Heck, I'm not a Brit and I know Luton from the airport. Was it operating at the time of Space 1999, JB?
The Best and Worst Episode Titles
- Thread starter Spock's Barber
- Start date
Fair enough I live in the North East near Newcastle so, basically, south of Cambridge looks like outskirts of London to me!(as wrong as I know that is).
One of the interesting things in these forums is you don't usually know where the contributors come from. I was thinking of explaining how the name Luton at the time had a slight comic feel due to its association with Eric Morcambe, so really was a bad choice for a show that wanted to be taken seriously, but now I don't think I need to.
Also IMHO the Freiberger season was definitely the worse, but as this isn't a S:1999 forum I'll stop there.
One of the interesting things in these forums is you don't usually know where the contributors come from. I was thinking of explaining how the name Luton at the time had a slight comic feel due to its association with Eric Morcambe, so really was a bad choice for a show that wanted to be taken seriously, but now I don't think I need to.
Also IMHO the Freiberger season was definitely the worse, but as this isn't a S:1999 forum I'll stop there.
I'll let JB answer that as it was for him, but if you want a real treat(!) look up the song "Luton Airport" by the model & comic actress Lorraine Chase
Addendum. That song was released by a group calling themselves "Cats UK". It's inspired by an advert featuring Lorraine Chase.
Look I have nothing against the name Archons. I agree that it sounds a good name for a ship.
My issue was that the episode featured too little of the Archons for an episode to be named after it.
Obviously no-one else has this issue
No, I take your point entirely. It was called 'Return of the Archons' but the Archons weren't actually returning! If I'd posted my ten worst titles I might have put it in for that reason.
I think the series picked some good, cool ship names, but don't have quite as a good a record on episode titles
"Return of the Lawgivers". There's a new sheriff in town. His name is Kirk, James Kirk.
Absolutely agree that's what the title means. I guess it just nags at me a little that as a statement it's not literally true.
Probably my OCD playing up.
How did I miss this one?
Yes, Luton is a large town in Bedfordshire, Phase! I once bought the Star Trek Encyclopedia in a sale there back in the late 90s! Like Anthony says, it is mostly famous from the song Luton airport by Cats UK who borrowed it from Lorraine Chase who was in a series of adverts and almost everything back in the 70s!
JB
Actually, I see your point. The "Archons" are not really what the plot is about, so It's kinda odd that the title focuses on that.
It's like calling PSYCHO "Runaway Secretary." Well, yes, technically, that's what kicks off the plot, but it's not really what the movie is about.
Last edited:
No, no, Commishsleer, I see your point completely. I tried to address it upthread by explaining that for me, the title should be viewed from the perspective of Landru or the other denizens of the planet. Landru, the ever-logical computer, probably anticipated that someday the same organization that he defeated and assimilated might come back to investigate. And the dialogue suggests that the Archons are known to Reger and Marplon, at least, as some sort of legends. Indeed, the dialogue leaves room for the possibility that the members of the Archon's crew inspired the anti-Landru resistance.
So, for Landru - the Archons are back, in the form of the Enterprise crew. For Reger/Marplon/Tamar and anyone else who knows of the Archons, they're back, in the form of the Enterprise crew, and maybe they'll help the resistance movement with overthrowing Landru. Which they do.
If you think of the title from the perspective of the people/supercomputer on the planet, AND accept that for them, the Enterprise crew are another set of "Archons," then the title makes sense to me at least. In fact, as I may have mentioned I think it's one of the best titles in TOS.
Gotcha! Thanks, JB! But was the airport there operating back at the time of Space: 1999? Because if it was, then that was another reason why they should have thought twice about using the name - travelers to the UK from the US might know it if they flew into Luton as opposed to Heathrow/Gatwick/Stansted/London City! (Although your reasons sound much more compelling!)
It was indeed my old Phase! 
JB
JB
Similar threads
