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There was a 1973 TV movie called "The Stranger". Its concept is the same as "Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun". A US spacecraft is returning from a mission when it is caught in an anomaly that throws the ship off course. When the astronaut wakes up, he's in a hospital room. He soon realizes that he isn't on Earth, but a mirror planet, except that it's run by a totalitarian style government. To them, he's a threat, because the stranger is a free thinker.

Great work, Adrian

I have a distinct memory of seeing this just before my 10th birthday in my small-town usa theater.

Totally enjoyed "Journey to the Far Side f the Sun" as well as UFO and later Space 1999

Interesting presentation with an excellent narrator.

I enjoyed this immensely when I saw this on tv in the seventies. I was already a fan of Sylvia & Gerry Anderson productions through Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, and Space: 1999.

Superb film and a great concept.

Gerry Anderson wanted to make sci-fi action movies and his wife wanted to play with dolls. So that led them to making a puppet show for TV. By the time they got to Space:1999 they could barely tolerate being in the same room together and they finally divorced. I always thought that Gerry must have led the most frustrating life.

I don't know why I've never got round to watching it.

parents took us to see it, I liked it, some scary moments when it crashed

It's suggested that when coming to America it was renamed from it's original, but I remember this as a kid [loved it] under the name Doppelganger and I'm in the states. This would have been aired on TV in the mid '70's.

A formative film for me as a teen. Unlike a lot of typical sci-fi and popular movies, it dared to bring sophisticated concepts, uncertainty and discomfort into play, and it really stands out for it's distinctive style. There is one nerdy inconsistency which is overlooked which is that if the mirror image difference was valid down to the molecular level, anyone from our earth would be unable to digest some of the food elements, which have helicity (anyone remember Olestra?), but the idea of the electrical polarity being reversed was brilliant.

I always loved this movie.

Hunh. I now think I did see this film, I'd just forgotten it. I never realized this was a film, I always thought it was some television film.

Funny I was just thinking about finding this film to watch again as it’s been many years! I always enjoy ambiguous endings, that make you think , thanks!!

I actually saw this film 🎥 while it was still in the Cinema houses. I was in my teens, but enjoyed it immensely!

All-time fave, this movie. Loved it as a kid. Have a copy of it now and still watch regularly. The music in particular is sublime.

Thank you for a nifty and respectful (but honest) retrospective of a childhood favorite that I never stopped liking, even when I recognize its snoozeville moments. And I never knew it was a Twilight Zone ripoff! That's a bummer. Derek Meddings RULES! If his name's on a flick I'll see it, no matter what!

I loved this film.....maybe TCM will take pity on us and show it

That was interesting .Funny you didn't mention Herbert Lom.

Great actor he also had the main role.in THE INVADERS. great series nice to know is still alive

I remember watching the film along with UFO in syndication as a kid in the early 70's. I moved back home 11 years ago and found a dvd of the film. I loved re-watching as an adult. Truly a classic of sci-fi cinema.

Has the Adrian Sherlock mark of quality on it

I saw the movie when it came out with my auntie and I’ve just bought the DVD. Not the greatest movie but Derek Meddings special effects were incredible. Miniatures are always better than CGI. But then I’m old and Thunderbirds rules!

'UFO' was way, way, way, ahead of it's time and I own the series on DVD. I remember 'The Champions', but I have never seen 'Journey to the Far Side of the Sun'. Man, Roy Thinnes was spectacular

The movie sure has its quirks and scientific dead ends, but I must say I came to enjoy it more in recent years. I recall first seeing it as a teenager in the cinema when it was first released. Today, its music, furnishings, overall style and design, plus the fabulous model work, make it a truly exceptional, yet flawed, fantasy film.

Also just saw Thinnes on the X-Files

Whoa, I stumbled across this film years ago and couldn't remember it. Found it in a book I have on horror and sci Fi movies.

I always had a soft spot for this film. A very enjoyable couple hours of sci-fi junk food. Rip Gerry Anderson. Great video!

Closed caption ?

Brilliant documentary. Found out facts about the movie JTTFSOTS--it concepts being an inspiration behind UFO, a classic alien invader TV series. Many thanks for posting this, Mr. Sherlock. Too bad it was a box office flop due to its disjointed plot lines. 😊👽🛸🚀

What was funny about the movie in retrospect was that the symbol for Eurosec now denotes the Euro. It's as if one put dollar signs on American rockets. It comes across as a commentary on the expense of building all that stuff.

The poster at 9:52 would have worked better if the North and South American continents on the second Earth had been reversed.

*At age 86, actor Roy Thinnes is still alive. His ex-wife, who also played his wife in JTTFSOTS, died in late 2023 at the age of 80. Oddly, another actress with the same last name of Loring (Lisa Loring) who played "Wednesday Addams" on the original 1960's "The Addams Family" also died that same year of 2023 - at the age of 64. Stranger still, neither Lynn Loring nor Lisa Loring were born with the surname "Loring" - in both cases they were stage names.*

Thanks. Doppelganger means "double goer".

The gentleman with the cigar is Lord Grade, who died in 1998. He ran the Associated Television Corporation and its subsidiary, ITC Entertainment.

I remember a DVD Comment from Stlvia that after seeing "Journey..." Stanley Kubrick wanted to take her out to dinner(so he could use her special effects crew) when she said no he hung up on her(Sylvia laughed "at least he was honest!") terrific movie one info bookstated "the ending makes the movie!') 💎 Auckland New Zealand 2024

Ha historias que funcionam muito bem em curta metragens, como um episódio de "Twinlght Zone", mas nunca num longa metragem.

Good Movie, Bad Ending.

The film has splendid production values throughout it, from the legendary Derek Meddings visual effects work to its lavish looking sets, and a fine cast. It falls apart by dwelling on too many irrelevant plotlines for me. A troubled marriage, an affair (edited out), the politics of uniting nations to embark on the outer pace mission, and finally preparing one of the astronauts for the mission by showing his training. This all was of absolutely no interest, it wasted precious time. The film needed to hit the ground running by establishing what the mission was and then getting underway onto a thrilling adventure. Similar to Fantastic Voyage, or Ice Station Zebra. The denouement of having the mysterious planet merely being a mirror earth was a big letdown. Even the scriptwriter acknowledges this here. The ending is murky & depressing. The planet needed to be an alien world with different topography, continents, and lifeforms. I'm a big fan of the Andersons, and really wanted this to be a thrilling & successful film for them and we fans. It is merely impressive looking eye candy.

I think Patrick Wymark and Ian Hendry were drunk most of the time they were on set. I like the film but it is a silly idea.

I remember this long forgotten gem from my boyhood in the late 60s. Fascinating premise, well presented, though the model work, reminiscent of Thunderbirds (now I better understand the Anderson connection with the film), was not that great - it bothered me even back in the day - by today's standards. 2001 had raised the bar for space scenes that wouldn't really take hold until Star Wars. Still, it was a career high for Roy Thinnes and cast.

They used to show this regularly as the afternoon movie on one of the New York City TV networks. I'd love to see it again, but it doesn't seem to be available online. Thank you for this.

Thanks, I enjoyed that. I loved watching it on TV as a kid…and recently rewatched it after purchasing the blu ray.

There’s a nod to First Men in the Moon. Jason is in the same situation at the end of the film as Arnold Bedford was.

JTFSOS was one of the most interesting and enjoyable ScfFi films that I had seen up to that point (1978). I was too young to quite comprehend the plot and complexities of the film, but the cool planes and rockets sucked me in at 7 years of age. I still watch it today from time to time, dated, surely but still fun and a lot of great memories.

Suggest you WATCH the Parallel...you have described it quite inaccurately sadly.Its one astronaut and theres no mirroring! I literally watched it yesterday, its similar but to be fair you clearly hadnt watched it..! 😮

An excellent documentary, well done.

Outstanding!!