The Martian Chronicles

1980

Science Fiction TV series

Icon Film Distribution

R4 DVD

Ray Bradbury’s 1950 collection of short stories has become one of the great science fiction classics. Although it is now showing its age, we must remember it was a product of its times – World War II was barely over, the threat of another war, this time nuclear, was looming, and the end of the world was a definite possibility. People were looking for some sort of hope for the future and there was a role for SF to play. Bradbury’s stories were set not too far into the future, starting around the 1970s, and perhaps offered a little hope that this time humans could get it right, if only on a new planet.

The stories as they developed had a lot in common with the exploration of the American West so they sat comfortably with people. Bradbury didn’t gloss over some of the less antisocial events of the West, such as the extermination of the native populations by disease or the cancer of exploitative mining on the face of the planet, but he balanced these with human stories of the early pioneers of Mars. Some were rough and ready, some were interested in the history of the first Martians. As the number of immigrants increased so did the ones with antisocial habits, but they were mainly confined to the small towns.

The TV series opens with the first manned flight to Mars. They were expecting a dead planet but Mars had its population, living a low-impact life, and they were telepathic. They saw the coming of the men from Earth as a threat and one jealous husband, annoyed by his wife’s telepathic dreams of a tall foreigner, destroys the first expedition. Another follows but this time the Martians are better prepared. With their telepathic powers they lull the expedition into a trance where the members believe they are reliving the pleasant times of their life. They are then humanely put down.

The third expedition arrives expecting trouble but it comes on them from an unexpected source – from one of their own crew. Crewman Spender is something of an early greenie and sees in the Martian artefacts a chance to get to know what the Martians were like and how their civilisation functioned. Crewman Briggs gives nothing for this – he is the uncouth drinking despoiling redneck that Spender despises. After a visit to a Martian “city” Spender turns on his fellow crew members and tries to kill them. Or is it Spender’s mind under a Martian influence?

Inevitably the settlers arrive, nervous at the deteriorating situation back on Earth. Some adapt to Mars, some try to adapt Mars to themselves. One such group are two priests who are sent to provide for the moral needs of the settlers. Father Peregrine is, however, nursing two problems. He can only be described as a devout looney and when they meet some of the surviving Martians who manifest themselves as glowing balls of light he feels he can convert them. When this fails he seems quite ready to abandon all he was taught and worship the Martians instead. His other problem is a deep desire to meet Jesus personally. When a young Martian is accidentally brought into the town the force of Peregrine’s wishes turn the telepathic Martian into a tortured, bleeding Jesus and the Father seems unwilling to let him go in spite of the Martian’s suffering.

Finally the situation on Earth reaches the point where the settlement is evacuated back to Earth just in time to be blown up by the very war they came to Mars to avoid. A few survivors are left and they must make their way as best they can. The story now turns to the individuals and how they handle their isolation.

It is obvious that some will not survive, like the attractive but vacuous young woman who is used to being waited on hand and foot and will find life impossible as the remaining machines break down. She missed the rocket back to Earth because she couldn’t take all her clothes with her. The others will find their own ways of coping, but the most successful will be Colonel Wilder, the commander of the third mission and now (briefly) Mars Coordinator, and his family. He shows them their reflections in a canal and tells them that they are now the Martians.

Although much of the science has been overtaken by later observations and there are some glaring holes in the plot it is still a powerful story with a good range of well-presented characters. Perhaps the most unconvincing is Rock Hudson as Colonel Wilder, but even he carries his part adequately. It is good to see that Bradbury’s story was not badly mangled in the translation to TV. It has been around now for sixty years and is a tribute to a great writer.

The DVD seems much sharper and clearer than I remember it on TV and videotape. If the film has been enhanced then it is a very good job.

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