Powys Media

If you crank through population numbers as given in Y2 against known deaths, the population is always a bit high, supporting the argument for births. I've chatted with David Welle about this and he has done exhaustive statistical studies based on known canon facts coupled with extrapolated population breakdowns:

www.space1999.net/metaforms/kb/s19kb2h.htm#pop2v

www.space1999.net/metaforms/kb/s19kb2h.htm#poplysum

The takeaway point... there are little Alphans out there somewhere.



(Information from David's Metaforms website Knowledgebase.)

It is our opinion that during the tiranium crisis, births on Alpha might have been put on hold, but after Catacombs of the Moon (omnibus) tiranium wasn't necessarily the deciding factor. Attrition and the simple human survival necesitated lifting restrictions on births.

PatS wrote:
Actually, if you want to get freaky-geeky, pre-Powys, hair-splitting about it: In the scene in "The Exiles" where they explaining to Cantar why they can't bring down any more capsules, Helena says they can't permit any new births (had to check my horrible laser-disc to video copy to verify this). This is also the position in Michael Butterworth's original novelization (although in the Y2 Omnibus, the phrase is changed to any more new births...). Did the screen writer intend to imply there had been births? .

That was my interpretation of the line when I marathoned the series on DVD while writing BFA- There seemed to be some conflicting onscreen lines about the issue overall, but that one, coupled with with the cold fact that they *have* to replace losses or die out, decided it for me...