:''Murder in Space is also the title of a 1955 science fiction novel by David V. Reed and a 2007 mystery novel by Sydney J. Bounds.'' ''Murder in Space'' is a 1985

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

murder mystery

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

set in the near future. The crew of an international space mission are on the return leg from

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

when an explosion occurs on the craft ''Conestoga'', shortly after a series of murders starts. The crew of the returning craft are forbidden to return until the murderer is caught. On its initial worldwide premiere, the film was shown without the ending and a competition was set for the viewers to solve the mystery of who the murderer or murderers were. The conclusion of the film was shown several days later, with the contestants eliminated one by one until the winner correctly identified the killer or killers. The final 15 minutes of the film was shown at a later date when the mystery was solved with only two countries provided winners with the correct answer.

Conestoga crew

----

Other cast members

Other cast members were reporters, wives and husbands, mission control staff and additional Russian characters.

Prize money

* USA - $60,000 * UK - £10,000

Related Prizes

PRIMETIME magazine, the FIRST CHOICE*SUPERCHANNEL program guide, featured a pull-out entry form which allowed viewers to identify the four murdered characters, their nationalities and, bizarrely, “how murdered?”. It then asked the ultimate question – “Who Committed the Murders?” Readers who correctly guessed the answer had the opportunity to win a trip on the

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe and int ...

however no entries received were actually correct so instead the closest answer to who was the murderer was given a years free subscription to the magazine.

Accompanying book

A novel also called "Murder In Space", published by Penguin, was produced around the same time; the last page of the book was an entry form for the competition to solve the mystery. It was written by "FX Woolf", a pen-name for Howard Engels and Janet Hamilton. The UK Sci-Fi TV Book Guide

Murder in Space: The Solution

A television show, hosted in the UK by Anneka Rice and Roger Cook and broadcast in July 1985 on TV Channel ITV, featured members of the UK public who were close or knew who the murderer actually was, thus winning the £10,000 prize money. The solution was then shown in the final 15 minutes of the movie to reveal the answer. Retronarios Cable TV Throwback

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder In Space (Tv Series) Films about astronauts Canadian science fiction television films English-language Canadian films 1980s mystery films Films scored by Arthur B. Rubinstein Films directed by Steven Hilliard Stern 1980s Canadian films