Visit to a Hostile Planet

Summary
As the Jupiter 2 is travelling along in space, it becomes necessary for Professor Robinson and Major West to clean impurities out of the reserve fuel cells by running the engines at full power. This results in an accident, propelling the Jupiter 2 past the speed of light, and into a time warp.

When the Robinson party recovers from the accident, they discover that they are approaching the planet Earth. Upon landing, they discover that they have indeed travelled back in time. It is October, 1947. They have landed in a lumber mill parking lot in the rural town of Manitou Junction, Michigan.

The locals in the small town believe the Robinsons are aliens,called Voltones,read by one of the locals in a science fiction magazine and form a vigilante squad to deal with them.The robot is mistaken for their leader,because his size and metallic shape.The Robinsons knowing that they fifty years out of want to just lift off,but the towns people believe it to the beginning of an alien invasion and form a vigilante squad to deal with them.

The Robinsons resolve to leave the Earth and attempt to return to their own time. Dr. Smith is opposed to this strategy, so he attempts to endear himself to the locals and take over control of the vigilantes by passing himself off as a Fire Chief from a nearby town of Chickasaw Falls. Will and the Robot attempt to find Smith and bring him back to the Jupiter 2. This fails and they are captured.

By the end of the episode Smith is prepared to destroy the Jupiter 2 in order to get the Robinsons to stay. This plan is foiled and the Robinsons are able to return to the Jupiter 2 and leave. Smith, afraid to be left behind, gets aboard the Jupiter 2 at the last moment and leaves with them.In the end,one of the towns people,Craig phones in a report,that the ship was sort of like a Flying Saucer.



Background information

 * This is one appearance of the full-size Jupiter 2 mock-up. The other is THE DERELICT. Parts of it are seen in THE GHOST PLANET.
 * When the ship experiences runaway acceleration during the teaser (up to and in excess of he speed of light) the outside starfield doesn't change in appearance. There should be some Doppler shifting of the starlight. Also the Jupiter 2 is shown twisting and spinning through a cloud of red gas, a shot reused from "Blast Off Into Space."


 * This is the final appearance of Debbie the Bloop (disappearing behind a folding door in the teaser). She would go on to be seen in the television series Daktari.


 * The Robinsons' decision to change out of their fatigues and into their silver uniforms just before landing helped to confuse the locals in rural Michigan into believing that they are aliens.


 * One of the businesses at the lumber yard is the "West End Cabinet Company".


 * Apparently the Robinson's accidental arrival in the United States in 1947 caused the term "flying saucer" to become part of the lexicon.
 * All of the electrical power around the town fails due to the Jupiter 2's landing. This doesn't happen in the pilot during take-off so supposedly Alpha Control is EMI shielded.  However the phone in the lumber yard rings a second after the Jupiter 2 takes offf so perhaps there is no effect during take-off.
 * The car found in the lumber mill is a 1946 Ford. The radio appears to be genuine original factory equipment.
 * The townspeople suffer no ill effects from the take-off of the Jupiter 2 despite being within a few dozen yards of it when it does. This is in contrast to the Robot's statement in "Time Merchant" where he claims he will be incinerated by being so close to the ship when it departs the launch pad.


 * The name of the town is "Manitou Junction", but at the end of the episode Craig refers to it as "Manitou Falls" during a phone conversation. There is an actual Great Manitou Falls in northern Wisconsin near Lake Superior, so perhaps the town's location is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
 * Smith tells the Captain that they're headed towards "Target:Jupiter" despite none of the townspeople ever being told what the ship is actually called. Nor do they question where he got that knowledge.
 * In other episodes the Jupiter 2 can safely withstand bombardment of meteors travelling at thousands of miles per hour but here a 40 lb. cannonball travelling roughly at the speed of sound apparently is strong enough to damage it irreparably.
 * October 17, 1947 was a Friday, not a Saturday as indicated in the script. It was also the birthday of Michael McKean, perhaps best known as a member of Spinal Tap.
 * Manitou Junction appears to have two cannons - Stacy tells Will they took the one from the town square to blow up the ship but then there's another one seen right across the street from the fire station when they escape from the barn.


 * Maureen barely recognizes the rotary dial telephone at the lumber yard, but in The Reluctant Stowaway there are many rotary dial telephones at Alpha Control Headquarters.
 * Whether and how the Robinsons make it back to their own time is never explained.  But they apparently do as evidenced by where the ship lands in "Target:Earth."

Cast

 * Guy Williams as Professor John Robinson
 * June Lockhart as Maureen Robinson
 * Mark Goddard as Don West
 * Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson
 * Billy Mumy as Will Robinson
 * Angela Cartwright as Penny Robinson
 * Jonathan Harris as Dr. Zachary Smith
 * Robert Foulk as Cragmire
 * Pitt Herbert as Grover
 * Clair Wilcox as Stacy
 * Norman Leavitt as Charlie
 * and Robert Pine as Craig

Uncredited Cast

 * Bob May as the Robot
 * Tonga as Debbie (stock footage)
 * Dick Tufeld as the Robot (voice)