The Day After Tomorrow (TV special)

In the future, human survival is increasingly threatened by pollution, environmental damage and natural resource depletion.[1] A narrator (Ed Bishop) introduces the science vessel Altares as the first Earth spacecraft to "harness the limitless power of the photon". This allows it to travel at the speed of light, potentially causing "effects predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity – effects that could shrink the very fabric of space, distort time, and perhaps alter the structure of the universe as we understand it."

Altares and a crew of five are due to depart Space Station Delta for Alpha Centauri to seek out Earth-like planets for colonisation. To counter the effects of time dilation, which causes astronauts travelling at light speed to age far more slowly than people on Earth, the crew will be made up of two complete "family units": Captain Harry Masters and his daughter Jane, and Doctors Tom and Anna Bowen and their son David. Docking at Delta in a United Nations shuttle, Tom, Anna and David board Altares as Jane leaves her dog Spring in the care of station commander Jim Forbes. With pre-launch checks complete, Captain Masters engages Altares' photon drive and the ship begins its 4.3-light-year journey to Alpha Centauri.[2] As Altares leaves the Solar System, Jane and David observe how Pluto turns blue then red due to the shortening and subsequent lengthening of light waves caused by the Doppler effect.

Arriving at Alpha Centauri, the crew launch a series of satellites that will transmit data back to Earth. Having completed their primary objective, they agree to push deeper into space. When Altares encounters a star cluster, Anna tells Jane of Einstein's discoveries in the fields of special relativity and unified field theory. Soon after, the ship is hit by a meteor shower that damages key systems and causes the photon drive to re-activate, hurling the ship through space at impossible speed and knocking the travellers unconscious. Eventually a fail-safe brings the crippled ship to a halt inside the gravitational field of a red giant on the brink of supernova. Captain Masters dons a heat suit and enters the reactor core in a dangerous bid to repair the photon drive. He succeeds, and Anna and Jane move the ship away from the star before it explodes.

After detecting a signal from Delta, the travellers are able to calculate their position and set a course for home. However, disaster strikes when Altares is caught in the pull of a black hole. Although the ship cannot reach the faster-than-light speeds needed to break free, Anna believes that the black hole may lead to another universe and urges her companions not to give up hope. Crossing the event horizon, the travellers experience an array of mind-bending space-time distortions. They emerge on the other side of the black hole alive and well, albeit unable to return to Earth. As Altares heads towards an unknown planet, the narrator concludes: "One thing is sure – this is not the final word. Not the end, but the beginning. A new universe, a new hope? Only time will tell."

After filming on the first series of Space: 1999 ended in spring 1975, producer Gerry Anderson was contacted by NBC executive George Heinemann with an idea for an educational science-fiction TV series.[3][4] This would comprise seven hour-long episodes designed to teach children science in the form of an action-adventure.[1][3][4][5] NBC intended to promote the series by distributing information leaflets to schools.[3] To launch the series, Heinemann commissioned Anderson to make a TV special about Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity, which holds that the speed of light cannot be exceeded and remains constant whether an object is still or in motion.[3][4]

Filming

Inspired by designs used in Space: 1999, special effects technician Martin Bower built a six-foot-long (1.8 m) scale model of Altares (shown here above the model of Space Station Delta).[1] His work has been praised.[7][8]

The Day After Tomorrow was filmed over ten days in July 1975 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire on a budget of £105,000 (about £887,000 in 2019).[1][3][4] The special effects shots required a further six weeks of filming at Bray Studios in Berkshire.[1][4] Production ended in September.[1][4] The special was directed by Charles Crichton, who had directed eight episodes of Space: 1999. Other members of the crew – including effects director Brian Johnson, editor David Lane and cinematographer Frank Watts – had also worked on the series.[1][3] As Anderson's regular composer Barry Gray had other commitments, newcomer Derek Wadsworth was commissioned to devise the theme and incidental music (the latter in collaboration with Steve Coe).[5][9] For Space: 1999's second series, Wadsworth would replace Gray as composer.[5][9] Professor John Taylor served as scientific adviser on the production.[2]

In the absence of Bob Bell and Keith Wilson, who were working on The New Avengers and Star Maidens, Anderson's business partner Reg Hill assumed the role of production designer.[1] The Altares interiors were the first sets that Hill had designed for Anderson since the making of Fireball XL5 in 1961.[1] They were constructed from parts of the Ultra Probe set originally built for the Space: 1999 episode "Dragon's Domain", along with design elements from other episodes.[7]

The scale models of Altares were designed and built by uncredited model-maker Martin Bower, who took inspiration from the various spaceships that had appeared in Space: 1999 and was initially under the impression that his work was to appear in that series.[1][2] A three-foot-long (0.91 m) model was used for long shots; close-ups used a larger six-foot (1.8 m) version, which was fitted with a powerful light to represent the photon drive and gas-powered jets to simulate exhaust.[1] The 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) Space Station Delta model was a modified form of the SS Daria featured in "Mission of the Darians".[1] A number of props made for the special would be re-used during the production of the second series of Space: 1999.[1]

The Day After Tomorrow was first broadcast in the United States on 9 December 1975 as the third episode of the NBC anthology series Special Treat. In the UK, it was first shown on 11 December 1976 on BBC1.[1]

In the original cut, the opening scenes showed two titles: the series title The Day After Tomorrow superimposed on a starfield, then the episode title "Into Infinity" on a model shot of the lift transporting the characters from Space Station Delta to Altares. As it would transmit the programme as a one-off special, not an episode of a series, the BBC edited the title sequence prior to broadcast to remove the series title, believing that the appearance of both titles would be confusing to audiences. In any case, deleting the episode title would have been more difficult as the lift shot was dynamic and included multiple elements. Consequently, the special was listed in Radio Times and other press as Into Infinity.[1]

BBC1 repeated the special on 6 December 1977.[10] In 1997, the BBC deleted the master tape from its archives but kept an edited copy for future repeats.[5] The same year, clips from The Day After Tomorrow and the Space: 1999 episode "Black Sun" were featured in "Black Holes", an episode of the Channel 4 documentary series Equinox.[2] On 9 November 2014, the special was repeated on BBC Four under the title The Day after Tomorrow: Into Infinity. It was introduced by Professor Brian Cox of the University of Manchester, who stated that he had been a fan of the special since he was a child and praised its scientific accuracy.[11][12]

In a review for TV Zone magazine published in 2002, Andrew Pixley praised the acting, music and direction, commenting that the programme "oozes with the charm associated with the golden era of Anderson." However, he added that the premise "falls flat. Rather than making physics a palatable piece of escapist hokum, the format is dragged down to the level of a scantily-illustrated physics textbook ... something isn't quite right."[13] Elizabeth Howell, a science journalist, believes that The Day After Tomorrow is remarkable for its depiction of space exploration "in the colonisation sense, rather than Star Wars and its descendants who show space as a spot to be conquered." She further comments that the themes are "strangely timeless ... the true, unknown part hits you at the very end."[14] Chris Bentley, author of The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide, draws parallels with the Fireball XL5 episode "Faster Than Light", whose plot concerns the problems encountered by the crew of spacecraft traveling at light speed.[1][2]

After passing through a black hole, Altares approaches an unknown planet. The Day After Tomorrow's special effects have had a mixed critical response and inspired comparisons to the work of film director Stanley Kubrick, while the appearances of the mass–energy equivalence equation E = mc² have been seen as confusing.[6][8]

In a review for Anderson fanzine Andersonic, Vincent Law describes The Day After Tomorrow as an "oddity" and "uncharacteristically lacklustre" by Anderson's standards, commenting that while it "cracks along at a fair old pace", the educational aspects hamper the story and character development. He argues that Jane is the only character who develops over the course of the film; the adults, on the other hand, are "pretty much peripheral", while David is essentially a "miniature Spock" who "lurks around the ship either brandishing his slide rule, threatening to calculate something, or staring out of the porthole (a nice touch!) dribbling about pulsars." Law also criticises the narration, remarking that Bishop occasionally sounds "like a presenter of one of those old schools programmes from the '70s, just imparting a string of dry facts."[8] He believes the quality of the production design and effects to be lower than that of Space: 1999, praising the miniature model work but suggesting that some of the visual effects are "more in keeping with Blake's 7." He regards the "info dump" introduction as a weak imitation of the Space: 1999 title sequence and believes that the appearances of the mass–energy equivalence equation, E = mc², only confuse the audience. Law suggests that the plot about an accident-prone spaceship reflects shifting public attitudes to space exploration in the 1970s, noting that it was a decade "when optimism in the space programme was on the wane". However, he views the use of props like slide rules and punched cards, which he considers heavily outdated for a "lightship" of the future, as an indicator of how The Day After Tomorrow "has stood the test of time less well than other series."[8]

On his Internet blog, literary critic John Kenneth Muir praises the "lyrical" script, "stunning" photography and "top-notch" effects. Calling The Day After Tomorrow a "high-tech, science-minded update of the whole Lost in Space format", he comments that its plot mixes action with "psychedelic" moments like the fall into the black hole, which he considers "a Kubrickian wonder, a montage dominated by double images, slow-motion photography and the use of a creepy distortion lens. Pretty powerful stuff for a kids' show."[6] Law regards the faster-than-light travel shots as the best effects, negatively comparing the black hole sequence to the ending of the 1968 Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey: "Kubrick's Star-Gate it is not."[8] Muir describes the special as "less minimalist ... in colour and costume" than the first series of Space: 1999 (also known as "Year One"), believing that elements like Wadsworth's "hard-hitting, hard-driving" score liven up the proceedings.[6] The music has also been praised by Law and Gerry Anderson himself.[8][15]

Science-fiction writer and critic Christopher Mills likens The Day After Tomorrow to a version of 2001: A Space Odyssey "for kids", commenting that the plot features "wonky pseudo-science and insanely improbable coincidences". He considers the slow-motion fall into the black hole "a bit of a hoot", criticising the actors' exaggerated body movements. Mills also expresses surprise at "how 'British' ... the characters [are], facing each new peril with remarkable calm and 'stiff upper lip' stoicism ... they're apparently so resigned to being jerked around by the universe that they just hold hands and calmly await their fate."[7]

Muir sums up The Day After Tomorrow as a "[Space: 1999] Year One-style 'awe and mystery of space' narrative, but one conveyed in the more colourful-looking or -sounding Year Two fashion" as well as a "time capsule of once-state-of-the-art science fiction".[6] Mills considers it a "solid little piece of 70s juvenile sci-fi" that is perhaps "not quite as 'scientifically accurate' as it pretends to be, but fun".[7] To Law, it is a "half-forgotten experiment" that may interest only committed Anderson fans, but also provides "an interesting look at what might have been" had Anderson gone on to make a full series.[8]

Douglas R. Mason, an author of several Space: 1999 novels, wrote a novelisation of the special for Futurama Publications. As The Day After Tomorrow was conceived as a pilot, Futurama intended Mason's book to be the first in a series. However, when it became apparent that no further episodes would be made, Futurama cancelled the novelisation, which to date remains unpublished.[2] In 2017, a new novelisation by Gregory L. Norris was published by Anderson Entertainment.

The special has been rated U by the British Board of Film Classification since 1997.[16] In 2002, a DVD of The Day After Tomorrow and Star Laws, Anderson's 1986 pilot for a series that would later be made as Space Precinct, was released by Fanderson as part of its members-only merchandise range.[13] In 2015, the special was re-issued on DVD as part of the compilation release "The Lost Worlds of Gerry Anderson" by Network Distributing.

• Albert Einstein in popular culture
• Space stations and habitats in fiction
• Stars and planetary systems in fiction

• Hirsch, David (September 1979). Zimmerman, Howard (ed.). "Gerry Anderson Meets Albert Einstein on TV". Starlog. Vol. 4 no. 26. New York City, New York: O'Quinn Studios. pp. 43–46.
• Vincent-Rudski, Jan, ed. (November 1993). "Fantasy Flashback: Into Infinity". TV Zone. No. 48. London, UK: Visual Imagination. pp. 22–25. ISSN 0957-3844.

• The Day After Tomorrow on IMDb
• The Day After Tomorrow at BBC Programmes
• The Day After Tomorrow (DVD trailer) on YouTube