Space: 1999

Space: 1999 was an ambitious and handsomely mounted science fiction television show produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, famous for Thunderbirds and U.F.O.. The first attempt since the demise of Star Trek at doing a large-scale science fiction weekly series, the show drew a great deal of visual inspiration from the Stanley Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

There were two seasons of 24 episodes each. The stars were American actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, who were married at the time. The series also made Australian actor Nick Tate quite popular. There were guest appearances by the likes of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ian McShane and Brian Blessed.

The show involved the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha following a calamity in which a massive series of nuclear explosions sends the moon hurtling out of Earth's orbit and into deep space. The moon in effect becomes the Enterprise, the "spaceship" on which our heroes travel, looking for a new home. A "space warp" conveniently serves to explain how it is the Alphans manage to meet so many intergalactic civilizations.

With such an implausible premise, it is not suprising that many of the scripts were far-fetched as well. And, presumably taking another page from 2001s book, the series tended to explore mystical and metaphysical themes rather than scientific ones. Yet many of the first season's episodes were striking.

The cynical "War Games," said to be the highest-budgeted single episode of any TV series up to that time, was an overt commentary on humanity's combative nature. Alpha finds itself under attack by an unstoppable alien force that kills most of its population. Yet in another of the series' metaphysical twists, the Alphans are given a second chance at the end, and time is reversed to mere moments prior to the attack so that Commander Koenig (Landau) can rethink his fateful decisions. "Dragon's Domain" and "Force of Life" were more typical variations on the alien monster theme, but executed impressively.

The second season was problematic. Producer Fred Freiberger was brought in, and made numerous changes that upset the series' continuity and angered its fans. Most of the first season's cast was dismissed, with only angry viewer reaction keeping the popular Tate from getting the axe. Freiberger, evidently wanting his own Mr. Spock, insisted that an alien join the regular cast, and this led to the addition of Catherine Schell as the shape-changing Maya.

The fans liked Maya. But the stories in season two were notably inferior. Landau was reportedly especially unhappy, and contrived to appear in fewer and fewer episodes, leaving the late Tony Anholt to pick up the role of action hero as Security Chief Tony Verdeschi.

The show fizzled after the second season, and fans were upset by the lack of narrative closure, particularly in that the ultimate fate of the Alphans was never resolved. Years later, a short film titled "Message from Moonbase Alpha," featuring a moving eulogy performed by series regular Zenia Merton (Sandra Benes), told of the Alphans finally colonizing a planet called Terra Alpha.

The entire series, including the "Message from Moonbase Alpha" short, has been released on DVD.

External links: http:www.space1999.net Space: 1999.Net