Review for Pathfinders in Space Trilogy (The)

Who on earth would want to spend hours and hours watching a creaky old TV show in black and white, with simplistic, almost patronising dialogue and special effects that would get laughed off You Tube? Well, me actually. So is that odd? Probably not - and this long-awaited release (along with 'City Beneath the Sea' - a sort of sequel to these three series) looks set to become a big seller for Network over the coming months, if archive TV blogs and forums are to be believed.


The Pathfinders trilogy (which makes it sound far grander than it actually is) was actually just three short series that followed on from 'Target Luna', a Sunday afternoon sci-fi. The first of the 'Pathfinders' series is 'in Space', a seven parter that looks and feels very much like vintage Hartnell-era Dr. Who. Westerns were slowly on the wane and space adventures were clearly the next big thing (look how quickly Gerry Anderson moved from 'Four Feather Falls' to 'Supercar') and this series definitely played to the genres rising popularity.


The target for the series was definitely kids. Any right-minded adult would struggle with the sheer absurdity of it all - people sneaking onto rockets with pet guinea pigs and then landing on the moon as if they've arrived at Brighton beach. The dialogue is all horribly stilted too with lots of 'terriblys' and 'isn't it just awfuls' being voiced by upper middle class children with jolly hockey stick enthusiasm.


Professor Wedgwood is about to take the very first men to the moon in his space rocket. But he has a problem. His supply rocket is faulty and will not work on automatic pilot. Cue the kids. Geoffery and Jimmy jump aboard with gung-ho reporter to save the day ('I expect Daddy will be cross when he knows we're on board'). Oh - and a stowaway ensures that a modicum of gender balance is observed too.




When they land, having never manned a rocket before, it transpires that they are 150 miles away from their Father's ship. When the prof. sets off in search of the other rocket he discovers that the moon has had previous visitors. The kids also discover evidence of previous life in a cave.


In Pathfinders to Mars, Conway Henderson (Flood) agrees to pilot a new interstellar rocket along with a crew comprising Geoffrey Wedgewood (son of the Professor) and his own niece, Margaret. However, the supposed Professor Dyson turns out to be an imposter, Harcourt Brown (George Coulouris), who sabotages the rocket's radio receiver so that no one can discover his real identity.

Working for a mysterious organisation called "Sector Ten" (who seem to be in cahoots with Martians) Brown holds Margaret as hostage and takes control of the rocket.


Pathfinder to Venus was a direct continuation from the previous series when the crew of the so-called M.R.4 picks up a distress signal from an American rocket orbiting around Venus which has been struck by a meteor and which may need to crash-land. By the time our intrepid crew have also landed on Venus they discover that the American ship has been ripped apart by some unknown alien force. Oooh 'eck.

Of course, every expense has been spared so nothing looks too convincing or scary by today's standards, though may well have had children peeking out from under cushions or from behind the sofa back in the day.


Although action throughout can seem stilted, and dialogue occasionally faltering, it's worth remembering that the show was recorded live - which is to say laid to tape in one take as video-tape editing back in the day was far from perfect. Many programmes made in similar circumstances have long been wiped as tape was expensive and re-usable, and programmes already aired were often considered done and dusted, more akin to theatre than TV as we now know it. Thankfully the fine folk at Network, and their helpful army of archive TV enthusiasts, have rescued many 'missing presumed wiped' series from the precipice.


Included in this excellent set is an essay by Andrew Pixley (not included with my check-discs) who always manages to give great context for archive material and I suspect this may be worth the price of the set all on its own. There is also a screenplay from the now lost pre-cursor to 'Pathfinders', 'Target Luna'.


Doctor Who enthusiasts will want to snaffle up this set pronto as an important part of the lineage (Producer Sidney Newman went on to launch Dr. Who and it shows), as well as any British archive TV enthusiasts, though I doubt anyone beyond this circle will get much out of it.

If you have even half an inkling that you'll enjoy it then don't hesitate to get on the Network site and order. Every little helps and without Network consistently taking commercial risks with their releases, none of this would ever see the light of day again and I for one am extremely grateful that it does!

[Note: Follow on series 'City Beneath the Sea / Secret Beneath the Sea' is also released by Network this week].