Star Maidens
 1 9 7 6 (UK/Germany)
13 x 60 minute episodes
Star Maidens was an Anglo-German co-production, shot on
16mm film at Bray Studios in England with a budget of £50,000 an
episode.
Though basically a space-bound soap opera, it did provide
some interesting science-fiction concepts.
The series introduced the the planet of Mendusa where the
female of the species reigned supreme (and were all drop-dead
gorgeous in very revealing uniforms!) while the males took care of
domestic chores, nursery duties and other menial tasks.
When
Mendusa entered the orbit of planet Earth, and word got around
that it was a planet ruled almost entirely by men, two of the most
rebellious Mendusan menservants managed to escape.
 The first four episodes dealt with the arrival on Earth of the
two rebels, Adam and Shem (Gareth Thomas of Blakes 7), and
their constant endeavours to remain.
In subsequent episodes the
action alternated between the two planets, resulting in each
episode having a self-contained storyline within the series.
After narrowly avoiding being killed when they crash-landed on
Earth, the two renegade males appealed to the authorities to allow
them asylum from the pursuing women - but on board the Mendusan
ship Nemesis, Chief Security Controller Octavia and Adam's
mistress (and lover) Grand Councillor Fulvia were already heading
for Earth.
Fulvia wanted the return of her runaway servant (who she
treated more like a pet) and it wasn't long before aggressive
super-bitch Octavia was ordering several Earth police officers
about, expecting them to react like the men on her home planet.
Meanwhile, after trying to communicate with a herd of cows,
(and following their lead by eating grass!) Adam and Shem found
their way to a large castle where they sought refuge.
 Unable to
resist their curiosity, Earthling Doctor Rudi Schmidt and Liz
Becker from the Astronomical Institute explored inside the
unattended Nemesis.
Rudi accidentally triggered a device which blinded him, and the
panic-stricken Liz turned to the craft's occupants for help upon
their return. (They activated a medical droid who performed a
brief operation and a much relieved Rudi made a perfect recovery).
Octavia then piloted the ship to the castle where she had
tracked Adam and Shem, and activated something called the
Nightmare Cannon - a weapon that feeds upon a person's fear -
forcing both men outside to plead for mercy.
Unfortunately, before
Nemesis could land it was struck by lightning and damaged, and had
to return to space for repairs.
Octavia kidnapped the two scientists in the hope of arranging
an exchange for Adam and Shem (much to the annoyance of Professor
Evans on Earth, who was enjoying picking the alien's brains in his
quest for more knowledge).
 Meanwhile Fulvia was drugged with champagne and kidnapped by a
foreign power who wanted the secrets of Mendusa's advanced
technology, while up on Mendusa Dr Rudi Schmidt crossed swords
with Octavia and was tried by a jury of computers and sent onto
the barren surface of the planet to join a work detail.
While here, Schmidt organised a breakout and destroyed the
hovering patrol vehicle by reflecting its own ray back against it
with a mirror.
The escape bid was foiled by President Clara, whose
pleas worked on the dumb male escapees as their conditioning
caused them to obey the women's orders and open the hatch to admit
the red-helmeted female security guards with paraguns - a ray gun
that causes temporary paralysis).
Octavia meanwhile ordered Liz Becker to be attached to a
bizarre machine called the sexometer, which worked on the mind -
On a large video screen we saw a muscle-bound, macho, blond guy,
but Liz rebelled and the image changed into a hideous snake.
Octavia boosted the power and restored the hunk until Liz changed
it again by sheer willpower. Over and over again it changed back
and forth from man to beast until the machine blew a circuit -
Shades of Barbarella . . .
 Down on Earth, Adam has rescued Fulvia and the pair have
decided to try and live together as man and wife (but in reverse,
with her working and him staying at home to do the housework), but
Adam tired of Fulvia's jealousy and called it a day.
Packing his
bags and leaving her, he rescued the weak-willed Shem who had been
dominated by two women's libbers and forced to show them how to
use a paragun (most of this sequence was shot on a Barrat housing
estate - a sign that the budget was running out).
Back on Planet Chick, Rudi worked out that the rain was
disintegrating Mendusa's crust and it was only a matter of time
before all the Mendusans were killed, but Octavia refused to
listen to the good doctor - as their 'Prediction Computer'
insisted there was nothing wrong. Rudi ultimately had a new air
purification system shut down and saved the day.
In the end, Rudi and Liz were returned to Earth in exchange for
Adam and Shem (on the way home, Adam shot down an age-old enemy of
the Mendusans and saved Octavia's life. Reluctantly she voiced her
gratitude to the MAN who saved her . . . Ironic, huh?
 TRIVIA NOTES
If Mendusa looked in many ways like a discarded Space : 1999
set, this is because the production designer was Keith Wilson (who
worked on both seasons of the Gerry Anderson series).
At first glance, the model sets looked quite impressive, but on
closer inspection it was revealed that they were made of everyday
items.
Take for instance the model of the Mendusan city; It was
built out of every day objects like table tennis balls, plastic
straws and cotton reels.
Unfortunately it was also obvious that a
part of this futuristic engineering feat was nothing more than an
egg box!.
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