Space: 1999

The first science fiction work I ever saw was Space:1999, and i was six. Italian Tv had co-produced the stuff so it was aired around 6pm, not a very appropriate slot to broadcast scenes of people burned alive by their commander's lasergun... I probably had nightmares about it, but missing a single episode was out of the question. I got to see some first season episodes some twenty years later and I appreciated the show even more. I don't recall much of the second season apart Maya and Tony, so let me concentrate on the first one.

The electronic soundtrack and the opening credits (a kind of "Pulp Fiction" style guitar alternated with an orchestral version of the same theme) were very original, as it was the look of the Eagles: they are solid transport spacecrafts but at the same time one can see their pilots from the outside, so that Eagles seem vulnerable... well, they are, most of the time. Base Alpha is a large, well lit and comfortable place (some stylish seventies furniture, too) which is home and prison at the same time.

Anyway the most peculiar aspect is the atmosphere in Moonbase Alpha: The crew is shocked for what happened to them, unprepared to deal with the future, they don't agree with each other, they make mistakes, they often prefer not to show much emotion. No "Space as the last frontier" rhetoric, here. Space is cold and mistakes are lethal. That increases the realism even if 1999 is well past. Action progresses like a slowly unfolding bad dream.

Don't believe people complaining about bad acting. They just expect things that Space:1999 wasn't going to offer. The actors performed well. For example, Commander Koenig (the symbolism in the name is evident) is waiting for the "black sun" to swallow the base, he's talking with Prof. Bergman. He's about to break into tears but manages to restrain himself so that his eyes show only a little trace of what he's feeling underneath: A very good performance from Martin Landau, nearly impossible to find in better rated SF series/movies.

When I think of Space 1999 I think of South Side Elem School, Schwinn Sting-Ray 5 Speed Bikes, My dad's Navy Blue 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme & my parents big 25in cabniet model Zenith TV. When this show was on the air it was the hottest thing to hit TV since the original Star Trek. I remember all the toys, the big plastic EAGLES and the walkie talkie communicators and battery powered laser guns. Catherine Schell as MAYA still holds the Sexiest Alien girl ever Trophy in my opinion. I was very sad to learn from this site that Tony Anholt passed away of a brain tumor in July 2002. To this day I am at a loss as to why this series had such a short life. I suspect production costs in the UK sank it. To any of the former cast & crew who may read this, Martin, Barbara, Nick, Catherine, & so many others thanks so much for the memories and for an outstanding job. I own all the DVDs now and show it to friend's kids every now and then and they LOVE IT !

I could go on & on about this show, as others have, but I don't need to cover old ground--those of us who saw this show as youngsters when it first came out, well... it was an amazing & hypnotic thing.

If you like ST:TOS, Dr. Who, in general any sci-fi from the 60s or 70s, this will be familiar territory for you, and I think a happy place to visit.

One thing I didn't see mentioned that fascinates me about the show: most of the alien planets & landscapes were *hand painted* by guest abstract artist--and they amaze. When combined with model work far superior to UFO or Thunderbirds, the alien vistas were, for wont of a better word, painterly.

Some of it is campy. The acting is inconsistent. Sometimes the science is bad & there are too many 'psychic' episodes, but I have the entire series and it's one of my favorite possessions.

Slightly related, incredibly obscure reference that won't help anyone: Once a friend of mine met a fellow who was a big Peter Hammill fan, who had never heard the VDGG album 'Still Life' but had just bought it and was carrying it around. When he gleaned this from the gentlemen, he told him, "My god man, why are you just standing there--go home and listen to that CD!" If you are a fan of (as these things go) smart, complicated, visually striking vintage SF TV & you haven't seen Space 1999--go and buy it & watch it--you're in for a treat--and there are enough episodes you can spend pretty much 48 hours straight with it before you run out of content... I'm a little envious of you.

This show calls up happy memories of laying on my grandma's shag carpeted living room, totally enthralled by this show. It was the mid 70s and we didn't even have a space shuttle yet. The ships, clothes and hardware of this show looked like something I could possibly experience in my lifetime. I figured that by 1999, I would be living and working in space as an adult. Well none of that really panned out but all these years later, this show is still great fun to watch. It has a style and mood that is so unique. I hope they never try to do a remake. Part of it's charm is how 70s it is. The bell bottom uniforms, the sketchy science, the sideburns. It's all so perfect. As a child, this show made me excited for the future like nothing else.

I saw the show when I was a teenager and loved it instantly. And I still do, as I observed when I saw it again more than 20 years later. Sure, the environment and the tricks are looking a little cheap today, so what. Every show is aging. There isn't much action as in Star Trek, which at one point only seemed to discover planets with beautiful but strange women. Much of the action is between the characters, how to deal with fear,their situation and the loneliness... Love it or hate it, the show had something special. Till today I saved a huge crush on Martin Landau as an actor, I watch everything, even his weakest movies. And I saved a huge crush on Captain Alan Carter as a character of the show, I'd love to be an Eagle-Pilot! Forget that it's a 70s show and enjoy it.