A mysterious phenomenon ( what 'Red Dwarf' would term a 'swirly-thing alert'! ) engulfs the Moon, splitting it into two. Personnel are duplicated, with the exception of Regina Kesslann ( Judy Geeson ) who babbles incessantly about Alan and Koenig being dead, and talks as though she is back on Earth. Shocked at seeing Alan ( a man she hardly knows but believes she was married to ) in Main Mission, she drops dead. An X-ray reveals the presence in her skull of two ( count 'em ) brains!
As if that was not bizarre enough, the Moon has returned to its point of origin - our Solar System. In its absence the Earth has become uninhabitable, except for an area called Santa Maria. Another Moon is in the sky. Koenig and Alan find the other Alpha deserted, and the remains of a crashed Eagle containing the corpses of their duplicates...
In 1969, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson made a feature film called 'Doppelganger' ( a.k.a. 'Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun' ) which postulated the theory that Earth had a twin, inhabited by duplicates. That idea is revisited here. The absurd notion of one person having two brains ( where could the other one conceivably go? ) aside, it is an intriguing tale, affording a glimpse into an alternative future for the Alphans, one in which Koenig and Alan are dead, Bergman survived, Sandra had Paul's babies, and Helena lost pride in her appearance. Still sounds more appealing than Year 2 to me.
The lovely Judy Geeson guest stars as 'Regina', although gets little to do other than act in a deranged manner. I felt most sorry for Alan - fancy being married to Judy Geeson, only to then discover it never happened.
Time corrects itself eventually, and the normal course of history is resumed, all with no help from Dr.Who whatsoever!
As if that was not bizarre enough, the Moon has returned to its point of origin - our Solar System. In its absence the Earth has become uninhabitable, except for an area called Santa Maria. Another Moon is in the sky. Koenig and Alan find the other Alpha deserted, and the remains of a crashed Eagle containing the corpses of their duplicates...
In 1969, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson made a feature film called 'Doppelganger' ( a.k.a. 'Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun' ) which postulated the theory that Earth had a twin, inhabited by duplicates. That idea is revisited here. The absurd notion of one person having two brains ( where could the other one conceivably go? ) aside, it is an intriguing tale, affording a glimpse into an alternative future for the Alphans, one in which Koenig and Alan are dead, Bergman survived, Sandra had Paul's babies, and Helena lost pride in her appearance. Still sounds more appealing than Year 2 to me.
The lovely Judy Geeson guest stars as 'Regina', although gets little to do other than act in a deranged manner. I felt most sorry for Alan - fancy being married to Judy Geeson, only to then discover it never happened.
Time corrects itself eventually, and the normal course of history is resumed, all with no help from Dr.Who whatsoever!