Victor Bergman - Series One

Series One

By September 1999, he had returned to Moonbase as a welcome visitor. The returning John Koenig remarked with pleasure that Bergman was still on Alpha, to which Bergman cryptically commented he had gotten 'caught', suggesting that the Space Commission had terminated all personnel travel to and from Alpha during the Meta Probe crisis for the purpose of security. Despite this lack of rank within the Moonbase hierarchy, he was one of few people aware of the true situation on the Moon and knew the 'virus infection' cover-story was a Space Commission-created fiction in "Breakaway".

Over the course of the first series, Bergman emerges as a kind of 'father figure' on the base (Morse has been interviewed saying he played the role as everyone's favourite 'space uncle'); his normally calm, rational and understanding demeanor make him a highly respected person on Alpha. He often acts as a calming influence on the quick-tempered John Koenig. He regards all the Alpha personnel with fatherly affection; this is especially evident in his relationship with Helena Russell (see "Breakaway", "Black Sun", "Ring Around the Moon", "Guardian of Piri", "The Infernal Machine", et cetera).

Bergman's scientific brilliance saves Moonbase several times during the first series. A prime example occurs in the episode "Black Sun", in which he adapts the anti-gravity screens which regulated the artificial gravity within Alpha to produce an ingenious force field effect to protect the base when the Moon passes through a massive black sun. Bergman would also improvise 'Operation Shockwave' to divert the Moon's collision course with the planet Atheria by planning to detonate a series of nuclear mines between the two bodies to force them apart into different courses. Koenig and Alan Carter would foil the plan in collusion with Arra, the mysterious Queen of Atheria.

His living quarters reflected his eclectic personality. A laboratory bench strewn with an array of scientific equipment dominated the room. Plans for a photon drive system and a self-contained space city adorned the walls. It was the only private quarters on Alpha equipped with a computer terminal linked directly to Main Computer. Well-thumbed text books crowded the shelves and a violin was once seen sitting in a lounge chair. Crowded in the sleeping alcove along with the bed were several terrariums (occupants unknown).

Bergman's scientific curiosity would lead to several lapses in judgement. He would welcome the enigmatic Jackie Crawford in "Alpha Child" despite the child's phenomenal growth to five years of age just hours after his birth. In "Death's Other Dominion", he would become a disciple of Doctor Cabot Rowland's misguided quest for immortality on the planet Ultima Thule and recommend the evacuation of Alpha to that icy world. In "End of Eternity", an exploratory mission to an anomalous asteroid would release an imprisoned psychopath, the immortal Balor, on an unsuspecting Alpha.

Victor Bergman had an artificial heart, which was raised as an issue in several episodes. In "Black Sun", Bergman was electrocuted while adjusting some high-voltage relays involved with the force field; Helena stated after his resuscitation that his artificial heart had saved his life. In both "Guardian of Piri" and "Force of Life", a decrease in Moonbase atmosphere oxygen levels adversely affected Bergman as his heart was slow to cope with the change. In "The Infernal Machine", he was again electrocuted after touching some exposed equipment within the living spacecraft 'Gwent' and was resurrected by it with a direct application of a high-voltage electrical arc. The artificial heart was mentioned briefly during the Michelle Osgood medical crisis in the second series episode "Catacombs of the Moon". (In an early draft of the script, the Dorfman artificial heart would have been referred to as the Bergman heart.)