Earthbound

Air Date: 12/4/75    written by Anthony Terpiloff    Directed by Charles Crichton

This episode capped off the character arc of Simmonds (Roy Dotrice), the politician who ended up stuck on the moon in the first episode, Breakaway. He's at odds with most everyone else on the base, especially Koenig, because he wants the primary focus to be finding a way back to Earth, while Koenig seems content with making do. The base personnel detect an alien ship, which lands near the base. Inside are a few tall, long-haired aliens sleeping in stasis containers; problem is, the heroes think they are dead and Dr. Russell's tampering reduces one of the aliens to ash. However, these aliens are apparently very pacifistic and bear no grudge for the accidental killing. The aliens have traveled from a dying world and their goal had been to go into our moon's orbit before heading to Earth; since our moon no longer orbits Earth, that's a kink in the plans. But, they are still able to plot a course for Earth, though it will be a long, 75-year journey. Simmonds immediately begins to plot ways to be rid of the "expendable" aliens and assure his own ticket to Earth.
This episode was unusual in that it featured a famous actor in the guest role - Christopher Lee as the captain of the small alien band. The aliens are presented as beings with a plausibly slight alien way of thinking - they do not react to situations in quite the way as we would expect, though they look human (and are even verified as quasi-human after some bio-tests). Their pacifism and unemotional attitudes suggests a slightly higher evolution than our own (a bit like the Vulcans on Star Trek). Though this is intelligent science fiction, the storyline is saddled with a dull tone for much of the episode, picking up only in the final act, when Simmonds goes bonkers and ends up in a cruel twist of fate. Though Simmonds becomes a true villain by the end, one can't help but feel sorry for him.  BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10