astronomy

Star Maidens

Star Maidens is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Star Maidens rather than just read about it. In short: Star Maidens is a British-German science-fiction television series. Produced by Portman Productions in 1975 and partly financed by German company, Werbung-im-Rundfunk, it was first broadcast on the ITV network in 1976.

Key takeaways

Star Maidens belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Star Maidens to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Star Maidens from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Star Maidens is a British-German science-fiction television series. Produced by Portman Productions in 1975 and partly financed by German company, Werbung-im-Rundfunk, it was first broadcast on the ITV network in 1976. It was filmed at Bray Studios and on location in Windsor and Bracknell, Berkshire, and Black Park, Buckinghamshire. It ran for a single season of thirteen half-hour episodes.

Background Star Maidens largely followed on the success of Space: 1999, another sci-fi tv programme and, at the time, the most expensive show produced for British television. While Star Maidens had a considerably lower budget, it shared the same production designer, Keith Wilson, the same sound editor, Peter Pennell, and special effects by Allan Bryce, leading to a similar look and feel for both series. Lead actresses Judy Geeson and Lisa Harrow had also appeared as star guests in Space:1999: Geeson in the episode "Another Time, Another Place" and Harrow in "The Testament of Arkadia". According to the notes included in the series’ 2005 DVD release, "the German producers intended for the series to be a sex comedy, whereas the British producers intended the show to be intelligent science fiction." This clear disparity in creative vision likely contributed to Star Maidens lasting only one season, despite reasonable international sales.

Synopsis Planet Medusa, home to a highly evolved and technologically advanced humanoid race ruled by women, is knocked out of its orbit around Proxima Centauri by a rogue comet. Eventually, Medusa enters Earth's solar system. Two Medusan males, Adam (Pierre Brice) and Shem (Gareth Thomas), escape to Earth using a recently repaired ship. The pair are consequently pursued by Medusan security forces. When the Medusans, led by Supreme Councillors Fulvia (Judy Geeson) and Octavia (Christiane Krüger), fail to re-capture their two men, they take two human hostages – Dr Rudi Schmidt (Christian Quadflieg) and his assistant Dr Liz Becker (Lisa Harrow). The series focuses on the two groups’ attempts to adapt to life on the different planets while brokering an exchange for the hostages.

Cast Judy Geeson as Supreme Councillor Fulvia Lisa Harrow as Dr. Liz Becker Pierre Brice as Adam Gareth Thomas as Shem Christian Quadflieg as Dr. Rudi Schmidt Christiane Krüger as Supreme Councillor Octavia Derek Farr as Professor Evans Dawn Addams as Clara

Episodes

Themes A clear reaction to the women's liberation movement of the 1970s, Star Maidens featured the reversal of gender roles, often for satirical effect. In a 1976 review, critic Stanley Eveling, writing for The Scotsman, claimed that in "lovely advanced planet" Medusa "Germaine Greer would be happy". Nevertheless, later reviewers tend to perceive the role reversal as "unsubtle" or "heavy-handed", with Michael W. Jackson opining that the motif "was daring at the time, but the execution is half-hearted."

Reception The series gained healthy global sales to over forty territories in Europe, Arab countries, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and the United States, where it ran on New York's WNEW-TV in 1978. Nevertheless, unlike contemporary British sci-fi shows like Doctor Who, Space: 1999, or Blakes 7, Star Maidens failed to gather a large Anglophone fan-base. Inconsistent time slots on ITV during the series' first run may be partly responsible for its failure to gain a wide audience. In The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, writer and journalist John Brosnan blamed the series' cost (high by British TV standards) and low audience rates for the show's cancelation after one season.

Merchandise

Home video releases All thirteen episodes of Star Maidens were released on Region 2 DVD from Delta Entertainment in 2005. The two-disc set includes an interview with actor Gareth Thomas as a special feature. In 2017, the series was re-released on DVD by Simply Media with new cover artwork.

Novel A novelisation of the series, written by Ian Evans (a pen-name of sci-fi author Angus Wells), was published in the United Kingdom by Corgi Books in 1977. A large format tie-in hardback album with photos, stories, and comic strips was published by Stafford Pemberton in 1978. (ISBN 978-0860300571)

References

External links Star Maidens at IMDb Star Maidens at OldFutures

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Star Maidens

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Star Maidens claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Star Maidens before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Star Maidens ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Star Maidens

In research: Star Maidens appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Star Maidens in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Star Maidens is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1970s British drama television series, 1970s British science fiction television series, 1976 British television series debuts, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Star Maidens outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Star Maidens in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Star Maidens means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Star Maidens out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Star Maidens in simple terms?

Why does Star Maidens matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Star Maidens?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Star Maidens.