Conversation with Johnny Byrne, June 17th 1999
JB: More, I'd say. ATAP was not just about individual Alphans confronting their Doppelgangers, but experiencing a revealed vision of a possible future. It also highlighted the cyclic nature of human experience - the cathastropic failure of 20th century techno man established in Breakaway and a new beginning of the process. A theme which was also echoed in Troubled Spirit.
But here I may be expressing retrospective wisdom. Most if not all my episodes were written from the inside out. By that I mean they were never planned as vehicles for issues big and small and frequently the end result was just as surprising to me and to others. Clearly they were tapping into themes and concepts swirling around in my mind at the time. It perhaps explains why episodes of this type finished so multi-facetted, simple of the surface, very complex within. I particularly remember the highly charged excitement I felt when writing ATAP. I wrote it at Pinewood and oft times I'd simply down tools and rush along the corridor to blast Chris' ear with new and ever more fascinating conundrums arising as the script developed. I also remember knowing *exactly* what I meant by Bergman's weird but nonetheless clinching comment that if they didn't get back to Alpha before the moons collided, they'd have no place to die. Today, if dwelt upon, it raises more questions than it answers. So far as I know, I was on nothing more stimulating than the stodgy food served at the studio restaurant.
PO: To me it seems like ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE is a sort of mixture between EASY RIDER and 2001: A SPACE ODDYSEY, man captivated by techonology vs. man in harmony with nature, apparently saying something about two different directions in life, one part having to do with how to deal with the problems of the modern world and the other about the sort of Arcadia as in the way of the popular dream of the idealised world of shepards and sheeps that was popular during the renaissance period.
JB: Conflict is always inherent in a situation like this, but I'd say it arises not from the nature of the choice, but from the nature of people, human beings. If one or other - or both - of these paths represented the perfect way, we'd surely have reached evolutionary nirvana a long time since. As I see it, they represent opposing forces driving relentlessly towards the centre. We see it perfectly illustrated today by the sixties legions who morally and philosophically rejected war and destruction then, while many are the most vociferous for war and destruction today - all in the name of the same enlightened principles, of course.
PO: Well, I'm not certain I get what you Cris Penfold, David Weir, Edward di Lorenzo etc. were thinking all the time, but it strikes me that much of the focus of SPACE:1999 was similar to what was going on in the world at large at the time, the Gaia theory of Lovelock for instance, the fascination with Zen Buddism, the ecology crisis, ideas that are still relevan today and perhaps even more so. It was great SPACE:1999, wasn't it? It certainly made a great impression on many of us who where early teenagers at the time.
JB: I hadn't read of the Gaia theory when I wrote Space episodes, but if I had it would have reflected many my own arrived at beliefs. I only met Davis Weir a couple of times, and he was into eastern mysticism, I believe. Eddie was also similarly inclined, and I'd say he was far more interested in writing his mystical novel than Space. I often wondered if he even published it.
PO: Well, the thing I wondered about was the confrontations with oneself in ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE. The idea of having John and Alan finding themselves shipwreced and dead, was that a comment on that the sort of values that these two represented was not necessarily a good thing in the monastry world of the rediscovered Earth?
JB: I wanted the repercussions to affect the Alphans on the human and emotional level, rather than in your face gothic horror. It would also, I hoped, open up the relationship of Koenig and Helena in a way that was not normally possible. Carter I chose because I wanted to highlight the man of feeling behind the macho image. I thought he beautifully captured the poignancy of of his relationship with the doomed Regina. On the planet, Morrow's aggressive response was rooted in fear for the community they were struggling to establish. It embodied elements of the rural idyll/technological man dilemma you mentioned above. Morrow and the others had decided to establish a community though less comfortable, was infinitely more predictable. Out were the vast uncertainties of the wandering moonbase alpha - at least here they knew what to expect and were prepared to make it work. The second moon's arrival and Koenig's appearance on the scene revived all the uncertainties they had hoped to put behind them. Complicating that, was the primitive, visceral fear of people mingling with their other selves. The same fear we see expressed today on the subject of human cloning - one of the big issues of our increasingly Brave New World.
PO: What about THE TESTAMENT OF ARKADIA, was that written at the same time as ANOTHER TIME, ANTOHER PLACE with the purpose of being the final episode of the series, or was it written regardless of this as another dig into the same type of ideas that made the essence of ANOTHER TIME?
JB: Anthony has raised some questions about the MUF and I'll try to pass on my thoughts when I respond.
PO: Another thing I have been wonderding about, while in episodes like SPACE BRAIN, it seems rather obvious that Christopher Penfold was highly influenced with at least David Weir and Edward di Lorenzo, investigating the same type of ideas, making same type of plots etc. In the whole, these three seem very unison, perhaps due to Penfold rewriting the scripts and giving them the final flare, but nevertheless, strikingly similar. Did you feel influenced by any of the others that were contracted to SPACE:1999?
JB: Not in the slightest. While complimentary elements did sometimes appear in the stories Chris and I wrote, as writers we travelled separate paths. I mentioned in one of the interviews that perhaps alone of the writers of the first season, I was solidly grounded in the literature and conventions of the science fiction genre. Prior to the original Star Trek and 2001, very little of what I would call state of the art science fiction had made it to the screen - by that I mean work of the standards set by Alfred Bester, James Blish, AE Van Vogh, Fritz Lieber and many other writers of what I would call classic SF. Thus stories and themes that appealed to me, might have left Chris cold. Anyway, it worked because we respected each other's judgement and work.
PO: Did you feel that A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH put you off in the right direction? I understand that a script by Joe Gammond was the thing that started VOYAGER'S RETURN, and episode that seems rather different from the previous ATAP and FORCE OF LIFE by it's strong focus on character and Frankenstein focus on the conciousness of science and moral. Did you get most of your ideas from people outside the SPACE:1999 circles, or was it from discussing with Chris and Gerry?
JB: MOL&D was always going to be a hybrid. If I'd had the choice, I would have started by writing originals stories. At the end of the day, the writing MOL&D was entirely original to me, but I was on the ethical hook in trying to hold onto something from Art Wallace's original story. Again, I tried to concentrate of the human response to the strange happenings, add substance to the mystery, and hopefully to establish the path ahead for what was to come. It's one of those scripts I'd liked to have written, if I must, much later in the schedule.
Some of the originating sparks for stories came from the world about me at the time. One was Mission Of The Darians, which owes a nod to the earlier events in Andes after a plane crash forced the survivors to eat human flesh. Another was Joe Gannon's brief outline which kicked off the notion of an encounter with an earth Voyager vessel. The real interest for me was the moral dilemma at the heart of the story, not just Queller's, but also that of the Sidons. VR also provided an opportunity to open a window into the mostly concealed heart of Moonbase Alpha. It was also my deliberate shot at writing what I'd call a nuts and bolt Science Fiction story. Gerry's imput usually came after the first draft of a script had been written - though there were times we did discuss a story before that stage.
PO: Did you ever discuss anything with Edward di Lorenzo? Did you join the discussions concerning the development of the series, or was it mostly Chris who did that?
JB: We never discussed the development of the series as a whole - dedicated Story Arcers eat you heart out. One reason for this was the absolute necessity to create entirely stand alone episodes. I think I've explained the process this led to in one of the interviews. In a very real sense, we were making it up as we went along. It wasn't only the Alphans who'd been kicked out into space on a travelling moon. We were in precisely the same situation. Their discoveries were our discoveries, a feeling that comes across very much, I think, in Y1. I'll try and put this into context when I get round to dealing with the dreaded MUF - something I previously believed to be the furry article of clothing Granny Byrne used to keep her hands warm on cold days.
Chris and I did talk often on scripts and stories, but mostly about mine and sometimes his. Chris also handled all the scripts from other writers, including Eddie's. But since Ed was on the lot during his time with us, we often talked stories, and about life, the universe and everything. Rarely though about the scripts we were writing in detail - that was Chris' area. Chris also did all the rewriting on the show - though occasionally I was asked to write linking V/Os.