Okay, Americans would not say "smashing good" but in the spirit of this British series, why not? Plus, this really is one of the better episodes and shows an interesting side of the otherwise one-dimensional alien The show begins with a death on the moon base. One of the windows cracks and a man is killed. However, on closer inspection, it seems that the window was shot out by someone outside--most likely one of the pesky aliens. The theory is that one of their ships recently landed and there is an alien roaming about the moon's surface. So, two lunar transports are sent out to look for a ship. They soon find it and a firefight takes place. However, Colonel Foster gets separated from the men and is assumed killed. But, he is in fact alive and his radio has been smashed and he is injured. In an odd twist, however, he is found and assisted by the alien whose craft was just destroyed--with a plot that appears to have been recycled years later in the excellent film "Enemy Mine".
What makes this interesting is the alien's apparent humanity and the sad twist at the end of the show. A very good script and a show that stands up very well today. I have only two very minor quibbles about the show--very minor. One is that the people move about too quickly on the moon--they forgot to slow down the film like they did on their later series "Space: 1999". Second, if the alien was willing to blow out a window sniping, it does make you wonder why he would later help the Colonel. But, as I said, these are very minor quibbles in an otherwise impeccable episode.
What makes this interesting is the alien's apparent humanity and the sad twist at the end of the show. A very good script and a show that stands up very well today. I have only two very minor quibbles about the show--very minor. One is that the people move about too quickly on the moon--they forgot to slow down the film like they did on their later series "Space: 1999". Second, if the alien was willing to blow out a window sniping, it does make you wonder why he would later help the Colonel. But, as I said, these are very minor quibbles in an otherwise impeccable episode.