Station Zero (series)

  This article is from an Out-of-Canon perspective  Station Zero  was a long running television programme which aired on Q6 from 1968-1992.

Creation
Q6 Head of Drama Dolores Maidment was looking for a way to jump on the bandwagon of science fiction programmes which had recently taken television by storm. Writers Barry Jeffries and Lydon Bostock were enlisted to create something "bold, fresh, but not too outré."

Within a week the writers had an outline for a show taking place on a large "space base," later amended to a space station. The station would lie at the center of important traffic lanes for the "Earth Imperium" at some point in the future and would serve as a transit point between colony planets and Earth proper.

The show was originally intended to focus on hard-headed fighter pilot Lieutenant Slade Tyler, with a secondary emphasis on the crew and residents of the station, including Commander Harold Islington and his granddaughters Sarah and Dierdre.

Casting
Casting was underway in the autumn of 1967. One time child actor Richard 'Dick' Chandler was cast in the role of Lieutenant Tyler, but due to a mix-up in notification, he had already committed to another programme at Q6. Scripts were hastily re-worked to work around the Slade Tyler character's occasional absences and to shift the central focus of the show to Commander Islington, his family, and some of the main crew of the station.

Renowned Shakespearean actor Peter Lee was quickly cast as Commander Islington, with Norman Ford joining days later as Ensign Jack Freed. Young newcomers Heather Dunn and Ginger Atkins were cast as Sarah and Dierdre Isling respectively, while Jasper Wilkins and Karen Masters took the roles of their parents, Alexander Islington and Lucille King-Islington. The main cast was rounded out with the addition of Esme Walters as young technician Maisie Douglas and Agatha George as Nurse Emily Church.

Early Filming
Filming began sometime in mid-March of 1968 (exact production schedules for the early years have been lost,) with the first three scripts being filmed simultaneously. There was some concern that the hectic schedule would be difficult for Peter Lee, who was 68 at the time, but instead it was the younger people in the cast who suffered. Heather Dunn broke her arm in an on-set accident on only the fourth day of shooting, and Norman Ford came down with bronchitis in the second week.

The characters of Alexander and Lucille, intended to remain through at least the first season, were quickly judged as dead weight by the network higher-ups and were written off in a shuttle accident in a last minute revision of the fifth script.

Lee's Departure
In early 1970 Peter Lee's wife Angela was diagnosed with cancer. After discussing the matter with both the producers and his family, Lee decided that there was simply no better decision than to leave his role on Station Zero in order to be with his family. The character of Commander Harold Islington "retired," taking his younger granddaughter Sarah with him. A secondary plot involving the return of Slade Tyler (whose appearances had been sporadic over the previous season) and his marriage to Dierdre Islington, was hastily scripted and filmed to bring closure to the first era of the programme.

Early Casting Changes
With the apparently permanent departures of Peter Lee, Heather Dunn, Ginger Atkins, and Dick Chandler, there was concern that the show might flounder. Well known comedian Francis Poleman was brought in to fill the role of Commander Roland Domino, while teen heartthrob Alan Harries joined as Ensign Hamish Poslin. They would later be joined by Alice Tyson as Matilda Krandall and, when Maisie Douglas left at last in 1971, Julia Terrance as the gyndroid. Zeta.

Enter Blydon Sharpe
In early 1972, plans were made to introduce a temporary villain who could cause trouble aboard the station and lead into an upcoming planned war arc. Judson Mastorianni was cast as Blydon Sharpe, a one-time power player within the Earth Imperium who had gone into a self-imposed exile for mysterious reasons. He was revealed, near the end of his first appearance, to be in league with the Jatheel, a race of sentient "space fish" who had first appeared in the fifth ever episode of the show and were bent on destroying human incursions into the outer cosmos. In his second appearance, Sharpe was apparently killed off, but not before seriously wounding Ensign Poslin. The second era of the show ended with Commander Roland Domino carrying his injured young friend to the sick bay while cloaked Jatheel war cruisers surrounded Station Zero.

The War with the Jatheel and a New Regime
Francis Poleman, a lifelong pacifist, refused to appear in the planned war story arc, and so Michael Reginald was cast as new commander Arthur Mackson. The beginning of this era also saw the arrival of a new producer, Paul Kerridge, a young up-and-coming player who would run the show for most of its remaining years.

This was also a completely new era as far as casting, with the entirety of the previous group choosing not to renew their contracts. Filling out the new cast were Alexander Morley as General Urlan Tomlinson, Pietro Giordiano as Lieutenant Dirk Jones, Karen Banks as First Officer Iolanthe Cunningham, Inga Colman as Science Officer Lorinda Dale, and Robert Judson as Sergeant Thomas Kettlewell.

Producer Paul Kerridge was out to bring some life to the show which, while it had done passably well before, had never had truly sensational ratings. Viewing numbers rose substantially in the first two seasons of the so called "war era," perhaps because of the increased action onscreen. The return of villain Blydon Sharpe early on probably also contributed, though the character had to be written out, apparently permanently, when actor Judson Mastroianni's suffering from Multiple Sclerosis made his work too difficult.

By 1974, ratings were flagging once more and both writers and cast were grumbling that there was only so much to be done when "fighting fish." The stories began to be more and more about ending the war, and about the interminable bureaucracy that often goes hand-in-hand with such work. Some claimed that the war era as a whole was an indictment of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but those involved in the production have stated that no such signifigance was intended.

Much of the then-current cast had departed by 1975, and a new character in the form of Commander Mackson's daughter, Lieutenant Allison Mackson (played by well-known children's television presenter Marianna Graydon) was introduced to help wind down the ongoing plot.

Back to Basics
The character of Lieutenant Mackson was the only one to roll-over into the next era. Little known stage actor Daniel Halson was cast as Commander Franklin Richardson, joined by Douglas Tremble as veteran soldier Major Alvin Kent and Joy Brown as Targa Nonka, a strange woman who was the result of a Jatheel-Human hybridization attempt.

It was decided that the action elements of the show could be toned down just slightly, to get back to good old fashioned science fiction story telling. There was also an attempt to draw a larger share of the family audience back with the introduction in 1977 of Ingrid Spenser and John Peeves as Commander Richardson's wife Jessica and son Jordon.

The departure of Ingrid Spenser after only half a season opened the door to a new plotline: her character, Jessica Richardson, was killed off, and Commander Franklin Richardson apparently went mad with grief. A new character, Colonel Kassiopeia Orleans, was brought in as an investigator from the Imperium to keep an eye on matters. Kassiopeia became a supportive figure to the Commander's son Jordan, as well as a possible love interest for the Commander himself. She was also quickly privy to the fact that Commander Richardson's apparent madness was all a part of his plan to flush out a saboteur aboard the station.

This is considered by many to be the defining era of the show, the time when it finally hit its stride after some bumpy times. The introduction of Peter Howell as the shadowy theologian Sub-Officiant Keller marked the first real use of open philosophical discussion (not simply philosophy buried under plot) in the show, intriguing a new breed of viewer who began to see Station Zero as more than simply a children's programme.

The deaths of Commander Richardson and Colonel Orleans in 1980 saw the end of this beloved era of the show. However, more exciting things were to come.

A Villain Returns
A new breed of commander came to Station Zero when Simon Carpenter was cast as Addison Sharpe. Commander Sharpe was young, untested, and sometimes nervous in command. He was also an openly religious character, and Sub-Officiant Keller became Commander Sharpe's theological advisor and confidante when it came to matters of running the station.

Also joining the cast were Ruth Jones as Altrasian engineer Coriola and Ann Morrison as scientist Vanessa Sharpe, the Commander's younger sister.

Controversies

 * Jasper Wilkins and Karen Masters were not informed  that their characters were being written out until shooting for Mission of Mercy had begun.  Unhappy with their treatment by the network, the two filed a complaint over breach of contract.  This dispute continued in some form or another until 1970, and both Wilkins and Masters remained on frosty terms with the show for over a decade.
 * Certain watch groups raised questions over interactions between the characters of Commander Roland Domino and Ensign Hamish Poslin.  Of particular concern was the apparent closeness of the relationship, prompting some to imply that things might be "perverse" or "improper."  This led actors Francis Poleman and Alan Harries to play up the closeness in retaliation.
 * Ingrid Spenser's quick departure halfway through her only season on the show led to some controversy when it was revealed that she was pregnant by co-star Daniel Halson.  The fact that no child ever arrived led to rumours of an abortion, though the official story is still that Ingrid had a miscarriage.

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