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DENYING THE NIDUS |
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by Nigel Andrews
If ever there was a formula series, it has to be HTV's INTO THE LABYRINTH which produced over two summers a total of twenty-one episodes in a pattern so firm as to make them inconsequential. After a title sequence of lake-filled caves and some suitably haunting music from ex-CHILDREN OF THE STONES soundsmith Sidney Sager, it was studio videotape all the way, unless it was the first or last episode of a season where there could be almost five minutes of location shooting done at Glastonbury.
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Rothgo (Ron Moody) in the guise of an aristocrat when he appears in Paris 1789 in the episode “Revolution” |
Not only was it videotape all the way, and not only confined sets, but the same confined sets each and every week. All the adventures took place in the same caverns and tunnels and a lone bit of piping varied the scenary on occasion, but apart from that this formed the backdrop to desert islands, revolutionary France and Victorian London with tedious monotony. If a word summed up the show, that word was cheap as our child heroes arrived in a blaze of CSO into the same set as usual. Here they would identify the period setting and set about searching for the Nidus/Scarabeaus and encountering great historical/fictional characters en route - but not many as the casts were very small. One other character would be their friendly magician Rothgo (if you were lucky) or Lazlo (if you weren't) - who had sent them on their quest in the first place - and another character would be the evil witch Belor. After twenty-five minutes of running about to a semi-educational script, the kids would find the Nidus/Scarabeaus whereupon Belor would appear and say "No! I deny you the Nidus/Scarabeaus!" so Rothgo has to say "Fly after her!" or Lazlo has to say "Quick Phil, into Delta Time!". In another blaze of CSO, the children begin to shake and wobble, their feet embarrassingly firm on the floor despite the camerawork, and vanish into next week's episode. Unless it was the last one of course, in which Belor catches fire and rots, Lazlo/Rothgo regains his powers and the children depart to live happily ever after.
And that's really all one can say about it. It was a fantasy quest for children, instigated and executed by Peter Graham Scott, one time director of DANGER MAN, THE AVENGERS and THE PRISONER, producer of THE TROUBLESHOOTERS and THE ONEDIN LINE and then entrenched at HTV, producing adventure series such as KIDNAPPED. The executive producer of children's TV there, Patrick Dromgoole, had produced many fantasy shows for the last six years or so, SKY, THE GEORGIAN HOUSE, CHILDREN OF THE STONES [with Scott] and KING OF THE CASTLE. The other co-creator was veteran DOCTOR WHO scribe Bob Baker who had co-written SKY and KING OF THE CASTLE with his partner, fellow Bristol lad Dave Martin, from whom he had recently split.
Back to Back
It seems the first two seasons were recorded back to back, and certainly screened - by accident or by design - very close to each other in summer 1981. Cast in the lead of Rothgo, the magician, was highly talented character actor Ron Moody, best remembered as Fagin in the musical OLIVER!, who would be called upon to portray his rôle in a variety of guises throughout the season. His nemesis, Belor, was played with beautiful venom by the gorgeous Pamela Salem - currently a regular in EASTENDERS - her dark hair bedecked with spangles, long vicious nails, haunting black robes and slanting demonic eyebrows. The necessary kids were nothing to write home about: a girl, a boy and a black boy in the best traditions of trying to keep everyone happy with minimal effort.
Lured into a cave by a strange calling, brother and sister Terry and Helen meet a lad called Phil and all three are soon freeing Rothgo from being entombed in a stone by helping focus his magic powers. After pleading that the children stay with him - aided by suitable illusions - the freed spirit explains that he was trapped by his enemy, Belor, who took away the focus of his power, the Nidus, and left him to die. The children must help him as he is still weak, and he shows them a maze, a labyrinth of times containing his treasure. With Terry somewhat obstinate and Phil argumentative, it is left to trusting Helen to carry the bulk of the missions. Rothgo explains they can find the Nidus as it will reflect brightly in mirrors, and that they will find him in each time where he has once lived.
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A portrait photograph of Pamela Salem as the evil Belor |
First stop is Druidic Times where the kids learn to summon Rothgo by forming a circle and chanting his name. Rothgo appears in the form of an old man with Belor as an evil Priestess, Eliac, and the Nidus in a Druid throne. When Belor denies this to the children as it almost falls into their grasp, the Nidus shoots off star-like through time. Next week it is Sherwood Forest with Rothgo as a mountebank, Belor as Lady Eleanor and the Nidus in the Sheriff's dagger. From there to ancient Arabia where Belor rules as the tyrant Masrur and the children enlist the power of a genie to almost gain the Nidus as a silver apple. In Cromwellian times it seems that Rothgo is an actor who has forgotten his ancient identity, with Belor as Roundhead collaborator Mistress Wright and the Nidus in a candlestick. By France, 1789, Belor as Juliette has put the aristocratic Rothgo under a spell of amnesia so he cannot find the Nidus in the form of a mirror. Finally, descending to the original labyrinth, Ariadne/Belor leads Theseus into the maze built by Rothgo/Daedalus. The Nidus is finally grasped as Theseus' sword and the serial ends with Rothgo departing the caves and the children having their memories wiped by the old magician.
The serials, although rattled through rapidly with little style, had some pleasant touches. The real power of Rothgo was shown, dark and lonely deep in the labyrinth each week sending power to his other self or his young helpers. Pamela Salem made some stunning transformations as Belor into other women, and a black bat, in the form of which she could fly through the caves. She could also fly in human form, courtesy of dodgy CSO, and it was soon shown that her weak point was the back of her neck, at which Rothgo could loose lightning bolts to temporarily stun her.
On the writing chores, Baker's pilot was followed by scripts from veteran writers Ray Jenkins [CALLAN, THE SWEENEY etc] and Anthony Read [THE TROUBLESHOOTERS with Scott, script editor/writer on DOCTOR WHO, SAPPHIRE AND STEEL] and Andrew Payne, the latter going on to write some classic installments of MINDER. The casts were small, but impressive. Patricia Driscoll reprised her rôle from Sapphire's THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD of Maid Marion in Robin, along with Conrad Phillips who had been the title hero in ITC's WILLIAM TELL. June Barrie, widow of David Whitaker, and the late Ewen Solon, Lucas in MAIGRET turned up in Conflict with John Abineri in Revolution.
Within weeks in television time, the crystals given to Helen and Terry lure them back to the tunnels and their memories of Rothgo return and they meet up with Phil to help the wizard. Belor has reformed herself and created the Albedo, a power equal and opposite to the Nidus which would allow Evil to reign the universe. This time their mission is to find whether the Albedo is yet complete, first in Asgard, the Kingdom of the Nibelungs, old Northern Gods. Rothgo, as Wieland, goes into combat with the Nidus in his sword against the Midguard Jewel, a ring worn by Belor which is the Albedo. As the two meet, the Albedo disintegrates and the Nidus is split into five elements, leaving the children no alternative but to try and collect the segments for Rothgo in a similar manner to their last adventure.
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Belor (Pamela Salem) meets her doom at the end of the final first season episode “Minotaur” |
In the reign of James I, Rothgo appears as Guy Fawkes, actually an agent of the King but one discredited by the work of Belor as Queen Anne. Although the story ends with a bitter taste - Rothgo to meet death and foretelling James' ill life ahead - the children regain a piece of Nidus from the bung on a powder keg and Helen keeps these on a chain about her neck. At the Alamo, medicine man Standing Bison does not realise that he is Rothgo, but Helen still gets the Nidus segment disguised as Davy Crockett's watch. In India, Rothgo is Prince Sagara, about to marry ugly Princess Angara where Belor is at work as a goddess [Pamela Salem's extra arms were courtesy of her well-known pupeteer sister Gillian Robic]. Here are two fragments of the Nidus, one which Rothgo is unable to gain from a statue, although the other Helen gains from an old man's pipe. In Victorian London, Rothgo appears at the story's conclusion as a beefeater - after the children follow a fake Rothgo - but Belor denies Helen the Nidus fragment in the crown jewels. Rothgo as Sir Hugo in Malta, 1565 fails to triumph over Belor, who takes four segments already found. The fifth segment is the key of life on Tutankhamun's mummy, again seized by Belor to give her power, taking control of Phil. Phil takes the Nidus sword and throws it into the Waters of Time. Belor ages to decay again and Rothgo explains that now many can tap the Nidus' power, and he can travel freely through time. Again, the children leave with only vague recollections of a strange old man at the series' conclusion.
Second Outing
The second season fared better than the first, with a good balance of comedy and drama. Scripts came now from Bob Baker, augmented by one from science-fiction writer Christopher Priest, ex-DOOMWATCH/SURVIVORS scribe Martin Worth, Ivan Benbrook and two historical skirmishes from John Lucarotti which were more basic than the tales he had woven for William Hartnell's Doctor almost two decades earlier. The best script of all though hails from the late Robert Holmes. Shadrach tells of Thomas Jethro Shadrach, a part-time detective in Inverness cape and deerstalker who is livid that Sherlock Holmes has stolen his ideas. Belor gives him Rothgo's face as she dons the guise of his wife, and the detective continues to try and stop Orientals stealing the Crown Jewels by entering the Castle from the sewers. Holmes' love of Victoriana, as demonstrated in The Talons of Weng-Chiang for DOCTOR WHO, was highly evident.
Guest casts again were notable, with David Travena, Ewen Solon and Simeon Andrews and Edwina Ford all returning, in addition to new faces like Patrick Malahide of MINDER fame, Jack Watson, Norman Bowler and Cyril Shaps, with Paul Nicholson appearing in two episodes. The first also featured Howard Goorney, who would become a regular in the third and final season. This season was to see major changes and a sadly embarrassing increase in humour which the cheap show could ill afford. The strands of believability, strained already with gentle comedy, were now stretched to breaking point as Chris Harris as Lazlo replaced Ron Moody. Lazlo was an incompetent, happy little magician who was picked on by Belor out of malicious fun as opposed to the deadly rivalry between Belor and Rothgo. Whilst Chris Harris made an ideal children's presenter for youngsters on shows like HEY LOOK, THAT'S ME, his performance as Lazlo was a sorry one, leaving the acting honours to Pamela Salem and Simon Beal, who was now most competant in his part as Phil. Howard Goorney played Bran, Belor's new familiar who was almost purely for comic relief, and stupid enough for example to let Phil trick him out of a vital fire-proof asbestos suit when surrounded by licking flames in London's Burning.
The adventures now took place in Delta Time, a dimension where fiction became fact in an alternate universe. Unfortunately, a green disease was spreading up the arms of first Lazlo, and then Phil, and it was essential they find Lazlo's source of power, the Scarabeaus, by using a special bracelet - a device created almost purely so Belor could steal it now and again. Again, Lazlo turned up as various characters in fiction or history, but overplayed to comic extremes with silly voices by Harris on every occasion. Even when trying to look serious at the climx of episodes, Lazlo still looked plain silly in his 'normal' costume and delivered his lines with the overemphasised conviction of somebody in pantomime. And what with a comic foil in the shape of Bran, Pamela Salem could scarcely battle the scripts. Bob Baker and Ivan Benbrook wrote again, with two newcomers also contributing episodes: Gary Hopkins with the notable The Phantom of the Opera and Jane McClarkey, with another script left unmade and finally being produced as an 'underwater quest' as an episode of DRAMARAMA a few years later. David Martin, Baker's old partner, and Moris Fahri wrote an episode a-piece, but the best is again from Robert Holmes, with another Victoriana skirmish in Dr Jekyll and Mrs Hyde. Guest cast saw many returns: John Abineri, Mark Buffrey, Conrad Phillips (twice), Tim Bannerman, Norman Bowler, Ewen Solon and Paul Nicholson, with Frank Windsor and Godfrey James also showing up.
And so in September 1982, INTO THE LABYRINTH vanished as invisibly as it came. The scripts had contained elements of pure magic akin to some episodes of THE TOMORROW PEOPLE, but were bound by the rigid format into things of total inconsequence. Whilst Moody's performances in the first two seasons, and Pamela Salem's fiery witch throughout were a joy and could carry poor stories, the cheapness combined with Chris Harris' camp performances took the drowing show under for the last time.
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