So what was 'Controller' Morrows actual defined duties in Moonbase Alpha. Whereas I can pin down some people, like Bergman as 'unofficial' Science advisor, unofficial as in he wasn't meant to be there, Morrow doesn't seem to have one slot to fill. Throughout year one he seems to do quite a lot of different duties. Eagle pilot, Security, flight co-ordinator, morale officer.
...magic mushroom tester, resident hippy guitar-playing dude, gunnysack model on the alternate-universe earth, Piri PR person ("we're so Haaaaaapppppppppyyyy!")
I think Morrow's main duties were to be smarmy and sarcastic. There's one episode - I think it's Black Sun - when Koenig is out in an Eagle and they're going to have to detonate some charges, and Helena says "But John's still out there." And Main Man Morrow says "there's no need to state the obvious, DOCTOR!" Well, meeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooowwwwwwwww to you too buddy! If I'd been the good doctor I'd have jabbed his ass with a hypodermic needle and sent him out to play on the surface without a spacesuit. I just didn't like the character.
Detonating charges... sounds more like "Collision Course" or "Space Brain." Still, I laughed at that "meeeeeeeooooowwww" thing in your post, Anon.
Unseen Scene:
At last! We find out what happened to Paul Morrow inbetween series 1 & 2!
Paul Morrow having a walk along Moonbse Alpha. He walks into the Woodwork workshop - and is never seen again in Space 1999!
(Or he lands on a planet, and has a nasty accident in a timber yard when he is mistaken for a plank of wood and cut into a coffee table)
I never found Morrow as played by Hancock to be particularly wooden, just not a necessary character for most of their stories. As Main Mission Controller, he's essentially the second in command of the base and coordinator of moonbase operations. Call him the First Officer, if you like. Given a few more years experience he could've been next in line for command of the base.
...And Winters was being groomed for the controller position in "The Infernal Machine." I know that character was a last-minute replacement due to Prentiss Hancock's unavailablilty, but it worked nicely to establish a realistic hierarchy on the base.