“Object Z is unique among children’s programmes. It does not feature children, teenagers, puppets, pop groups, animals. It was in fact originally written for adults…”
Kenneth Eastaugh, Daily Mirror 11th November 1965
This is an excellent release from the BFI of a series I
wasn't even aware of and was clearly an attempt to match the BBC's Dr Who or
even Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass, using a global threat posed by invading
aliens as a means of showing the divided world of the time. Like all good
sci-fi, it holds a mirror up to the science-present as much as possible perhaps
too boldly as the above quote reveals with some contemporary reviewers
concerned at the frightening concept and the message it sent about humanity’s
petty doom spiral… It’s rather sadly as relevant today as 60 years ago.
As a small child of the sixties I was convinced that the War
was still being fought, not in Europe but somewhere in Africa so ever present
where the scenes of conflict on programmes like All Our Yesterdays that
replayed the last big event over and over. The reality is, of course, that some
war was always taking place and so it has continued until our present state in
which more war is far from “unforeseeable”. Writer Christopher McMaster wanted
to make a global point about the threat to our long-term viability and that he
was able to do so via a “children’s show” says much for the prevailing
sensibilities of a country in which most people lived through the Second World
War, Korea and the Cuban missile crisis when the Cold War almost thawed.
Unseen since its first transmission on ITV in 1965, and now
newly remastered, Object Z is available on home media for the first time
and it feels like the discovery of a time capsule... from a time when we
trusted scientists and experts more than we do now. I remember this optimism as
it fuelled not only TV science fiction, Dr Who but also the Gerry
Anderson series, cinema with 2001 and others. At the same time there
were an increasing number of dystopian creations, The Prisoner, 2001
again (beware of AI), then Charlton Heston’s one-man industry of
post-apocalyptic disappointment: Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green,
The Omega Man and so on. The culture was wary about the speed of change
but, heck we still went to the Moon didn’t we? The darker edge of Quatermass was
revived on television with the growing environmental-futurist concerns of Doomwatch
(very on the nose), The Changes, The Tomorrow People and back to
Dr Who.
Object Z is an outlier in this respect with a group
of astronomers discovering a huge object heading in the Earth’s direction from
deep space with impact almost certain and the best-case scenarios still
offering little hope for civilised society. The media plays a major role in
communicating the truth, reflecting the Fleet Street heroes of The Day the
Earth Caught Fire (1961) – surely a major influence - with television producer
Peter Barry (Trevor Bannister)
and his assistant Diana Winters (Celia Bannerman) holding the narrative focus
in the race to find answers.
Meanwhile, society begins to fray as panic spreads and
extremist political opportunists attempt to take advantage of chaos led by the
Oswald Mosely type figure of Keeler (played menacingly by Arthur White, so
close to the real deal). The scientists and politicians must work together and
internationally too in an attempt to save the World and the tension ramps up
after an initial missile fails to even dent the object or alter its course in
any way.
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| Celia Bannerman on left, Trevor Bannister on right |
Some of the World might just survive in hastily assembled
bunkers but there’s no doubt that the impact is coming… is this an allegory or
a forecast? The last episode has two shocks with the latter making you wish
that season two existed… food for thought and a fascinating document.
“The recording was done as-live with no cuts, vision
mixing took place in real time with filmed inserts played in live; and included
a 125-second pause for the scheduled ad break. Only a genuine emergency would
have stopped the recording and line fluffs certainly did not count…”
Jon Dear in the booklet essay.
It’s fascinating to see how the budgeting and production constraints
impact the finished project with Jon Dear’s booklet essay being especially
informative inn this respect along with the excellent commentaries. The
episodes were filmed in order with three days’ rehearsals between Wednesday and
Friday before recording on a Monday and broadcast on Tuesday, fairly common
practice at the time and something which now adds a freshness and immediacy
with outweighs the cardboard sets and cheap special effects.
Back to the cast and Trevor Bannister is the one holding
everything together with a believability and force of conviction that regular
viewers of Are You Being Served? might be surprised by. He’s so good and
represents both viewer and his industry in terms of his reaction to the
unfolding reality and the horrors of what to come. He keeps on doing his job
and trying to find out the truth for his viewers… it’s a journalistic
sensibility that may sadly be of its time… Hopefully not.
The super science special features are revelatory especially
the illustrated booklet featuring new essays by Jon Dear, Dick Fiddy, Dr Elinor
Groom and William Fowler, and credits. This is available with the first
pressing only so please get in quick!
Also worth noting:
• Newly
remastered in 2K and presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Audio
commentary on Episode 1 by Jon Dear
• Audio
commentary on Episode 2 by Dick Fiddy
• Audio
commentary on Episode 3 by William Fowler and Vic Pratt
• Audio
commentary on Episode 4 by Dr Elinor Groom
• Audio
commentary on Episode 5 by Kevin Lyons
• Audio
commentary on Episode 6 by Celia Bannerman and Toby Hadoke
• In
Search of Sierra Nine (1963/2025, 7 mins): edited highlights from the sole
remaining episode of the Rediffusion science fiction drama Sierra Nine
accompany this investigation of a mostly missing television series
• Object
Z Episode 1 shooting script
• Image
gallery: rarities and curiosities relating to Object Z and its missing sequel
series, Object Z Returns
You can find Object Z in the BFI shop and also from all good online retailers, do not hesitate, you never know when something unexpected may appear in the stars...
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| Trevor Bannister looking confident in a publicity shot |
