An excerpt from “20th Century Film Flops,” by David Macadam: In the 1960s, Hollywood noticed the potential behind the British television series, “Professor X”. It decided to adapt one of its most popular stories for the big screen, in colour. The script was reworked, and the Hollywood producers demanded certain changes to the nature of the lead character. However, the bare bones of the plot survived and the film became “Dr. Nick, Private Investigator: The Case of the Space Zoo.” The film flopped for obvious reasons. It was filled with plot holes, and made no sense. There was a compromise of the original material, due to the influence of the American producers. The main character, and draw of the film, acted out of character, the plot relied too heavily on continuity with the television series, and made pointless revelations about Professor X. Claims that the show was based on an actual historical document from the future were dismissed as nonsense. Nobody ever thought to look at the document. Excerpt ends. Interlude 3: An excerpt from the script of “Dr. Nick, Private Investigator: The Case Of The Space Zoo,” produced in 1967 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures. OPEN TO AN IMAGE OF SPACE, WITH HUNDREDS OF STARS. SUDDENLY A HUGE 3-DIMENSIONAL CRYSTAL WEB FLIES ACROSS THE SCREEN. WE CUT TO ANOTHER VIEW OF THE WEB. WE SEE HUNDREDS OF SPIDERS SCUTTLING THROUGH THE CHANNELS IN THE WEB. VOICE OVER (Dr. Nick): Space… the final frontier. But who knows what horrors lurk in the cold depths of infinity. Dr. Nick knows. But even I was not aware of the strange beings flying towards us at that very moment, while we were captives of the Space Zoo. They were spider-like creatures, the sort you could have nightmares about, y’know? They were in telepathic communion, which means they were the sort of people you couldn’t even consider crossing, or they’d know about it. And soon, they were going to feast again… Excerpt ends. An excerpt from the private journals of Nick, published after his death. (Edited by Oolon Coluphid): The next group of people to arrive were the Crocodilemen. I know it sounds like a stupid name, but somehow, I don’t think I heard it like they said it. The same with “Canines”, for that matter. I think it’s like my brain hears the nearest equivalent of what’s actually being said. But the Crocodilemen were tall and scaly, and looked, well, like Crocodiles really. I had to greet them in the Earth habitat. The entire zoo had been filled with water, but everyone was outfitted with dry suits, so most of the inhabitants didn’t even realise it. It was me and Alf who had to say “hi” to the new space aliens. We had to stand completely starkers in the Earth habitat, which would’ve been better if Alf hadn’t been so cold and stuff lately. I’m kind of worried about that, you know. I mean, what’s going to happen to us, and stuff. But I’m getting distracted. When the doors to the Crocodilemen’s ship opened all this green swampy stuff came out and diffused through the water. It was kind of difficult to see, so when a Crocodileman suddenly clapped an arm the size of an epsilon reticular gauge on me, I kind of freaked. In the end the Collector swam up and water filters came and cleaned up the habitat, but it was still a scary experience, you know. Excerpt ends. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |