OK, so thanks to various threads, I've dipped back into the fascinating pool of the works of Gerry Anderson, and I've encountered something that has me befuddled.
Reading up on the various books I've recently gotten there's one consistent item that I've never seen addressed. It seems that back when Space:1999 was in production they had finished the first episode which doubled as the pilot. It ended up being about 2 hours long, was screened for ITC New York (which had frightening power and control by this point) and judged to be just completely terrible! Sheer, utter screeching boredom!
So, Anderson rolled up his sleeves, shot some new scenes, sat down in the editing room, cut and trimmed and brought it down to an hour and churned out 'Breakaway' as we know it.
OK, good story. So, where did that 2 hour pilot go?
I mean, even if original negs were re-conformed for Breakaway, there still was at least ONE, maybe several, actual finished prints, just like what Roddenberry had with his Star Trek pilot The Cage.
Where's the print? Why haven't any stills shown up? Why isn't it on my DVD megaset?
Now, mind, I'm still waiting on my copy of the Unauthorized Guide to Space:1999 and maybe that answers all the questions, but I wonder if there's something out there that's more 'common knowledge' that I've missed out on. Something more than just the 'they made this then made that' blurbs.
Anybody?
