Star Maidens

''Star Maidens'' is a British-German science-fiction television series, made by Portman Productions for the ITV network. Produced in 1975, and first broadcast in 1976, it was filmed at Bray Studios and on location in Windsor and Bracknell, Berkshire, and Black Park, Buckinghamshire.

The series was partly financed by a German company, Werbung im Rundfunk (Advertising in Broadcasting), which dealt with distributing funding from the limited commercials shown on West German public TV. In this case, it was acting on behalf of the channel ZDF, which showed the series in West Germany.

The series consisted of thirteen 25-minute episodes. Based on an idea by Jost Graf von Hardenberg, the series was created by Eric Paice, who also wrote four of the 13 episodes. Two episodes were written by John Lucarotti and five by Ian Stuart Black (both of whom had previous experience writing episodes of Doctor Who), with two by Otto Strang. Producer James Gatward also directed two episodes, while Wolfgang Storch and Freddie Francis directed five each, with Hans Heinrich directing one.

Overview

The series presents a "battle of the sexes" and role reversal scenario. The planet Medusa, home to a highly evolved and technologically advanced humanoid race, was already ruled by its women when a rogue comet (as seen in the opening titles of each episode) knocked it out of its orbit around Proxima Centauri. Drifting through space, the orphan planet's surface became uninhabitable, with the inhabitants surviving in huge underground cities.

The series begins with Medusa's entry into Earth's solar system. At first heartened to discover another inhabited planet, the Medusans are “disappointed” to discover that, “contrary to all common sense”, Earth is controlled by men—with some Medusans even considering this a possible threat to their society.

In order to reach this apparent male “paradise” two Medusan males, Adam (Pierre Brice) and Shem ( Gareth Thomas), escape to Earth using a recently repaired ship. Although initially thought to have burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, the pair survive and are consequently pursued by Medusan security forces. When the Medusans, led by Supreme Councillors Fulvia ( Judy Geeson) and Octavia ( Christiane Krüger), fail to re-capture their two men, they take two human hostages – Dr Rudi Schmidt ( Christian Quadflieg) and his assistant Dr Liz Becker (Lisa Harrow) – back with them to Medusa.

Following the initial four episodes, which deal with the arrival of Adam and Shem on Earth and their various attempts to evade capture and seek asylum from the pursuing Medusan authorities, subsequent episodes present largely self-contained storylines set either on Medusa or Earth, showing the two pairs' various attempts to adapt to life on these alien worlds while officials broker an exchange, led by Rudi and Liz's boss, Professor Evans ( Derek Farr).

In the final episode, the two Medusans' ships involved in carrying out the agreed exchange are pursued by a spacecraft belonging to an alien race – known only as the ”Enemy” – that had hunted Medusans in the past. Despite their advanced technology and general antagonism displayed throughout the series, the Medusans prove incapable of actually fighting an enemy they instinctively fear: the “Enemy” is only defeated thanks to the joint actions of Dr Schmidt and Adam. The relieved Medusans return home with, it is implied, an altered opinion of men.

Background

Regarded as something of a camp novelty, ''Star Maidens'' features some female dominance elements, and touches on gender-based role models in western society. However, according to the notes included in the series’ 2005 DVD release, “the German producers intended for the series to be a sex comedy, where the British producers intended the show to be intelligent science fiction.” This clear disparity in creative vision likely contributed to ''Star Maidens'' lasting only one season, despite reasonable international sales.

Also, the series failed to become a significant “hit” in the UK, though this was at least in part due to ''Star Maidens'' not being given a consistent place in the schedules across the whole ITV network. Scottish Television, which had part-funded the show, scheduled the series on Wednesday evenings (6.30pm) from 1 September 1976. Tyne Tees Television was not alone in opting for an earlier, child-friendlier time slot (5.15pm) from Wednesday 8 September 1976. Several other commercial broadcasters chose to delay transmission until the new year, with London Weekend Television commencing very early morning on Saturday 1st January 1977 at 9.30am. However, the second scheduled episode 'Nemesis' on 8th January, was to be at 11am during the morning ''Saturday Scene'' strand for youngsters. However, it was inexplicably moved to 11am on Sunday 9th January during a last minute schedule reshuffle, with repeats of ''Space 1999s first series (originally intended for Sunday mornings at 11am) taking back its Saturday 11.30am slot instead. The remainder of ''Star Maidens'' in London continued in the Sunday morning slot. In contrast, Granada Television scheduled the series at 1.10pm on Sundays from 9 January 1977. HTV, meantime, didn’t begin to run the series until Monday 7 February, and again chose a child-friendly 5.15pm time slot.

The series is now recognised for its visual similarities with the British science-fiction series '' Space: 1999'', the second season of which was in pre-production at Pinewood around the same time. Although ''Star Maidens'' was shot at Bray Studios by a different production company, and did not benefit from as large a budget, both series featured the work of production designer Keith Wilson, many of whose props and set designs from ''Space: 1999'' were adapted for ''Star Maidens''. This, along with the re-use of sound effects from ''Space: 1999'', contributed to a very similar look and feel. Lead actresses Judy Geeson and Lisa Harrow had already appeared in guest roles in the first season of ''Space: 1999'': Geeson in the episode " Another Time, Another Place" and Harrow in " The Testament of Arkadia".

For the series' German dub, German natives Christiane Krüger and Christian Quadflieg provided their own voices, while the voices of the British cast were dubbed by other German actors.

Legacy

According to Gareth Thomas, around the same time he was being considered for ''Star Maidens'', he was also ‘up’ for a regular role in the forthcoming BBC series, Poldark (1975 TV series). Forced to choose between the two jobs, he opted for the former because – as it was a commercial television production with foreign investment – it offered more money per episode. While ''Star Maidens'' lasted just 13 episodes compared with ''Poldark''’s 29, had Thomas gone with the other role, it is unlikely he would have been subsequently cast as Roj Blake in the first two seasons of Blake's 7.

Cast

* Judy Geeson as Supreme Councillor Fulvia
*Lisa Harrow as Dr. Liz Becker
*Pierre Brice as Adam
* Gareth Thomas as Shem
* Christian Quadflieg as Dr. Rudi Schmidt
* Christiane Krüger as Supreme Councillor Octavia
* Derek Farr as Professor Evans
*Dawn Addams as Clara

Episodes

Reception

During the show’s initial broadcast by Scottish Television from 1 September 1976, the Television critic for ''The Scotsman'', Stanley Eveling, described the series as: “Trite and pleasing, worth a goggle ��about a lovely advanced planet somewhere up there where Germaine Greer would be happy. Glamorous Amazons preen in short tunics and spangled make-up while the glum males do the chores. It's a good idea losing its nerve now that Judy Geeson’s body servant has bolted for earth where men are men, etc., and I suspect the script has got into the hands of a male chauvinist pig.”

Subsequently, in ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', writer and journalist John Brosnan described the plotting as “chaotic” and “the role-reversal satire unsubtle. The series was (by UK standards) expensive – the special effects were superior to the script – and audience figures did not justify the cost of a second season.”

Nevertheless, in an article published by ''Nostalgia Central'', the series – although described as “basically a space-bound soap opera” – apparently attracted healthy global sales “to over 40 territories included Austria, Australia, numerous Arab states, Hungary, Switzerland and, contentiously, South Africa. Canada showed French language dub ''Les Filles du Ciel'' (“Girls of the Skies”), while a Dutch language dub ''Vrouwenplanet Medusa'' (“Medusa, the Planet of Women”) aired in the Netherlands. Respectable US syndication sales included Saturday evening broadcasts on New York’s WNEW-TV in 1978.

Understandably referring to the series as looking like “a low budget cousin of ''Space: 1999'', writer Martin Willey (on the ''Space: 1999''-focused '' The Catacombs'' website) suggested that the show “veers unevenly between light comedy and action, never finding the right tone. Most of the stories are run-arounds, especially those set on Earth (1970s England wasn't that exciting). In the space episodes, the aspirations of the design and effects are greater than the budget.”

Willey added: “It's clearly a reaction to 1970s ‘women's lib’, a hot topic at the time. It inspires some comedy, which now seems terribly dated. Mostly it's played straight, with only one episode really a comedy (‘The Perfect Couple’, set on a 1970s housing estate with the stay-at-home wives). There's no serious explanation or exploration of the theme either. The later episodes become more serious (‘What Have They Done To The Rain’ is quite good ecological science fiction; ‘Creatures of the Mind’ introduces mild horror with lonely robots).”

DVD release

The complete series of ''Star Maidens'' was released on Region 2 DVD from Delta Entertainment in 2005. The two-disc set includes an interview with actor Gareth Thomas as a special feature. In 2017, the series was re-released on DVD by Simply Media with new cover artwork.

Novelisation

A novelisation of the series, written by Ian Evans (a pseudonym of the sci-fi author Angus Wells), was published in the United Kingdom by Corgi Books in 1977.

A Large format tie-in hardback album with photos, stories, and comic strips was published by Stafford Pemberton in 1978.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0074061, Star Maidens
''Star Maidens''
at OldFutures

1976 British television series debuts
1976 British television series endings
1970s British drama television series
1970s British science fiction television series
British English-language television shows
German drama television series
German science fiction television series
ITV television dramas
Matriarchy
Fiction about rogue planets
Serial drama television series
Space adventure television series
Television episodes about alien abduction
Television series set on fictional planets
Television shows produced by Scottish Television