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Forever Young

Original Story Treatment by
Kristian Ayre

Upon doing some digging through my hard drive, I finally managed to find my original treatment. I'm pasting it below. You'll notice that I included the spung originally but it was suggested that we save them for other episodes. Also the ending has Davenport stuck inside the computer a la "Break on Through...". This is because the actress who played Davenport in the pilot, Tamsin Kelsey, became pregnant before first season and it was suggested that a way to get around this problem was to have her on the Christa's viewscreens for a number of episodes. Eventually another actress was sought. Keep in mind that this was written months before season 1 went into production - some of the ideas are quite loose. Enjoy!

Space Cases Script Notes for "A Second Childhood" - 8/28/95

Teaser:

  • Harlan, aided by Catalina, has played a particularly nasty prank on A.P. Davenport, and to make matters worse, he did it on the ComPost, endangering the Christa and enraging Goddard.
  • As a result, all kids are banished from the ComPost until such time as they can be deemed "responsible". This action creates a kids versus adults type conflict.
  • An alien probe carrying the knowledge of a civilization long extinct has adopted the Christa and her crew as it's "target vessel".
  • A malfunction of the probe ,as it unfolds out into a laboratory unit complete with computer consoles, causes the accidental release of a gas which transforms Goddard and Davenport into children.

Possible Teaser:

-Three Simultaneous Sequences :

*Since so much must be explained about our situation in the Teaser, three scenes will play out at once, cutting back and forth.

  1. Harlan, outraged by the fact that he and the others have been kicked off the Compost indefinitely, and more than a little embarrassed that his actions have affected the others, has devised a plan to somehow ( Thelma?) override the security access in the tubes leading to the ComPost. Enlisting the help of the others, their dialogue reveals what has happened. Once in the ComPost, Harlan has planned for the kids to hold their ground and refuse to leave. Tension is high.
  2. In space, the Christa makes its way past our camera.Following not-too-far behind is a tiny metal object. As we zoom in we find it to be....a briefcase. A small LCD readout near it's handle reads "TARGET SHIP IN SENSORS". This message is followed by others like "SCANNING FOR INTELLIGENT LIFE"..... "MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS MET". It closes on the Christa with the final message "ENTERING TARGET VESSEL. The probe may have some advanced technology that allows it to pass through matter, or transport itself across small distances. In any case it materializes in the center of the ComPost.
  3. Within the ComPost Goddard and Davenport stand watch, with Davenport hounding Goddard about the appropriateness of his punishment. She is unsure who is being punished, the kids or them.

These three scenes intercut back and forth. Perhaps we could cut some of Davenport's jabbering in before "MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS MET" above, etc. They are all brought together when, at the time Harlan overrides the security lock in the tubes, the probe materializes on the ComPost, four feet above the ground. It falls to the floor with a crash, indicating something inside has been broken. On impact it opens, releasing a strangely colored gas. At the same time it folds out, Jetsons style, to reveal a partially damaged Laboratory complete with computer console. While the gas is clearing, the kids gain entry to the ComPost and find a peculiar situation indeed. They stand opposite two unknown kids (Goddard and Davenport) with the strange Lab unit in-between.
End Teaser.

Act I

  • The kids adjust to the new Goddard and Davenport
  • Goddard and Davenport begin to remember what it's like to be a kid
  • In relating to the G & D kids, the other kids realize that G & D are pretty much like them.
  • In short, both groups learn to respect each other more. This idea carries through into Act II as well.
  • Our group begins to investigate the probe-lab and discovers that inside its computer there exists some kind of entity that cannot communicate due to the broken console.
  • At the very end of Act I the dreaded Spung arrive. Perhaps the probe bypassed their vessel, finding it unsuitable. In any case, the Spung have been pursuing the probe and have some idea what it contains. What they know for certain is that they want it.

Notes on Act I : How Goddard and Davenport are portrayed as children is extremely important. The characteristics that Goddard displayed as a S.T.A.R.D.O.G.S. captain would most likely shine through in his child form. He is brave and perhaps a little domineering but likable. Davenport as a child may be exactly like her adult form. She should have some likable qualities however. Since it was Harlan and Catalina who were most involved in the initial conflict, it should be these two who most relate to G & D as kids. Goddard could be very much like Harlan. Perhaps he even shares a similar love for practical jokes. To create a link between Catalina and Davenport we might give kid Davenport an extremely secret imaginary friend which Susie informs Catalina of. There are plenty of possibilities here. It could be fun to create some chemistry between Catalina and Goddard, making Harlan a little jealous.

Act II

  • The kids figure out how to route the entity within the probe into the ship's computer interface, discovering that the entity is actually a computer compilation of hundreds of scientists who died in space shortly after completing their mission to discover a youth formula. To ensure the information wasn't lost forever, they created the probe. The entity could be presented as an eccentric sort of Einstein character.
  • together all the kids must somehow protect the probe from falling into Spung hands
  • knowing that the Spung are terrified of the S.T.A.R.D.O.G.S., the kids realize that they must return Goddard back to his adult self to confront the Spung.
  • Thelma and the probe entity devise a way to reverse the accident, which involves Goddard and Davenport being fed into the Christa's computer.
  • In the time it takes for all this to occur, the Spung prepare to attack the ship. As Goddard and Davenport are processed within the Christa, time runs out for the crew. The Spung make the final preparations to invade the Christa.

Notes: To be blunt, I am severely stuck for an ending. Ideally I would like for the kids to find a way to overcome the Spung without the adults, proving once and for all that they can handle responsibility. This would somehow involve the removal of the probe from the Christa. A possibility is that that the kids discover some sort of wormhole in the area and dump the probe into it. It's sort of a "way out" unless it is presented at the beginning of the episode that the Christa is passing a wormhole. Anyway, upon the safe removal of the probe from the Christa, the Spung depart.

  • After the smoke clears, Goddard appears in adult form. Davenport, however, remains within the computer and her image leaps onto the screen on the Compost. The entire Davenport-inside-computer situation can be handled in the following episode.

END OF EPISODE