the computer soon exacts its revenge – it corrupts the formula for the enzyme, making Dawnay and her assistants sick. "The Last Mystery" It is 1972 and the message from the Andromeda Nebula has stopped transmitting. Fleming has been able to determine the correct formula to counteract the effects of the enzyme and save Dawnay. Fleming, Dawnay, Reinhart, and Judy now agree that Andromeda must be stopped – however, the military now has control over the project. Andromeda tries to kill Fleming but fails; she confesses to Fleming that she is a slave of the computer, which is working to take over humanity. Fleming gains entry to the computer room where he takes an axe to the machine, destroying it. Now free of the machine Andromeda is able to access the safe that contains the copies of the original message with the instructions for building the computer which she burns so that the machine cannot be rebuilt. She flees with Fleming to one of the islands near the base. Pursued by soldiers, they hide in a series of caves on the island. However, Andromeda is apparently killed when she falls into a deep pool. The dejected Fleming is brought back to Thorness by the soldiers. Background Origins Fred Hoyle was an astronomer best known for his work on the understanding of the creation of the elements through stellar nucleosynthesis, for developing the steady state theory of the universe and for coining the term "Big Bang" for the steady state theory's rival dynamic evolving model of the universe. Hoyle also had a taste for science fiction, having written a novel, The Black Cloud (1957), about a cloud of interstellar gas that threatens the Earth; this was adapted for radio and broadcast on 14 December 1957 by the BBC Home Service. The BBC were also interested in adapting The Black Cloud for television but Hoyle had already signed away the movie rights. Hoyle followed The Black Cloud with another science fiction novel, Ossian's Ride (1958); this attracted the interest of Norman James, a BBC designer keen to move into television production, who contacted Hoyle with a view to obtaining the rights to the novel. In discussion with the writer, James learned that Hoyle was interested in writing an original story for television. James contacted John Elliot, the assistant head of the BBC Script Department, who was interested in making a science fiction