The Day After Tomorrow (TV special)

British science fiction television drama

The Day After Tomorrow (also known as Into Infinity in the United Kingdom) is a 1975 British science fiction television special produced by Gerry Anderson between the two series of Space: 1999. Written by Johnny Byrne and directed by Charles Crichton, it stars Brian Blessed, Joanna Dunham, Nick Tate, Katharine Levy and Martin Lev, with narration by Ed Bishop. Set in a future where environmental damage on Earth threatens the survival of humanity, The Day After Tomorrow follows the interstellar mission of Altares, a science vessel that uses photon energy to travel at the speed of light. After leaving the Solar System and reaching Alpha Centauri, their primary destination, the crew of Altares push deeper into space; there, they encounter phenomena including a meteor shower, a red giant and, finally, a black hole, which pulls the ship into another universe. Originally commissioned to produce a child friendly introduction to Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity, Anderson and Byrne conceived The Day After Tomorrow as a pilot for a TV series, with the episode title "Into Infinity". Anderson was ultimately unable to raise funding for additional episodes, making the pilot a standalone special. With a cast and crew that included veterans of earlier Anderson productions, The Day After Tomorrow was filmed between July and September 1975; this comprised 10 days' principal photography and six weeks' special effects shooting. The visual style of Space: 1999 provided inspiration to both effects artist Martin Bower, who built the scale models, and production designer Reg Hill, who recycled sets from Space: 1999 to create the Altares interiors. The theme music was composed by newcomer Derek Wadsworth. The Day After Tomorrow was first broadcast in the United States in December 1975 as the third episode of NBC's after school series Special Treat. In the UK, it was transmitted on BBC1 as a special, first in December 1976 and again in December 1977; a re edited version aired on BBC Four in November 2014. Critical responses to The Day After Tomorrow have been mixed: while its model effects and music have been praised, it has divided opinion with its "psychedelic" images, which have been compared to the visual style of film director Stanley Kubrick. In addition, the story has been criticised for lacking suspense due to the fact that it was devised primarily to educate, rather than entertain. A novelisation by Douglas R. Mason was cancelled after the planned TV series failed to appear; a new novelisation by Gregory L. Norris was published in 2017.

In the future, human survival is threatened by rising pollution, environmental damage and depletion of the Earth's natural resources. As Altares leaves the Solar System, Jane and David observe how Pluto turns blue, then red, due to the shortening and lengthening of light waves caused by the Doppler effect. Arriving at Alpha Centauri, the crew launch a series of satellites to transmit data back to Earth. Having completed their primary objective, they agree to push deeper into space. When Altares encounters a star cluster, Anna tells Jane of Einstein's discoveries in special relativity and unified field theory. Shortly after, the ship is hit by a meteor shower that damages key systems and causes the photon drive to re activate, sending the ship hurtling through space at incredible speed and knocking the crew unconscious. A fail safe halts the ship within the gravitational field of a red giant on the brink of supernova. Captain Masters dons a heat suit and enters the reactor core in a dangerous bid to repair the photon drive by hand. He succeeds, and Anna and Jane pilot the ship away from the star before it explodes. After detecting a signal from Delta, the travellers are able to calculate their position and set a course for Earth. However, disaster strikes when Altares is caught in the pull of a black hole. Although the ship cannot reach the faster than light speeds needed to break free, Anna believes that the hole may lead to another universe and urges her companions not to give up hope. Crossing the event horizon, the travellers experience mind bending spacetime distortions. They emerge on the other side of the hole safe and well, albeit unable to return home. As Altares approaches an unknown planet, the narrator concludes: "One thing is sure – this is not the final word. Not the end, but the beginning. A new universe, a new hope? Only time will tell."

After filming on the first series of Space: 1999 came to an end in the spring of 1975, producer Gerry Anderson was contacted by NBC executive George Heinemann with an idea for an educational science fiction TV series. This would comprise seven one hour episodes designed to teach children science in the form of an action adventure. NBC intended to promote the series by distributing information leaflets to schools. According to Anderson, the writing process was "extremely difficult" as it was a challenge to "get over in a few words the problems of time changes that affect long distance travel. You also have to do it in a language that young people can comprehend. "|salign=right|align=left|width=25%

Byrne – who, like Anderson, had no scientific background – found the central concept hard to grasp: "Once I got the go ahead I suddenly realised I knew very little about the theory of relativity I went out and read Relativity for the Layman, and realised I was in deep trouble because there were so many aspects of it." Other sets and props were also recycled from the earlier series. Principal photography was conducted at Pinewood Studios and completed in ten days, ending on 1 August. Like the title sequences of Anderson's earlier productions, The Day After Tomorrow opens with a fast paced montage of action shots from later in the episode, giving a preview of the story to come. In 1997, the BBC deleted the master tape from its archives but retained an edited copy for future repeats. It was introduced by Professor Brian Cox of the University of Manchester, who stated that he had been a fan of the special since he was a child and praised its scientific accuracy.

Quote box|quote=The premise is a good one, offering scope for a potential series, although it lacks the originality of previous Anderson series and is perhaps too close to Lost in Space in that it features a family crew with a malfunctioning spaceship (but without the robot and talking carrot).|source=– Vincent Law Elizabeth Howell, a science journalist, believes that The Day After Tomorrow is remarkable for its depiction of space exploration "in the colonisation sense, rather than Star Wars and its descendants who show space as a spot to be conquered." She further comments that the themes are "strangely timeless  the true, unknown part hits you at the very end." Chris Bentley, author of The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide, draws parallels with the Fireball XL5 episode "Faster Than Light", whose plot concerns the problems encountered by the crew of spacecraft traveling at light speed. He believes the quality of the design and effects to be lower than that of Space: 1999, praising the miniature model work but suggesting that some of the effects are "more in keeping with Blake's 7". He also regards the "info dump" introduction as a weak imitation of the Space: 1999 opening titles and argues that the repeated appearances of the mass–energy equivalence equation, 1=E = mc^(2), only confuse the audience. According to Law, the plot about an accident prone spaceship reflects shifting public attitudes to space exploration during the 1970s, a time "when optimism in the space programme was on the wane". He considers the special to have aged poorly, noting that while Altares is presented as a "lightship" of the future, some of the on board equipment resembles 20th century devices such as slide rules and punched cards. followed by a sequel in 2019. The special has been rated U by the British Board of Film Classification since 1997. In 2002, a DVD of The Day After Tomorrow and Star Laws, Anderson's 1986 pilot for a series that would later be made as Space Precinct, was released by Fanderson as part of its members only merchandise range. In 2015, the special was re issued on DVD as part of the compilation release "The Lost Worlds of Gerry Anderson" by Network Distributing.