Alpha Scorpio facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alpha Scorpio |
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|---|---|
| Created by | James Davern |
| Written by | James Davern |
| Directed by | Keith Wilkes Ric Birch David Zweck |
| Starring | Peter Hepworth Kevin Wilson Terry Gill Neville Thurgood Alexandra Hines Kurt Ludescher Ian Smith |
| Theme music composer | Rick Wakeman |
| Opening theme | "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" |
| Composer(s) | William Doyle |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | James Davern |
| Production location(s) | Aireys Inlet, Victoria |
| Editor(s) | Geoff Satchell |
| Camera setup | Clifton Ellis Keith Furguson Terry Michell Phil Seymour Dick Willoughby |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Production company(s) | Albatross Film |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC Television |
| Original release | 21 June – 26 July 1974 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Andra |
Alpha Scorpio was an exciting Australian science fiction TV show for kids. It was created by James Davern and aired on ABC Television in 1974. The story follows two university students, Peter Hepworth and Kevin Wilson, who go camping. They start seeing strange things happening at Aireys Inlet in Victoria. Soon, they find out their friend Mirny (Kurt Ludescher) is actually an alien! He's part of a group from the 5th planet of Antares. The show only had six episodes.
Contents
Meet the Characters
- Andrew (Peter Hepworth)
- Penny (Alexandra Hines)
- Steven (Kevin Wilson)
- McIntyre (Terry Gill)
- Mirny (Kurt Ludescher)
- Bates (Ian Smith)
- Collins (Neville Thurgood)
- Mr. Williams (Frank Wilson)
Episodes of Alpha Scorpio
| # | Title | Writers | Original airdate | Series No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "Series One Episode One" | James Davern | 21 June 1974 | #1.01 |
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Andy and Steve arrive at Airey's Inlet to stay at Steve's family beachhouse. With two weeks vacation from university, Steve spends his time surfing and meets Penny. Meanwhile, Andy becomes fascinated with the local lighthouse and encounters a mysterious man who lives nearby.
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What is the Story About?
Andy, a geology student, brings a seismograph (a device that measures ground vibrations) to their holiday hut. It mostly records normal things like ships and cars. But then, it starts picking up a strange, strong vibration that lasts about 10 seconds. At the same time, the local electricity briefly dips.
These strange events keep happening every few days, always a little earlier. Sometimes, a weaker but similar vibration is recorded. One day, Steve is fishing and sees an albatross (a large bird) mysteriously vanish in front of his eyes when a weaker vibration occurs.
As the mystery grows, Steve notices other odd things. The lighthouse starts shining a beam during the day. This beam seems to match the times when cargo ships pass by and when the weaker vibrations happen.
Steve figures out that the strong vibrations happen every time the star Antares passes directly overhead at Airey's Inlet. A weaker vibration often happens earlier that day. All this time, Steve is getting to know Mirny, a mysterious old fisherman. Police detectives in hats are also seen looking around the lighthouse.
The Big Secret Revealed
At the end of the story, it's revealed that Mirny is actually an alien! He and his friends are from another planet. They were sent to Earth to get deuterium oxide, a special kind of water. They need it as fuel for their dying star, which is Antares.
The aliens have changed the lighthouse into a "transmat beam" (a kind of teleportation device). They use it to take the deuterium oxide from passing cargo ships. They also have a much more powerful transmat beam hidden in a well near their underground base.
These transmat beams are what Steve's seismograph is detecting. The weak vibrations happen when the deuterium oxide is beamed from a ship to the lighthouse. The stronger vibrations occur when the deuterium oxide is beamed all the way back to the Antares system as it passes overhead. This powerful beam uses so much energy that it briefly overloads the town's power station.
The albatross that Steve saw disappear accidentally flew into the transmat beam while it was active.
In the final episode, Mirny tells Steve and Andy who he really is and why they are on Earth. Steve and Andy understand how important it is for the aliens to save their star, even as the police get closer to finding them.
Mirny and his friends use the powerful transmat one last time to beam themselves home with the last of the deuterium oxide. They just manage to escape the police. The transmat device is destroyed in this huge effort. Seawater then floods the well and the underground base, washing away all signs of the visiting aliens.
Steve and Andy return to university, keeping their amazing secret.
How the Show Was Made
The show was filmed in black and white using 35mm film. The lighting and sets were quite simple because the show had a small budget.
All the episodes of Alpha Scorpio are kept safe in the National Archives of Australia.
Another children's series from the same production team, called Andra, was made around the same time. Andra was based on a novel by Louise Lawrence. While Alpha Scorpio was aimed more at boys, Andra was for girls, but both shows had very interesting plots.
