Watching these
episodes back in the day the philosophical side of the series’ writing didn’t
really make an impact on me, I was more interested in the spaceships, the
planets and the action. Yet there’s quite a lot in an episode like `Missing
Link` for a more mature viewer even if the end result is rather muddled. After a
mission to check out a planet goes wrong, an Eagle crash lands a hundred miles
from Alpha and while the others on the mission have less serious injuries the
commander is in a coma and seemingly unable to be saved. However we see him
wandering about a deserted moonbase stalked by floaty figures in long gowns.
These turn out to be Zennites, a race with a fashion sense right out of Sixties
Carnaby Street crossed with a circus. Their main man, Raan – played with as
much dignity as he can manage by a silver faced Peter Cushing- sports a stripy
tea cosy on his head while his daughter Vana is wearing some outrageously shiny
accoutrements. They are more serious than their attire would suggest however as
Koenig finds himself being seen as an experiment, a `permanent guest`.
