Escape To Paradise
Blown out of orbit from its home star of Proxima Centauri, the planet Medusa hurtles through space, its female-dominated society surviving by moving underground. Eventually, Medusa is captured by the gravity of a small yellow star elsewhere in the galaxy, and this new star even has its own life-bearing planet. But upon learning that this other world, Earth, is male-dominated, the Chancellor of Medusa forbids travel to that planet.
This restriction means nothing to Adam, Chancellor Fulvia’s personal servant. Tired of having to serve every whim of Medusa’s ruler, he plans to make his escape to Earth. He enlists the services of his friend Shem, a sharp engineer but still far too accustomed to living under the boot of Medusa’s women. Shem has been working on a ship that Adam intends to steal for their flight to Earth. But the prediction computers on Medusa have spotted the trend toward a dangerous but futile revival of the “men’s liberation” movement – and Adam’s part in it. The two men race for the safety of Earth in their stolen ship, failing to work out a course that involves a safe landing. Chancellor Fulvia and her security chief, Octavia, can only watch helplessly as the runaway ship slams into Earth at what can only be described as a very unsafe speed.
written by Eric Paice
directed by James Gatward
music by Berry LipmannCast: Judy Geeson (Fulvia), Lisa Harrow (Liz), Gareth Thomas (Shem), Pierre Brice (Adam), Christian Quadflieg (Rudi), Christiane Kruger (Octavia), Derek Farr (Evans), Ronald Hines (Stanley), Penelope Horner (Medusan Announcer)
Notes: If Adam and Shem’s ship was on a collision course with Earth at 5,000,000 miles per hour, that falls a bit short of the astronomers’ observation the ship is incoming at “half the speed of light” (also known as approximately 336,000,000 MPH). Gareth Thomas, as Shem, mentions pursuit ships – something he’d get to talk about plenty two years later as the leader of Blake’s 7.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
Notes: The