Target Luna facts for kids
Target Luna was an exciting British television show that first aired in April 1960. It was created by Sydney Newman, who later helped make the famous show Doctor Who! The story was written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice.
The first series, Target Luna, starred Frank Finlay as Conway Henderson and Michael Craze as Geoffrey Wedgwood. It was very popular and led to three more adventure series: Pathfinders in Space (September 1960), Pathfinders to Mars (December 1960 – January 1961), and Pathfinders to Venus (March 1961). In these later shows, Gerald Flood and Stewart Guidotti took over some of the main roles.
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Space Adventures: The Serials
The four TV series, Target Luna and the Pathfinders shows, were a big hit with viewers. People loved watching the space adventures! For example, one episode of Pathfinders to Mars was the second most-watched show on New Year's Day in 1961.
Target Luna
Number of episodes: 6
- The Rocket Station
- Count Down
- The Strange Illness
- Storm in Space
- Solar Flare
- The Falling Star
Story of Target Luna
Professor Norman Wedgwood (David Markham) leads a special rocket team on a faraway island in Scotland called Buchan Island. His children, Geoff (Michael Craze), Valerie (Sylvia Davies), and Jimmy (Michael Hammond), come to visit. They want to watch his newest rocket launch! A journalist named Conway Henderson (Frank Finlay) is also there.
Suddenly, the rocket's pilot gets sick. Young Jimmy ends up taking his place on a mission to the Moon! He even brings his pet hamster, Hamlet, along for the ride. After some scary hours in space, Jimmy, Hamlet, and the rocket safely return 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
Story of Pathfinders in Space
Professor Norman Wedgwood (now played by Peter Williams) and his team are planning another trip to the Moon. Geoff, Valerie, and Jimmy (now played by Stewart Guidotti, Gillian Ferguson, and Richard Dean) are there to see the launch of their new rocket, MR1. Their journalist friend Conway Henderson (now Gerald Flood) is also present.
But something goes wrong! The automatic supply ship, MR2, doesn't launch correctly. Henderson and the children decide to try a daring rescue mission using Jimmy's pet, Hamlet (who is now a guinea pig!).
Henderson, Geoff, and Jimmy blast off in MR2. They soon discover Valerie has secretly come along for the ride! MR1 lands first, and MR2 tries to land using radio control. As MR2 enters the Moon's atmosphere, it almost crashes into a mysterious object. They land safely, but they are 100 miles off course. Both groups set off to find each other.
On their journey, Jimmy and Hamlet fall into a hole. It turns out to be an airshaft leading to a huge cave! Inside, the MR1 group finds an airlock. This leads them to discover an alien spaceship! When the MR2 group arrives, they find the fossilized body of a person. They also find an old journal. It says this person was part of a group of humans who fled Earth long ago because of a war. They died on the Moon because they ran out of supplies.
Later, meteors hit MR1, and the rocket explodes! This means only two people can leave in MR2. Professor Wedgwood tries to fly the alien ship. In the end, everyone returns safely to Earth. Back home, Wedgwood says, "As man reaches out towards the stars, who knows what he might find..."
Pathfinders to Mars
Number of episodes: 6
- The Imposter
- Sabotage in Space
- The Hostage
- Lichens! (live broadcast)
- Zero Hour on the Red Planet (live broadcast)
- Falling into the Sun (live broadcast)
Story of Pathfinders to Mars
A new mission to the Moon begins from Buchan Island in a rocket called MR4. This time, Conway Henderson is the pilot. Professor Wedgwood's oldest son, Geoff, is the radio operator. Professor Mary Meadows, Henderson's niece Margret (Hester Cameron), and Hamlet are also on board.
However, one of the crew members is a science writer named Harcourt Brown (George Coulouris). He secretly plans to change their course to Mars! Brown believes there is life on the Red Planet. He succeeds in getting MR4 to Mars. But the journey is long. The crew realizes the only way to get home is to find water on Mars.
Luckily, MR4 landed within 100 miles of the polar ice cap. So the group sets off, including Brown. They encounter strange lichens, deep cracks in the ground, and other dangers. Brown is very upset when he finds no intelligent life. He feels tricked and plans to leave the others behind. But lichens get into MR4, stopping Brown. This gives the crew a chance to take control.
Now, Earth has moved out of Mars's orbit, making the trip home impossible! But Brown comes up with an idea: they can use the Sun's gravity to slingshot them back. After setting off, the crew slowly get sick from the Sun's gamma rays. By a miracle, there is a total eclipse, and Mercury blocks the Sun's rays. But then they start being pulled into Mercury's gravity!
The crew then realizes that Buchan Island has been tracking Mercury. This allows MR4 to find its way back to Earth. As MR4 escapes the Sun's dangerous rays, Brown starts thinking about other life on other planets. He now sees Venus 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
Story of Pathfinders to Venus
Returning from their unexpected trip to Mars, the MR4 crew picks up a distress signal from Captain Wilson, an American astronaut. They must change course for Venus to try and rescue him! Through the space periscope, Brown sees what looks like a settlement or city. Desperate to explore, Brown changes Wilson's message. He tricks the crew into landing on Venus so they can "rescue" him.
Landing on Venus, the crew discovers, to Brown's delight, that the planet can support life! It's a huge jungle. They investigate further and find Wilson's rocket-capsule, the US V7, torn apart from the inside by something. Brown gets separated from the others and finds Wilson. Wilson then tricks Brown into finding his "city."
Henderson, Meadows, Geoff, Rosie, and Hamlet find a trail leading into volcano caves and get separated. While separated, Henderson, Geoff, and Meadows find cavemen. Margret (and Hamlet) find Wilson, Brown, and a Venusian cave-child whom she names 'Kiki'. Reunited, the group has to escape lava flow and find themselves in a desert.
Keeping to the left and through the desert, the Wedgwood party discovers dinosaurs, diamonds, and uranium. When they get closer to Brown's "city," they find it's just an ancient burial ground for Kiki's ancestors. As their journey continues, the group realizes that Venus is like a copy of Earth, with dinosaurs and prehistoric humans living at the same time.
Finally returning to the jungle, they discover that lava has set the jungle on fire, heading towards MR4. Brown, determined that the planet must not be ruined by what they've seen, decides to overload the rocket. However, Henderson stops him just in time to see a Russian rocket land nearby. The pilot, Colonel Korolyov, explains they have extra fuel for MR4. In exchange, they want to know about Wilson's secret mission, which was actually an experiment in telecommunications.
As they prepare to leave, Brown announces he is staying behind. Kiki has lost her parents, and Brown feels responsible for hijacking MR4. To him, Venus is a perfect, untouched paradise.
MR4 takes off with fuel for the return journey. Finally, after months away from home, the Wedgwood party and Wilson safely return to Earth on Buchan Island.
Main Cast Members
Here are some of the main actors and their roles in the Target Luna and Pathfinders series.
Target Luna
The director for Target Luna was Adrian Brown.
- David Markham as Professor Norman Wedgwood
- Frank Finlay as Conway Henderson
- Michael Craze as Geoffrey Wedgwood
- Sylvia Davies as Valerie Wedgwood
- Michael Hammond as Jimmy Wedgwood
Pathfinders in Space
The director changed to Guy Verney for this series. Many of the returning roles were played by new actors. Jimmy's pet hamster, Hamlet, was even changed to a guinea pig so he would be easier to see on screen!
- Peter Williams as Professor Norman Wedgwood
- Gerald Flood as Conway Henderson
- Stewart Guidotti as Geoffrey Wedgwood
- Gillian Ferguson as Valerie Wedgwood
- Richard Dean as Jimmy Wedgwood
- Pamela Barney as Professor Mary Meadows
Pathfinders to Mars
Guy Verney continued as director. In this series, Professor Wedgwood retired, and Conway Henderson became the main character. New characters were introduced, like Margret Henderson, Conway's niece, and Harcourt Brown, a science writer.
- 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
Pathfinders to Venus
Guy Verney directed most episodes, with Reginald Collin directing two. The main cast stayed mostly the same, with new additions like 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
- Brigid Skemp as Kiki (the Venusian Child)
How the Shows Were Made
Sydney Newman wanted to create an adventure series for children that could also teach them about science and the exciting Space Race happening at the time. Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice wrote all four series. Target Luna was directed by Adrian Brown, while the three Pathfinders shows were mostly directed by Guy Verney.
Pathfinders to Venus even used animated dinosaurs from a Czech film called Journey to the Beginning of Time! During Pathfinders to Mars, the last three episodes had to be filmed live because of time limits.
Where Are the Shows Now?
Back then, these shows were recorded on expensive videotape. This tape was often erased and used again, meaning many old TV shows were lost. Target Luna is currently missing from TV archives.
However, copies of the Pathfinders series were made for selling to other countries. For a long time, these three Pathfinders series were also thought to be lost. But they were eventually returned to ITV from other broadcasters! In 2011, the very last missing episode was found in ITV's own archive. All three Pathfinders series were later released on DVD 51 years after they first aired.
