Space: 1999 is perhaps Gerry Anderson's
most well-known production. The series encompasses 48 episodes in two seasons
from 1975 to 1977. Highly influenced by 2001:
A Space Odyssey and built on elements first pioneered in Anderson’s
previous series, UFO, Space: 1999 represents the final chapter
in pre-Star Wars sci-fi, and in fact
influenced some aspects of the vaunted film franchise. Some of the most notable
actors of the time appeared on Space:
1999, including stars Martin Landau and Barbra Bain, as well as Brian
Blessed, Peter Cushing, Jeremy Kemp, Christopher Lee, and Leo McKern. Noted
director Charles Crichton (The Lavender
Hill Mob, A Fish Called Wanda)
helmed 14 episodes. The complete series is available below from the Aeolus 13 Umbra 2 YouTube channel.
After a
promising start for UFO, ITC chairman
Lew Grade authorized development for a second season of the series, with the caveat that all the locations be moved to the Moon and there be more
emphasis on action. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson began preproduction on UFO II which would begin some 19 years
after the action in UFO — in 1999 in
fact (The Catacombs, catacombs.space1999.net).
Unfortunately, ratings for UFO fell
in the second half of the first season, so the second season was cancelled.
Nevertheless, the Andersons salvaged their pre-production work for UFO II and created Space: 1999. For more information on UFO, please visit the Aeolus 13 Umbra article UFO: The Complete Series.
Synopsis
Space: 1999 details the voyages and ongoing struggle for survival
of a colony of approximately 200 people on the Moon after it is blasted out if
orbit due to an exploding nuclear waste dump. Rather than a military
organization, the Alphans are administrators, engineers, scientists, and
technicians — not all of whom are prepared or trained for the mission ahead.
Cut off from the Earth, they must learn to be self-sufficient and deal with all
manner of alien life, many of whom are hostile.
The episodes, particularly in the
first season, are often solemn and somber and frequently end on a sad note or
unresolved conflict. Three iconic elements of the show include the special
effects, modeling, and uniforms:
Special Effects: Brian Johnson served
as the special effects director. He got his start working on Anderson’s famed Thunderbirds series (1965-1966) and then
building models for 2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968). Johnson later worked on Alien
(1979) and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). In many
ways, the optical effects were more advanced than the work on Star Trek and have a surrealistic and
trippy quality that typifies 1970s design. Johnson designed the series most
recognizable vessel from the show, the Eagle Transporter, which quickly became
a sci-fi icon. Nevertheless, the alien designs for the show were sometimes seldom
better than a campy 1950s horror show. This became particularly noticeable once
the shapechanger Maya joined the cast in the second season.
Modeling: Without doubt, the modeling
work by Martin Bowers is the highlight of the series. The variety of designs
and imaginative use of materials shows a master at work in his prime. While not the designer of the Eagle, Bowers did create some of the most
memorable spacecraft to appear on the show, including the Mark IX Hawk
("War Games"), Ultra Probe ("Dragon's Domain"), Laser Tank
("Infernal Machine"), Super Swift ("The Bringers of Wonder, Part 1" and "The Bringers of Wonder, Part 2") and Voyager One
("Voyager's Return"). An account of Space: 1999 on-set model production completed during the series is available on the Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel.
Uniforms: Famed fashion designer Rudi
Gernreich was tapped by Sylvia Anderson to create the minimalist, unisex
uniforms in the first season. Sci-fi fans may not necessarily recognize his name,
but Gernreich was one of the most influential designers of the 20th Century and
created some of the most iconic looks of the 1960s. Second season producer Fred
Freiberger made changes to the uniforms to make them more militaristic and less
unisex.
Performances
Bain
and Landau
One common critique of the show
regards the acting, particularly by the lead husband-wife team of Martin Landau
and Barbra Bain, as “stiff” and “wooden.” Of course, Landau later became an
Academy Award-winning actor and Bain won three consecutive Emmy awards for best
Dramatic Actress for Mission: Impossible,
so their qualifications are not in questions, but they seem like an odd fit for
a sci-fi series. Bain’s performance as Dr. Helena Russell during the first
season is notably stiff, almost one-dimensional; she barely emotes. While a
strong female character, she nevertheless elicits little sympathy from the
viewer. Barbara Stanwick on The Big
Valley managed to do both, and the feeling one gets from Bain is that she
is uncomfortable in this setting. Bain noticeably loosens up in the second
season, but the change is abrupt and a bit too far at times from the baseline
established in the first season.
Landau seldom varies his intensity.
Commander John Koenig is hard to like at times. He lacks the charisma of a
Captain Kirk, admittingly a hard standard to live up to, and that may part of
the reason why Koenig is scripted that way — to provide a clear distinction
with Star Trek. Be that as it may, it
made liking Koenig an uphill struggle for casual viewers.
Sylvia Anderson, in a 2010 interview
produced for Network's Blu-Ray release of Space:
1999, reports that Lew Grade sent her and Gerry Anderson to Hollywood to
cast the show, but ultimately insisted that they hire
Landau and Bain due to their work on Mission:
Impossible. Sylvia Anderson disliked the idea immediately. She felt they
were not right for the show, but since Grade wouldn’t fund the show unless they Landau and Bain were on board, they were hired.
While I agree with Sylvia
Anderson’s assessment, I can’t disagree with the studio’s reasoning either; UFO’s U.S. ratings suffered because of
the lack of recognizable leads. Nevertheless, Landau and Bain proved somewhat
problematic. Sylvia Anderson states outright that the married couple was “a
pain” to work with, such as requiring a car with a driver available 24 hours a
day. Landau frequently complained about the scripts (which is understandable),
didn’t like having Italian actors forced into the production just because of
RAI’s funding, and, in at least one notable incident, got lines intended for
popular cast member Nick Tate (astronaut Alan Carter) to be given to him by
playing Gerry and Sylvia Anderson against one another.
“He [Landau] had to be in every
scene. He couldn’t allow any actor to have any lines,” Sylvia Anderson spoke
about Landau. While her comments are a bit harsh, she makes valid observations,
including that Landau was a fine character actor, “but he was never a leading
man.” Indeed, Landau’s later career accomplishments are built on his character
work and he had only a handful of lead roles in which he was the main star, and
these too were largely extended character performances.
Scripting
Space: 1999 experienced several challenges to its overall script quality
— simply put, there were too many cooks stirring the pot. For UFO, the Andersons only had to deal
with Lew Grade from ITC in London. Space:
1999, however, had a more complicated line of control. The series was
produced by Group Three Productions, formed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and
production executive Reg Hill, while funding was provided by ITC Entertainment
and Italian broadcaster RAI.
Because ITC and RAI provided the money, they also got to insist on changes, including adding Italian actors, insisted by RAI, to improve exposure in their home market (where the show retains an active fan base to this day). Additionally, in order to be more responsive to the demands of the American audience, ITC required scripts to be sent their New York office for approval. This not only slowed down production, but often resulted in script changes that weakened the stories and muddled the plotting. Script writers Johnny Byrne and Christopher Penfield were frustrated by this to the point they departed the series.
Because ITC and RAI provided the money, they also got to insist on changes, including adding Italian actors, insisted by RAI, to improve exposure in their home market (where the show retains an active fan base to this day). Additionally, in order to be more responsive to the demands of the American audience, ITC required scripts to be sent their New York office for approval. This not only slowed down production, but often resulted in script changes that weakened the stories and muddled the plotting. Script writers Johnny Byrne and Christopher Penfield were frustrated by this to the point they departed the series.
According to Johnny Byrne in The Making of Space: 1999 (Ballantine
Books, 1976), "One episode they [New York] would ask us to speed things
up, forcing us to cut out character development; then the next episode, they
asked for more character moments, which would slow down the action; then they
would complain there weren't enough pretty girls in another."
While one expects the network to
insist on changes, there were too many completing interests with different
agendas for a consistent quality to be maintained for the series — a situation
that only grew in season two.
 |
| Moonbase Alpha |
Season One
Season one is
considered the best of the two. There is an epic quality about the stories
often missing in season two. Anchored by the troika of Commander Koenig, Dr.
Helena Russell, and scientist Victor Bergman (Barry Morse, Lt. Gerard in The Fugitive), and operating from the
expansive Command Center set, the episodes often have a cinematic quality. The
large Command Center set allowed long tracking shots, the organization of the
workstations with the technicians facing each other to facilitate communication
made ergonomic sense, the computer banks had a variety of instrumentation, and
Koenig’s office had a large sliding bulkhead that made for dramatic entrances.
 |
| Season One Command Center |
The first
season opening and
closing themes by Barry Gray, who also did the music for UFO, imitates not only the tempo of the Mission: Impossible opening, but the format as well by showing scenes
providing peeks at scenes from the upcoming episode. Season one shows opened
with a teaser, a scene of indeterminate length that sets up the conflict for
the episode, and then goes into the opening credits. Despite being somewhat derivative, the season one theme is one of
the most recognizable, and dramatic, openings ever devised for a sci-fi series.
Season one
establishes a dark and unsettled tone for the series; the endings are often
inconclusive or end on a tragic note. These elements had an appeal in the
cynical, post-Vietnam, post-Watergate era, but the inconsistent pacing in the
scripts, stiff performances, and long, dragged-out expositions, weakened many
episodes potential.
Long stretches
of character development — something character actors like Bain, Landau, and
Morse preferred to action sequences — bored the young audience. Storylines were
sometimes introduced and forgotten. A mysterious signal from space calling out
to the Alphans, possibly from the planet Meta, was identified in the first
episode, “Breakaway,” but seldom referred to thereafter. When Alpha is saved at
the last minute, or survives tremendous odds, it is attributed to some sort of
vague deus ex machina guiding
intelligence — a concept that is never fully explored or explained.
The science was
shaky as well. Isaac Asimov notes in his 1975 New York Times review of the first episode of Space: 1999, “Breakaway,” several scientific inaccuracies. Some are small, such as referring the far side of Moon as the “dark side,” or that it is unlikely that such an extensive lunar base could be constructed just 24 years in the then future, but others are more significant. First, any explosion powerful enough to move the Moon out of orbit would likely destroy it as well. Second, there's the problem of transporting all that nuclear waste from the Earth to the Moon. Third, if you were able to transport all the nuclear waste ever produced to the Moon it would have no effect on its orbit were it to explode. Fourth, a nuclear waste dump, however overloaded, would not result in an explosion, but rather a meltdown. Finally, if there was an explosion on the far side powerful enough to move the
Moon, without immediately destroying it first, it would drive it towards the Earth, not away, just missing the planet,
but nonetheless causing massive geological upheaval (though, to the series’ credit,
this latter affect is noted in “Breakaway”).
The original
explanation in UFO II for the Moon’s
exodus, the aliens using their technology to accomplish the
feat, is a simpler explanation than an exploding nuclear
waste dump. Indeed, it requires less of a suspension of disbelief as the aliens are an already established plot device from UFO.
 |
| A Rescue Eagle swoops in to save the day. |
The Eagle
Transporters, originally presented as translunar shuttles, soon became
interplanetary craft capable of landing on Earth-type planets — something of a
miracle considering the Eagle is essentially a flying brick. This also pushed
the suspension of disbelief for the viewers, and considering all the wonderful
models produced for the series, one wonders why an atmospheric-capable landing
craft was not introduced.
Some of the
standout episodes of season one, in this author’s opinion, include “Breakaway,”
“Dragon’s Domain,” “Earthbound,” “End of Eternity,” the unfortunately named “Space Brain,” “The Troubled Spirit,” “Voyagers Return,” and “War Games.” “Earthbound,”
with Christopher Lee, is usually cited as the premier episode of the series and
ranks among the best of episodic sci-fi TV.
Season
Two
Command
Center Main Screen
Season Two, despite
some excellent modeling and special effects work, is consider the weaker of the
two seasons. The inconsistent pacing of the episodes led to a drop in
the ratings in the second half of the first season and Lew Grade cancelled it just as he did with UFO.
Frankly, the series was lucky to get a second season at all, yet enough buzz
about the show remained that there was a strong reason to continue it.
Unfortunately, the Anderson’s marriage fell apart by the end of the first
season and Sylvia Anderson departed the series. While season one did have its
problems, the loss of her influence was noticeable in the weaker second season.
To ensure the success of a second season, veteran American producer Fred Freiberger was brought in to “save” the series. Freiberger was also brought into the third and final season of Star Trek: The Original Series after Gene Roddenberry departed from daily production duties in growing frustration with NBCs tinkering with show’s schedule. While Star Trek: TOS was often under threat of cancellation, Freiberger’s tenure produced some of the series’ worst episodes, such as “Spock’s Brain,” Spectre of the Gun,” and “The Way to Eden,” though, to his credit, episodes such as “The Tholian Web,” ”Wink of an Eye,” "The Enterprise Incident," and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," are among the series’ fan favorites.
Freiberger made a few cosmetic changes to the uniforms, but weakened stronger elements such as the cast. Much of this was due to budget cuts and Barry Morse, along with supporting actors Prentis Hancock (Paul Marrow) and Clifton Jones (David Kano), disappeared from the series without any on-screen explanation. What actually happened to Morse is a bit confused. Morse himself is quoted as saying when informed by Gerry Anderson that Freiberger was coming on board, "I'd just as soon like to go play with the grown-ups for a while." Freiberger claims Morse wanted a huge raise. Other reports suggest Morse was offered a pay cut, but only wanted to get paid what he had for the first season. Whatever the reason, losing Morse is a clear example of Gerry Anderson's loss of control.
To ensure the success of a second season, veteran American producer Fred Freiberger was brought in to “save” the series. Freiberger was also brought into the third and final season of Star Trek: The Original Series after Gene Roddenberry departed from daily production duties in growing frustration with NBCs tinkering with show’s schedule. While Star Trek: TOS was often under threat of cancellation, Freiberger’s tenure produced some of the series’ worst episodes, such as “Spock’s Brain,” Spectre of the Gun,” and “The Way to Eden,” though, to his credit, episodes such as “The Tholian Web,” ”Wink of an Eye,” "The Enterprise Incident," and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," are among the series’ fan favorites.
Freiberger made a few cosmetic changes to the uniforms, but weakened stronger elements such as the cast. Much of this was due to budget cuts and Barry Morse, along with supporting actors Prentis Hancock (Paul Marrow) and Clifton Jones (David Kano), disappeared from the series without any on-screen explanation. What actually happened to Morse is a bit confused. Morse himself is quoted as saying when informed by Gerry Anderson that Freiberger was coming on board, "I'd just as soon like to go play with the grown-ups for a while." Freiberger claims Morse wanted a huge raise. Other reports suggest Morse was offered a pay cut, but only wanted to get paid what he had for the first season. Whatever the reason, losing Morse is a clear example of Gerry Anderson's loss of control.
In a scene from the first second season episode, "The Metamorph," that was filmed, but cut from the final edit, Tony Verdeshi reports Bergman died due to a "faulty helmet." While various resolutions to the characters' fates have been written about or filmed for convention audiences, none made it to the series itself. This was a missed opportunity to highlight the dangers of space
travel, and not acknowledging the characters’ absence weakened continuity. It
was a classic case of being “pennywise, but pound foolish.”
Further, the
loss of Bergman, with an artificial heart that maintained his heart beat at a
steady rate no matter what is going on, and Kano, the computer operations
officer with a rare brain-computer interface, represented a lost opportunity to
use their unique characteristics to drive storylines. The sometimes combative
Dr. Mathias (Anton Philips), another popular supporting character from season
one, and a good foil for Bain’s stiff performance as Dr. Russell, vanished after
two episodes in season two. Other minor characters also disappeared and the
reasons for these changes are simply monetary. Desperate to save money in any
way, it was cheaper, and easier, to let go of season one actors than to offer them a new
contract and argue about the pay cut they were going to get.
The opening and closing credits theme music also changed. Gone were the previews from “this week’s episode,” and the dramatic, pulse pounding iconic theme from season one with its twangy guitar groovy 70s sounds in favor of a more jazz-orientated theme by Derek Wadsworth. While I must admit a bias towards the first season theme music, the second season music is an excellent effort in response to a mid-70s shift towards a more brass-oriented “disco” sound in popular music.
The opening and closing credits theme music also changed. Gone were the previews from “this week’s episode,” and the dramatic, pulse pounding iconic theme from season one with its twangy guitar groovy 70s sounds in favor of a more jazz-orientated theme by Derek Wadsworth. While I must admit a bias towards the first season theme music, the second season music is an excellent effort in response to a mid-70s shift towards a more brass-oriented “disco” sound in popular music.
 |
| Season Two Command Center |
Freiberger
seems to have thrown whatever remained of Space: 1999’s attention to scientific
accuracy out the air lock. One such example is found in the second season episode
“A Matter of Balance” where aliens caught in a parallel dimension try to convince
an Alphan to help them exchange bodies with the other Alphans — trapping them
in the very same dimension they seek to escape! This episode explains
anti-matter as “a parallel dimension that is transparent to ours.” Not only is
that wrong, but anti-matter was correctly explained in the first season episode
“Matter of Life and Death” and producer Fred Freiberger, who worked on Star Trek: TOS, knows very well how
anti-matter works — it explodes when in contact with matter and is not a “parallel
dimension.” Another second season episode, “All that Glisters,” involved a
conflict created by a living rock. It was one of the series’ worst episodes and exemplative
of the poor story development and lack of attention to detail in season two. Landau’s dissatisfaction
with these episodes and Freiberger is well-documented.
Martin Landau, in a 1999 interview for French television, details the poor production decisions by Freiberger, “In the second year he [Koenig] did things that he should never have done just to accommodate a story point in the script. I used to fight [with Freiberger] over that.”
Landau
continues, “Fred Freiberger, he would bring up a script, and I’d say, “This is
terrible.” Helena wouldn’t do this. Koenig wouldn’t do this. Alan wouldn’t do
this. These characters would not do this. The only reason for doing this is to
serve the script, and it’s wrong. And sometimes I’d win those battles and
sometimes I’d lose them. Sometimes there was a rewrite, sometimes there wasn’t.
I wasn’t happy the second year. I thought we were turning the show into a
cartoon. ”
While fans can
debate about whether Landau was a fit match for the part, given his
difficulties he was not allowed to fully explore his part. Certainly, one cannot
doubt Landau’s dedication and professionalism to his craft and his insights
provide detail as to what went wrong with the second season. When character
development is compromised to plug up a hole in the script, the result is about
50 minutes of crap.
Freiberger was
responsible for introducing the character Maya (Catherine Schell, left), the
shapechanger from the planet Pyschon. While a talented actress and a popular
character with children, the effect, as Landau described, was “kitschy” and
moved the series closer to what he thought was a cartoon. Considering the
character’s origin from the planet Psychon,
one wonders the obvious — why was she not given psychic powers? It’s an ability that provides cheaper effects and
“psychic” naturally leads of “Psychon.” That seems like a missed opportunity as
well.
Freiberger also
tries to lighten the mood of the series, established as dark and brooding in
season one, by incorporating the formulaic TV “happy ending” to the show, so no
matter how much death or devastation the Alphan’s experienced, or caused, the
episode closes out with a laugh. It is absolutely cringe-worthy at times.
Despite its
problems, the second season managed to produce some popular episodes among fans,
including “The Metamorph,” “The Immunity Syndrome,” “Seed of Destruction,” “The Bringers of Wonder, Part 1 and Part 2,” The AB Chrysalis,” and “The Seance Spectre.”
Legacy
One of the most
noted aspects of Space: 1999 is that
the crew compliment for both seasons is highly integrated, even more so than
the Star Trek: TOS crew. Though still
a white male dominated world, women and minorities are seen in positions of
authority and there are representatives from many different ethnicities and
nations, and to a degree beyond that of Star Trek: The Original Series.
Many of the
actors, crew, and special effects people who worked on Space: 1999 went to work on Star
Wars — a list far too long to provide in the context of this article, but
which includes Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin), Christopher Lee (Count
Dooku), and Brian Blessed (Boss Noss). Special effects director Brian Johnson,
too busy with season one of Space: 1999 to join Star Wars, headed the effects unit
for The Empire Strikes Back.
Other influences on Star Wars include the slantward logo design on the Millennium Falcon. George Lucas’ original design for Han Solo’s smuggling ship originally had the command module mounted in the center of what would later become the Princess Leia’s Blockade Runner vessel in the first scene of Star Wars. After seeing the Eagle Transporter, Lucas ordered a redesign to the current saucer-shaped ship of cinematic renown.
Other influences on Star Wars include the slantward logo design on the Millennium Falcon. George Lucas’ original design for Han Solo’s smuggling ship originally had the command module mounted in the center of what would later become the Princess Leia’s Blockade Runner vessel in the first scene of Star Wars. After seeing the Eagle Transporter, Lucas ordered a redesign to the current saucer-shaped ship of cinematic renown.
Further lost
opportunities include the Swift ship model, by Martin Bowers, and the robot
Brian the Brain (right), from the episode of the same name. The Swift is a classic ship
design that would find itself at home in any number of sci-fi venues, from Star Wars to Red Dwarf. At the end of “Brian the Brain,” the ship and Brian are
captured by the Alphans, and Brian is scheduled to be reprogrammed, yet we
never see the ship or the robot again.
This episode was aired in October 1976, just seven months before Star
Wars debuted and after which robots and androids became all the rage in
sci-fi. If integrated into the show’s continuity, this could have provided Space: 1999 with a robot crew member
contemporaneous to Star Wars, but,
alas, it was not to be.
Top:
Original Millennium Falcon design; bottom, Eagle Transporter
Although Lew
Grade nixed UFO II, one wonders why
Anderson didn’t use any of the models from UFO
such as the SHADO moonbase, interceptor, and moonmobile models, in Space: 1999. Integrating some of these
leftover elements certainly could have provided an ongoing sub-plot of conflict
between the two organizations, or at least a bit of mystery for one episode.
This is a lost opportunity that could have led to some fascinating
drama.
Further lost
opportunities include the Swift ship model, by Martin Bowers, and the robot
Brian the Brain (right), from the episode of the same name. The Swift is a classic ship
design that would find itself at home in any number of sci-fi venues, from Star Wars to Red Dwarf. At the end of “Brian the Brain,” the ship and Brian are
captured by the Alphans, and Brian is scheduled to be reprogrammed, yet we
never see the ship or the robot again.
This episode was aired in October 1976, just seven months before Star
Wars debuted and after which robots and androids became all the rage in
sci-fi. If integrated into the show’s continuity, this could have provided Space: 1999 with a robot crew member
contemporaneous to Star Wars, but,
alas, it was not to be.
As with Star Trek, some of the technology shown
in Space: 1999, such as the commlocks
and medical scanners, have gone on to have contemporary analogs. Brain–computer
interfaces (BCI) using implanted prostheses like David Kano’s began appearing
in the mid-1990s, though with much more success than Kano’s problematic device. Lasers have gone on to have military applications, and are becoming more portable, though not quite the hand-held weapons we see in the series — not yet.
Helena Russell talks
to John Koenig on her commlock.
There was talk of a revival of Space: 1999 (Space: 2099), but, like the proposed revivals of UFO, it fell through, and just as well. Space: 1999 is a relic of a very
specific period — the 1970s — from the unisex fashions, to nuclear power,
psychic powers, environmental issues, and gender conflicts. Quite frankly though,
as much as I am a fan of Space: 1999,
I’m not interested in Space: 2099.
I’m interested in Space: 1999. I’m
interested in seeing those actors and characters explore the future from the
lens of THAT time period. As big a fan of The
Twilight Zone I am, I have never been interested in seeing the revival
series. It was in color. Who wants to see The
Twilight Zone in color? I want to see men in gray-toned tailored suits and narrow ties
talk to women with enough hair spray on to burn a hole through the ozone. If I
want to see new episodes of Space: 1999, I want to see bell-bottom trousers,
hear groovy theme music, and watch the Alphans fight for survival in glorious
technicolor — preferably on a TV that looks like it’s a piece of furniture and
not a large wall-mounted monitor in the Alpha Command Center like the
thin-screen TVs we all have now.
That, perhaps, is what marks Space: 1999 as a classic sci-fi show.
Despite the uneven pacing, stiff performances, problems with scripts, and
temperamental actors, the show is rooted in a very specific time period. It
works for that era and if translated to today it would lose some of its appeal.
All that aside, the show nonetheless manages, particularly in season one, to
leave us with a sense of awe and wonder, with what could be, and with what it
could have been.
Space:
1999 — The Complete Series
Descriptions by G. Jack Urso. Click on the links below to view episodes
available on the Aeolus 13 Umbra 2 YouTube channel.
 |
| Space:
1999 season one cast (left to right): Barry Morse, Nick Tate, Barbra Bain,
Martin Landau, Prentis Hancock, Zenia Merton, Anton Philips. |
Season 1 (1975-1976)
Episode 1: Breakaway |
Original UK Airdate: September 4, 1975 |
Production Order: 1
John Koenig takes command of
Moonbase Alpha to oversee the launch of the deep space Meta Probe; however, an
overloaded nuclear waste disposal site explodes and tears the Moon out of Earth
orbit.
 |
| Lunar orbital Space Dock from “Breakaway.” |
Episode 2: Force of Life | Original UK Airdate: September 11, 1975 | Production Order: 9
An Alphan, Anton Zoref, (Ian
McShane) is possessed by an unknown life force that absorbs energy, and
Moonbase Alpha’s nuclear generating plant is on the menu.
Episode 3: Collision Course | Original UK
Airdate: September 18, 1975 | Production
Order: 13
A planet is on a collision course
with the Moon and its leader (Margaret Leighton) convinces Koenig the
preordained event must take place for her people to “change, utterly” to a
higher form of consciousness and energy, but trust her, Moonbase Alpha is will
be fine . . .
 |
| Mk IX Hawk |
Episode 4: War Games | Original UK Airdate: September 25, 1975 | Production Order: 17
Moonbase Alpha is attacked by
what appears to be Earth warships, killing 128, but is the attack real?
Episode 5: Death's Other Dominion | Original UK
Airdate: October 2, 1975 | Production
Order: 14
Moonbase Alpha encounters a
frozen planet with human castaways who have discovered the key to immortality —
a secret they are willing to share with the Alphans, but immortality has a cost.
Guest star Brian Blessed.
Episode 6: Voyager's Return | Original UK Airdate: October 9, 1975 | Production Order: 12
An unmanned Earth space probe,
Voyager One, on course for the Moon, is spewing radioactive exhaust that will
kill everyone on Moonbase Alpha. While the probe's designer (Jeremy Kemp) works
to shut off the probe’s engine, alien ships appear. The probe’s exhaust killed
millions of their people, and they intend to destroy Alpha in return.
Episode 7: Alpha Child | Original UK Airdate: October 16, 1975 |
Production Order: 10
The first child is born on Alpha,
but grows at an accelerated pace. When hostile aliens approach, Koenig realizes
they have an agent on Alpha — the child.
 |
| Ultra Probe |
Episode 8: Dragon's Domain | Original UK Airdate: October 23, 1975 |
Production Order: 23
Moonbase Alpha finds the lost
Earth Ultra space probe in a graveyard of alien space craft. The probe’s
commander, and only survivor, Tony Cellini (Gianni Garko), who lives in shame
on Alpha, reports a space “dragon” killed his crew, and now that they’ve found
the probe, Cellini seeks revenge, and redemption.
Episode 9: Mission of the Darians | Original UK
Airdate: October 30, 1975 | Production Order: 22
Moonbase Alpha tracks a distress
call to an immense abandoned spaceship whose crew has since devolved into a savage
existence with a terrible secret. Guest star Joan Collins as Kara.
 |
| Generational Ship from “Mission of the Darians.” |
Episode 10: Black Sun | Original UK Airdate: November 6, 1975 | Production Order: 3
When the gravity of a black sun
pulls the Moon towards destruction, the Alphans devise a desperate plan for
survival.
Episode 11: Guardian of Piri | Original UK Airdate: November 13, 1975 |
Production Order: 8
The dead planet Piri offers the
Alphans an idyllic home, but at a price. Koenig, of course, is the only one to
realize the threat.
Note: This episode features
trippy imagery of the planet Piri, which looks like something off a Yes album of the same era. Also featured is the sole use of David Kano’s
neural computer interface that allows him to communicate with computers
directly with his brain. This ability could have made for an interesting plot device
on other episodes, but was never used again and Kano disappeared without
mention after season one.
Episode 12: End of Eternity | Original UK Airdate: November 20, 1975 |
Production Order: 16
The Alpha’s unwittingly release
an immortal, indestructible, homicidal psychopath (guest star Peter Bowles)
from his asteroid prison.
Episode 13: Matter of Life and Death| Original UK
Airdate: November 27, 1975 | Production
Order: 2
When Moonbase Alpha encounters an
Earth-type planet that could serve as a new home, they find Dr. Helena
Russell’s husband, Lee Russell, thought to have died five years previously in
orbit around Jupiter. Lee Russell warns the Alphans away from the planet, but
Koenig ignores the warning and puts his crew in peril.
Episode 14: Earthbound | Original UK Airdate: December 4, 1975 | Production Order: 5
An alien spacecraft, fleeing
their dying world, is headed towards Earth, but they only have room for one
passenger. Commissioner Simmonds (Roy Dotrice) intends to be on the ship, and
will risk the lives of the Alphans to do so. This episode features Christopher
Lee in the role of the alien Captain Zantor.
 |
| Christopher Lee and his alien crewmates in “Earthbound.” |
Episode 15: The Full Circle |
Original UK Airdate: December 11, 1975 | Production Order: 15
When a newly discovered habitable
planet has the mysterious effect of devolving humans into a primitive state,
the Alphans race to find a way of reversing the effects.
Episode 16: Another Time, Another Place | Original
UK Airdate: December 18, 1975 | Production Order: 6
Moonbase Alpha is hit by an
energy storm that transports the Moon back into the Solar System and headed
towards Earth orbit, but there’s a problem. There is a duplicate Moon already
in orbit, and only one place on Earth is uninhabitable, and alternate versions
of the Alphans already live there!
Episode 17: The Last Sunset | Original UK Airdate: January 1, 1976 |
Production Order: 11
In order to prevent the Alphans
from settling the planet Ariel, aliens terraform the Moon’s atmosphere to make
it breathable. When the Moon doesn’t enter orbit, however, the atmosphere
threatens to crush Moonbase Alpha once it freezes in deep space. Also, the
usually strict and serious Paul Morrow discovers hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Episode 18 The Infernal Machine | Original UK
Airdate: January 8, 1976 | Production Order: 21
Moonbase Alpha encounters an odd,
sentient alien spacecraft seeking supplies and companionship, and will kill to
get what it wants. Guest star Leo McKern plays Companion and Voice of Gwent.
Episode 19: Ring Around the Moon | Original UK
Airdate: January 15, 1976 | Production Order: 4
Aliens take control of a
technician in order to gain access to Moonbase Alpha’s computer. When the
technician dies and Alpha is threatened, John Koenig races against time to stop
the alien attack and free the other Alphan under alien control before she also
dies — Dr. Helena Russell!
Episode 20: Missing Link |
Original UK Airdate: January 22, 1976 | Production Order: 7
John Koenig is captured by aliens
evolved two million years beyond the Alphans and who consider Koenig a missing
link in their evolution. Determined not to be treated like an animal, Koenig fights
back using a classic Captain Kirk move, get the alien’s girlfriend to fall in
love with you and sow dissention with the alien leader, played by Peter Cushing.
Episode 21: Space Brain |
Original UK Airdate: January 29, 1976 | Production Order: 20
The Moon is headed straight into
an energy field which turns out to be giant sentient “space brain.” The field
tries to threatens to crush Moonbase Alpha, and the Alphans in turn fight back,
but they discover the horrifying truth too late — the space brain is
responsible for protecting thousands of worlds and the Moon is going to shoot
through it like a bullet.
Episode 22: The Troubled Spirit | Original UK
Airdate: February 5, 1976 | Production Order 19
An Alphan scientist, Dan Mateo,
using psychic energy to communicate with plants, sets free his own ghost, who in
turn seeks revenge on Mateo for causing his own death which has yet to happen.
Note: This episode’s opener
features a Raga-like piece composed and performed by session artist Jim
Sullivan on electric guitar, who also appears as the musician.
Episode 23: The Testament of Arkadia | Original UK
Airdate: February 12, 1976 | Production Order: 24
The Moon comes to a stop near a
dead world that was destroyed by a nuclear war. While looking for answers about
who the people were, the Alphans uncover evidence about the origins of their
own civilization. Meanwhile, an Alpha goes renegade and threatens the Moonbase
unless he and another Alphan are allowed to settle on the planet.
 |
| Escape pod from “The Last Enemy.” |
Episode 24: The Last Enemy | Original UK Airdate: February 19, 1976 |
Production Order: 8
While travelling through a solar
system, the Alphans get caught in an interplanetary war of the sexes.
 |
| Space: 1999 season two cast (left to right): Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Catherine Schell, Tony Anholt, Nick Tate |
Episode 1: The Metamorph | Original UK Airdate: September 4, 1976 |
Production Order: 1
An alien scientist (Brian
Blessed) plans to use Alphans to power his biological computer in an effort to
make his planet habitable again. Koenig convinces the scientist’s daughter, the
shapechanger Maya, to help him save his crew.
Alien missiles entering orbit
around the Moon contain refugees from an attempted coup on an alien planet. The
Alphans soon learn, however, that the refugees were exiled for crimes against
their planet, and they intend to return to exact their revenge.
Earth in the 22nd
Century contacts Moonbase Alpha with a plan to transport the crew back home,
but the plan goes awry and the first Alphans transported find themselves in 14th
Century England.
The Alphans encounter the planet
Vega where androids have enslaved their human creators. The androids want the
Alphans to teach them hate so they can kill their creators, but can they learn
love as well?
The Alphans encounter a Swift-class space ship piloted by a
psychotic sentient robot (played by Michael Sharvell-Martin and voiced by Bernard
Cribbins).
 |
| Swift class |
A cosmic magician claiming to be
God appears on Moonbase and demands two couples to repopulate his planet, but
Koenig suspect this “god” has other plans.
Deep inside the underground
mining tunnels, the Alphans discover cryogenic pod containing a man and a boy from
a planet of peace who are infected with a virus that drives them to kill.
The sentient plant life on the
planet Luton judge Koenig and Maya guilty of murder when they pick a flower. Their sentence — a fight to the death
with three other aliens also accused of herbicide.
Koenig and an geological
expedition are trapped on a planet with a living rock that needs water to
survive, and the Alphans are on the menu!
Taybor, an interstellar trader,
visits Moonbase Alpha and offers the Alphans a way to get home to Earth — in
exchange for Maya!
When Koenig investigates the
source of shockwaves that threaten to destroy Moonbase Alpha, he discovers a
dead planet run by machines that protect the planet’s three remaining inhabitants,
two women and one man, who are key to their species survival. Unable to remain,
Koenig and his crew must depart even though they do not have enough fuel to get
back to Moonbase Alpha. Eh, don’t worry. They’ll figure something out. Oh yeah,
and the women, including guest star Sara Douglas (Ursa in Superman I/II), are naked — with strategically=placed long hair, of
course. Hey, it’s the 1970s folks.
Aliens replace Koenig with an
evil double whose commands threaten Moonbase Alpha. Producer Fred Freiberger, who was producer on
the Star Trek: The Original Series
third season ‘evil Kirk’ episode “Turnabout Intruder,” makes sure there’s an ‘evil
Koenig’ episode as well, and this is it.
An Alphan, engineer Patrick
Osgood, desperate to find a rare metal for an artificial heart to save his
wife, goes deep in the underground mining tunnels of the Moon where he becomes
psychotic and predicts a heat storm will ravage Moonbase Alpha. How Osgood knows
the heat storm is coming is never explained, except at the very end of the show
with a single throwaway line from Dr. Russell: “Who’s to say there wasn’t
some kind of intelligence in that heat storm.” This is another reference to the deus ex machina “guiding intelligence”
that saves Alpha at the last minute without further explanation. A weak attempt
to tie-up plot holes characteristic of the series under Freiberger’s helm.
The Alphans have their hands full
in this episode with a derelict spaceship, a space warp, and a sick Maya who
loses control of her shapechanging powers. At the end of the episode, the
derelict is brought in tow back to Alpha, but like the Swift in the episode “Brian the Brain,” we never see or hear of it
again.
Aliens caught in a parallel
dimension try to convince an Alphan to help them exchange bodies with the other
Alphans — trapping them in the very same dimension they seek to escape!
Note: This episode explains
anti-matter as “a parallel dimension that is transparent to ours.” Not only is
that wrong, but anti-matter was correctly explained in the first season episode
“Matter of Life and Death” and producer Fred Freiberger, who
worked on Star Trek: TOS, knows very
well how anti-matter works. This is yet another example of the sloppy writing
and lack of attention to detail in season two.
After a gas cloud passes over
Moonbase Alpha, a mysterious malaise affects the crew. An Eagle sent to
investigate returns with a monster that attacks the Alphans. The aliens
controlling the monster want part of Alpha’s life support system, and they will
kill to get it!
Note: Another example of weak editorial
control: another gas cloud, another mysterious illness, another disembodied
alien, another out-of-control monster.
Moonbase Alpha encounters yet
another mysterious gas cloud, this one emanating Lambda waves which gives one Alphan
psychic powers, as well as driving her mad. This phenomenon also forces Koenig to
confront his own ghosts from the past.
Episode 18: | The Bringers of Wonder, Part 1 | Original
UK Airdate: August 4, 1977 | Production Order: 17
While John Koenig’s mind is
affected by an unknown force, a vessel from Earth, a Superswift-class ship, lands at Moonbase Alpha and the crew
announces they’re here to help the Alphans return home. When Koenig recovers,
however, he sees aliens and an alien ship. Guest star Stuart Damon(General Hospital), who also had a
small role in the season one episode, “Matter of Life and Death,” plays
Tony Verdeschi’s brother Guido.
 |
| Superswift class |
Episode 19: The Bringers of Wonder, Part 2 | Original
UK Airdate: August 11, 1977 | Production Order: 18
Koenig convinces Helena and
others that the Superswift crew are
really aliens in disguise and discover the aliens’ true agenda — detonate
Alpha’s nuclear fuel and feed off the resulting radiation.
Note: The script for this
two-part episode is unnecessarily padded out. The essential plot points — an
Earth ship, promise of a return home, and aliens with an ulterior motive — are
all familiar elements to Space: 1999 storylines
and one wonders if the essential action could have been reduced to a single
episode. For example, Maya, with her unique and advanced Psychon brain, should
have been the one to spot the alien’s illusion, which would free up the
time-consuming sub-plot of Koenig’s injury and reduced the running time
considerably.
The Moon approaches a nearby
celestial body designated “Tora,” a cloud of gas and dust; however, surface
survey team, Sanderson — suffering from greensickness (caused by a lack of
exposure to nature) and driven mad — believes Koenig and the senior staff are
hiding evidence of a habitable plane and stages a mutiny, but Koenig has bigger
problems. Tora turns out to be an uninhabitable proto-planet, and it’s on
course to collide with the Moon!
An alien ship lands at Moonbase
Alpha carrying a Psychon criminal, Dorzak, who uses his psychic powers to
control the minds of others. Maya, also a Psychon, insists Dorzak he is a poet
and frees him, putting herself and other Alphans at risk.
Koenig takes Eagle One to survey
two planets, one devoid of life, the other with but gets captured by the warden
of the planet’s last survivors — a prison of political prisoners. The catch? No
one, not the prisoners or guards, knows that everyone on their home planet has
died, only the warden and Koenig does, and that information could get Koenig
killed.
Note: This episode features lots
of tall, Amazonian-like women in tight body suits, go-go boots and carrying
wipes. Gotta love the 70s.
Koenig leads a survey team to a
planet to replenish Moonbase Alpha’s supplies; however, landing on the planet
causes a chain reaction in the atmosphere that causes all food to become toxic
and the Alphan’s machinery to break down. After an alien attacks the crew, the
Alphans find an ancient ruin with a recording that tells them the alien is a
powerful immortal life force. If the Alphans are to survive, they must find a
way to communicate with it.
Note: This episode features the
use of the glider, one of the series most interesting models, and the ancient
ruin set, which evidently must have drained the special effects budget because
the alien is literally just a blinding light and a disembodied voice, which
comes off as really cheap. Despite some
very promising elements, there are too many story elements and the disembodied
immortal alien device comes off as a deus ex machina plot device. The episode
would have been improved by removing the alien life force entirely and rather
focused on the idea of a toxic planet, discovering that secret in the ancient
ruin, and the Alphans ingenuity in escaping.
The Dorcons, sworn enemies of the
Psychons, visit Moonbase Alpha intent on capturing Maya and removing her brain
stem to ensure their leader’s immortality.
 |
| Dorcon Probe |
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