Alpha Scorpio
Six episodes of alien contact at an Australian coastal inlet.
Alpha Scorpio, a short-lived Australian children's sci-fi series, aired on ABC Television in 1974. James Davern wrote and produced the show, which starred Peter Hepworth and Kevin Wilson as university students who witness strange events while camping at Aireys Inlet, Victoria. They learn their friend Mirny (Kurt Ludescher) is an alien from Antares' fifth planet. The series ran for just six episodes.
Quick Facts
- Creator
- James Davern
- Director
- Keith Wilkes
- Ric Birch
- David Zweck
- Starring
- Peter Hepworth
- Kevin Wilson
- Terry Gill
- Neville Thurgood
- Alexandra Hines
- Kurt Ludescher
- Ian Smith
- Theme music
- Rick Wakeman
- Opening theme
- "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"
- Composer
- William Doyle
- Country
- Australia
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Andy, a geology student, brought a seismograph to the holiday hut. The device mostly picked up only artificial tremors from passing ships and road traffic. One afternoon, it recorded a ten-second event, and simultaneously, the local power voltage dipped. This event kept happening on odd-numbered days, occurring a little earlier each time. Sometimes a weaker, similar event appeared on the machine, but without any regular pattern. While Steve was fishing during one of these weaker events, an albatross flying overhead vanished before his eyes. Steve later noticed the lighthouse emitting a beam during the day, which aligned with the schedule of cargo ships and the weaker seismic events. He figured out that the stronger event happened whenever the star Antares passed directly overhead at Aireys Inlet, and a weaker event had occurred earlier that same day. Meanwhile, Steve grew closer to the mysterious old fisherman, Mirny, while police detectives in fedoras lurked near the lighthouse base. In the end, Mirny was revealed as an alien sent to Earth to collect deuterium oxide as fuel for Antares (also called Alpha Scorpii), their dying star. The lighthouse had been turned into a transmat beam to pull deuterium oxide from passing cargo ships. A more powerful transmat beam was hidden at the bottom of a well next to the aliens' underground base. Steve’s seismograph detected these beams: the weak events came from transferring deuterium oxide from ship to lighthouse, and the powerful event from beaming it back to the Antares system when the star passed overhead. The device needed so much energy to cross the 550-light-year distance that it briefly overloaded the town’s substation. The albatross had flown into the active transmat beam during a deuterium oxide transfer.
Technical issues
Filmed on low-budget 35mm black-and-white stock, the series had simple sets and lighting. All episodes are preserved in the National Archives of Australia. The same production team later made Andra, based on Louise Lawrence’s novel, which is equally hard to find. While Alpha Scorpio targeted pre-teen boys, Andra was aimed at pre-teen girls, though both had similarly compelling plots.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Alpha Scorpio?
Alpha Scorpio stars Peter Hepworth, Kevin Wilson, Terry Gill, Neville Thurgood, Alexandra Hines, Kurt Ludescher and Ian Smith.
When did Alpha Scorpio first air?
Alpha Scorpio first aired on 21 June 1974.
When did Alpha Scorpio end?
Alpha Scorpio last aired on 26 July 1974.
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