Star Maidens (Battle of the Sexes in Space!)

Star Maidens is a curio amongst the crowded halls of science fiction television. An Anglo-German production featuring a mixture of both English and German actors, Star Maidens was produced by Portman Productions and distributed by German and Scottish companies. Filmed at Bray Studios (famous for being the original home of Hammer Horror) in Berkshire, the show was made by a number of personnel who had been involved with 'Space: 1999' the big budget science fiction drama that premièred in September 1975, most notably special effects designer Brian Johnson who worked in the same capacity on 'Space: 1999' who, here creates a similar look and tone, just on a massively reduced budget. Gareth Thomas who would later appear in the excellent 'Children of the Stones' and play the lead character Roj Blake in 'Blake's 7' plays Shem the reluctant male escapee from Medusa in this programme, with Derek Farr playing Professor Evans (he would later guest appear in 'Blake's 7). Two of the show's female leads Judy Geeson (Fulvia) and Lisa Harrow (Liz Becker) had also guest starred in 'Space: 1999' before they appeared in Star Maidens.

Adam and Shem, the two male domestics wishing to escape the constraints of Medusa, as played by Pierre Brice and Gareth Thomas

Star Maidens links with other classic science fiction series makes it of great interest. Created and often written by Eric Paice (who had previously written for 'The Avengers') the show is a sex comedy which follows the exploits of two male domestics Adam (played by French actor Pierre Brice) and Shem as they escape from the dominant rule of their home planet Medusa by women. The programme explores the theme of role reversal in great depth, the initial episodes setting up the story of Adam and Shem as they arrive on earth after stealing a Medusan spacecraft, the later episodes dealing with the predicament of Rudi Schmidt (Christian Quadflieg) and Liz Becker (two scientists from earth) as they are taken hostage and live out their lives in the peculiar society of Medusa.

Judy Geeson and Lisa Harrow with a Medusan robot 

This thirteen episode mini series, each episode running to 25 minutes in length is often a little light on story, the second episode 'Nemesis' is essentially a run-around as the earth's police force fail to catch Adam and Shem and notably features the hilarious line "There are two funny men stealing our apples" as Adam and Shem raid a local farm for food, but the whole thing has a certain charm and is overall very enjoyable.

The late Dawn Addams and German actress Christiane Kruger also had key roles in the series

 
Despite the low budget, the production values aren't too bad, the Medusa set for example is quite expansive and visually interesting and there is plenty of earthbound location footage (all shot in Berkshire). The Medusan women (and many of the men) are gorgeous and Judy Geeson is excellent as Fulvia (long before Inseminoid!) but the curious blond streaks in the male domestics hair takes some getting used to, particularly if your used to seeing Gareth Thomas (a particular victim of the hair dye) in his Roj Blake persona. It's a pity that the series was shot on cheap 16mm colour film as the results are a bit jumpy when viewed today, but this series all in all is very good fun. Sit back, relax and don't take it too seriously, this is well worth purchasing on DVD!

The sizeable main set of the planet Medusa built at Bray Studios for the series

NOTE: All production stills and photographs used in this review are copyrighted to Portman Productions Delta Entertainment and ITV. The first seven of my Screenprick reviews are edited and embellished versions of reviews I have previously published on IMDb (Internet Movie Database) under the account name 'The Valeyard'. Reviews Seven and Nine will be brand new reviews posted on this blog first! The next review will be a tribute to the late actress Kate O'Mara who died on 30th March. I will be reviewing the two Doctor Who stories she appeared in 'The Mark of the Rani' and 'Time and the Rani'.