A breakthrough series, 9 Jan 2006

By	Kurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (London, SW1) - See all my reviews

It is hard to imagine that there was a time when we thought 1999 was so far off that it had to be something futuristic and incredible. The design of the outfits was 70s-style future (just as the Star Trek outfits were 60s-style future, mini-skirts and all). The furniture of the future could have been described as Danish Post-Modern; everything is plastic and steel, everything gleams. Computers are a bit more realistic in Space: 1999, although it is fascinating what did advance beyond.

However, Space: 1999 wasn't about the gadgets. It was a cosmic voyage of discovery. Being a fairly low-budget television production, the producers had to be very creative with special effects and mood setting scenes; actual science took a back seat to the kinds of planets and situations the crew of Moon Base Alpha would face. These ideas were innovative -- from various peoples who were predecessors of earth civilisations to outside civilisations and cosmic forces that combined mystical and psychological elements well.

There are two seasons, rather loosely related. The first season had Moon Base Alpha on the surface of the moon -- the first episode has the moon blast out of orbit due to a nuclear waste-storage accident. Martin Landau and Barbara Bain are the main characters as the commander of the base and the chief medical officer; Barry Morse stars as science officer in season 1, but one of the changes for season 2 is that he disappears, which is unfortunate, given the stability his character lent to the show. Nick Tate was the Australian pilot (there was a fleet of Eagle spacecraft on Moon Base Alpha); season 2 added Catherine Schell as a shape-shifting alien orphaned on the moon base (Brian Blessed, in one of his myriad of b-roles, played her father for one episode). Her love interest (season 1 was all about the science and the journey of discovery; season 2 was all about love affairs) was the dashing Tony Verdeschi, played by British actor Anthony Anholt (rather unknown to American audiences, but frequently on British programming). Meanwhile, Commander Koenig and Dr. Russell (Landau and Bain, married in real life) were also falling in love, and the base was relocated for unexplained reasons underground, with a complete redesign even of the uniforms (rather dramatic changes for a resource-strapped moon base).

There were 48 episodes in all, 24 for each season, and like many a good series, it ended without resolution -- our moon base travellers are still hurtling through space, hoping to find a home.

The ideas were often ahead of their time, and it is interesting to see the character developments over time, also. It was perhaps a blessing that the show ended after two seasons, as the directions for the series were beginning to be limited (Battlestar Galactica, several years later, would encounter the same problem). The acting was mostly solid, but sometimes cheesy - Joan Collins playing an elitist doomed to mate with the barbarian she might at another time have had to synthesise as food; Christopher Lee playing himself (as usual) in an interesting role (the same is true for Peter Cushing and Leo McKern).

There is a certain style about Space:1999 that still is pleasing and future-oriented despite its now-dated title. The plots are inventive if not always entirely original, and the central characters carry the show well through the episodes. The moon-base minatures and space-craft effects are well done; the general sets, particularly for the first year, are very well done, from central command to the underground tube transport system.

Take the journey! This remains one of the best science fiction series ever produced.

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