Space: 1999
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Space: 1999 (ITC Entertainment, 1975–1977) was a British science-fiction television show about the journey of the occupants of a Moon base after the Moon is knocked out of orbit by a nuclear explosion. The series was produced by Sylvia and Gerry Anderson, famous for the TV series Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5 and UFO.
Series overview
Space: 1999 was the first attempt since the demise of Star Trek in 1969 at producing a large-scale weekly science fiction series, and the show drew a great deal of visual inspiration (and technical expertise) from the Stanley Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. The show's special effects director Brian Johnson had in fact previously worked on both Thunderbirds (as Brian Johncock) and 2001.
It was the last in a long line of successful science-fiction series that the Andersons produced as a couple, beginning with Supercar in the early Sixties and including the famed marionette fantasy series Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 and the gritty live-action alien-invasion drama UFO. The Andersons' marriage fell apart and their partnership dissolved during production of Space: 1999, although Gerry Anderson has continued to produce TV series into 2005.
Much of the visual design for Space: 1999 was originally intended for a never-made second series of UFO which would have featured an expanded Moonbase. When this fell through the ideas were used for Space: 1999 instead.
The stars were American actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, who were married at the time and had previously appeared together in Mission: Impossible. Also starring were Barry Morse (as Professor Victor Bergman in the first season) and Catherine Schell (as the alien Maya in the second season). The series also made Australian actor Nick Tate quite popular. There were guest appearances by the likes of Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Ian McShane and Brian Blessed.
The special effects in the show were highly regarded. The show featured many well designed and intricate scale models including the Eagle, a lunar shuttle. Special effects director Brian Johnson and most of his team went on to work on Ridley Scott's Alien, followed by Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Dozens of models for the various alien spaceships, along with the Mark IX Hawk from the "War Games" episode, were built by model maker Martin Bower, who would later also work on Alien, the 1980 production of Flash Gordon and Outland.
Costumes for the first season were designed by Rudi Gernreich.
The opening credits for the first season featured a dramatic fanfare composed by Barry Gray; it was Gray's final composition for Anderson.
The series premiered in 1975, although the first episode had actually been filmed in 1973. Live action was filmed at Pinewood Studios and special effects at Bray Studios. There were two seasons of 24 episodes each made by Gerry Anderson for ITC Entertainment. The first season was co-produced by the Italian state broadcaster, RAI. In Britain the series was originally seen on ITV stations but never simulcast nationally. In the US it was syndicated. Image:Starlog.jpg The series was reportedly broadcast in 96 countries, mostly between 1975 and 1979. The series was shown in Italy as Spazio: 1999, France as Cosmos: 1999, Denmark as Månebase Alpha, Portugal as Espaço: 1999, Brazil as Espaço: 1999, Germany as Mondbasis Alpha 1, Spain as Espacio: 1999, Sweden as Månbas Alpha 1999, Poland as Kosmos 1999, Finland as Avaruusasema Alfa and in Argentina and Chile as Cosmos 1999. The series was also broadcast in 1976 in South Africa as Alpha 1999, dubbed into Afrikaans by Leephy Atlejees in Johannesburg.
Countries where the show was popular include South Africa, Turkey, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Malaysia, Canada, Mexico and Taiwan. One of the first previews of the series was in Australia on the Seven Network in July 1975, but the station later split the first series into two seasons. The second season was shown in 1979.
In the UK, the episodes of the show's second season were shown sporadically over a period of a couple of years, starting in 1976 while the last episodes still in production. In some regions the final first-run episodes appeared in 1978, more than a year after they were produced; in other regions of the UK, the second series was never shown. In many countries, including the US, UK and Germany, individual episodes were cut to reduce the running time.
Basic plot
The show involved the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha following a calamity on September 13, 1999. When a huge nuclear waste dump on the far side of the Moon detonates in a massive series of nuclear explosions, it sends the Moon hurtling out of Earth's orbit and into deep space at colossal speed. The Moon in effect becomes 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 alien civilizations instead of spending most of their time drifting through the interstellar void.
Regular cast and characters
| Actor | Role | Appearances |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Landau | Commander John Koenig, leader of Moonbase Alpha | Year 1–2 |
| Barbara Bain | Doctor Helena Russell, head of Medical Section | Year 1–2 |
| Barry Morse | Professor Victor Bergman, science adviser | Year 1 |
| Catherine Schell | Maya, science officer | Year 2 |
| Tony Anholt | Tony Verdeschi, head of Security | Year 2 |
| Nick Tate | Alan Carter, chief pilot | Year 1–2 |
| Zienia Merton | Sandra Benes, data analyst | Year 1–2 |
| Prentis Hancock | Paul Morrow, head of Main Mission section | Year 1 |
| Clifton Jones | David Kano, computer expert | Year 1 |
| Anton Phillips | Doctor Bob Mathias, Helena's deputy | Year 1–2 |
| Jeffrey Kissoon | Doctor Ben Vincent, Helena's deputy | Year 2 |
| Sam Dastor | Doctor Ed Spencer, Helena's deputy | Year 2 |
| Suzanne Roquette | Tanya Alexander, operative | Year 1 |
| John Hug | Bill Fraser, pilot | Year 2 |
| Yasuko Nagazumi | Yasko, operative | Year 2 |
| Alibe Parsons | Alibe, operative | Year 2 |
Concepts and plot points
The concept of travelling through space encountering aliens and strange worlds is similar to Star Trek and Lost In Space, although the crew were obviously more influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey (except in terms of scientific accuracy).
Taking another page from 2001's book, the series tended to explore mystical and metaphysical themes rather than scientific ones, although this tone was drastically reduced during the second season in favour of more "action-oriented" plots.
Certain episodes of the first season stood out for various reasons:
- 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 much of its population. Yet in another of the series' metaphysical twists, the Alphans are given a second chance at the end, reverting 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, although both took a more metaphysical bent. Dragon's Domain became essentially a retelling of "Saint George and the Dragon", while Force of Life raised questions about what exactly life is, and what forms it could actually take.
- Voyager's Return was essentially an allegory of whether someone who causes death and destruction in the pursuit of knowledge — whether knowingly or not — can truly redeem himself and/or can be forgiven. It also touches on whether an entire populace is responsible for the actions of one of its members.
- The Testament of Arkadia predated the original Glen Larson Battlestar Galactica by almost three years, in delving into the "life here began out there" concept. The episode also addresses one of the sub-plots that were briefly touched upon throughout Series 1, in that the journey of the Alphans might not have been as happenstance as it appeared to be.
- Death's Other Dominion deals with the question of what price is too much for the advance of medical science; in this case, the search for the cause of an immortality that has already been achieved for reasons unknown.
Series flaws and criticisms
One of the major criticisms of the show was its scientific accuracy. Generally the writers seemed to have very little understanding of astronomy, which might arguably be useful for a series set in space.
- Isaac Asimov was quick to point out that any explosion capable of knocking the Moon out of its orbit would actually blow it apart, and probably send billions of tons of debris crashing down onto Earth as well.
- Harlan Ellison was also equally quick to point out that any explosion on the far side of the moon capable of knocking it out of its orbit would not send it hurtling off into space, but rather crashing down upon the earth.
On the other hand, those same writers — including series head writer Johnny Byrne — have stated that had the series been totally rooted in actual physics, the Moon would have never left orbit. Some suspension of disbelief — and physics — is required for a show like Space: 1999 to work.
Rise and fall of series 2
Image:Spfirekh1.jpg The second season was, putting it mildly, problematic. Following the departure of Sylvia Anderson after her separation and subsequent divorce from husband Gerry, Fred Freiberger was brought in to help guide the series as producer. Freiberger was best known (and, to a vast majority of fans, infamous) for producing the critically derided third season of Star Trek, as well as producing the first few seasons of The Wild Wild West before being dismissed from the series due to creative differences.
With Freiberger's arrival, several changes were made to the series for Season 2. And while some were well received by fans, the majority of them were not. The most visible of which was the absence of Barry Morse, Prentis Hancock and a few other regular cast members from the first season. Morse's departure was due to a salary dispute, but he was glad to leave and told Gerry Anderson "I would rather play with grow-ups for a while." Template:Harv With Morse removed, this led to the addition of Catherine Schell as the shape-changing Maya.
No on-screen explanation was ever offered for the sudden disappearance of Professor Bergman, Paul Morrow, David Kano, Tanya Alexander and other semi-regular characters. One scene in "The Metamorph" mentioning Bergman was scripted and filmed, but cut from the final edit.
Freiberger's belief that a "Spock" character would work in Series 2 wound up being somewhat accurate, as Maya wound up being well received by the fans. However, the majority of the credit truly belongs to the acting of Catherine Schell, who managed to play the "raised eyebrow" and "fascinating" responses with a far greater charm than anyone could have expected. Her on-screen charm and presence allowed for a greater sense of disbelief over the lack of scientific plausibility with her character's abilities in transforming from one object or animal to another.
Freiberger emphasised action adventure in the stories. Of the first series, he commented "They were doing the show as an English show, where there was no story, with the people standing around and talking. In the first show I did, I stressed action as well as character development, along with strong story content, to prove that 1999 could stand up to the American concept of what an action-adventure show should be." Template:Harv The cast as a whole became more and more dissatisfied with the quality of the scripts. Martin Landau was especially unhappy with many of the episodes: "They changed it because a bunch of American minds got into the act and they decided to do many things they felt were commercial. Fred Freiberger helped in some respects, but, overall, I don't think he helped the show, I think he brought a much more ordinary, mundane approach to the series." Template:Harv
One particular episode — "All That Glisters", which dealt with the threat of an intelligent rock — was of such poor quality that it sparked a major confrontation between Freiberger and the cast. Landau disliked the story so strongly he reportedly nearly left the show, and wrote the following notes on his copy of the script: "All the credibility we're building up is totally forsaken in this script!", "...Story is told poorly!", and "The character of Koenig takes a terrible beating in this script — We're all shmucks!"
In another change of characters, Tony Anholt picked up the role of action hero as Security Chief Tony Verdeschi. Verdeschi was a character who did not appear in the first season. In an interview, Anholt revealed that "the more the cast complained about a script's flaws, the more intractable and unyielding Freiberger became." — an observation that many cast members on both Star Trek and The Wild Wild West shared.
The show fizzled during the second season, with some episodes from the season not even airing in the UK until nearly two years after they were produced. Plans were still made for a third season, and a spin-off series featuring Maya, but the drop in ratings and the resulting lack of syndication and commercial sponsor sales led to the series' final cancellation.
A resolution of sorts
Fans were upset by the lack of narrative closure, particularly in that the ultimate fate of the Alphans was never resolved. Years later, at the Breakaway 1999 convention, a short film titled Message from Moonbase Alpha, and produced by fans and written by series scribe Johnny Byrne, was premiered on, appropriately enough, September 13th, 1999. Featuring a moving eulogy performed by series regular Zienia Merton (in character as Sandra Benes), it told of the Alphans finally colonizing the planet Terra Alpha and saying their final farewells to the Moonbase as the Moon drifted out of range.
The entire series, including the Message from Moonbase Alpha short, has been released on DVD.
Space: 2024?
Johnny Byrne has since revealed that Message was intended as a back-door pilot in hopes of promoting enough interest in the series to convince potential investors of the viability of a new series. According to Byrne's revival concept, the series would take place some 25 years after the events in Message, and feature the children of the Alphans who leave Terra Alpha when the Moon and its Moonbase mysteriously return. The revival series may have delved more into the metaphysical aspect of the Alphan's journey, as seen in the tone of the Season 1 stories, eventually revealing that Koenig's observations at the end of "Testament of Arkadia" — that there had to be a purpose for everything that had happened to the Alphans — was totally correct, and that Alpha was being guided by a cosmic intelligence of some sort.
The concept proposal, while embraced by fans, was not put before financial backers. However, with the recent success in reimaging Battlestar Galactica, one can only wonder — and perhaps hope — that someone will consider giving Space: 1999 the same new lease on life.
Episodes
Image:Space1999 01.jpg Individual episodes were intended to be broadcast in almost any order. The only guidelines are that "Breakaway" should be the first episode, followed by Season 1 episodes. "The Metamorph" should be the first of Season 2, followed by the remaining episodes (there is a two-part episode in the second series).
The order shown below is for ATV, the UK regional station based in Birmingham. Other stations, and other countries, used very different orders. In some cases, this included mixing Season 1 and Season 2 episodes at random.
One preferred order is to use the original filming order, to account for subtle production changes in sets. For Season 2 episodes, a date since the first episode is often quoted in dialog, which follows filming order. DVD releases have followed the filming order, shown as the production number below.
Season 1 (1975–1976)
Season 2 (1976–1977)
Season 2 aired on ATV over the course of more than a year. Due to the long mid-season gap, some sources consider episodes 2-17 to 2-24 to be a third season. In some parts of Britain, the final episode, "The Dorcons", did not air until the summer of 1978; in others, it was not shown until the 1998 BBC "repeats".
Sometimes the three episodes 'The Rules of Luton', 'The Beta Cloud' and 'Space Warp' are called The Woodgrove Trilogy.
The number of days since leaving Earth might allow an interpretation of the calendar date; however, even if the Alphans still use the Gregorian Calendar, Earth has moved forward considerably in time, as evidenced by "Journey To Where," where it is 2120 on Earth. The series was not consistent in how it used this number; the two parts of "Bringers of Wonder", for example, are said to take place hundreds of days apart, which is not possible. If the number of days mentioned throughout the second season are accurate, then the episodes of year two take place over a period of more than five years.
Motion picture releases
Four films were culled together from various episodes of the series in the 1970s and 1980s. One aim was to provide content for new US and European Cable TV and Satellite TV stations (and, potentially, for theatrical release which occurred in several European countries). A fifth film, Spazio: 1999, was created specifically for theatrical release in Italy. These films (with the exception of Spazio: 1999) were released to home video years before any episodes were officially available in that format.
- Spazio: 1999 was a 1976 Italian release made up of heavily edited segments from the episodes "Breakaway", "Ring Around the Moon" and "Another Time, Another Place". This obscure release is notable for having a musical score by noted film composer Ennio Morricone, replacing the original television score by Barry Gray.
- Destination: Moonbase Alpha, released in 1978 by ITC London, was the first widely available re-editing of the series, based upon the two-part second season episode "The Bringers of Wonder." In many countries, this episode could only be seen in the movie form, as it was removed from the syndication package (though the two episodes were restored for the North American DVD release).
- Alien Attack, released in 1979 by ITC London, retroactively introduced foreign audiences to how Moonbase Alpha came to be travelling through space, by combining the by-now six-year-old pilot episode "Breakaway" with another episode, "War Games", but moving the events far into the 21st Century from 1999. This feature also included new footage shot for this release, specifically scenes at offices of the International Lunar Commission on Earth.
- Journey Through the Black Sun (1982) made by ITC New York combined the first season episodes "Collision Course" and "Black Sun".
- Cosmic Princess (1982) also made by ITC New York, focused on the second-season character Maya and featured the episodes "The Metamorph" and "Space Warp" combined together. The alien's dialogue from "Space Warp" is altered, and the alien's difficulties, and Maya's condition, are staged as being directly related to the events of "The Metamorph" as if they occurred only days before.
Some US home video editions of the English-language releases included specially filmed introductions by b-movie queen Sybil Danning. Series stars Martin Landau and Barbara Bain were reportedly upset at this re-packaging and launched legal action.
Books, comics and media
A number of novels were published in the mid-1970s, consisting of novelizations of televised episodes and some original novels. Authors included E.C. Tubb, John Rankine, Brian Ball, and Michael Butterworth. Most of the titles were published in several countries (UK, USA, Germany and Japan), but some were only published in one country (notably the Phoenix of Megaron, US only, and Earthfall, UK only).
Year One Novels included:
01 Breakaway by E.C. Tubb
02 Moon Odyssey by John Rankine
03 The Space Guardians by Brian Ball
04 Collision Course by E.C. Tubb
05 Lunar Attack by John Rankine
06 Astral Quest by John Rankine
07 Alien Seed by E.C. Tubb
08 Android Planet by John Rankine
09 Rogue Planet by E.C. Tubb
10 Phoenix of Megaron by John Rankine
11 Earthfall by E.C. Tubb
Year Two Novels included:
01 Planets of Peril by Michael Butterworth
02 Mind-Breaks of Space by Michael Butterworth with J. Jeff Jones
03 The Space-Jackers by Michael Butterworth
04 The Psychomorph by Michael Butterworth
05 The Time Fighters by Michael Butterworth
06 The Edge of the Infinite by Michael Butterworth
07 Das Andromeda-Ratsel by H. W. Springer
08 Das Erbe Der Roboter by H. W. Springer
09 Die Ewigen Von Luna by H. W. Springer
10 Invasion Der Esper by H. W. Springer
11 Aktion Exodus by Kurt Brand
12 Der Stahlplanet by M. F. Thomas
In 1975 to 1979, there were 16 other titles written by Gianni Padoan in Italian, all novelisations from the original scripts.
In 2002, Powys Media launched a new series of officially-licensed original novels and related works of non-fiction, as well as revised editions of previously issued novelizations from both Year One and Year Two by E.C. Tubb/John Rankine/Brian Ball and Michael Butterworth, respectively.
The Powys Media line of novels include:
- Resurrection by William Latham, foreword by Johnny Byrne
- The Forsaken by John Kenneth Muir, foreword by Prentis Hancock
- Survival by Brian Ball, foreword by Barry Morse
- Eternity Unbound by William Latham
- Born for Adversity by David A. McIntee
Powys Media also recorded an audio-book version of Resurrection which is read by Barry Morse.
Charlton Comics in the United States published seven issues of a comic book based upon the series, as well as eight issues of a black-and-white illustrated magazine featuring more adult-oriented stories based upon the show. There were also comic books in various formats in the UK, Germany, Italy and Portugal.
Power Records produced seven audio dramas for children based upon the series, most of which were based upon season one episodes: "Breakaway", "Death's Other Dominion", "Mission of the Darians", "End of Eternity" and "Dragon's Domain." In addition, two original stories were produced: "Return to the Beginning" and "It Played So Softly On the Ear". Power Records published comic book editions of "Breakaway" and "Return to the Beginning" with 45 rpm vinyl records enclosed.
In 1997, McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers released a non-fiction, scholarly monograph of the TV series by John Kenneth Muir entitled Exploring Space: 1999, An Episode Guide and Complete History of the Mid-1970s Science Fiction Television Series. It was re-published in softcover - but without updating - by McFarland in April, 2005.
Silva Screen Records released a CD of music from season one in late 2004.
The Eagle Transporter spaceship is a popular subject for models, ranging from die cast models from Dinky Toys to plastic construction kits from various companies. In 2005 the UK company Product Enterprise produced a range of die cast Eagle models which are remarkably accurate.
The series has been released several times to home video. The first releases, in 1980, were of the movie compilations. From 1991 individual episodes were released on video and laserdisc. Since 2001, the episodes have been released on DVD in many markets, including by A&E in the US.
Trivia
- In his 1988 opinion in the case of Williams v. Boles, a case concerning allegations of police brutality, Judge Frank Easterbrook of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit alluded to the series' low reputation among the general public, writing "Many things — beating with a rubber truncheon, water torture, electric shock, incessant noise, reruns of Space: 1999 — may cause agony as they occur yet leave no enduring injury." [1]
- The Space: 1999 episode "The Immunity Syndrome" shares its title with a "classic" Star Trek episode.
- Footage of Moonbase Alpha was recycled for an episode of the American TV series Wonder Woman entitled "Time Bomb". In this episode, Alpha (and the moonscape) are intended to represent a nuclear war-ravaged Earth several centuries in the future.
- An Eagle Transporter appears in the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" as the ship that jettisons the last Star Trek videotapes onto a forbidden planet.
- The original design concept for the Millennium Falcon was rejected by George Lucas for bearing too great a resemblance to the Eagle Transporter.
Bibliography
See also
- Barbara Bain
- Catherine Schell
- Christopher Penfold
- E. C. Tubb
- Fred Freiberger
- Gerry Anderson
- Johnny Byrne
- John Rankine
- Martin Landau
- Nick Tate
External links
- Bad Astronomy - Main Mission 2000 report
- British Film Institute Screen Online
- The Catacombs - comprehensive guide to Space:1999.
- FABGear The North American HQ for Gerry Anderson fans.
- Fanderson - the official appreciation society for the work of Gerry Anderson.
- Gaybase Alpha Gay Space:1999 Fans
- Martin Bower's Model World - Space:1999
- Product Enterprise Ltd. - produce official die-cast Eagle minatures.
- Ring Around The Moon - Space:1999 Webring
- Space: 1999 - An Appreciation
- {{{2|{{{title|Space: 1999}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Space: 1999.Net
- Space: 1999.Org
- Space: 1999 at pHinnWeb
- The Space:1999 Population Countdown - index of character fatalities.
- Space: 2001: Writer Johnny Byrne wants to Party like it's 1999...Again
- Starship Modeler - Eagle Reference
References
- Template:Harvard reference
- Template:Harvard reference
- Template:Harvard referencede:Mondbasis Alpha 1
fr:Cosmos 1999 it:Spazio 1999 ja:スペース1999 pt:Space 1999 fi:Avaruusasema Alfa sv:Månbas Alpha