Based on an examination of the dates on some original scripts in my possession, cross-referenced with the location report featured in the TV Guide of December 7th, it seems likely that the opening scenes of “The Surgeon”—including the scene above—were filmed on Roddy McDowall’s Forty-seventh birthday, on Tuesday, the 17th of September, 1974. Our heroes make their way across a familiar dry river bed, backpacks in place.