STILL WITH US? IF YOU EVEN VAGUELY understood that introduction, you probably watched Luna, ITV’s early ’80s, post nuclear-family sitcom, remembered for its circumlocutory vocabulary and teenaged ingénue Patsy Kensit’s first title role.
The notion of a girl of the future came from Micky Dolenz, former drummer with 1960s US TV pop act The Monkees, and was inspired by his daughter Ami. Now billed as Michael Dolenz, he was producing LWT’s hit Saturday teatime sitcom Metal Mickey; Luna would soon follow in ITV’s Saturday schedules.
The ex-Monkee engaged actor Colin Bennett to write the series. He had previously directed Dolenz and fellow former Monkee Davy Jones in the 1977 Mermaid Theatre production of Harry Nilsson’s psychedelic musical The Point.
SFX happily caught up with Bennett at the Cotswolds home of his Luna co-writer Colin Prockter. Bennett and Prockter – the pair usually refer to each other by their surnames – had written together since meeting as touring actors and from 1980 developed Luna, with the effusive Dolenz acting as salesman. “We wrote this script but Micky went round and sold it,” Prockter recalls. “We had three goes with the BBC and LWT and it finally ended up at ATV. We’d go in very diffidently and very English-ly and say, ‘We’ve written this little thing you might be interested in.’ Micky would storm in and say how he wanted it shot. It was all very American and up and brilliant.” ATV’s new children’s commissioner Lewis Rudd greenlit Luna just as the company restructured as Central Television.
“I think Michael just liked Luna as the name for the girl,” remembers Bennett of Dolenz’s initial outline. “I think it was set on an orbiting space station.”
Bu hikaye SFX dergisinin February 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye SFX dergisinin February 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Making Alien - Jaws in Space - Forty-five years on from its original release, Alien continues to terrify. We dissect what arguably remains the most chilling instalment in the saga
The seven-strong crew of the commercial mining spacecraft the Nostromo seal their fate after reluctantly responding to a mysterious distress signal on a hostile planet. Here, a face-hugging alien from a derelict ship impregnates and later kills executive officer Kane (John Hurt) after its offspring is birthed onboard. After being unleashed, the fearsome newborn with acid for blood proceeds to dispatch the remainder of the crew.Ridley Scott's much more convoluted prequels have yet to reveal how the knowledge that led to this initial interception was acquired. However, the premise of the original Alien is perfect in its uncomplicated purity.
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