Cast:

Martin Landau is Commander John Koenig, a well-known actor, even in those times. He was a star in the TV show Mission Impossible from 1966 to 1969. An American actor, which perhaps was a bit curious, knowing the setting, it is not so strange. I do like Commander Koenig because of his passion, his perseverance, his need to protect his crew and his love for Dr. Helena Russel, played by Barbara Bain. In real life they were married, this is not the case in the series but it is obvious to the viewer that Dr. Helena Russel is very important to commander Koenig. In fact, he made some decisions where he had to choose between the doctor or the rest of the crew, and each time he chose her.

Although I do like Barbara Bain’s character Dr. Helena Russell, I do think she portrayed her character kinda stiff, showing almost no emotion, not showing much humor, she could use a bit more lightheartedness, which does happen more in series two. Nick Tate is Alan Carter, he is a pilot and is usually the one who has to investigate new worlds and such in an Eagle. It appears they have many, many eagles seeing how many get destroyed of the course of the first series alone. Professor Victor Bergman is played by Barry Morse, a scientist. He, Koenig and Russel are, in my opinion, a bit like Kirk, Spock and McCoy in the first series anyways, because Morse does not return for series two. I really had to get used to Morse’s character but eventually he grew on me. I read that he left because of a salary dispute.

Zienia Merton is Sandra Benes, a data analyst, in the first series she has a relationship with Paul Morrow (Prentis Hancock) who was base second in command and Main Mission controller. He did not return in series two, no explanation was given in the series. Same for David Kano (Clifton Jones), he was the computer operations officer. Nowadays this would be called IT! He is also gone. Tanya Alexander, played by Suzanne Roquette, is also gone in series two. She was there (almost) every episode in series one, usually without any lines, but being very pretty! There are some explanations about the disappearance of these characters in certain books and such. Bob Mathias, played by Anton Philips, is the deputy medical officer. After being there in series one, he is only in series for the first couple of episodes and without any explanation he was gone. Maya, the science officer, played by Catherine Schell, is there starting series two, when her father and the planet she lives, are gone, Koenig offers her a home on the moonbase. Tony Verdeschi, played by Tony Anholt, second in command, head of Security and Command Center controller, more or less Paul Morrow’s replacement. He is there from the start of the second series, without any explanation, he is just suddenly there. But I really do like the character Tony Verdeschi, as well as Maya, these two new characters made a positive impression on me.

If you look closely, you will also notice some very interesting guest stars, who at that time were, or were becoming big TV or movie stars: Christopher Lee, Ian McShane, Joan Collins, Jeremy Kemp, Judy Geeson, Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins and Carolyn Seymour! Most likely I am forgetting many more now but these were the ones I came up with.

Series One - Episodes:

What bugged me over the course of the first series, is that there is no obvious chronological order of the episodes. The episode order on the Blu-ray is different than on IMdB and on epguides.com you yet see another order. I understand, after watching the first series, there is no continuity, so you can watch them in any order you like apparently, which I find really strange but I understand the reasoning, certainly in those days where it had to be episodic.

The first series rarely shines in my humble opinion, it is kinda solid, gradation level of the episodes hovers around a 6.5/7 out of 10. Especially the first series suffers from slow going episodes, most episodes could have been 10 minutes shorter in my opinion. Still, it is an entertaining series, although when I was tired, 9 out 10 episodes, I had to rewatch the last 10-15 minutes of the particular episode. In series one, Space 1999 takes itself a bit too seriously, I understand, it was going for serious SCI-FI, but this is also possible with a little more humor now and again.

The Best and the Weakest episodes series one:

One of the best episodes definitely is “Dragon’s Domain”. It was a bit of a horror story in space, Space 1999’s “Event Horzon”, although of course, this movie is 20+ years younger. This story actually was very interesting, totally different from the rest of the season. “The Last Enemy” is also one of my favorite episodes in this first series. It is a long-running war between two rival planets, Betha and Delta. And both planets use the moonbase for their war efforts. It was past paced, compelling story, a very passionate Koenig and some beautiful women! I also liked “Another Time, Another Place” where A distortion in time produces two separate moons, with two separate Alphas from different eras. Also “The Last Sunset” This was one of the best episodes in my opinion, a bit of a faster pace, a determined Koenig to find the away team, some interesting interactions on the surface with Dr. Russel, Alan, Paul and the wounded Sandra. “Collision Course” was also an interesting episode, Koenig getting really angry a few times which I did find interesting too. This episode ‘plays’ with destiny, fate and such.

These 3 are among the weakest episodes in my opinion: “The Troubled Spirit”, “Space Brain” & “The Infernal Machine”. But the worst episode for me was: “The Testament of Arkadia”.  First 30 minutes I thought the episode was quite good actually, but because what happens in the last 20 minutes annoyed the hell out of me, with the hostage situation, the aggressiveness of that Luke character, preparing to kill and the commander who takes it all just to save his dear Helena, condemning 300 people. Helena herself could have acted also, she is a doctor, knowing what this would mean to residents of Alpha, she could have sacrificed herself. Perhaps I am too hard on this episode but I just was so annoyed with the finale 20 minutes.

Introduction Series 2:

So yes, series two does have its moments, as said, it adds two interesting characters with Tony and Maya, on occasion it did surpass the first series but usually the quality of the episodes could not measure up to the first series. The episodes did become a bit more fast paced and yes, there was also added a bit more humor, which was much needed. The last minute of an episode in series two was a bit of a lighter note than with series one. This was copied from Star Trek The Original Series where this was common. Series two showed a lot of strange monsters, which most of the times were laughable at best. Sometimes it was a creature Maya turned into, as a Metamorph, but the moonbase Alpha crew also encountered some very strange alien creatures and almost all where in one way of the other evil. I can’t remember the Alpha crew meeting aliens who didn’t had their own agenda which usually meant death and destruction. But strange alien creatures aside, it was kinda entertaining, yes, sometimes it was a bit difficult to watch, but you have to remember the time it was created, 50 years ago, so you’ve got to give it some slack. Towards the end of the 2^nd series, the stories did improve, in the last 8 episodes, there is an entertaining two-parter, 2 weaker episodes and the series closes with 4 entertaining episodes. It seems to me that they actually were trying to improve the stories.

Overall I think I would grade series two with a tiny 6 out of 10 and yes, perhaps I am generous but the last 4 episodes were enjoyable, definitely were better then most episodes of the 2^nd series.

The Best and the Weakest episodes series two:

Before I name the best of series two, I want you to know that not one episode I graded higher then a 7.5/10)!

I thought “The Metamorph” was an okay episode which introduces Maya. “One Moment of Humanity” I also liked, I thought this was actually an interesting episode, nice twist that the humans posed androids, in which Helena looks great in that dress. “The Rules of Luton” was also a better episode, a bit of a strange premise but the story unfolded interesting and I really liked that there finally was some character growth, some emotional response when Koenig told Maya about the war of 1987 and the death of his wife. “The Seed of Destruction” was also a good episode, a Koenig double as the enemy. Allan Tate had a hard time believing Koenig wasn’t who he said he was. A straightforward episode, refreshing. “The Bringers of Wonder” two-parter was interesting, I believe Buck Rogers also had a similar kind of episode it its 2^nd season. He saw them for what they were because he was ill or had a cold or something. And as said, the final four episodes definitely where an improvement over most of the 2^nd series: “Dorzak”, an episode without Koenig; “Devil’s Planet”, this was also actually one of the better episodes. No Helena, Tony, Maya or Alan. All about John Koenig. “The Immunity Syndrome”, they finally found a suitable planet? And “The Dorcons”, with a very annoying alien race who want to take Maya for her brain stem cells.

The weakest: “The Taybor”, A deceitful intergalactic alien trader arrives on Alpha, and has eyes on Maya. “Brian the Brain”, mostly annoying, mainly because of the robot. “New Adam, New Eve”, really tough to get through. “Catacombs of the Moon” Only last two minutes managed to get a smile from me when Tony is trying out his new beer and getting insulted by Helena and Koenig. “A Matter of Balance”, Shermeen (Lynne Frederick) is a really beautiful girl but she also is bit gullible, lightheaded. I only really liked the moments when Tony was experimenting with his beer, made me smile a bit.

Overall: Episodic or Story-arc:

Well looking at the first series, there is no story-arc whatsoever, It is only advisable to watch the pilot first, but other than that, you can watch any other series one episode, it really doesn’t make any difference. Of course back in the day this was more the standard, because the networks and such wanted episodic TV, so that people would not stop watching because of any story-arc they weren’t familiar with, when they skipped a few episodes. I for one would welcome a little bit of story-arc, a little bit of character growth but you won’t find either on the first series.

When we look at series two:

Well, except for the first episode, for the most part you can watch the episodes in a random order, there is not real story-arc or character growth. Still, every episode Dr. Helena Russel reports how many days they have been broken away from earth’s orbit, so, in that sense you could argue that there is a chronological way of watching the episodes. Also the connection between Maya and Tony and Helena and John is perhaps a tiny reason you can speak of story-arc or character growth, but it is so minute that you wouldn’t even realize it. So, no, like series one, series two is also episodic in nature.

Final Word:

I’ve watched it in two months, for me, this is quite quick. Overall I see IMdB grades Space 1999 with a 7.3/10. Objectively, in this day and age, I believe that is too generous, although, taking into account when this show was created, 50 years ago, I think I could have graded this series also with a 7/10 / 7.5/10 approximately. As said, it looks amazing on Blu-ray, both series, as if it was made in the last 10 years. With this last statement I mean the picture quality of course. If you haven’t watched this in a while, take into account that each episode is about 50 minutes long and it really is slow going, so it’s not wise to watch it just before bedtime, otherwise, recommended, as a SCI-FI fan, you need to watch it at least once in your lifetime!

Blog written with the help of IMdB. Screencaps taken from IMdB