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I just finished this CD and I was so amazed that I sat down and… started writing… and writing… :woohoo:
Balor Revisited
Space exploration has always fascinated me, the drive for exploration, the experience of venturing into an unimaginable unknown. Exhilarating it was to see the first photos of electrified dust devils swirling across the dusty plains of Mars, or dark lakes flowing across the frigid surface of Titan, or looking back in time to earliest galaxies of the universe! Should mankind venture out so far, there will come a day both awesome and terrifying when an explorer will stare down into the maw of a massive black hole.
At the tender age of nine, I was already long hooked on science fiction, though most of what was offered in television and films seemed farcical. Kubrick was one of the first to realistically portray space exploration—with the potential for other worldly encounters. Literary masters such as Bradbury and Clarke deftly created in their tales both a sense of wonder and unease, even dread. What would it truly feel like to experience something completely alien? The enticement of exploring the stars faltered a little as I pondered, “Is this actually safe? Would we like what we found?” A disquieting thought, indeed, to my otherwise enthusiastic space-faring mind.
Along came “Space:1999” in the mid-seventies and it was the first televised sci-fi series that felt real. The show was the polar opposite of the beloved, optimistic yet campy “Star Trek.” The crew living on Moonbase Alpha lived in a bright, sterile station that had overtones of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Beyond those smooth shiny white walls, however, the windows always looked out upon the utter blackness of space. The juxtaposition was disconcerting. Viewers always had the sense that this moonbase habitat was a cheerful, albeit fragile, plastic bubble, protecting them from a vast, relentless void—and that if the crew didn’t maintain a perfect balance in their duties, recycling and resourcefulness, death would swiftly overtake them. Thus, there was both charm and pathos to their existence.
This ultra-realism was, for me, a true taste of what it must be like to be in space; a continual battle for survival in a place where we didn’t belong. The irony was that the crew of Alpha hadn’t even come there to explore. They were mostly simple technicians and miners, doing a job, returning to Earth, and a paycheck, after a short spell on the moon. And now, with the Moon having been blasted from Earth’s orbit, there was no hope of ever getting home again. Unlike “Lost in Space’s” Robinson family, the Alphans didn’t even have the power to control the direction of the Moon or their destination. They were at the mercy of whatever (literally) came their way. Dark stuff, indeed!
The highlight of the series was the episode “End of Eternity.” Commander Koenig and team explore an asteroid (hoping to mine it for resources) and ignorantly release its imprisoned entity. There is obviously something quite wrong with a living man being entombed for all eternity inside a prison of regenerating rock, and the audience is at once mentally on guard. The alien, Balor, makes a heartfelt speech of thanks to the crew of Alpha for rescuing him. Sympathetically, we start to relax, thinking he is an unwitting exile to space as are the Alphans. They kindly allow him to join their family.
Things turn nightmarish. Balor lets slip the victim mask. The actor playing him describes Balor as “the most evil man in the universe,” and admits, “After playing him I knew that I could go no further in villains.” (From Peter Bowles’ autobiography, Ask Me If I’m Happy.) Balor becomes ruthless, sadistic and completely insane. What is worse is that he’s immortal. His rampage through Alpha isn’t much shown but my imagination went into overdrive (shudder). Remarkably, the more terrifying Balor seemed, the more heroic and loveable the crew of Alpha became, powerless though they were to stop this force of evil. This episode showed how the introduction of a chilling, powerful antagonist can make for some startlingly good drama!“End of Eternity” perfectly encapsulated one of the unknown forces that mankind might carelessly stumble upon in the drive to explore space. There would always be things beyond our control. It was lunacy to presume we would always be safe. Were we prepared to encounter such things? Absolutely not, and this frightened me on some deep level. As Balor puts it in William Latham’s wonderful novel, “You don’t belong out here!”
Since the Alphans find they can’t remove Balor (“What do you want me to do,” Koenig snaps, “ask him to leave?!”) and he can’t be killed, they resort to tricking him. A forerunner of “Alien’s” famous conclusion, the unstoppable alien, Balor, is blasted out an airlock into the interstellar void from whence he’d come. Luck wins the day for Koenig and crew… just barely.
I’ve seen variations of this theme repeated in sci-fi shows over the years with villains such as Count Iblis being “rescued” by the “Battlestar Galactica,” Khan being “rescued” in “Star Trek,” etc. Some of these monsters even possess uncanny echoes of Balor, such as “Phantasm’s” Tall Man, also unnaturally tall, inhumanly strong, seemingly immortal and dressed all in black (even down to the same boots). Seeing these villains made me wish “Space: 1999’s” creators could have brought Balor back for another episode. As terrifying and relentless as he seemed, many questions remained (“What made Balor this way?” and “Would he ever have granted the Alphans immortality—and what would that have entailed?”). Like Balor, I felt a little tricked myself, the ending never truly resolved. I saw how vulnerable, human, yet amazingly courageous Bergman, Koenig, Russell had been in the face of such adversity. The show’s writers couldn’t bring Balor back because the crew wouldn’t have been able to fool him twice. His return would mean doom. End of Alpha means end of show, and no one wants to see that. Anyway, the airless freezing environment of space surely would have killed Balor once he’d emerged from the safely of the airlock…
Thank God for William Latham! Here is a writer who asked the same questions and was brave enough to (gasp!) bring Balor back! He does so with creativity and infallible logic.
Spoilers ahead…
Turns out Balor isn’t still floating around in the void of space. The gravity of the Moon has captured him and he’s settled upon its dusty surface.
Space, as I expected it would, has done quite a number on Balor physically. Yet, as with the “living rock” that Dr. Bergman bombarded with antimatter, things from Progron eventually reform good as new. Balor’s amorphous, desiccated form manages to slither across the surface and force an entry into a lunar mine. Alarms go off, the Alphans check things out, they seal the breach (but don’t find the cause), the air comes back on… And Balor begins to regenerate, to breath, to think… (I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about this.)
Ultimately Balor finds Koenig and exacts (fitting) revenge. At this point, my jaw hit the floor. Things get even more intense. Latham weaves a simple, almost poetic, near death experience for Koenig that completely changes his (and my) fearful views about the cosmos and what lies beyond. The scene maintains enough mystery that the reader is left with a growing sense of yearning wonder, even awe. This, then, is why we are drawn to space! And the pity of it is that Balor never experiences this himself. Hope versus fear, meaning versus chaos. I’ve reread this chapter many times because it is so delicately yet beautifully written. Truly, this is Latham at his finest!
Balor comes across as almost sane, and this makes his character riveting. There is a long, thought provoking discussion with Koenig wherein Balor gives an analysis of mankind that is quite lucid albeit misguided. Latham brings back another “End of Eternity” character and I almost had tears in my eyes as Balor uses him in a heart-wrenching “demonstration.”
Latham’s story is definitely not a rehash of the original episode. Balor is no longer a baleful force run amuck, causing terror and destruction. I found myself actually intrigued by this because I’d always felt Balor’s crazed rampage was too contrived, especially for a man with 1,000 years to mull things over, no matter how alien his heritage. In Latham’s work, Balor has a definite plan. Though I had a hard time believing Balor would relinquish even the slightest control, it is fascinating to see what the gift of immortality can do. Ironically, Balor becomes a victim of his very own plan.
In the end, Latham uses logic and science, not luck, to save the Alphans. Though I felt sorry to see Balor’s immortality demystified—his alien gift of longevity explained with mere Earth-based biology—I was quite impressed with the amount of research Latham had done. Scientifically, it all made complete sense, and Latham keeps his explanations plausible and understandable. From a dramatic standpoint—the continuation of Moonbase Alpha—the conclusion is inevitable. And though I’m sorry to see Balor finally vanquished, it was heartwarming to see the reconciliations between the heroes, and the very human lessons they have learned.
Surprisingly, the savior of Alpha isn’t Koenig but Dr. Bergman. There is an important reason for this, but I won’t spoil things further. We see the story much of the time through his eyes, and it’s a pleasant change. I’d always loved the warm, pensive scientist; always thought it would be such fun to spend time with him in his solitary lab, away from the monotonous day to day management of the station. It was wonderful, here, to see Bergman step up to the plate as hero. Space: 1999 Resurrection, for a good while, becomes Victor’s story.
Years after finishing this novel, I was delighted to see Barry Morse mention in his autobiography Remember with Advantages that he had read the whole thing through as an audio book! I can’t thank Mateo Latosa enough for helping to create and send this long awaited CD. It has been a joy to experience this story once again, but now through Morse’s wonderful talent of “making noises.” In Morse’s autobiography, he refers to “Space: 1999” fans as “my honorary grandchildren.” And here on CD this affection genuinely shows. Morse is like a loving grandparent at a bedtime reading. With his tempered, soothing voice he draws the listener into the story. Lulled by Morse’s calming pace, it is suddenly quite amazing to hear him recreate the voices and dialects of all the characters! All that time on set with these people, here it really shines through. How endearing it is to hear Dr. Victor Bergman come to life again. Morse imbues Bergman with such warm caring, even heart breaking emotion, in a poignant scene moments after a horrifying encounter with Balor. His respect and friendship for Koenig never shined brighter.
But the true gem of the CD is when Morse begins to speak as John Koenig! I was utterly stunned! It’s as if Morse had secretly brought Martin Landau along for the reading! Morse had the vocal mannerisms—the very voice—of his friend down pat! And Morse’s renditions never slip. Every single time, he gets Landau spot on. The man’s talent is extraordinary! For this alone, I would have paid triple the price of the CD! One wonders what Martin Landau must have thought as he listened to this CD—and I sure hope he has! It must have been extremely flattering.
As for Morse’s rendition of Balor, at first I was a puzzled. Though Latham accurately captures Balor’s choice of words in the novel, Morse’s interpretation of the dialogue is… different. Gone is the near-manic glee that Peter Bowles portrayed on air. Morse’s Balor isn’t having fun anymore. Instead, Balor’s voice is stern and ponderous, eerily controlled. He chooses his words haltingly, each with deep thought. This gives Balor a very alien feel. Therein lies the beauty of it. Morse’s interpretation, dare I say (for I loved Bowles in the role), is more true to character. Here is a being with all the time in the universe (literally) to do anything he wishes. He is in no rush, not even when he speaks. That he no longer sounds like a maliciously gleeful bully, but more like a solemn underworld god, seems rather fitting. Though it’s not the Balor I remember from childhood, it is a fascinating interpretation by another (great) actor.
Overall, Morse is exceptional, making this CD an absolute must for anyone that loves “Space: 1999.” I so wish Morse could also have recorded Latham’s even more intriguing and comprehensive story about Balor’s origins, Eternity Unleashed. In that novel, unrestrained by the back story of Moonbase Alpha, Latham is completely free to create the world of Progron and to imagine the dark corruption of immortality. He also, rather remarkably, gives Balor a touching humanity that motivates him in a quest to cure the one he loves—echoes of the humility and gratitude glimpsed during his introductory speech to the Alphans in “End of Eternity.” Latham captures all this on page, then shows how it became so frighteningly twisted. He is a gifted, intelligent writer and it is gratifying to see him pondering the many “possibilities” of Balor, creating for such a memorable villain both a detailed, horrifying history, and a more succinct ending.
The concluding chapter of Resurrection is heartwarming, and reintroduces both hope and the poignant tenderness between Victor, Helena and John that made this show so great. And in a parting dash of humor, Latham proves that he completely understands these wonderful characters and leaves us with a smile.
Wonderful work, William and Mateo. Thank you both.
