THE CYBORG

Writer: William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter Director: Leo Penn Music: Alexander Courage Guest Stars: Victor Buono (Tabor Ulrich), Brooke Bundy (Gundi)

Tabor Ulrich wants to rule the world with his army of cyborgs. A cyborg of Admiral Nelson is sent to the Seaview and Ulrich controls the cyborg from a far away lab. Another war is almost started by Ulrich and the cyborg of Nelson. This second season drama from 1965 was a one of the most popular episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, so says the early 1980s International Irwin Allen Fan Club. It is one of my very favourites, most of my favourites are big on submarine effects and aliens/monsters, but this hour is free of that, this hour is about story, direction, acting and music. It is perfect in all four areas. This was the only Voyage episode that Leo Penn directed and I wish he directed more shows as he puts the camera on Basehart's every reaction, even when Basehart stops talking the camera remains on him for a few seconds.

  The best scores that Alexander Courage ever did anywhere were his Voyage scores for The Cyborg and Leviathan. His other work does not compare to these two scores. Basehart and Buono do some serious acting in this hour but the introduction of mild comedy to Voyage is very welcome. In this hour you will laugh at Ulrich as he talks about food and you will laugh at Ulrich when he throws his dinner around the lab so he can test the strength of a force field. I like the deadly serious nature of Voyage year one but sometimes it is nice to go out a do something comical and crazy like this episode and year four's The Deadly Dolls.

But The Cyborg was not all comical ... Ulrich: "Man is weak, emotional ... if this planet is to survive it must  have a one-world government" Nelson: "Run by you?" Ulrich:   "Guided by me" Voyage did bring up themes that make you think in the 21st century. I am now reminded of The Shadowman episode of Voyage. Earth was now sending spaceships to other worlds and Shadowman came to the Seaview to say "we don't want your wars and problems to infect our galaxy". You may have a point, Shadowman.

Some might say that Voyage presented these views in a simple minded way (I know one reviewer who described The Cyborg as "really stupid") but Metropolis (1927), Star Wars (1977) and the first few B&W LIS episodes were not complex in storyline and they are classics! The Cyborg episode has unusual features such as Nelson often being out of uniform, Chip not being present for the whole hour,  the female guest stars are more interesting than usual and the pre-opening credit intro is nice and low key. But Irwin fans will find no shortage of often used blinking light computers that are present in the lab and on the Seaview.

The lab is perhaps the only problem with this hour, no windows and all black, it looks like one of those horrible Fox sets for the Batman tv series, in fact it probably is. But that is just one small problem. I have made about 50 viewings of this hour and before I die I will make another 50 viewings. This hour is also for people with no interest in Voyage, for those who just like to see Richard Basehart act and talk. Thank you.

Special Thanks Once Again To StuOz For Another Great Review.