An unmanned Sun Probe has discovered a new planet in the solar system, in the same orbit as Earth but on the direct opposite side of the sun. The European Space Exploration Centre (EUROSEC) proposes a manned flight to the new planet in conjunction with NASA, but the American space agency only agrees to contribute the lion’s share of the budget when it becomes clear that the Sun Probe information has been leaked to the East.
The launch date is advanced and project director John Kane is joined aboard the Phoenix capsule by American astronaut Glenn Ross for a three week flight to the far side of the sun. On arrival at the new planet, however, their Dove shuttle is hit by an electrical storm and crashes. The astronauts are rescued but Kane is critically injured and Ross is puzzled to find himself back on Earth, facing questions about why they aborted the mission and returned to Earth after only three weeks. Slowly, it dawns on Ross that he has not returned to his own planet at all, but a duplicate Earth that is a mirror image of his own…
Century 21 Cinema/Universal Pictures
Produced: 1968
First UK Television Broadcasts – ITV:
- Saturday 7th December 1974 – 6.30pm (Granada)
- Saturday 21st June 1975 – 6.45pm (Border)
- Saturday 14th February 1976 – 7.45pm (ATV Midlands)
- Monday 31st May 1976 – 10.55am (Anglia)
- Friday 20th August 1976 – 2.30pm (HTV General Service)
- Tuesday 28th December 1976 – 11.20am (Yorkshire)
- Saturday 22nd January 1977 – 10.40am (Southern)
- Thursday 7th April 1977 – 7.10pm (Channel)
- Saturday 4th June 1977 – 8.00pm (Ulster)
- Sunday 27th November 1977 – 3.20pm (Tyne Tees)
- Sunday 15th October 1978 – 3.30pm (London Weekend)
- Saturday 11th November 1978 – 10.20am (Westward)
101 mins
Screenplay by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and Donald James
Directed by Robert Parrish
Premiere: 8th October 1969 (Odeon Cinema, London)
Producers: Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Associate Producer: Ernest Holding
Director: Robert Parrish
Director of Photography: John Read
Art Director: Bob Bell
Visual Effects Director: Derek Meddings
Music Composed and Conducted by Barry Gray