Doppelgänger

A planet is discovered on the opposite side of the Sun, hidden from observation on Earth. EUROSEC director Jason Webb pushes for a manned expedition, sending astronaut Glenn Ross and scientist John Kane aboard the Phoenix spacecraft. Their mission seems to end unexpectedly early, leaving questions about where they have been and what has happened to them.

Doppelgänger, also released as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, is Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s 1969 live-action science-fiction feature. Its central mystery works best when approached with as little advance knowledge as possible; the detailed archive features below discuss the story’s revelations.

The premise began as a possible television play before becoming a film for Universal. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson wrote the screenplay with Donald James, and Robert Parrish directed. Roy Thinnes plays Ross, Ian Hendry plays Kane and Patrick Wymark gives EUROSEC its forceful leader.

The production brought the Anderson team’s experience of model work and futuristic design into a story aimed at an older audience. Conflicts over funding, personal relationships and the risks of exploration share the screen with the spacecraft and the central scientific mystery.

The Phoenix launcher and its Dove spacecraft give the expedition a physical presence. Derek Meddings’ effects combine detailed miniatures with carefully staged launch and flight sequences, while Bob Bell’s design creates the institutions and working spaces around the mission.

Barry Gray’s score moves between the scale of the space programme and quieter, more unsettled passages. The equipment, buildings, cars and costumes suggest a recognisable society that has taken a further step into space, rather than a completely remote fantasy world.

Several members of the cast and production team would soon work on UFO. Ed Bishop, George Sewell, Keith Alexander, Vladek Sheybal and other familiar performers help make the film a rewarding companion to that series.

Some of its specially built cars and other production material also found later uses. These are connections in the history of the productions; they do not require the film and television series to share one fictional continuity.

Watch the film before reading the full analyses if you want to preserve its central discovery. The beginner’s guide explores its premise, production and relationship with the earlier puppet work; the 55th-anniversary retrospective offers a more critical assessment of its ambitions.

For another Anderson story about a crew carried beyond the familiar, continue to Space: 1999. Its episodic format develops different questions about survival, identity and the unknown.

Century 21 Cinema / Universal Pictures. Filmed in 1968; released in 1969. Approximately 101 minutes. Alternative release title: Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.

Producers: Gerry & Sylvia Anderson
Associate Producer: Ernest Holding
Director: Robert Parrish
Director of Photography: John Read
Art Director: Bob Bell
Visual Effects Director: Derek Meddings
Music Composed and Conducted by Barry Gray

Cast:
Ian Hendry, George Sewell, Keith Alexander, Nicholas Courtney, Roy Thinnes, Edward Bishop, Norma Ronald, Martin King, Patrick Wymark, Philip Madoc, Jeremy Wilkin, Jon Kelley, Lynn Loring, Vladek Sheybal, Basil Moss, Annette Kerr, Loni Van Friedl, George Mikell, Anthony Chinn
Franco Derosa, Herbert Lom, Cy Grant