Survival

Survival
Episode 04/13/06
Foster and the Alien
Production Info
Director	Alan Perry
Screenplay by	Tony Barwick
Production Code
IMDB Ref	tt0735632
Previous	Flight Path
Next	Exposed
Transmission Info
Episode	13
Airdate	6 January 1971
Previous	The Psychobombs
Next	Mindbender
Chronology
Story date(s)	April 12, 1981
Previous	Conflict
Next	The Dalotek Affair

Summary

Foster is stranded on the Moon and another astronaut is killed following an attack by aliens under cover of a meteor shower. Foster has lost contact with the Moonbase and is assumed to be dead so there is no search party. Then he meets an alien, also stranded, and the two have to work in a bizarre alliance in order to survive.

Errors and Explanations

Nit Central

1. ScottN on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 9:47 am: Near the opening, they're tossing darts at balloons with Straker's face on them. Would tossing darts in a room with a window be a good idea on the moon? In an interior room, yes, but an exterior room? spaceman spiff on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 6:43 pm: Actually, given the amount of pressure a porthole or "window" would have to hold in relative to the near-vacuum outside, it is highly unlikely a dart is a threat to moonbase. Try throwing a dart at a window with toughened glass here on Earth and you'll get the picture.
2. Anthony Appleyard on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 4:28 am: I wish they hadn't killed the alien at the end. Apart from that it was a good story. It was about the only episode where they showed an alien as a character and not merely a danger to be got rid of. webauk on Friday, June 07, 2002 - 10:40 am: I think killing the alien at the end was the whole point of the episode. Personally I saw it as an allegory against racism.
3. Will on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 10:20 am: Very good episode, but why would the alien shoot just one, single window? Moonbase didn't even know he was out there, and he could have taken pot-shots at every window, creating a panic. Damaging equipment outside, which could be life support or a reactor, seems like a good idea, too. The weapon may have failed after the first shot.
4. Had the alien been brought into Moonbase, I guess he would have removed his helmet, but wouldn't he need that liquid inside it to survive? GCapp on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 1:58 am: No, the aliens can breathe our atmosphere. The alien in The Square Triangle did it, so did the one in Computer Affair. Besides that, the aliens harvest our organs, including lungs that are designed to add oxygen molecules to blood cells.
5. Keith Alan Morgan on Tuesday, June 07, 2005 - 1:54 am:Why wasn't there some kind of automatic shutter on the window? They probably couldn't develop one that could be relied upon.
6. Why didn't the room have a handheld oxygen supply? The guy who suffocated could have survived then. It may not have been quickly available, and may not have worked due to the drop in air pressure.

The Episodes (Listed in filming order)

Production Block 1: Identified I Computer Affair I Flight Path I Survival I Exposed I Conflict I The Dalotek Affair I A Question of Priorities I Ordeal I The Responsibility Seat I The Square Triangle I Court Martial I Close Up I Confetti Check A-OK I E.S.P. I Kill Straker! I Sub-Smash

Production Block 2: The Sound of Silence I The Cat with Ten Lives I Destruction I The Man Who Came Back I The Psychobombs I Reflections in the Water I Mindbender I Timelash I The Long Sleep