murray * Astor Sklair as John Field * Michael Guest as Michael Kennedy

''Pathfinders to Mars''

As with the previous serial, Guy Verney remained as director. The characters of Valarie and Jimmy Wedgwood were dropped from the sequel. Professor Wedgwood was retired in the first chapter leaving Conway Henderson as the lead character and Ian Murray as Buchan Island base controller. Margret Henderson, Conway's niece, was introduced, and Harcourt Brown - a scientific writer and extraterrestrial theorist. *Gerald Flood as Conway Henderson *

as Harcourt Brown (credited as 'The Imposter' in ''The Imposter'') *Stewart Guidotti as Geoffrey Wedgwood *Pamela Barney as Professor Mary Meadows * Hester Cameron as Margret Henderson *Hugh Evans as Ian Murray *Astor Sklair as John Field *

Bernard Horsfall Bernard Arthur Gordon Horsfall (20 November 1930 – 28 January 2013) was an English actor of stage and screen. Early life Horsfall was born in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, and educated at Rugby School. He trained as an actor at the We ...

as Professor Hawkins *Peter Williams as Professor Norman Wedgwood (Episode 1 ''The Imposter'' only)

''Pathfinders to Venus''

Guy Verney continued as director for episodes 1–5 and 7. Episodes 6 and 8 were directed by Reginald Collin. The main cast themselves remained from the previous serial, with the additions of Captain Wilson and Kiki. *Gerald Flood as Conway Henderson *George Coulouris as Harcourt Brown *Stewart Guidotti as Geoffrey Wedgwood *Pamela Barney as Professor Mary Meadows *Hester Cameron as Margret Henderson * Graydon Gould as Captain Wilson *Hugh Evans as Ian Murray *Astor Sklair as John Field * Brigid Skemp as Kiki (credited as Venusian Child) *

Bob Bryan Robert "Bob" Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all time, Bryan was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis pl ...

as The Venusian * Robert James as Colonel Korolyov

Production

wanted to develop a children's adventure serial, which could educate its audience about science and the developing

Space Race The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...

and Eric Paice wrote all four serials. ''Target Luna'' was directed by Adrian Brown. The three ''Pathfinders'' serials were directed by Guy Verney with two chapters directed by Reginald Collins. ''Pathfinders to Venus'' included scenes of animated Dinosaurs from the Czech film '' Journey to the Beginning of Time''. Midway through ''Pathfinders to Mars'' at the last minute, it was decided to have the last three episodes filmed live owing to timing reasons.

Reception and influence

''Target Luna'' and the three sequels gained high audience ratings at the time. One episode was broadcast on Christmas Day 1960 and the production team claimed it had the second highest audience of the day after the

Queen's Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened. The address sets fo ...

. Professor Wedgwood and his experimental rocket group appears to be a direct reference to the character and success of Professor Bernard Quatermass on the BBC. The seventh episode of Pathfinders to Venus (''The Valley of Monsters'') was used in an academic study of children's attitudes to television viewing. The experiments included showing several on-screen mistakes which were explained at the end of the episode by onscreen-rolling captions: ''The mistakes in this episode which you may have noticed are not accidental. They are part of a research project into children's perceptions which the Department of Education of Cambridge University is carrying out in co-operation with the Drama Department of A.B.C. Television.'' The study was organised by the Department of Education at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. The results suggested that children could forgive minor errors and effects as long as the story was compelling.

later commented "The most important thing we learnt is that if anyone thinks a young audience can be fooled or won sloppily or 'on the cheap' he is sadly mistaken". He also described his audiences as "discerning, intelligent and capable to handle new and innovative subject matter". Newman left ABC in 1962 to join

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

as Head of Drama. In 1963 he initiated the creation of ''

''. Two of the actors from the Pathfinders series would later go onto to play companions on ''

''. Michael Craze who originated Geoffrey Wedgwood in Target Luna played Ben Jackson alongside the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. Out of his 1 ...

s, and

provided the voice of Kamelion with the

Fifth Doctor The Fifth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Peter Davison. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord ...

. Many of the cast and crew from the Pathfinders series worked on three further science fiction serials: '' Plateau of Fear'' (1961) and its sequels: ''City Beneath the Sea'' (1961) and ''Secret Beneath the Sea'' (1962). All three serials would star Flood as scientific journalist Mark Bannerman and Guidotti as his photographer Peter Blake.

Availability

As was common at the time these shows were recorded on expensive

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

, which was later wiped and reused.

Telerecording Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

s of the Pathfinders series were made for sales to overseas broadcasters. However, ''Target Luna'' is currently missing from the television archive. The three ''Pathfinders'' series were also thought to be missing but were returned to the ITV from other broadcasters. In 2011 it was announced that the final missing episode had been discovered in ITV's own archive. All three Pathfinders serials were later released 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 ki ...

by Network DVD, 51 years after their original transmission.

References

External links

* * * *{{IMDb title, id=0163481, title=Pathfinders to Venus 1960s British science fiction television series 1960 British television series debuts 1961 British television series endings Black-and-white British television shows British adventure television series 1960s British television miniseries British English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Lost television shows Space adventure television series Television shows produced by ABC Weekend TV Television series by ITV Studios