Space 1999 - Unsung 1970s Sci-Fi Brilliance
BIG TAM
Wrexham, North Wales, UK.Posts: 773MI6 Agent
Does anybody else have a fond affection for this 1974 British sci-fi series? It seems to get few plaudits but I love it. Sets, costumes & effects. Martin Landau, Barbara Bain & Barry Morse. And that terrific Barry Gray theme music. It really does deserve more praise.
Granted, the 1976 follow-up series wasn't quite as good, but still held entertainment value. And snazzy zip-up cardies for the leads to wear!
)
I want this series re-evaluated. It deserves better than the dismissal it so often gets.
Granted, the 1976 follow-up series wasn't quite as good, but still held entertainment value. And snazzy zip-up cardies for the leads to wear!
)I want this series re-evaluated. It deserves better than the dismissal it so often gets.
Comments
It had a hard time in the UK as it was up against "Top of the Pops". I was
thought "Odd" as I was watching Space 1999 instead of the Pop show.
It had some great stories.
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and I even loved Blakes 7
The most annoying thing is the format had promise, and some excellent actors, but it always seemed less than its parts.
I am another one in the UFO and Blake 7 vote too. UFO was great, it told stories that did not always have happy endings, and had an element of mystery re the aliens. Blake 7? One of my childhood favorites. Esp with the Torch come lasers, teleport bracelets and the computer that was a box of Christmas lights! (Can't remember the name)
Apparently Paul Darrow ( Avon in Blakes 7) was a Doctor in DAD, although
as yet I've not been able to spot him.
Sure it was made cheaply, but great fun midweek. and that Servalan was one
hot villain .
Basically If it had a spaceship in it, I'd watch it.
Personally, I enjoyed both shows. UFO definitely had a pretty unique vibe to it and the stories often had a darker tone to them that really appealed to me. Some of the trappings, wardrobe and music really date the show (I recall an episode with Foster going all hippy and dancing the night away at some party to the music of the Beatles which still kind of makes me cringe) but overall it was a lot of fun and I was delighted to finally score a full DVD set a few years ago.
Space 1999 was also interesting in its own way. Yes, the characters were often cold and the atmosphere antiseptic, especially during its first season. I think Gerry Anderson was going for a 2001 vibe, trying to convey the loneliness, isolation and mystery of outer space and a lot of those episodes from the first season had plots that sometimes bordered on the mystical but they were beautiful to look at and even stirred the imagination.
The second season is significantly inferior in my opinion. New producer Fred Frieberger was brought into sex up the show and amp up the action quotient but at the cost of the introspective tone of the first season. Barry Morse was gone and Catherine Schell brought in. Frieberger presided over the original Star Trek's last season - almost universally considered the show's worst - and Space 1999 suffered from many of the same problems. There were still a few good episodes - the one involving a space warp while Maya suffered from an alien fever comes to mind. as does the episode with the Dorcons - but the stories were largely more pedestrian and just not as interesting. Still a fun show and the recent BluRay release looks positively outstanding.
I believe you are correct. The US audience figures for UFO were not as high as expected so the second series was cancelled, but Gerry Anderson kept the idea alive and was eventually successful.
As for Space 1999, the first series was significantly superior, especially the opening episode Brakeaway, Voyager's Return, and Collision Course. Notably, there was a different theme tune for each series and I love them both.
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