Barry Morse was left out of the show's second season due to
Fred Freiberger being intent on discouraging Morse from returning - using his idiom "Science fiction needs young faces." Freiberger plotted against him from the start; first by offering him a salary much lower than the first series, then ignoring his phone calls while Morse and his agent were attempting to negotiate the offer.
Martin Landau and
Barbara Bain lobbied for Morse's return, but it fell on deaf ears.
Gerry Anderson steered clear of these events, allowing Freiberger to run the show. Although he gave himself the title of Executive Producer, Anderson remained on the sidelines during production, simply being present just to collect the paycheck while the Americans ran the show (and some believing that he was still bitter over his and
Sylvia Anderson's split, allowing Season One's cast to be let go out of spite, as Sylvia had a hand in their casting, apart from the two leads). Landau was disappointed with Morse's departure, believing the show wouldn't be the same without the Victor Bergman character. An explanation of his absence was filmed for this episode but was edited out of both the syndicated version and the DVD. Dialog indicated he had died due to a faulty spacesuit. In order to save face, an embittered Morse later stated in interviews that it had been his idea not to rejoin the series after Season One ended; these interviews invariably conducted with Morse displaying a negative attitude toward the show (although praising his former co-stars).
