The Naked Sun

On a hostile planet

Screenshot

Delia created the sounds effects and music sequences for the BBC TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov's book The Naked Sun, directed by Rudolph Cartier for series 3 episode 7 of the BBC TV series Out Of The Unknown in which "Detective Baley must solve a murder on the planet Solaria, where reclusive people have their every need attended to by robots."

It was filmed 23rd-26th July 1968 with studio recording on the 8th and 9th August and broadcast on BBC on 18th February 1969 while Delia's notes say it was recorded on the 7-8-9th August.

Makeup

Three of Delia's musical sequences were renamed by the BBC in 1976 and released on Out Of This World (1976) and Essential Science Fiction Sound Effects, vol. 2 (1993):

• Heat Haze (00:58)

• Frozen Waste (01:08)

• Icy Peak (00:46)

Extracts

Times refer to the audio of the BFI's DVD and page numbers to the rehearsal script (DD151706 to DD152242).

• 01. Prologue (00:33.50-00:40.00)
  Made with three copies of what was later republished as Heat Haze. The overdubbed burst of the Radetsky March is played as Baley enters the United States Department of Justice in Washington D.C.

• 02. The Solarian Transport Capsule in motion (03:59.50-07:13.00)

• 03. Making contact with Doctor Thool (09:08.50-09.36:50)

• 04. Making contact with Mrs Delmarre (12:59.80-13:03.50)

• 05. Dramatic crescendo (16:09.60-16:16:50)

• 06. Gruer is poisoned (18:28.62-18:37.95)

• 07. Scene change (26:02.00-26:04.50)

• 08. Contact with Doctor Leebig (27:46.00-27:52.50)

• 09. She hated her husband (29:54.65-30:02.32)

• 10. Landscape, peaceful and serene (30:02.30-34.04.30)

• 11. Earth contact from Undersecretary Minnim (35:20.78-35:53.43)

• 12. Scene change + busy, high pitched note (36:15.50-36:40.80)

p.60    Scene 17: INT. THE PURPLE ROOM
        "MUSIC: Busy, high pitched note"
        ROBOTS: Contact Dr Leebig! Contact Dr Thool!

• 13. Removing the robot's arm (39:49.27-39:53.80)

• 14. Filler ()

• 15. Crash End (42:47.64-43:11.38)

p.69    Music: "CRASH - END"
        BALEY: You fool - it's a robot!

• 16. Epilogue (43:16.00-48:27.70)

p.69    TELECINE 6: Ext Solariam landscape. Day.
        BALEY and GLADIA meet.
        MUSIC: THE LANDSCAPE
               BUT IN A SAD, MINOR KEY
        BALEY: I'm seeing you?
        [...]
p.74    MUSIC: CRESCENDO SIMILAR TO PAGE 9
               BUT INCREASING TRIUMPHANTLY
               ENDS WITH A GREAT CLIMAX

Papers

• All of Folder TRW 6891, containing the rehearsal script (DD151706 to DD152242) and the following:

• 

  DD152306: Letter from Rudolph Cartier to Desmond Briscoe dated 2 July 1968

• 

  DD152319: Handwritten notes

• 

  DD152409: "MASTERS: LIBRARY TAPE 1" 1-18

• 

  DD152422: "MASTERS: LIBRARY TAPE 1" 19-32

• 

  DD152445: "LIBRARY TAPE 2 - MASTER"

• 

  DD152500: Notes for sound creation

• 

  DD152547: List of musical elements M1 to M17

• 

  DD152604: List of musical elements M18 and M19 and notes

• 

  DD152618: Notes for effects M1-M17

• 

  DD152628: Notes for TK3, TK5, TK6 with precise timing

• 

  DD152646: Diagrammatic scores

• 

  DD152702: Notes "Tues 23rd "beautiful bird babies" technique/theory"

• 

  DD152714: Notes

• 

  DD152739: Schedule p.1 "FIRST RECORDING DAY: Thursday, 8th August"

• 

  DD152748: Schedule p.2 "FIRST RECORDING DAY: Thursday, 8th August"

• 

  DD152807: Schedule p.3 "SECOND RECORDING DAY: Friday, 9th August"

• 

  DD152816: Schedule p.4 "SECOND RECORDING DAY: Friday, 9th August"

• 

  DD081333: Delia's notes for The Living World, dated 30.10.68, mention Naked Sun tapes, maybe because it reused sounds from it

Availability

• Broadcast on the BBC on 18th February 1969.
• In the BBC Sound Archive on tape TRW 6891: "4 reels, master and makeup".
• According to the Internet Movie Database, "This episode was wiped by the BBC and no copy of it is known to exist."
• There is a reconstruction with the original sound on a DVD from the British Film institute, also available as a torrent.
• The BBC Broadcast Archive contains a tape of the sound only:

Item: 2B00E8BFB_001
ID: LDP9232W
Title: OUT OF THE UNKNOWN: THE NAKED SUN
Broadcast: 18/02/69
Catalogue: LONPROG
Catalogue Page: 9894831
Item Duration: 00:49:32.000+01:00
Subject: Science fiction mystery drama 'The Naked Sun' by Isaac ASIMOV.
NB:ONLY SOUND REMAINS
Name: PATRICK, Roy; CARGILL, David; ASIMOV, Isaac (AUT); NOBLE, Trisha; HALLETT, Neil; LEIGH-HUNT, Ronald; STASSINO, Paul; MAXWELL, Paul; MULLER, Robert (SCR); ROBINSON, John; CARTIER, Rudolph (DIR); COLLINGS, David; JAEGER, Frederick; HICKS, John; BURRELL, Sheila; HARDY, Raymond; WEATHERUP, James (DGN); TAYLOR, Gerald; CHITTY, Erik; BROMLY, Alan (PRD); MARTIN, John Scott

• There is a torrent of surviving Out of the Unknown episodes containing the reconstruction as Series 3 Episode 7.

External links

• Out Of The Unknown fan site entry for The Naked Sun
• Out Of The Unknown Season 3 Clips Guide at zetaminor.com