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Star Maidens is a British-German science-fiction television series, made by Portman Productions for the ITV network. Produced in 1975, and first broadcast in 1976, it was filmed at Bray Studios and on location in Windsor and Bracknell, Berkshire, and Black Park, Buckinghamshire.
The series was partly financed by a German company, Werbung im Rundfunk (Advertising in Broadcasting), which dealt with distributing funding from the limited commercials shown on West German public TV. In this case, it was acting on behalf of the channel ZDF, which showed the series in West Germany.
The series consisted of thirteen 25-minute episodes. Based on an idea by Jost Graf von Hardenberg, the series was created by Eric Paice, who also wrote four of the 13 episodes. Two episodes were written by John Lucarotti and five by Ian Stuart Black (both of whom had previous experience writing episodes of Doctor Who), with two by Otto Strang. Producer James Gatward also directed two episodes, while Wolfgang Storch and Freddie Francis directed five each, with Hans Heinrich directing one.
The series begins with Medusa's entry into Earth's solar system (although not mentioned, it is implied that the planet is captured by the Sun's gravity and commences a Pluto-style orbit - i.e. one that is not on the same plane as the other planets). At first heartened to discover another inhabited planet, the Medusans are “disappointed” to discover that, “contrary to all common sense”, Earth is controlled by men—with some Medusans even considering this a possible threat to their society.
In order to reach this apparent male “paradise” two Medusan males, Adam (Pierre Brice) and Shem (Gareth Thomas), escape to Earth using a recently repaired ship. Although initially thought to have burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, the pair survive and are consequently pursued by Medusan security forces. When the Medusans, led by Supreme Councillors Fulvia (Judy Geeson) and Octavia (Christiane Krüger), fail to re-capture their two men, they take two human hostages – Dr Rudi Schmidt (Christian Quadflieg) and his assistant Dr Liz Becker (Lisa Harrow) – back with them to Medusa.
Following the initial four episodes, which deal with the arrival of Adam and Shem on Earth and their various attempts to evade capture and seek asylum from the pursuing Medusan authorities, subsequent episodes present largely self-contained storylines set either on Medusa or Earth, showing the two pairs' various attempts to adapt to life on these alien worlds while officials broker an exchange, led by Rudi and Liz's boss, Professor Evans (Derek Farr).
In the final episode, the two Medusans' ships involved in carrying out the agreed exchange are pursued by a spacecraft belonging to an alien race – known only as the ”Enemy” – that had hunted Medusans in the past. Despite their advanced technology and general antagonism displayed throughout the series, the Medusans prove incapable of actually fighting an enemy they instinctively fear: the “Enemy” is only defeated thanks to the joint actions of Dr Schmidt and Adam. The relieved Medusans return home with, it is implied, an altered opinion of men.
Also, the series failed to become a significant “hit” in the UK, though this was at least in part due to Star Maidens not being given a consistent place in the schedules across the whole ITV network. Scottish Television, which had part-funded the show, scheduled the series on Wednesday evenings (6.30pm) from 1 September 1976. Tyne Tees Television was not alone in opting for an earlier, child-friendlier time slot (5.15pm) from Wednesday 8 September 1976. Several other commercial broadcasters chose to delay transmission until the new year, with London Weekend Television commencing very early morning on Saturday 1st January 1977 at 9.30am. However, the second scheduled episode 'Nemesis' on 8th January, was to be at 11am during the morning Saturday Scene strand for youngsters. However, it was inexplicably moved to 11am on Sunday 9th January during a last minute schedule reshuffle, with repeats of Space 1999's first series (originally intended for Sunday mornings at 11am) taking back its Saturday 11.30am slot instead. The remainder of Star Maidens in London continued in the Sunday morning slot. In contrast, Granada Television scheduled the series at 1.10pm on Sundays from 9 January 1977. HTV, meantime, didn’t begin to run the series until Monday 7 February, and again chose a child-friendly 5.15pm time slot.
The series is now recognised for its visual similarities with the British science-fiction series , the second season of which was in pre-production at Pinewood around the same time. Although Star Maidens was shot at Bray Studios by a different production company, and did not benefit from as large a budget, both series featured the work of production designer Keith Wilson, many of whose props and set designs from Space: 1999 were adapted for Star Maidens. This, along with the re-use of sound effects from Space: 1999, contributed to a very similar look and feel. Lead actresses Judy Geeson and Lisa Harrow had already appeared in guest roles in the first season of Space: 1999: Geeson in the episode "" and Harrow in "The Testament of Arkadia".
For the series' German dub, German natives Christiane Krüger and Christian Quadflieg provided their own voices, while the voices of the British cast were dubbed by other German actors.
Subsequently, in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, writer and journalist John Brosnan described the plotting as “chaotic” and “the role-reversal satire unsubtle. The series was (by UK standards) expensive – the special effects were superior to the script – and audience figures did not justify the cost of a second season.”
Nevertheless, in an article published by Nostalgia Central, the series – although described as “basically a space-bound soap opera” – apparently attracted healthy global sales “to over 40 territories included Austria, Australia, numerous Arab states, Hungary, Switzerland and, contentiously, South Africa. Canada showed French language dub Les Filles du Ciel (“Girls of the Skies”), while a Dutch language dub Vrouwenplanet Medusa (“Medusa, the Planet of Women”) aired in the Netherlands. Respectable US syndication sales included Saturday evening broadcasts on New York’s WNEW-TV in 1978.
Understandably referring to the series as looking like “a low budget cousin of Space: 1999, writer Martin Willey (on the Space: 1999-focused The Catacombs website) suggested that the show “veers unevenly between light comedy and action, never finding the right tone. Most of the stories are run-arounds, especially those set on Earth (1970s England wasn't that exciting). In the space episodes, the aspirations of the design and effects are greater than the budget.”
Willey added: “It's clearly a reaction to 1970s ‘women's lib’, a hot topic at the time. It inspires some comedy, which now seems terribly dated. Mostly it's played straight, with only one episode really a comedy (‘The Perfect Couple’, set on a 1970s housing estate with the stay-at-home wives). There's no serious explanation or exploration of the theme either. The later episodes become more serious (‘What Have They Done To The Rain’ is quite good ecological science fiction; ‘Creatures of the Mind’ introduces mild horror with lonely robots).”
A Large format tie-in hardback album with photos, stories, and comic strips was published by Stafford Pemberton in 1978.
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