The White Dwarf
Teleplay by Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Richmond Harding
Production Schedule
Episode 47
Production Number : 3520
VTR/ABC/2366
Teddington Studio 2 & Rehearsal Room 2A
First Reading
Sunday 3rd February 1963, 10.30a.m., Rehearsal Room 2A, Teddington Studios.
Rehearsals
Monday 4th February-Thursday 14th February inclusive, Rehearsal Room 2A, Teddington Studios.
Camera Rehearsal
Friday 15th February 1963, Studio Two, Teddington
VTR
Saturday 16th February 1963, Studio Two, Teddington.
Running time
Expected: 51'25" + 2 commercial breaks 2.05
Actual running time with bumpers: 51'46"
The bumpers between the acts are generally 10 seconds from fade in to the "End of Act" bumper to the end of audio before the commercial, a 10 second still without audio, then cut to the next act bumper. This would play with the theme for around 10 seconds. Accordingly, with the episodes being in 3 acts, the running time of the action is approximately a minute less than listed above, minus the opening and closing credits (normally 0'16", with a 2" fade, and anywhere from 0'41" to 1'20", hard cut or 1" fade or mix, respectively).
Transmission
| London |
16th February 1963 |
| Sydney |
2nd March 1964 |
| Melbourne |
1st October 1964 |
Murders
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|
click a name
to see the face
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Transport
Minutiæ
- 9:28 - Johnson gives Maxwell Barker's London number as Hyde Park 5011.
- 14:57 - a hair gets stuck at the bottom of the transfer plate and remains on screen until 19:36.
- 22:10 - Johnson calls Professor James Larsen of the University of New Jersey to put pressure on him to make a false observation.
- 24:43 - when the director cuts from the VCU of Cathy to a medium shot, the boom microphone is in clear view for two seconds.
- 28:28-28:31, 47:53 - severe visual distortion.
- 32:10 - Steed picks up a book to make a point, but the set dresser has given it a jacket which reads Astrology and You instesad of Astronomy and You, which is odd, as they make a job about confusion between astronomy and astrology in the tag scen (50:27-51:15).
- 32:42 - Cathy, trying to illustrate the potential for unlikely events to occur, chooses the very unscientific example of The Flood.
- 35:45 (34:45) - the cameraman tracking Peter Copley completely loses him in the gloom and loses focus, then shoots a bare patch of wall for a few seconds before the director switches to a different camera.
- 36:12 (35:12) - Macnee briefly forgets the name of George A. Cooper's character (h'e supposed to say his information came from One Seven as well).
- 40:16 - Elizabeth rings Tor Point 859 to warn Cartwright that Cathy is heading for the observatory.
- Luke doesn't lock the door behind him at 44:25, so why does Cartwright unlock it at 45:41 to let the Barkers in, and proudly draw attention to the fact the door is always locked?
- 49:29 (48:29) - the footage of Max escaping through the darkened observatory is clearly sped up.
- 50:46 - Cathy reconfirms what she said in Warlock, her birthday is 5th October.
Times are from the re-mastered 2009 Optimum Releasing DVD set, any times in brackets are from the previously released DVD sets which had frames with interference or banding deleted, resulting in shorter running times.