7 × 45 Minutes / BBC / Black and White
A for Andromeda
27/03/06 / 90 Minutes / BBC Four / Colour / HD
03/10/61 Episode 1: The Message
10/10/61 Episode 2: The Machine
17/10/61 Episode 3: The Miracle
24/10/61 Episode 4: The Monster
31/10/61 Episode 5: The Murderer
07/11/61 Episode 6: The Face of the Tiger
14/11/61 Episode 7: The Last Mystery
The BBC archives currently only hold The Face of the Tiger, part of The Last Mystery, a number of film inserts from the original 1961 production and an off-air audio recording of The Last Mystery which was returned to the BBC late in 2006 — sadly too late to be included as part of the Andromeda Anthology collection.
All existing footage has been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK, alongside The Andromeda Breakthrough, as The Andromeda Anthology (Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / HMV.com).
The 2006 version of A for Andromeda was released on Region 2 DVD in the UK in September 2006 (Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / HMV.com).
6 × 45 Minutes / BBC / Black and White
28/06/62 Cold Front
05/07/62 Gale Warning
12/07/62 Azaran Forecast
19/07/62 Storm Centres
26/07/62 Hurricane
02/08/62 The Roman Peace
All six episodes of The Andromeda Breakthrough exist in the BBC's archives. The serial has been released on DVD as part of The Andromeda Anthology, which also includes all the existing footage from the 1961 version of A for Andromeda (Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / HMV.com).
Co-written by Fred Hoyle, a prominent astronomer, and John Elliot, a TV writer, A for Andromeda was one of the BBC's first major telefantasy productions of the 1960s.
The serial involved the reception of radio signals which, when decoded, prove to be the instructions for a highly advanced computer. After following the instructions, further signals are received which, when programmed into the computer, result in the creation of a new lifeform, Andromeda, who takes on the appearance of a lab assistant who had earlier been killed in an accident with the alien-designed equipment.
The role of Andromeda was played by a young Julie Christie and the serial was popular enough for a sequel, The Andromeda Breakthrough, to be broadcast the following year.
Taking up from the conclusion of the previous story, the sequel was far more political in nature with the mysterious Intel organisation (no, not that one!) building a replica of the alien computer from stolen copies of the plans. In this second story Susan Hampshire played the role of Andromeda (Julie Christie having departed for movie stardom), although many of the cast members from the original story did reprise their roles.
As with many programmes of the era, the majority of A for Andromeda was destroyed during the 1960s, although The Andromeda Breakthrough managed to escape unscathed.
The Italian television network RAI subsequently produced their own black and white videotaped version of A for Andromeda in 1972, and to this day it remains the only original UK telefantasy production ever to be re-made in this manner.
A further production of A for Andromeda occurred in 2006 when BBC Four commissioned a ninety-minute re-make as a follow-up to their update of The Quatermass Experiment in 2005. By a bizarre coincidence, just a few days after the new version was announced, a 16mm print of the sixth episode from the 1961 original was returned to the BBC archives!
The majority of A for Andromeda remains missing from the BBC archives but, despite this, 2|Entertain managed to assemble The Andromeda Anthology in 2006, which collected together all of the existing footage from A for Andromeda and the complete Andromeda Breakthrough. A complete off-air audio recording of The Last Mystery was subsequently returned to the BBC late in 2006.
The Italian production has been released in its country of origin on both DVD and video, but sadly without English subtitles.
