Jupiter Moon was a
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
television series first broadcast by
BSBBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
's
Galaxy ChannelGalaxy, was a satellite television channel, one of the five channels run by British Satellite Broadcasting , focusing on General Entertainment...
from 26 March 1990 until December the same year. 150 episodes were commissioned, but only the first 108 were broadcast by
BSBBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
. It was commissioned to fulfill the perceived need for a
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
in
BSBBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
's line-up and, as such, it was shown three times a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), with an
omnibusAn Omnibus in broadcasting, is a compilation of daily episodes that is usually broadcast during the following weekend...
edition at weekends.
Jupiter Moon was a
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
television series first broadcast by
BSBBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
's
Galaxy ChannelGalaxy, was a satellite television channel, one of the five channels run by British Satellite Broadcasting , focusing on General Entertainment...
from 26 March 1990 until December the same year. 150 episodes were commissioned, but only the first 108 were broadcast by
BSBBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
. It was commissioned to fulfill the perceived need for a
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
in
BSBBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
's line-up and, as such, it was shown three times a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), with an
omnibusAn Omnibus in broadcasting, is a compilation of daily episodes that is usually broadcast during the following weekend...
edition at weekends. The series was curtailed owing to the merger between
BSBBritish Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
and
Sky Television plcFor other uses, see Sky Television.Sky Television plc was a public limited company which operated its four-channel satellite television service, launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International on 5 February 1989...
and the subsequent cessation of the
Galaxy ChannelGalaxy, was a satellite television channel, one of the five channels run by British Satellite Broadcasting , focusing on General Entertainment...
, although the later episodes were eventually shown in the UK on the
Sci Fi ChannelSCI FI Channel is a television channel service specialising in science fiction, fantasy and horror shows and movies. It is available via digital cable, IPTV, satellite television and Top Up TV platforms. The channel launched in 1995 in the UK a sister channel to the US Sci Fi Channel , with a...
between 22 January and 19 February 1996. The soap was screened on GBC TV (Gibraltar television) ahead of its premiere on BSB's own Galaxy channel. The soap was seen in the British colony every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 730pm, having substituted Eastenders which had become too expensive for GBC TV.
Premise
The series was set in the year 2050 and concentrates on the space station
Ilea in permanent
orbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body, for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star....
above the space city Callisto. The main story concerned an attempt to travel to the stars, known as the Daedalus Project. The
Ilea was home to a
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
and many of the programme's plot strands revolved around the lives of the
studentThe word student is etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb studēre, meaning "to direct one's zeal at"; hence a student could be described as "one who directs zeal at a subject"...
s, helping the programme to deal with more down-to-earth issues despite its unearthly setting.
The series was created and produced by William Smethurst, a former long standing editor of British Radio Soap
The ArchersThe Archers is a British radio soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. Originally billed as an "everyday story of country folk", it is the world's longest running radio soap with more than 15,800 episodes broadcast, but with the ending of Guiding Light on CBS in...
, and was recorded at the studios of
Central TelevisionCentral Independent Television, more commonly known as Central was the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
.
Actors included
Lucy Benjamin-Career:Born Lucy Jane Baker in Reading, Berkshire, England, she took the stage name of Benjamin after her brother. Her first acting role was as a child actor in Doctor Who in 1983 playing a young version of the character Nyssa. In 1989 she starred in the hit children's television programme...
,
Anna Chancellor-Family:Chancellor was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the daughter of the Hon. Mary Joliffe and former Reuters chairman Sir John Chancellor. Through her mother, Chancellor is the great-great-granddaughter of Prime Minister H. H...
,
Jason DurrJason Durr is an English actor, best known for his portrayal of PC/DC Michael "Mike" Bradley in the British Series Heartbeat from 1997 to 2003.His television career began from science fiction television series Jupiter Moon....
and Fay Masterson.
Name derivations
The standard unit of currency in the show was the
ECUECU may refer to:Automotive terms* Electronic control unit, a generic term for any embedded system that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a motor vehicle...
(pronounced "eck-you"). The ECU was an internal accounting unit for the
European CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
until it was superseded by the
EuroThe euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
, an actual currency, in 2002.
The space station
Ilea was named after the then-recently-abolished
Inner London Education AuthorityThe Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990....
.
The character Phillipe Gervais was named after associate producer
Jane FallonJane Fallon is an English producer and novelist, most famous for her work on popular series Teachers, 20 Things To Do Before You're 30, Eastenders and This Life...
's partner
Ricky GervaisRicky Dene Gervais is an English comedian and actor. Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator Stephen Merchant...
.
External links