Original subtitles

It's still there, look.

Yes, I see it.

It looks bright. It is.

Robert, what do you make of it?

I don't know.

It's not a nova. Have you checked?

Yes, I've been through the charts.

There shouldn't be anything there. A comet?

Could be.

The proper motion's too high, though.

The definition's sharper than any comet I've ever seen. Me too.

When did you first see it? Three weeks ago. Came off on the last batch of

plates. Well, let's have a look at it again.

Could be. We're both mistaken. Could be.

Here we are.

This is our greatest treasure.

Oh, can I stop you for a minute?

This is Peter... Oh, I say, I'm terribly sorry. I've forgotten your name.

Barry. Barry, yes, of course. How stupid of me.

Peter Barry.

June Chalice. How do you do? Robert Duncan.

How do you do?

Peter's with UK Television.

He's working on a series about, um...

What was it now?

New developments in metallurgy. Oh, yes.

A bit out of my line, I'm afraid.

New developments in metallurgy? Oh, dear.

Yes, I know what you mean.

We run a weekly programme called The Latest in Science.

Oh. And this should be good for three or four programmes.

I hope you won't think me dense, but what are you doing in an observatory?

Well, I was grist to our mill.

And Dr. Ramsey here has very kindly offered to assist us with a programme on

astronomy, a series of programmes.

I missed him by inches in London, so I thought I'd try and run him to work here

in Scotland. And he caught me.

Actually, it's these two you should be talking to. I've only a visitor here.

Grundy's in charge, but he's in Canada.

How many programs are you doing?

On astronomy, six, I think.

Six? Yes, I know. It's not enough.

What are you calling them?

Oh,

I don't know. The floor of heaven, perhaps.

What are you thinking about?

What?

Oh, I was... I was just wondering.

If there's anyone, anything up there.

Sending us radio signals, perhaps, century after century.

I wondered if anyone might be receiving them.

It would take a long time. The nearest star is four light years away.

We've been sending signals into space, haven't we?

You never know, someone or something might pick them up.

Intelligence out there?

Maybe. If so, let's hope they have the intelligence to leave us alone.

What on earth is that? Well, that's what we call a blink comparator. A what?

A blink microscope.

You take two pictures of the same star region taken at different times, and you

superimpose them like this.

I'm sorry, I don't get it.

Well, normally stars remain unchanged in their positions.

That's why they're called fixed stars.

But if anything new appears, like a new star, for instance, it'll appear on one

plate and not the other.

By flicking the plates on and off, you can see the stars blinking on and off.

You can observe the effect very easily.

Even in a region crowded with stars.

Oh, I see. Look at this.

Oh, I see. Just off centre there, it's blinking at me. Exactly.

Those two plates were taken at an interval of three weeks.

Since the first plate was taken, new objects appear.

And what is it? It's a nova. A huge explosion in space.

A nova? Well, the only nova I'm familiar with is a bossa nova. What?

Never mind. Oh, I see.

Well, look, let me explain.

Every now and again, a star so faint that one can't normally see it explodes.

Like a hydrogen bomb.

It's still just a point of light, however, because of the distance.

Let's see now.

This star cluster, for instance, that's about, what, 1 ,800 light years away?

That's quite an explosion.

It all happened a long time ago, of course.

This bang took place about the time of Nero. We're just getting the news of it

now, as it were.

Well, that's good stuff. We must try and get that into the programme.

Well, I must be off.

Well, Dr. Ransley, I'm very grateful for all your help. Perhaps you'll call in

at the moment you arrive in London. UK television will find me.

Certainly, Mr. Murray.

Barry. Oh, I'm terribly sorry.

Goodbye. Goodbye.

Goodbye. Bye.

It isn't an over. What?

It isn't an over, sir. What do you mean?

Look at that.

September the 10th, nothing.

Yes. September the 15th.

It's there.

September the 25th.

Now look at that.

Good heavens.

Look at the proper motion.

June, get a message off to Harvard. When first observed, a position, proper

motion and magnitude.

We must try and trace the speed.

Come on. Come on, have a good look at this.

Get me another coffee, will you?

Here it is. Thank you. Not over my script, love.

What's Merchant talking about?

Thermodynamics. Oh.

Hello, hello. Nobody doing anything. Hello, Peter. How are you? Hello, my

lovely. Here.

Did you get hold of Ramsey? Yes.

A rough start of programme.

He's got to do six programmes before starting on the 40th. Good man. What

money? Oh, well, that's up to you.

I told him to contact you the moment he arrived.

Right. Peter. Uh -huh? When did you see him?

A few days ago. Why?

Did you say anything about a comet?

A comet? No. Why?

Oh, he did mention a star that they'd seen on the Great Telescope.

He said it was called a nova.

That's a star exploding in space.

Well, it isn't.

We've had a whole lot of reports these last few days about a comet. Look,

Russia, South Africa, Japan, the United States.

Half the world's observatories have reported it.

And they all say the first report came from Ramsey.

Then why would he say it was a Nova?

Exactly. He's England's top astronomer.

An expert on spectroscopy.

Fellow of the Royal Society, do you think you'd make a simple mistake like

No, I don't. Excuse me, he's here. Who? Dr. Ramsey.

He's in reception.

Ask him to come up.

Peter, this is your chance. He's a ball show bird. Hates authority.

Loves to throw a span into the works.

Remember the row we had with the atomic energy people last year?

Yes, I covered it.

See if you can get a story. Trip him up. Ask him why he said it was unknowable

when he knew damn well it wasn't.

Ask him if he's under security.

Dr.

Ramsey. So nice to meet you. How do you do?

You know Peter, of course.

Yes. Nice to see you again.

Did you have a good trip? Yes, thank you. It was very nice.

Diane, I'll get us some coffee.

I hope you don't mind paper cups.

Not at all.

Will you sit down? I'll just get these scripts out of your way. Thank you.

Over to you, Peter.

Right, thank you.

Well, Doctor, I've roughed out a script for the first programme. Perhaps you'd

like to have a look at it. Thank you.

Doctor, you remember that object you showed me at the observatory? Yes, we've

all been doing quite a lot of work on it.

There's Rickover at Palomar, Young in South Africa, and Baranov in Russia.

How far away is it?

Well, it's difficult to establish the distance, but it's several million

Several million?

It must be enormous.

Yes, it is.

Well, let's say, for example, that it's three million miles away.

It would have to be at least six miles across to be visible, even to our most

powerful instruments.

Six miles?

On the other hand, it might be ten or twenty times further away, in which case

it would have to be much larger.

And what's happening about it now?

Well, Chalice and Duncan are working on it at the observatory. They're going to

let me have their results as soon as possible.

When will that be?

In about a week, I think.

One thing's quite clear, though.

It's not a terrestrial origin.

And it's not a comet? No, we're quite certain of that.

Then what is it?

That's what the observatories of the world are trying so hard to find out.

Proper motion, 14 seconds of arc in 24 hours.

Ascension 24, 16, 4.

Declination 39, 14, 12.

Further observations will be made at 1200 hours GMT.

Problem

motion

40 seconds of arc in 24 hours.

Ascension 24, 16.

Just heard from Jodrell Bank.

They've established the distance. I'm more interested in finding its course.

Looks to me as if it's going to come pretty close.

I've got the graphs.

This rate it should approach within a few hundred thousand miles.

Quite a spectacle.

Yes, and it's growing brighter.

It should be visible without instruments in a couple of days. What's Mike

getting on? Stuff's pouring in all the time.

He's feeding the computer as fast as he can.

But the results won't be through for a while.

Shouldn't you have some rest?

You've been at it since six o 'clock. Oh, I'm almost through.

Robert, what do you make of it?

The object?

I wish I knew.

I've never seen anything like it before.

Nor has anyone else, it seems.

It's the brightness I find most strange.

It's not what you'd expect from a cold body of that size.

Perhaps it's composed of snow or frozen hydrogen. That would have a high

reflecting power.

Yes. The mass must be enormous, even if it is snow.

And if it's rock, have they worked it out yet?

It's mine? No.

Ah.

I've been comparing it, of course, with the Earth's orbit.

A Duncan here?

Yes.

I see.

Thank you.

Well, how close is it going to come?

Are we going to be able to see it?

It's heading straight for it.

Ah, Prime Minister, here's the report.

Thank you. What time does Ramsey arrive?

He was due in a London airport an hour ago. I sent a car, of course, so he

should be here at any moment now. Good.

Well, according to this, there's no change.

Object Z, as they're calling it now, is approaching the Earth at high speed.

When will it strike?

If this report is correct, in about six weeks.

Six weeks?

If my memory is correct, the Earth moves around the Sun at a speed of 16 miles

per second.

This thing's moving at about 15, isn't it? That's right.

I'm thinking of relative speeds, John.

If the Earth and this thing are moving in the same direction, the speed of

impact might be quite low. There might be merely a graze. Unfortunately, this

object is approaching the Earth directly into our orbit. So we combine the

speeds, 13 miles a second.

That's right.

Good evening, Prime Minister. Good evening, Ramsey. Do sit down.

You have your report for me? Yes.

There's no change, I'm afraid.

Can you say whether it will collide directly with the Earth or strike a

blow? Its course at present is almost in the plane of the Earth's orbit.

It's likely, for reasons which I won't bother with at the moment, to strike a

glancing blow.

But even a glancing blow with an object six miles across...

Travelling at a combined speed of 30 miles a second is likely to be a serious

matter. How serious?

Well, that depends on its composition.

There are two kinds of meteors, the stony and the metallic.

If this object is stony, then there's a chance that we might survive the impact.

Some of us, at any rate.

If it's metallic... Yes?

Then I'm afraid the impact would be quite sufficient to destroy all life on

Earth.

I'm sorry to have to tell you this grim news.

You have no way of telling whether it's stony or metallic?

I'm afraid not.

These shelters we're going to build, will they help?

As you know, every country on Earth is planning shelters.

Will they be of any use?

Not if this thing is metallic.

There is one hope, though.

Only a slight hope, I admit, but... Well, go on. We've managed to chart the

course of this object with some considerable accuracy.

I believe that we might be able to destroy it.

Or at least deflect it from its course in space.

How do you mean, with a bomb?

Do you mean hit it with a missile of some sort? Sure, could that be done?

impossible. Look, the problem of hitting it with a bomb of sufficient power to

destroy it is very difficult.

We would need a vehicle at least three times as powerful as anything that we

have at the moment.

And we would need the equivalent of a 400 megaton bomb.

That's twice as large as anything in existence.

Yes, it is.

Could we build such a machine in time? I'm not an engineer, sir, but I believe

that it could be done.

If we pool our resources with the Americans and the Russians, then the

is feasible.

I'm attending the World Conference next week.

I'll bring the matter up.

Well, that's that.

Tired? A bit.

I find it so strange to think that we're two of the 20 or 30 people in the whole

world who are in on the secret.

What do you think they'll do?

When they find out, you mean?

I don't know.

Depends on your temperament, I suppose.

Some people pray.

Some people take to drink.

Thanks.

Some people do themselves in rather than face it.

Most people carry on as usual. I should think there's nothing much else they can

do. Of course, they may be able to keep it from everyone until... Until the Big

Bang.

I suppose that would be best.

Everybody looking at it.

Brighter than the full moon.

The most striking thing the world has ever seen.

And then the impact.

All over in a moment.

No fuss or pain. What will you do?

What, with my last few dates?

Well... I'd like to begin by marrying you.

I mean it, June.

I can't offer you much future.

Six weeks, to be exact.

But I'd like to spend them with you.

What do you say?

Dr. Ramsey, I must get up to the box.

Good luck. It's all going to be splendid.

Now, there's no need to be nervous. We've had a good run through and most of

it's on film, as you know.

When you're on film, you can use your script and the floor manager will tell

when we're coming back to you.

Now, I'm sorry we had to cut it down, but the Prime Minister's on at nine, as

you know. Yes, I know.

I wonder what it's about.

A crisis, I suppose.

Yes, I suppose so.

Thirty seconds. I must go. Good luck. Thank you.

What are you doing here? We start in a moment. Well, we're from the observatory

in Scott. We came straight here to wish him luck.

Get rid of him, for heaven's sake.

Come on, this way. Good luck. Good luck. Oh, thank you.

Fifteen seconds.

Good luck, Doctor. Don't worry about a thing. Doctor, can you sit here, please?

Ten seconds.

Nine, eight, seven, six, five.

Music on. Stand by.

Few of us could have looked at the night sky without beginning to ask some

profound questions.

Is space infinite?

How did those millions of stars, those galaxies thousands of light years across

and millions of light years away come into existence?

Did the universe have a beginning?

And will it have an end?

In the next six weeks... In the next six

weeks, I will try to give the answers to some of these questions.

Six weeks is a short time.

What's the matter with him?

Come on, man, come on.

He thought for a moment he was going to break down. So did I. He's never gone

through this.

My name's Wade, Captain Wade, security.

You're June Chalice, aren't you? Yes.

You're Duncan?

Yes.

Security? Yes, special branch.

Won't you stay?

If I may. I mean, the whole process probably took millions of years.

At this very moment, there are thousands of gaseous clouds...

Well, thank you, Doctor.

Now, before we close the programme, I'd like to ask your opinion on something

which I'm sure is in the mind of all our viewers.

This new object that's been seen in the sky is causing such a sensation

throughout the world.

Has anything like it ever been seen before?

How do you mean?

Well, is it a comet?

Oh, I see.

No, it's not a comet. A comet, as I've said before, is not a solid object. It

usually, though not always, exhibits a tail.

The object that we're seeing has no tail.

It appears to be solid, like a meteor.

A meteor.

How far away is it? Oh, several million miles.

Of course, in astronomical terms, it's really very close, but it is several

million miles away.

Is it likely to get any nearer?

Yes. In the next few weeks, it's likely to become a very brilliant object.

How close will it come to the Earth?

Oh, quite close. Yes, but how close, Doctor?

Is there any danger of it striking the Earth?

Oh, it's most unlikely.

But it could happen. Yes, it could happen. The Earth is constantly being

bombarded. Thank you, Dr. Rand. Well, that was the first of a series of talks

astronomy by Dr. Rand, entitled The Great Machine.

That's all for this week. Until next week, good night.

That was fine, fine. You're clear now. Thank you.

Excuse me, sir. Can I speak to you for a moment? Yes. What do you mean by

barging in like this? Don't you know that... I'm from the Curie. I don't care

you're Albus Presley. I won't have anyone... I think he will explain if you

watch.

I come before you tonight with news of the gravest importance to this

country and to the world.

Those of you who are at work, I ask you to lay that work aside for the moment

and listen.

to what I have to say.

A few hours ago, I was present at a conference at which every nation of the

world was represented because the whole world is threatened by a danger

which transcends political and national considerations of any kind.

The message I bring is this.

An object from outer space may well pass close to the Earth

Before going on into the vastness of space, it is possible, and I tell you

in the light of the best scientific advice available, that it may strike the

Earth a glancing blow.

It is even possible that it may score what I can only describe as a direct

It is for this reason that work has begun on the building of shelters

the impact.

As I told you, this thing may well pass as thought.

Should this object collide with the Earth, the shock will be very great, and

provision of adequate shelters is the best chance we have of preventing severe

loss of life.

It is for this reason that I have asked members of the opposition to join me at

this moment in forming a national government so that this country may be

united in the face of the grave danger.

In the meantime,

I ask for calm.

I ask all those of you who are listening to me to set an example of courage and

discipline in face of the grave danger which threatens us all.

Good night.

So that's it. I suppose you knew all about it. Yes, I did. Well, Doctor, how

long have we got? About six weeks. For security reasons, I'd rather you didn't

answer that. Now, just a minute. Who the hell do you think you are? Will you

come with me, sir? You too, Miss Jellett. Mr. Duncan, if you don't mind.

I'm sorry to have to hustle you off like this, sir. But there's a plane waiting.

There's a car outside.

Where are we going?

Woomera, sir. In Australia.

Woomera? Yes, sir.

That's why I must ask you to hurry. The plane leaves in a couple of hours. It's

what I do about clothes.

Well,

well.

So that's it.

Oh, devil, no wonder he was so rattled. He knew all the time, but he was under

pressure from security.

What a day.

Let's get out of here.

Good night, Brian.

Good night. See you tomorrow.

Let's go and have a coffee, shall we?

It's good to get a bit of fresh air. Yeah.

Is it my imagination or is it getting brighter?

It's your imagination.

Just six weeks to live.