LOST IN SPACE

   US tv series (1965-68). An Irwin Allen Production in association with Van Bernard Productions for 20th Century-Fox Television/CBS. Created Irwin ALLEN, also executive prod. Story consultant Anthony Wilson. Writers included Peter Packer, William Welch, Bob and Wanda Duncan, Carey Wilbur, Barney Slater. Dirs included Harry Harris, Sutton Roley, Nathan Juran, DonRichardson, Sobey Martin. 3 seasons, 83 50min episodes. 1st season b/w; colour from 2nd.

   LIS was aimed primarily at children. The Robinsons' spacecraft is sabotaged by an enemy agent, causing them to crash-land on a remote planet. The group consists of the family of 5 - the series was originally to be called Space Family Robinson - along with a young male co-pilot (Mark Goddard) and the whining saboteur, Dr Smith, played with comic but sinister effect by Jonathan Harris; the Robinsons were played by June Lockhart, Guy Williams, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen and BillyMumy. There was also a ROBOT, whose catch-phrase was "That does not compute". Though remote, the planet soon became a stopping-off point for practically every space-travelling alien or monster in the Galaxy, each episode seeing the arrival of some new visitor. After the first season the Robinsons got back into space themselves. As the series progressed theyoung boy (Mumy) and the ambiguous Dr Smith became the central characters, together with the robot, while the others receded more and more into the background. The stories, at first straight sf, became more and more fantastic. LIS was probably the most enjoyable of Irwin Allen's many excursions into televised sf. Lost in Space * (1967) by Dave VAN ARNAM and Ron Archer (Ted WHITE) is a novelization.

   JB/PN