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''A for Andromeda'' is a British television science fiction drama serial first made and broadcast by the

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in seven parts in 1961. Written by

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle FRS (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on other sci ...

, in conjunction with author and television producer John Elliot, it concerns a group of scientists who detect a radio signal from another

galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System ...

that contains instructions for the design of an advanced computer. When the computer is built, it gives the scientists instructions for the creation of a living organism named Andromeda, but one of the scientists, John Fleming, fears that Andromeda's purpose is to subjugate humanity. The serial was the first major role for the actress

Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...

. Only one episode of the original production survives, along with a few short extracts from other episodes. ''A for Andromeda'' has been remade twice: first by the Italian state television

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

in 1972 and by the BBC in 2006. A sequel, ''

The Andromeda Breakthrough ''The Andromeda Breakthrough'' was a 1962 sequel to the popular BBC TV science fiction serial '' A for Andromeda'', again written by Fred Hoyle and John Elliot. Plot summary Kidnapped by ''Intel'' representative Kaufman (John Hollis), John Flemin ...

'', was made by the BBC in 1962.

Plot

The opening titles of each episode are prefaced by a television interview in which Professor Ernst Reinhart (

Esmond Knight Esmond Penington Knight (4 May 1906 – 23 February 1987) was an English actor. He had a successful stage and film career before World War II. For much of his later career Knight was half-blind. He had been badly wounded in 1941 while on active ...

) looks back on the events of the serial.

"The Message"

Great Britain, 1970 – a new

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

, designed by the young scientists John Fleming (

Peter Halliday Peter Halliday (2 June 1924 – 18 February 2012) was a Welsh actor. Early life The son of an auctioneer and estate agent, Halliday was brought up in Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, and attended Oswestry School in Shropshire. On leaving school h ...

) and Dennis Bridger (

Frank Windsor Frank Windsor Higgins (12 July 1928 – 30 September 2020), known professionally as Frank Windsor, was an English actor, primarily known for his roles on television, especially policeman John Watt in ''Z-Cars'' and its spin-offs. Biography Win ...

) under the supervision of Professor Reinhart (

), has been built at Bouldershaw Fell. Shortly before its official opening, the telescope picks up a signal from the distant Andromeda Nebula. Examining the signal, Fleming realises that the signal is a computer program.

"The Machine"

Fleming is permitted to use the computer facilities at the London Institute of Electronics, where he is aided by Christine (

). Using the computer to decode the message, Fleming realises that the message contains a set of instructions for the construction of another more advanced computer. The message also contains another program for the computer to run, and data to process. Bridger meanwhile, has sold out to an international conglomerate called Intel, represented by the sinister Kaufmann ( John Hollis). The British government decides to build the computer at a military establishment at Thorness in Scotland. The computer is switched on and begins to output its first set of instructions.

"The Miracle"

The team at Thorness is joined by the

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

Madeline Dawnay (

Mary Morris Mary Lilian Agnes Morris (13 December 1915 – 14 October 1988) was a Fijian born British actress. Life and career Morris was the daughter of Herbert Stanley Morris, a botanist, and his wife, Sylvia Ena de Creft-Harford. She trained at the Ro ...

). The computer is outputting instructions for the creation of living cells. Fleming becomes nervous, worried that whatever life-form they are creating may not have humanity's best interests at heart. Dawney proceeds with the experiment, however, synthesising a primitive

protoplasm Protoplasm (; ) is the living part of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. It is a mixture of small molecules such as ions, monosaccharides, amino acid, and macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc. In some defi ...

ic life-form. In the meantime, Bridger's leaking of Thorness' secrets has been discovered. Bridger is confronted by

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

agent Judy Adamson (

Patricia Kneale Patricia Kneale (17 October 1925 – 27 December 2008) was a British stage and television actress. She was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Career Kneale gained a Meggie Albanesi scholarship to RADA, where she was awarded the Bancroft gold ...

); fleeing he tumbles over a cliff to his death.

"The Monster"

It is now 1971 and the protoplasmic lifeform, now nicknamed "

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

" on account of its giant eye, continues to grow. Fleming has become ever more sceptical about the project, certain that the computer has its own agenda. He comes to realise that two terminals positioned either side of the computer's main display have the ability to affect the brainwaves of those who stand near it. His warnings are not heeded, however, and Christine, mesmerised by Cyclops and by the machine, is compelled to grasp the two terminals – she falls to the floor, killed by a massive electric shock.

"The Murderer"

Following Christine's death, the computer outputs a new set of instructions – this time for the creation of a complete human

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

. Fleming is horrified and demands that it be killed. He is ignored. The embryo rapidly grows to maturity; everyone is stunned when it is revealed to be a clone of the deceased Christine. The creature – which they name "Andromeda" – quickly learns to communicate and is brought before the computer. The computer, realising its instructions have been carried out, destroys Cyclops as it has been superseded by Andromeda.

"The Face of the Tiger"

Andromeda is put to work developing a program to enable Britain to intercept orbital missiles which a foreign power is firing over British

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is th ...

as a demonstration of power. Using the missiles designed by Andromeda, they are successful in destroying one of the missiles. The Government is now determined to make full use of Andromeda, not just for defence but also to aid industry. Fleming continues to make trouble and has his access to the computer revoked. He is horrified to discover that the Government has made a trade deal with Kaufmann and Intel for the rights to a new

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

that Andromeda has developed that heals injured cells. By this stage, Dawnay is also beginning to have doubts about Andromeda – she agrees to aid Fleming by entering a program into the computer to convince it Andromeda is dead. The program is quickly discovered and reversed by Andromeda. However, the computer soon exacts its revenge – it corrupts the formula for the enzyme, making Dawnay and her assistants sick.

"The Last Mystery"

It is 1972 and the message from the Andromeda Nebula has stopped transmitting. Fleming has been able to determine the correct formula to counteract the effects of the enzyme and save Dawnay. Fleming, Dawnay, Reinhart, and Judy now agree that Andromeda must be stopped – however, the military now has control over the project. Andromeda tries to kill Fleming but fails; she confesses to Fleming that she is a slave of the computer, which is working to take over humanity. Fleming gains entry to the computer room where he takes an axe to the machine, destroying it. Now free of the machine Andromeda is able to access the safe that contains the copies of the original message with the instructions for building the computer which she burns so that the machine cannot be rebuilt. She flees with Fleming to one of the islands near the base. Pursued by soldiers, they hide in a series of caves on the island. However, Andromeda is apparently killed when she falls into a deep pool. The dejected Fleming is brought back to Thorness by the soldiers.

Background

Origins

was an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

best known for his work on the understanding of the creation of the elements through

stellar nucleosynthesis Stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. A ...

, for developing the

steady state theory In cosmology, the steady-state model, or steady state theory is an alternative to the Big Bang theory of evolution of the universe. In the steady-state model, the density of matter in the expanding universe remains unchanged due to a continuous ...

of the universe and for coining the term "

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

" for the steady state theory's rival dynamic evolving model of the universe. Hoyle also had a taste for science fiction, having written a novel, ''

The Black Cloud ''The Black Cloud'' is a 1957 science fiction novel by British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. It details the arrival of an enormous cloud of gas that enters the solar system and appears about to destroy most of the life on Earth by blocking the Sun ...

'' (1957), about a cloud of interstellar gas that threatens the Earth; this was adapted for radio and broadcast on 14 December 1957 by the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

.Pixley, ''Viewing Notes'', p. 3 The BBC were also interested in adapting ''The Black Cloud'' for television but Hoyle had already signed away the movie rights. Hoyle followed ''The Black Cloud'' with another science fiction novel, ''Ossian's Ride'' (1958); this attracted the interest of Norman James, a BBC designer keen to move into television production, who contacted Hoyle with a view to obtaining the rights to the novel. In discussion with the writer, James learned that Hoyle was interested in writing an original story for television. James contacted John Elliot, the assistant head of the BBC Script Department, who was interested in making a science fiction serial. Elliot, along with James and BBC

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wi ...

Donald Bull, met with Hoyle who outlined a potential story for an eight-part serial; this was what would eventually become ''A for Andromeda''. Hoyle drew his inspiration for the serial from the work of astronomer

Frank Drake Frank Donald Drake (May 28, 1930 – September 2, 2022) was an American astrophysicist and astrobiologist. He began his career as a radio astronomer, studying the planets of the Solar System and later pulsars. Drake expanded his interests ...

who at that time had begun "

Project Ozma Project Ozma was a search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) experiment started in 1960 by Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake, at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank at Green Bank, West Virginia. The object of the e ...

", one of the first experiments in the

Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other p ...

(SETI). In late June 1960, the BBC made an offer of 250

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

to Hoyle for the idea, which would be dramatised for television, as a serial in seven 30-minute parts, by John Elliot. Hoyle replied, "It has seemed to me that the overall sum of 250 gns is unsatisfactorily low. My own computations would suggest 1000 gns. I estimate that such a sum would still be only 2–3 percent of the receipts by the BBC from licences. Such a percentage still seems low – it is considerably less than rates available in the US".Mitton, ''Conflict in the Cosmos'', p. 254. Eventually, a fee of 700 guineas was agreed. Elliot delivered his draft scripts between March and April 1961; at this point it was decided that each episode should run for 45 minutes and so Elliot had to work to expand each script.Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p.7.

Casting

The title role of Andromeda was played by

. Hoyle originally saw Andromeda as an

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in ...

character but Elliot changed this to a young woman. The production team were keen to cast a young, unknown actress. While searching for a suitable candidate, co-producer and director Michael Hayes met an agent who suggested Julie Christie, then a student at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

, recommending her as "the new Bardot".Davies & Montagu, ''Andromeda Memories'' In playing the part, Christie wanted to give the character of Andromeda more emotion but Hayes directed her to act more impassively, using his camera to define the character. Mindful that a sequel was under consideration, Hayes advised the BBC to sign her up before she became a big star; he was ignored and the role had to be recast for the sequel, ''

''. Christie went on to have a highly successful film career, her breakthrough role occurring in ''

Doctor Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...

'' (1965).

played John Fleming. He had trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

before joining the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

where he met and befriended Michael Hayes. Halliday had a reputation for playing angry young men.Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 9. Because the serial was set in the near future, both HoylePixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 6. and Michael Hayes felt that women would occupy more progressive roles in the years to come. This was reflected in the writing and casting; appearing as the security services agent, Judy Adamson, was

. Kneale found the character "a rather prissy sort of person, not really the sort of person I usually played at all." A late change to the script was changing the sex of the biologist character, George Dawnay, to Madeline Dawnay; writing to

offering her the part, Hayes said, "don't be put off by the fact that the lady appears to smoke a pipe half way through and give vent to some rather strange utterances."

Production

Norman James had hoped to produce the serial himself but the BBC felt it was too complex an undertaking for a novice producer. However, James was given the role of co-producer and designer; he also received an additional payment in acknowledgement of his role in developing the serial. Assigned as co-producer and director was Michael Hayes who had directed the Shakespearean serial ''An Age of Kings'' (1960). Location filming took place in July 1961 around London, including at IBM's offices on

Wigmore Street Wigmore Street is a street in the City of Westminster, in the West End of London. The street runs for about 600 yards parallel and to the north of Oxford Street between Portman Square to the west and Cavendish Square to the east. It is named aft ...

, and in the vicinity of

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park oc ...

, Wales where the

Manorbier Manorbier (; cy, Maenorbŷr ) is a village, community and parish on the south coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The name means the ' Manor of Pŷr'. The community includes Jeffreyston and Lydstep. An electoral ward with the same name exists. ...

Army Base stood in for the Thorness research centre.Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 11. The army assisted the production by providing a helicopter for scenes of personnel arriving at Thorness and for aerial shots of the base and environs. They also supplied a pursuit launch for the chase scene in the final episode. A number of pre-filmed inserts were also shot at

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...

.Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 13. The production then went into studio at

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...

with each episode recorded every Wednesday between 1 August 1961 and 13 September 1961.Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 14. For editing purposes, the output of the electronic studio cameras was recorded onto 35mm film rather than

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...

. A last minute addition to the serial were the pre-credits sequences at the start of each episode depicting Reinhart recalling the events of the serial in a television interview.Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 15. These were made in the style of the well-known interview programme '' Face to Face'' hosted by John Freeman and were shot at Television Centre on 22 September 1961.

Broadcast and critical reception

The debut episode of ''A for Andromeda'' was promoted on the cover of

listings magazine A listings magazine is a magazine which is largely dedicated to information about the upcoming week's events such as broadcast programming, music, clubs, theatre and film information. The BBC's ''Radio Times'' was the world's first listing ...

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

''. The accompanying article said, "A new science fiction series is an exciting prospect at any time. When it is backed by the authority of a scientist with the international reputation of Fred Hoyle, it ranks as a major television event". ''A for Andromeda'' was broadcast on Tuesday nights at 8:30pm from 3 October 1961.Pixley, ''Viewing Notes'', p. 30. The opening episode was watched by 7.5 million viewers; however, by the end of the serial this had risen to 12.9 million viewers and the serial averaged 9.6 million viewers over its seven-week run. ''A for Andromeda'' met with a varied critical reception. "Science fiction serial starts well", said ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' after the broadcast of the first episode, adding, "Although it is encouraging to have the authority of Professor Fred Hoyle for the scientific credibility of 'A for Andromeda''.. it is the skill of Mr Hoyle the novelist that will mainly be called upon to hold our attention".Gregory, ''Fred Hoyle's Universe'', p. 140. '' The Evening News'', meanwhile declared the serial to be "a jolly good successor to ''

Quatermass Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...

''".Pixley, ''Viewing Notes'', p. 16. Not so impressed was L. Marsland Gander in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' who wrote, "As a devotee of Prof. Hoyle and a keen student of disembodied intelligence I felt impatient... I am too well acquainted with iswork to be disappointed, but the temptation is great". A harsher verdict came from Philip Phillips of the '' Daily Herald'' who said, "The next six episodes might be brilliant. But I won't be watching them" while ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' said, "I cannot with the best will find anything in the least exciting about ''A for Andromeda''".Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 17. The BBC produced an Audience Research report for episodes one, five and seven. Many respondents criticised the serial for being slow and full of scientific terminology.Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 18. However, as the serial progressed, viewers became more enthusiastic; after episode five, one viewer said, "The serial, like Andromeda herself, suddenly came alive. This episode was spine-chilling".Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 19. Another commented "I didn't like the way Andromeda was created – it is absolutely against Christian belief".Pixley, ''Production Notes'', p. 20. J.A.K. Fraser of Dornock, Scotland, wrote to the BBC's correspondence programme '' Points of View'', saying, "Enough surely has been seen of Prof. Fleming's overacted hysterical outbursts". Writing to the ''Radio Times'', B.W. Wolfe of

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

said, "Congratulations on the recent BBC-tv science-fiction serial ''A for Andromeda''. Bug-eyed monsters we have seen before, but never a creature so radiantly beautiful as Andromeda herself. I was completely captivated". Other letter writers to the ''Radio Times'' discussed the scientific accuracy of the serial including one correspondent, C.W. Bartlett of

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, who wrote to inform readers that the reference to DNA (then newly discovered) was not a fictional substance but really existed.

Archive status

As was common practice at the time, the BBC's copies of the serial were junked after broadcast and the bulk of the serial still remains missing. In 2005, a 16mm film print of the sixth episode, "The Face of the Tiger", was donated to the BBC archives by a private collector; this copy is missing the pre-credits sequence of Reinhart's interview. A number of film clips from episodes one, two, three, and seven also exist, as does a full audio-only copy of episode seven, taken from an off-air recording. A complete set of off-air photographs, known as

tele-snaps Tele-snaps (often known as telesnaps) were off-screen photographs of British television broadcasts, taken and sold commercially by John Cura (born Alberto Giovanni Cura in Clapham, South London, England; 9 April 1902 – 21 April 1969). From 1947 ...

, were taken of all seven episodes and were held in the collection of Michael Hayes prior to his death.

Remakes

''A come Andromeda'' (1971)

A version of the serial entitled ''

A come Andromeda ''A come Andromeda'' (RAI, 1971), is an Italian television remake of ''A for Andromeda'' (BBC, 1961). It was still set in Britain ("in the following year") but filmed at Italian locations, and consists of five episodes of about one hour each. It w ...

'', still set in Britain (''"in the following year"'') but filmed at Italian locations, was made for Italian television (

) in 1971. It was adapted by Inisero Cremaschi and directed by

Vittorio Cottafavi Vittorio Cottafavi (30 January 1914 – 14 December 1998) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 70 films between 1943 and 1985. His film '' Il diavolo sulle colline'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at t ...

. This version still exists and has been repeated on Italian TV. It has been released on VHS, and latterly on DVD but without English subtitles. The cast includes

Nicoletta Rizzi Nicoletta Rizzi (1 January 1940 – 17 January 2010) was an Italian television, stage and film actress. Life Rizzi was born in Milan in 1940. She was mainly active on television, where she was best known for the title role in the television se ...

as Andromeda,

Paola Pitagora Paola Pitagora (born 24 August 1941) is an Italian film actress. She has appeared in 50 films since 1959. Biography Born in Parma, Pitagora attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and the acting school by Alessandro Fersen. In 1960 s ...

as Judy Adamson,

Luigi Vannucchi Luigi Vannucchi (25 November 1930 – 30 August 1978) was an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Caltanissetta, Vannucchi graduated at Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1952 and shortly after e ...

as Fleming, and

Tino Carraro Agostino Carraro (1 December 1910 – 12 January 1995) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Life and career Born in Milan, Carraro started acting at young age in several amateur stage companies. Carraro then graduated at the , ...

as Reinhart.

''A for Andromeda'' (2006)

A second remake of ''A for Andromeda'' was made by BBC Fictionlab for

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in early 2006. It was produced by Richard Fell, who the previous year had overseen a remake, performed live, of '' The Quatermass Experiment'', another classic BBC science fiction production largely absent from the BBC archives.

Novelisation

The prospect of novelising ''A for Andromeda'' arose early in the serial's production when Souvenir Press contacted the BBC in May 1961 indicating their interest in publishing a tie-in novel. John Elliot responded stating that while the concept had been Hoyle's, the characterisation, dialogue and plot structure was his. Elliot sent copies of the shooting scripts to Souvenir and was formally commissioned to write the novelisation in July 1961. The terms of the contract concerned Hoyle as they gave Souvenir first call on the sequel; he insisted that this could only be permitted if the sequel's novelisation was largely written by Elliot. Elliot delivered his manuscript on 28 September 1961. The novelisation was closer to the original 30-minute scripts and had much of the material required to pad each episode to 45 minutes removed. Promoting it as the story that would "out-''Quatermass'' ''Quatermass''", the book was published by Souvenir in February 1962. ''Weekly Science Diary'' said, "It is a brightly written, really exciting tale with the added inducement of scientific accuracy". It has since been translated into several languages. There have also been two alternative versions; the first – issued by

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

in 1964 – rewritten by Elliot in simpler English as a study aid for English language students and the second a children's version published in 1969. A major theme of the novel is that information for generating new life can be transmitted by radio signal over galactic distances. Hoyle and Elliot published the novel ''A for Andromeda'' in 1962 at a time when the fundamental importance of the biological information encoded in DNA was just starting to be understood. The fictional biochemist in the novel, Professor Dawnay, was able to create life forms, initially a bacterial form and later a human female, using what is referred to in the novel as a “D.N.A. synthesizer” and the DNA sequence information transmitted from the

Andromeda Galaxy The Andromeda Galaxy (IPA: ), also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula, is a barred spiral galaxy with the diameter of about approximately from Earth and the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way. The gal ...

. In the real world of today, whole

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ...

s can actually be built from chemically synthesized DNA sequences, and when inserted into a receptive cellular environment can be brought to life to create a novel organism (see for example Hutchinson et al.). Thus the fictional syntheses of life forms described in the novel anticipated what, today, is starting to be realized.

In other media

Several film studios, including

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, the

Associated British Picture Corporation Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appr ...

and

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

, made enquiries regarding the film rights to ''A for Andromeda''. However, no film version was ever made. In 2006,

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadca ...

released a DVD box set, ''The Andromeda Anthology'', comprising the original ''A for Andromeda'' and its sequel ''The Andromeda Breakthrough''. ''A for Andromeda'' was reconstructed using tele-snaps with on-screen captions to describe the plot set to a soundtrack of music from the serial. The surviving film sequences were placed in the narrative where appropriate and the surviving episode "The Face of the Tiger" was presented in its entirety. Extra features included a commentary on the surviving material by Michael Hayes, Peter Halliday and Frank Windsor; a specially made making-of documentary, ''Andromeda Memories''; an excerpt from ''Points of View'' as well as a photo gallery,

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

s of the shooting scripts and the ''Radio Times'' articles and detailed production notes by television historian Andrew Pixley. Both the Italian and BBC remakes of ''A for Andromeda'' have also been released on DVD. In 2007, footage of Julie Christie and Peter Halliday in the series is seen in ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

'' episode, "

Random Shoes In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual rando ...

References

External links

*
A for Andromeda
a
Action TV

at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

'
Screenonline

Andromeda book series
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:A For Andromeda 1961 British television series debuts 1961 British television series endings 1960s British drama television series 1960s British television miniseries BBC television dramas 1960s British science fiction television series Fictional computers Lost BBC episodes Lost television shows Works by Fred Hoyle British science fiction television shows Television shows written by John Elliot (author) English-language television shows Black-and-white British television shows