Description
Pathfinders The Original Sci-Fi Trilogy
3-DVD Box Set
Contains all three series with 21 episodes: Pathfinders in Space, Pathfinders to Mars & Pathfinders to Venus.
Includes over 3 and a half hours of exclusive bonus content.
Total Running Time: over 8 hrs 45 mins. Sci-Fi. Black & White. Year: 1960-1961.
Directors: Guy Verney and Reginald Collin. Cast: Gerald Flood; Hugh Evans; Peter Williams; Harold Goldblatt; George Coulouris; Richard Dean; Stewart Guidotti; Brigid Skemp; Gillian Ferguson; Graydon Gould; Pamela Barney; Irene Sutcliffe; Astor Sklair; Michael Guest; Hester Cameron; Robert James; Bernard Horsfall & Bob Bryan.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Production booklet by archive television historian Andrew Pixley; Image Gallery (including behind the scenes images); Pathfinders prequel Target Luna scripts.
Legendary producer Sydney Newman’s Pathfinders trilogy was one of ITV’s earliest dramas written specifically for children. Over three series, the Pathfinders journeyed to the Moon and other worlds. With intelligent and engaging scripts by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice, the Pathfinders faced drama and excitement at every turn – from space hazards to Venusian dinosaurs and renegade crew members!
The three Pathfinders series were sequels to Target Luna, an early British sci-fi television serial produced by Sydney Newman, who later co-created Doctor Who as Head of Drama at the BBC. He wanted to develop a children’s serial which could educate its audience about science and the developing Space Race.
Pathfinders in Space (1960)
Professor Wedgwood and his team plan a rocket mission to the Moon. His children arrive to watch the launch but the automatic supply ship fails, and a journalist named Henderson and the children make a rescue attempt.
Pathfinders to Mars (1960-1961)
A new space mission, with Henderson as pilot. Crew member Harcourt Brown, played by George Coulouris, plans to divert the ship to Mars, as he is determined there is life on the planet. Trapped on Mars, the crew attempt to find a way home.
Pathfinders to Venus (1961)
Finally returning from Mars, the crew intercept a distress signal from a U.S. astronaut, and change course to attempt a rescue. However, Harcourt Brown sees what appears to be a settlement or a city and wants to investigate. The crew find the planet is capable of sustaining life and discover Wilson’s rocket-capsule, ripped apart from the inside. They are rescued, but Brown remains behind to live on Venus. The series included scenes of animated dinosaurs from the Czech film Journey to the Beginning of Time.
Target Luna is currently missing from the television archive. The three Pathfinders series were returned to ITV from other broadcasters, the final missing episode was discovered in the ITV archive in 2011.
