What would have made "Dragon's Domain" even better

[johnnybear]

Dragon's Domain was a fantastic episode to be sure! I remember watching 1999 on LWT tv in 1982 and even though I lived well out of the London area! Every Saturday morning I waited,video on and clicker in hand! I wanted three or more episodes to keep at the time,one being Dragon and the other Earthbound! Can you believe that LWT screened it last of all and had numerous breaks,even showing series 2 episodes first,jeez what memories...
JB:lol:

 

[Ham Salad]

Reality is that they would've want to crash as may of the alien ships on the Moon surface.

Actually, it probably have behooved them to just tow them into a stable lunar orbit...to be disassembled at leisure. Remember what happens to eagles that
hit the surface without any braking? 'Look over there kids, it's Cellini's crater!'

 

[PeteQ]

I was watching Dragon's Domain again last night. I have to say that listening to Albinoni's Adagio in Gm in 5.1 stereo through headphones together with the remastered HD images of Tony Cellini's lifeboat is a very moving experience. Have you noticed that the violin cadanza is synchronized to the moment back on Earth when Helena questions Cellini in hospital?

It's a shame they had to kill Cellini off because he's clearly an interesting character and played by a very good actor.

 

[Ham Salad]

What would make it better?

Hmmm.....

Huge gouts of blood?

 

[eagleharbor]

hers a weird question, Im building a large ultra probe with mechanics and stuff, Does the radar dish actually turn in the show? thanks if anyone knows

 

[Cellini]

hers a weird question, Im building a large ultra probe with mechanics and stuff, Does the radar dish actually turn in the show? thanks if anyone knows

I don't remember but the question is irrelevant. Even if in the show the radar dish is not shown to turn it should do it anyway.:yes: However, the mechanics and feasibility of a turning dish would depend on how big your model is going to be.

Please post pictures of your work when ready.

 

[eagleharbor]

Thanks for the feedback, Im very excited about how this project is coming together. radar dish is a go! Its a Mattel style,its about 6 feet long and not so accurate but a awesome looking toy so far. second question.... Im using a gi-joe sub for the main section(the prop will serve as the rotating dish after reconfigured) and besides the dragon and other cool stuff im putting in , it has a actual launching torpedo system that im changing into a relay-probe launch thing..do you think it would be corny to add audio like... "greetings from planet earth to the beings of ultra" etc,etc? Thanks again for your interest and thoughts

 

[eagleharbor]

sorry,yes my thoughts are ,Cellini should have lived long enough to say "I told you so" and those 2 hot girls did not need to to be sucked up by the monster . but speaking of hot girls ,did you see the blond ,in the crowd,that sent them off in the beginning....wow!!

 

[Conrad Turner]

Been so long since I saw the episode, can anyone put a picture up in the Sci-fi Babes thread?

Thanks.

 

[Senmut]

Actually, it probably have behooved them to just tow them into a stable lunar orbit...to be disassembled at leisure. Remember what happens to eagles that
hit the surface without any braking? 'Look over there kids, it's Cellini's crater!'

Weird. I did that in a fan fic I wrote.

 

[doctorwho]

I'm not sure but I just rewatched, when Cellini gets back as the sole survivor, why is Koenig in charge (on Alpha) ? Wasn't it supposed to be Gorski?

 

[Odahs]

Not sure about improving the episode, been about a year since I watched it, so will need to watch it again.

I think for me though the episode captured a sort of brooding fear of the vastness of outer space and a feeling of there being something out there nobody wants to know about - not really captured for me again until the first Alien movie.

Also comparing to Alien the main character's drive to face the 'monster' again. Makes me wonder how influential this episode may have been on Ridley Scott's masterpiece.

Out of all the first series episodes it stuck with me the most for sure, along with 'The Troubled Spirit'. Both for me had an element of space horror above the other episodes. Something I no doubt had a taste for after UFO!

 

[boatshewsd2]

I'm not sure but I just rewatched, when Cellini gets back as the sole survivor, why is Koenig in charge (on Alpha) ? Wasn't it supposed to be Gorski?

Always liked this episode, for its filling-in of some important backstory for the three lead characters...

Your questions had me scampering off to Catacombs , to brush up on events and players. The takeaways:

Cellini's report on why he was recovered, alone, in the Ultra ship (that the "dragon" killed his crew, and he barely escaped) was, of course, not believed by his higher-ups, and a major scandal ensued.

He, Victor Bergman and John Koenig (the other Ultra mission candidate; orange sleeve, remember!) were recalled to Earth, and all three summarily "grounded."

Not until 1999, and Breakaway, did Koenig's orange sleeve become the black one of Moonbase command; it's because of him, that Cellini is also back on the Moon before it bolts Earth orbit...thus setting the table for the eventual coming of Dragon's Domain...

 

[pfleming@jbt.co.uk]

The Dragon lives on....

In my head at least. And I don't mean I'd have brought it back in Series 3, unless there had been a very good reason to do so. No, for me the Dragon lived on, retreating back into its lair to repair itself while the graveyard drifted on. Never explained, never rationalised, simply because the Alphans had NO clue as to how it got there, how it survived so long, and its raison d'etre. One of the truly outstanding moments in Space 1999 - the terrifying, bleak and raw mysteries of interstellar space.

Not sure about salvaging the alien technology either - select one or more of those ships, take them in tow and then explore them at a later date? What's to say there's not a Dragon in each ship - and the one Cellini met was just a baby? No, if I were Koenig, I'd be out of there sharpish, never to return.

So, how to improve the episode? Simple: leave it as it is, a haunting, beautiful and horrifying story, elegantly told and masterfully created. As a fairly sheltered fifteen year old, in a loving and simple home, the unfolding events of that Thursday night still reverberate - I had never seen ANYTHING like it before. That's why I love that series so much, and always will.

"The gods know who is the better astronaut...."

Patrick

 

[birdie]

Helena compares Cellini to St George, and suggests he has created a new mythology for Alpha.

I always felt that the story has a greater similarity to the epic poem Beowulf. From Wikipedia

Beowulf and his warriors come to fight the dragon, but Beowulf tells his men that he will fight the dragon alone and that they should wait on the barrow. Beowulf descends to do battle with the dragon but finds himself outmatched. His men, upon seeing this display and fearing for their lives, creep back into the woods. One of his men, however, Wiglaf, who finds great distress in seeing Beowulf's plight, comes to Beowulf's aid. The two slay the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded

As for the monster, was Chris Penfold a Lovecraft fan, I wonder?

Tentacles, mind control and apparent inter-dimensional qualities, it's quite a Dunwhich Horror

I love how epic and mythic this episode is with the space of 50 minutes. Still one of my favourite pieces of sci-fi.

 

[boatshewsd2]

The Dragon and the Wolf...

Helena compares Cellini to St George, and suggests he has created a new mythology for Alpha.

I always felt that the story has a greater similarity to the epic poem Beowulf. From Wikipedia

As for the monster, was Chris Penfold a Lovecraft fan, I wonder?

Tentacles, mind control and apparent inter-dimensional qualities, it's quite a Dunwhich Horror

I love how epic and mythic this episode is with the space of 50 minutes. Still one of my favourite pieces of sci-fi.

Catacombs' brief on Dragon's Domain also makes comparisons to Beowulf. Scary stuff, on all accounts...

 

[doctorwho]

He, Victor Bergman and John Koenig (the other Ultra mission candidate; orange sleeve, remember!) were recalled to Earth, and all three summarily "grounded."

Not until 1999, and Breakaway, did Koenig's orange sleeve become the black one of Moonbase command; it's because of him, that Cellini is also back on the Moon before it bolts Earth orbit...thus setting the table for the eventual coming of Dragon's Domain...

In other words Koenig had already been in charge on Alpha pre-Breakaway. He was removed because of this incident and replaced by Gorski...

 

[Odahs]

Helena compares Cellini to St George, and suggests he has created a new mythology for Alpha.

I always felt that the story has a greater similarity to the epic poem Beowulf. From Wikipedia

As for the monster, was Chris Penfold a Lovecraft fan, I wonder?

Tentacles, mind control and apparent inter-dimensional qualities, it's quite a Dunwhich Horror

I love how epic and mythic this episode is with the space of 50 minutes. Still one of my favourite pieces of sci-fi.

Interesting the Lovecraft link, I'm not a great reader of fiction, but read everything I could find by H P Lovecraft when I was in my twenties!

 

[boatshewsd2]

Color Him This...

In other words Koenig had already been in charge on Alpha pre-Breakaway. He was removed because of this incident and replaced by Gorski...

He was a member of Reconnaissance.

 

[Senmut]

I would have liked to see an attempt to recover the Ultra Probe ship reactivated and salvaged. Alpha needs every bit of tech and supplies it can get, and the UP was a resource that should never have been passed up.