User reviews

I agree with all comments, good and bad. Not all the changes to the series worked, but I did love Catherine Shell as Maya and her special morphing ability. I liked the new look to Alpha and jacket uniforms. The model work and effects remain of high quality. What I really liked again were the guest stars, here being the amazing Brian Blessed that always gives a colourful performance.

This season opener was packed with new changes which might surprise some viewers, especially if you were used to year one. year two is not as good but has its moments. the music is pretty good but much more upbeat and exciting in tone. the credits are different and again aimed to be more exciting. the list of characters has changed with some unexplained disappearances, which is a bit unfortunate and sudden, but the new cast make the most of it. the sets still look pretty good, especially the mines and the alien control centre, nice use of colour and design. the fx are still extremely good, the planet's volcanic surface particularly and of course the scenes in space. the story is very solid and exciting, gerry anderson's pilot episodes for any series are always good. not soon after this, several very bad or weak episodes came along which really stank, but after that the quality started to pick up again for a strong finish. between those stories and this were several watchable episodes which i remember well.

A jolting season opener where everything is different.

Gerry Anderson still has his name on the opening credits but even he later admitted that he let the Americans take over and he was no longer in charge.

This is still called Space 1999 but it is just so different to season one that some will be shaking their heads wondering what the hell happened?? The internet is flooded with details about the behind-the-scene dramas so I will not go into it here.

Right from the opening scene with an eagle being attacked by a strange light - this is a taste of things to come in season two. The hour also ends with a very well written exchange between the commander and Maya. This is nice start to the season.

Personally, I like having two totally different seasons of Space 1999. Two totally different music composers for each season. I think if the series remained exactly the same for 48 hours that might have presented a problem. Then again, I do miss Barry Morse.