In an interview in the May 1993 issue of
TV ZONE Catherine Schell states quite unequivocal
that when she was signed to play Maya in the
second series that they put a line in her
contract that she could NEVER appear looking
as herself as she is the same type as Barbara
Bain.

How come when they were inside Moonbase Alpha, they looked like 1G, but when they went outside, it looked like 1/6G? Did they ever explicitly state that they had artificial gravity?

Also, how come they can travel many light years in a short while, but (without engines on the moon), hang around a star system for a couple of weeks, and then travel light years in a short time again after that?

All in all, a sad sequel to UFO.

What happened to Dr. Bergman?

There was a line in the first draft of the second season opener script stating that Victor had died between seasons, but this never made it onto film, so I don't know if it can be considered canonical. The fate of first-season regulars Paul Morrow and Kano, who did not return for year two, was never explained.

Actually, what REALLY happened to Bergman was that Barry Morse went to the new producers asking for more money and they told him bye-bye. A shoddy way to treat one of Britian's most distinguished screen actors . . .

Most distinguished screen actors?

I'm British and I'd never seen nor heard of him outside of Space 1999.

Well, maybe "prolific" would be more accurate. Check out this filmography of Barry Morse from the IMDB:
Taxman (1999)
Memory Run (1996) .... Bradden
TekWar (1994) (TV) .... Proffessor Kittridge
"JFK: Reckless Youth" (1993)TV...Lord Halifax
Al lupo al lupo (1993) .... Father
... aka Wolf! Wolf! (1993)
Glory! Glory! (1989) (TV) .... Rev. Dan Stuckey
"War and Remembrance" (1989) (mini) TV Series .... Colonel General Franz Halder
Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Civil War (1987) (TV)
Fight for Life (1987) (TV) .... Dr. Whalley
Return of Sherlock Holmes, The (1987) (TV) .... Morstan
"Race for the Bomb" (1986) (mini) TV Series .... Secretary Henry Stimson
Whoops Apocalypse (1986)....President Johnny Cyclops
Covenant (1985) (TV)
Reunion at Fairborough (1985) (TV) .... Nathan Barsky
"Master of the Game" (1984) (mini) TV Series .... Dr. Harley
"Winds of War, The" (1983) (mini) TV Series .... Wolf Stoller
"Woman of Substance, A" (1983) (mini) TV Series .... Murgatroyd
Innocents Abroad, The (1983) (TV)
Rothko Conspiracy, The (1983) (TV)
Sadat (1983) (TV)
"Whoops Apocalypse" (1982) TV Series .... President Johnny Cyclops
Hounds of Notre Dame (1980) .... Bishop Williams
Funeral Home (1980) .... Mr. Davis
... aka 2 Cries in the Night (1980)
... aka Cries in the Night (1980)
Changeling, The (1980) .... Parapsychologist
... aka Enfant du diable, L' (1980) (Canada: French title)
Klondike Fever (1980) .... John Thornton
... aka Jack London's Klondike Fever (1980)
"Martian Chronicles, The" (1980) (mini) TV Series .... Peter Hatheway
Murder by Phone (1980) .... Waites
... aka Bells (1980) (Canada: English title: working title)
... aka Calling, The (1980)
... aka Hell's Bells (1980)
Tale of Two Cities, A (1980) (TV).... St. Evremonde
Shape of Things to Come, The (1979) (TV) .... Dr. John Caball
Riel (1979) .... MacTavish
Power Play (1978) .... Dr. Jean Rousseau
... aka Coup D'État (1978) (Canada: English title: working title)
... aka Jeu de la puissance, Le (1978) (Canada: French title: dubbed version)
... aka Operation Overthrow (1978)
... aka State of Shock (1978)
One Man (1977) .... Colin Angus Campbell
Welcome to Blood City (1977)
... aka Blood City (1977)
Alien Attack (1976) (TV) .... Professor Victor Bergman
Journey Through the Black Sun (1976) (TV) .... Professor Victor Bergman
"Space: 1999" (1975) TV Series .... Professor Victor Bergman (1975)
"Zoo Gang, The" (1975) TV Series .... Alec "The Tiger" Marlowe
Love at First Sight (1974) .... William
... aka At First Sight (1974)
... aka Love Is Blind (1974)
"Adventurer, The" (1972) TV Series .... Mr. Parminter
"Golden Bowl, The" (1972) (mini) TV Series .... Mr. Verver
Asylum (1972) .... Bruno
... aka House of Crazies (1972)
Poet Game (1972) (TV)
Running Scared (1972)
Telephone Book, The (1971) .... Har Poon
Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970) .... Dr. Galba
Justine (1969) .... Maskelyne
English Boy, The (1969) (TV)
Kings of the Sun (1963) .... Ah Zok
No Trace (1950) .... Harrison
Daughter of Darkness (1948) .... Robert Stanforth
Late at Night (1946) .... Dave Jackson
This Man Is Mine (1946) .... Ronnie
Goose Steps Out, The (1942) .... Kurt
Thunder Rock (1942) .... Robert
When We Are Married (1942) .... Gerald Forbes

How could you forget Morse's brilliant performance as Lt. Phil Gerard in the TV series "The Fugitive"?
Though Morse is British-born, he's spent much of his life living and working in Canada, which is why Matt K might not have heard of him.

I only listed Mr. Morse's film and TV movie roles. His listing for TV series was equally as long. Go to http://www.imdb.com and see.

Although I forget which episodes, artificial gravity was mentioned on several occasions. Of course, since gravity is not a force per se, but rather a warp of time/space, it would be pretty tough to produce it artificially.

Since it would have looked pretty silly to have the Alphans walking around in slow motion, artificial gravity was a necessary plot device.

Jeff--Gravity is one of the 4 forces of the universe (along with the weak nuclear force, the strong nuclear force, and magnetism, if I remember my physics classes.) Space (not time) is warped by gravity; gravity is not caused by warping space. Also, gravitational attraction is a function of mass. The greater the mass of an object, the greater it's gravitional pull. Even a dust particle has a gravitational pull. However, the force of gravity is so weak, it requires large amounts of mass before it's really noticable. Gravitational pull also weakens rapidly over distance. We are being affected by the gravitational pull of objects on the other side of the galaxy, but the effect is so small that it is overcome by the strength of the Earth's pull of gravity.

Four (actually only 2 now):

Electromagnetism, Strong, Weak, Gravity.

EM - standard electricity/magnetism. Carried by photon.
Strong - binds the nucleus together. Carried by mesons.
Weak - force responsible for beta decay of a proton. Also carried by mesons.
Gravity - interpreted as both a force (carried by gravitons) and a warp of space-time (as described by General Relativity).

E/M and the Weak force were discovered to be two aspects of the same force (electroweak) in the early 80's. In the late 80's the SU(3) (?) theory combined the electroweak and strong forces. Einstein's goal of a GUT (all four forces combined into a single theory) is not yet valid, though Cramer/Yu string theory shows promise.

Strong and Weak forces have ranges roughly equal to that of an atomic nucleus. Gravity and E/M have infinite range, but are subject to the inverse-square law.

As an aside, Heinlein wrote a novel (either Revolt in 2100 or The Day after Tomorrow, I can't remember which), in which a bunch of researchers found that gravity was another aspect of E&M, and successfuly used effects from the "gravomagnetic" and "electrogravitic" spectrums to rebel against a tyrannical regime.

Obnit: The intro should refer to "miscellaneous" comments about Space:1999

Thanks for catching the spelling error, Scott. (This was the last board I put up and I was in a hurry to finish)

NOTE TO ALL NICK TATE FANS: Nick is slated to appear in this Sunday's (Feb. 7) X-Files!

If the powers-that-be ever decided to remake this show as a movie (i.e. Lost in Space), all they would have to do is call it Space: 2099.

Well, no sooner does Nick guest on X-Files, then Barbara Bain makes an appearence on this weekend's Millenium episode! (Do I sense a trend here?)

I guess this answers the earlier question about what the actors are doing nowdays!

Schell the same "type" as Barbara Bain? I don't know where they got that. Bain is cool, poised and elegant. I don't see Schell as that "type". Not that Schell isn't a good actress or anything like that. I just don't think she cared for Bain. In other interviews I've read she takes every opportunity to diss Bain, but other cast members recall Barbara as a delightful person. I would think after 25 years, Schell should just get over it already.

Also this past week, Barbara Bain's daughter Juliet Landau guested on Millennium. I wonder when Martin will be on.. ;)

He won't. He got killed by the Consortium!

-12-

Re : Bain/Schell - recent-ish interviews (from about 1995) with the principal production crew make it clear that Barbara Bain was very unhappy with Catherine Schell's arrival on the show.

Understandable, really; the new producer Fred Freiberger actually wanted Bain removed from the show completely and replaced with a younger, sexier female lead.

BTW, although never referred to on-screen, the death of Victor Bergman was originally scripted as being caused by a leak in a faulty space-suit.

As far as Paul Morrow and David Kano were concerned, the "official" back story is that they were killed when their Eagle crashed on the launch pad (again, never mentioned on-screen).

Does anyone know if there was an official or unofficial reason why they moved from "main mission" to the "command center?"

No official reason was ever given in the series, I don't think. In Michael Butterworth's novelizations, the reason given is that they moved to the underground command center because it was more protected from attack and natural catastrophe than the surface main mission.

As for the "real life" reason why the move was made, one of the reasons given is that the more spacious main mission set took too long to set up lighting for and was causing too many production delays that season two's more frentic shooting schedule would not brook. Shame. That original main mission set was fabulous (paid homage to in the new Austin Powers movie, Dr. Evil's moon base bears not a small resemblance to Alpha's main mission!)

How come Space:1999 stunk up the works so badly when UFO was awesome?

Thanks for the info, Todd. I'll have to see Austin Powers again. I didn't make the connection. (Probably because I was distracted by Felicity Shagwell.)
And Scott, whether or not a show "stunk up the works" is a matter of opinion. No show is perfect. If they all were there wouldn't be a Nitpicker's Guild.

Space 1999 was a decent show, then they cut the budget, and brought in Fred Fryburger. Sound like history repeating itself to anyone?

I wonder what Freddy is doing these days...probably managing a gas station somewhere in downtown Luton...

After Space:1999, he went on to produce the fifth season of The Six Million Dollar Man - which also turned out to be that show's last season! No wonder they called him show-killer! His big budget-saving move for that show was to make most of that season's episodes two-parters.

If Moonbase Alpha is supposedly the successor to Moonbase from UFO, what happened to the purple go-go wigs?

I remember from the Space:1999 documentary Gerry Anderson clearly stating that it WASN'T a "sequel" to UFO. As far as I can see, the only similarities between the two shows was that they both had a Moonbase. Beyond that, I don't see how you can compare the two.

In 'Breakaway' there was no David Kano either. There was a black guy who seemed to do the same job but I couldn't make out his name very well. It was something like 'Omar' or 'Boma'. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dr. Benjamin Ouma, played by Lon Satton.

Yeah, sorry. I've got the original UK Channel 5 'Alien Attack' tape and the sound quality is extremely variable. On the few times this guy appeared I just couldn't make out his name.

How did the supposedly near defenceless Moonbase Alpha suddenly sprout at least two giant laser cannon, and end up with the majority of their Eagles laser armed, and with the capability to carry missiles (Devil's Planet).

I guess after getting their backside's knocked around they put some time and effort into arming themselves.

In reply to ScottN, the success of UFO in the American market led to Gerry Anderson gearing up for production of a second series. This would have been set 19 years into UFO's future, and called (surprise!) UFO:1999.

The main difference between UFO:1999 and UFO was that the war against the aliens had intensified, requiring the construction of a larger moonbase.

Unfortunately, UFO's American ratings started to fall, and ITC pulled the plug on the second series. Gerry went to Lew Grade and pointed out that rather than write off all the money that had already been spent on pre-production, they could restructure it into a completely new show.

ITC agreed, with the stipulation that it should be impossible for any of the stories to be set on Earth - which led to the idea of the moon being blown out of Earth orbit, and so on.

So, in short, S:1999 is *not* a direct linear sequel to UFO, but does owe its existence to the concept of a such a sequel!

Too bad. I loved those purple go-go wigs!

The story goes that Lon Satton was quickly dropped after Breakaway because he proved "difficult" to work with, whatever that means. Perhaps he thought appearing in the James Bond film Live and Let Die made him more important of an actor that he really was.

Re. the differences between Series 1 and Series 2 of Space:1999 (the costumes, another command center, the loss of Bergman, Kano and Morrow, and introduction of Tony Verdeschi), I always liked to think that the Moon travelled through one of those numerous time warps that they always seem to encounter, which warped their reality, becoming a Moonbase where Victor, Kano, and Paul were never on.
Also, has anyone ever counted how many Eagles the base has, and how many of them crashed? I'm sure that Voyager and her accident-prone shuttles are catching up by now!

In fact, Dr. Russell says at the beginning of The Metamorph that, "We have just survived our second encounter with a space warp." So that would provide (a very weak) explaination for all the changes. It dosen't mean we have to like them, though.

Here's something I didn't understand. A couple of times it is stated that no new births are allowed on Alpha due to the strains that would be placed on the bases supplies, infrastrucutre, etc. Valid point, but what about after a few episodes, when a few Eagles have been destroyed, and when a few Security guards have met up with their Star Trek buddies in the afterlife. Surely by then, there is a 'slot' to allow a new birth.

Has anyone on this board ever read Ben Bova's book 'Millenium'? It mainly revolves around a moonbase, that has been set up on Earths moon. In it is a character called Dr Landau.
Coincidence????

How about E.C. Tubb's novel 'Moonbase', published ten years BEFORE the series and anticipating the 1999 format to a certain degree? Tubb, of course went on to become one of the Space:1999 novelists. (Tubb's Dumarest of Terra novels also anticipate the format of Battlestar Galactica, with a protagonist searching for a half-mythical planet called Earth and robotic villians called cyclans (note the similarity to 'cylons'.))

I must admit, I dont know how Koenig became an astronaut. This guy totalled more Eagles than the rest of Alpha, Breakaway and the various alien forces combined. Carter must have been going spare whenever Koenig decided to take a jaunt. No wonder Alan was hardly seen in Year 2, he probably spent most of his time down in the hanger bays, thinking, "Not ANOTHER smash-up."

IMHO, Koenig put himself in lots of unnecessary danger. Not just with Eagle crashes, but other times when it would have been wiser to send some grunt out to do the dirty work (for example, racing to catch up with the Eagle loaded with nuclear charges in Space Brain, setting the timer himself on the waste dumps in Seance Specter). He should have known better than to risk the top decision maker for things anybody could have done. It's one thing to be a take-charge kind of man, but it's another to endanger yourself needlessly. Captain Picard sure sent enough security guards and assorted nobodies out to do the grunge work. Maybe Koenig had a death wish...

IMHO, Koenig put himself in lots of unnecessary danger.

I believe that they borrowed that from Star Trek, where it's called the "Kirk-knows-this-is-the-most-dangerous-planet-in-the-universe-so-he-and-the-entire-senior-staff-beam-down Syndrome".

In real life terms, this translates into "We're-paying-our-lead-actors-top-dollar-so-by-golly-we're-gonna-give-them-as-much-camera-time-as-possible-which-means-that-they-go-on-every-mission" syndrome.

The heinlen book you're referring to I think is
called "The Sixth Column". In it the red chinese have
taken over the world and the heros must use their newly discovered
Electrogravitic force to overthrow the totalitarian regime.
They do this by setting up a religon and using the EG forces to perform miricles
for the general public. Mayhem and comedy ensue theres a moral and
everybody lives happily ever after, more or less.
Details are a bit fuzzy.

G'var, I thought it was "The Day after Tomorrow".
In addition to the Electrogravitic spectrum, they also had the Gravomagnetic spectrum.

FYI:Martin Landau and Barbara Bain's daugther
is more familiar as Spike's erstwhile better
half Dru on BUFFY,THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

Do ya think tha whoever is responsible for all
the shuttles on VOYAGER was also responsible for
all the Eagles on SPACE?I mean both series seem
to have more shuttles/Eagles then when they
began with.

Nick Tate last appeared,if I remember right,on
DS9 as the gangster that O'Brien befriends.

Red Dwarf has lost loads of Starbugs (almost all with no.1 marking), but there is almost always 1 available. One episode states there are more than 1, while the Programme suggests there is a facility to make more, & Moodbase Alpha & Voyager could have one of these as well.

They obviously had to renumber several Eagles, as Eagle One was destroyed or crashed so many times. As a base starting with 311 people, I can accept that Alpha has more than 30 Eagles, but the number of shuttles on Voyager, which is supposedly Classic Enterprise-size, is ridiculous.

I think the term "Eagle One" may just be an operative term used to designate whatever Eagle happened to be in dock or on a mission at any given time.

I'm not so sure about that, as the cockpit door had a number on it, designating the particular Eagle Koenig, Carter, or whoever was flying at the time.

I've read Ben Bova's Millennium and noticed those
things in his novel. I wouldn't go so far as to
call it a coincidence. That novel came out in 1976! I think Dr. Bova was getting his inspirations for his book from Space:1999!

Ok.....it's the year 2000......where's the moonbases?

They got sent to Ottumwa, Iowa, due to a clerical error.

Sink '1999 ??? Not me.
The episodes in season 1 were unmissable.They had a mixture of stylish direction,clever stories and great acting.The second season on the other hand
was less than great.It reminded me of Irwin Allen shows.They all started off with cool ideas,great
special effects, (the flying sub,Spindrift and seaview were visually stunning!),but later on fell into the trap of aliens with silver faces,awful silver suits materialising out of thin air with personality disorders and American accents.Enter Season 2 of '1999 and the infamous Freddie Freiberger.The man of a thousand disasters
like the later Star Trek episodes,Six Million Dollar Man.Rubber suits,rubber people,rubber stories.Dear oh dear,did that man ever sleep at night after becoming involved with such former classics......probably.
Lastly,I must mention that through the whole of the 48 episodes of Space:1999,one man and his team
stood head and shoulders above the rest.Brian Johnson and the visual effects team at Pinewood.
Their amazing Eagle shots,the alien planet landscapes,explosions and alien ship designs.
Nothing has ever come close to the realism that Space:1999 had to offer and it will remain a tribute to the efforts of these people for a long time yet.

Re: the number of Eagles stationed on Alpha:
Official sources such as the Starlog Eagle
Blueprints list "a fleet of twelve Transporter
Eagles, twenty- six Recon Freighters, and two
Rescue Eagles on 24-hour alert status." I take
that to mean there are 40 Eagles in
flight-ready condition, at least at the start of the
series. I speculate that Alpha had the facilities
to build brand-new Eagles out of refined ores
mined on the moon or in stores of raw
matrials on the base. "Space Brain" has Prof.
Bergman reading a list of ingredients such as
titanium, aluminum, carbon fiber, glass fiber,
plastics,
glass, rubber, nuclear fuel cells and more.
These are the materials he found in the
"meteor" that turns out to be the remains of
"Eagle One". This in turn means that the craft
are not given PERMANENT numerical
designations but are assigned such based on
their availabilty (flight readiness) and/or
mission assignment. Yes, the interior hatches
had numbers clearly applied that
corresponded to the number the Eagle was
called in that particular episode or scene (nost
of the time, anyway) but these could have
been impermanent markings .
They did lose an awful lot of these spacecraft
over the course of the series; I like to think that
any crashed on the moon's surface were
salvaged.
My only serious nitpick with the Eagles are
their being used time and again as
atmospheric re-entry craft. They were
designed to operate in an airless
environment, hence the total lack of
streamlining. Maybe the command module
could be used as a re-entry capsule, it has
modest streamlining and "heat sheild"
paneling. Now if the landing gear fully
retracted (they look like they should be able to,
just never did), and the boxy parts were faired
over with more heat-sheilding....never mind, if
we were looking for scientific accuracy we
sure as hell wouln't find any in Space: 1999!

Did any one ever do a body count for the second season? My brother and I did when the season 2 began after B. Bain did a lead in on the number of personnel on the base. We felt that the number she gave was too high based on the number of eagles blowing up and personnel dying. But I do not recall what we came up. There was one replacement, the baby in the first season. Given the following: Each eagle that was blown out of the sky (i.e. the Infernal Machine) had one pilot unless some event had more than one pilot, the "tanks" were remotely controlled (no personnel loss), the number the good doctor was too high. The second season had a reduced body count or Moonbase: Alpha would have no one left to command. Oh, during the second season, notice some of the laser cannons were from some of the space craft that were destroyed on the moon (one where the two planets in opposite orbits, one run by females, the other males).

Its just another example of the continuity problems between the two seasons, unless of course you assume the 311 personnel count at Breakaway is incorrect.

311 must be the exact number at the start of the series, simply because that's the first episode. Everything from then onmust be chalked up to continuity errors. No blame to hand out, just a mistake that should have been fixed with the help of a guide book that listed casualties in the various episodes so writers wouldn't flub it.

The thing is that there's little continuity between year one and year two. In fact one often gets the impression there was a deliberate attempt to ignore the events of year one.

That HAS to be true given the endemic differences between the two formats. I do not think you can omit as much as they did from S1 and expect to carry on with a series as if nothing was wrong. Like you say, there must have been some deliberate ignorance by Freiberger, so as to be able to shape S2 the way he saw fit. This was obviously neccessary to steer away from the format of S1 that was apparently incongruous for the American market.

So, does this not make the two formats worthy of separate internal criticism, rather than treating the series as a complete whole. In their own ways they were both flawed...

Ahem, sorry, where I said S1 first I meant S2...

Does anyone remember a 1969 movie, "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun", produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and directed by Robert Parrish? When WOR here in New York used to air it in the seventies, I would never miss it. This was in the pre-cable days. Does Sci-Fi run it anymore? Is it available on video? Help!!!

Yeah, I actually rented it once from Blockbuster. It starred Roy Thinnes of "The Invaders" fame. Pretty cool sci-fi flick.

It was originally going to be titled Doppelganger, but someone, I believe in ITC's New York office, argued that US audiences wouldn't understand what the term meant and wouldn't go and see the film.

That was the one with the anti-earth/mirror-earth on the other side of the sun, right? All the writing was mirror writing, and they finally figured out that it was antimatter?

Right, great movie for an Anderson production. Lots of similarities and parallels with 1999 scattered all throughout. One of the lead astronauts is named JOHN, a scientist is named VICTOR, the transport vehicle with the interchangable center module and the swing-up cockpit looks VERY similar to an early Eagle design...and the spacesuits, docking scenes and model effects are done well, just like we would become accustomed to on Alpha. "Journey" was released in 1969, and seems to have been full of ideas Anderson used in both UFO and 1999.

There was a great slew of British actors in it-Patrick Wymark, Herbert Lom and Ian Hendry (Patrick Macnee's original co-star in "The Avengers.) Roy Thinnes' wife at the time, Lynn Loring, played his wife, who left him due to sterility. Great music score by Barry Gray, too, especially in the dream sequence, when the astronauts were sleeping en route. Universal released the film here, so maybe it was them that changed the title. I don't even know if ITC was involved in its production. I am encouraged, guys. I thought I was the only person who liked or even remembered this film.

Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun was one of the first sci-fi movies I saw as a kid, and I loved it from that first viewing (I've since seen it about 5 times). Outstanding music by Barry Gray, as usual.

Here's some information I got from a gentleman named Ken Scott, who runs a Space:1999 website.

Space:1999 is going to be released by A&E/New Video on DVD!


"Season one will be released in two stages. The first half will be released late January 2001. The second half will also be released in 2001, but no firm date as of yet.

Season two will also be in two stages. It's possible that the first half will be released before the end of 2001. Obviously, the second half will be released in 2002......all transfers are coming are coming from new 35mm prints. There wil be NO 16mm prints used....This will be the best that Space 1999 has ever looked including the original broadcasts in the 1970s.

The only extras that will be on the first release will be the original episodes trailers. If the release does well (i.e. sales), then they will explore the possibility of putting some extras on future releases.

New Video is committed to putting out the ENTIRE two seasons of the show."


WOOHOO!

That's great news . . . that just about cements it, I need to get a DVD player.

Oh, and I forgot to mention Ken's website is
www.space1999.net.

Actually space1999.net is shared by several 1999 themed webpages, including the 1999 fanfic page, and has links to a good chunk of the rest of the online 1999 world, including this forum.

I forgot to say to click on "Moonbase Alpha's Space 1999's Pages" for the site I was talking about, but there are many other good ones there as well.

Journey to the far side of the sun has just been released on region 1 DVD.I(like most people) have a multi regional player and have ordered it.It really is fantastic entertainment and a great forerunner for U.F.O. Same cars and typically superb effects by Derek Meddings (as always).
Plenty of explosions and a brilliant attention to detail.Seek it out.It has always struck me as lesser known in the U.S.,so spread the word!!!

I remember TBS once showed "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" with the scenes on Mirror Earth reversed. I don't think it was supposed to be seen this way.

Yes it was!!!!!,that is the whole point of the story.He realises at certain times of the film.Aftershave bottles are the correct way(to him) in the mirror,etc.A brilliant film,ahead of it's time,like most Anderson ideas.(am I a fan??)

I just bought a Sony DVD, and it is only coded "Region 1" (I live on the east coast of the United States.) However, I will seek out this film. I hope it is letterboxed, with lots of extras. No more prerecorded VHS for me!

There was another sci-fi made for TV movie whose plot involved an astronaut discovering an identical earth hidden on the far side of the sun. This one was called "The Stranger" (later retitled "Stranded in Space", under which title it earned fame as an early episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000). The astronaut in this movie was played by Glen Corbett of "Star Trek - Metamorphosis" and "Route 66" fame.

I remember "The Stranger". It also starred Sharon Acker ("Star Trek"-"The Mark of Gideon"-Odona.)It was a pilot for NBC around 1973 that I was hoping would get picked up, as sci-fi offerings were very slim then. (I think the only one then was the Six Million Dollar Man.)

Anyone read much 1999 fanfiction? The Fiction Archive http://www.space1999.net/f-archive/ probably has the best collection of the stuff, and I remember reading a bit in the late 70s.

Space:1999 DVDs are being released as we speak! The first 12 episodes are slated to roll - they will also be availible on VHS.

I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but I just noticed it after watching "Metamorph" today: Maya's ears are brown!!! Those strange markings on her face (is it Psychon makeup or natural markings) don't end at her jawline, they actually cover her ears! I can't believe I didn't notice this before.

Maya's ears are brown in the first few episodes of year 2. As I remember it Catherine Schell found the makeup uncomfortable to put on and uncomfortable to wear, so it was dropped after several episodes.

The face markings, as well as the eyebrows, got progressively smaller as Season Two went on. I remember that, and I haven't seen the show since its first run.

I've heard rumours there is a movie based on this in the works, and apparently they are NOT going to change the title.

There have been mutterings over the last few years about a movie, but no indications of anything firm. And frankly I have my fears that if we ever do see a movie it will be a Brady Bunch Movie type parody, so everyone can get their jollies going "Boy, those sci fi shows in the 70s were sure cheezy weren't they!" On the other hand a report was forwarded to the Online Alpha mailing list last month that Gerry Anderson is talking about doing a revived UFO with a German concern, which will also involve Ed Bishop, who played Commander Straker in the original series. I can't help but think that a new UFO might come off better because a.)the premise behind the series appears more realistic and b.)being less well known to North Americans is less likely to be nostalgia fodder for parody minded Hollywood producers.

Having a movie become a parody would indeed be tragic. As for anyone considering this series "cheezy": yes, Star Trek had better overall scripts; but when it comes to the sense of wonder factor, the sense the viewer has of the action actually taking place in outer space, in the vastness of the universe, NO TV series (and precious few movies) have matched S:1999 in this aspect. This, for me, is the chief appeal of the series. Even in the supbar second season this aspect of the show was evident.

A UFO movie would be cool, as would a UFO series! I hope that thos rumors are true!

One area where the 1999 writing crew deserves credit over the original series Star Trek writers is their avoidance of plots where the Alphans encounter planets that are ersatz copies of Earth such as seen in "Miri," "The Omega Glory" etc. For all the writing talent and wonderful scripts in the original Trek they still had episodes where one suspects the plots were conceived at least in part to use existing stock props and save money. An episode that asks "what would happen if a Federation expedition left the wrong book behind to influence the natives" is certainly a legitimate story idea, but if you can have the natives dress up in '20s gangster outfits and have matching props that you've already bought and paid for its all the better if you're trying to keep the budget down.

Steve McKinnon's Aug 31/99 message contains an excellent premise. It reminds me of things that have happened on Star Trek: The Next Generation, especially in "Yesterday's Enterprise" (which could have been used to resurrect Tasha Yar permanently as a recurring guest character, by having the restored timeline a smidge different).

Yes, indeed, a very peculiar space warp could have wiped out Kano, Bergman and Morrow, and added Tony Verdeschi, simply by rewriting history. And, who knows, maybe Tony Cellini was believed in this other time line, and they'll remember him for his successful return to the planet Ultra, even though that never really happened. Probably Tony Verdeschi is still on Earth, too, as well as in space! Good thing his descendants didn't show up in "Journey to Where"!

I just read online that they're planning to do a new Battlestar Galactica, a 2-season cheesy 70's sci-fi show that went to cr*p in it's second season. Can 1999 be far behind?

I had the good luck to obtain the Region 2 DVDs. A three episode box set of 12 episodes plus Fanderson co-prodiced extras for £39.99. Not bad at all.
I finally saw Breakaway and Black Sun as they were intended, and my old Polygram/ITC tapes will be consigned to the loft.
These R2 releases are very impressive. Between the first three disks there are, overviews of Moonbase Alpha and the Eagles, pre-production drawings, stills galery, character bios (including mention of the Message from Moonbase Alpha video). novels, comics, annuals, A this is your life special on Roy Dotrice, and pre-production drawings (which were very interesting).

Space 1999 on DVD is available NOW

What I could never figure out about Space: 1999 was...

Where did Maya come from? Another planet?
She must have been, in order to morph into other creatures. However, that whole morphing bit does give the show a big nit...if she was from another world, when did she visit Earth? If she never visited Earth, how did she know how Earth animals looked like? Also, how did she visit Earth when Moonbase Alpha is thousands of miles away from Earth?

Lastly, do the people of Moonbase Alpha realize that IF they did somehow return to Earth, that the Earth would be in ruins? The Earth's enviromental & gravitational stability cannot exist without the moon. Also, the Earth's orbit is very specific. Any closer, we'd burn up, any further away, we'd freeze. The Earth NEEDS to moon to be stable.

John, you apparently missed the first episode of the second season. Maya was introduced as the daughter of a man who tried to drain the brains of the Alphans to power his computer. Koenig destroyed the computer, setting off a chain reaction which destroyed the planet. Maya escaped along with Koenig and his Eagle party back to Alpha. (Sorry if I spoiled the ending for anyone!)

We also got to meet Dorzak, another inhabitant of Maya's homeworld Psychon, in the episode of the same name.

Apparently Psychon had animals that looked like those of Earth, as Maya turns into several in the year 2 opener "The Metamorph" that look like Earth creatures, such as a dog.

Way back, the question was asked about artificial gravity inside Alpha.

Yes, in "Space Brain", Prof. Bergman tells Koenig that, to get the "meteorite" inside the lab, they had to turn the gravity down to minimum.

I wonder if the travel tubes between Alpha proper and the remote handling facility had artificial gravity? And, now that I remember, the mining tunnels shown in second season "Mark of Archanon" and the one where a fire thing is roasting the moon, also had Earth-normal gravity.

In the first season, I didn't care for the crew taking space walks without tethers, as clearly seen in "Space Brain". They did add tethers for second season... perhaps because they wanted to show Koenig planning to get rid of the female in "The Exiles". (Nitpick: she wouldn't die right away, so she had plenty of time to use her psychokinetic link to destroy Alpha's life support system.)

I finally got my first DVD player today and along with it, the complete first season of Space:1999 - I'm watching "Matter Of Life And Death" right now, the first time I've ever seen that episode.

As a sidenote, I'm now willing to sell my complete Columbia House VHS series relatively cheap.

I read in this morning's newspaper that Martin Landu received the 2,187th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA. Congratulations.

I just discovered this site, so my information comes a tad late, but yes, I also remember "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun." It was one of the first movies I'd ever seen (certainly my first sci-fi film), and is also one of my earliest memories. I thought it was weird but fascinating that a man could pull out his eyeball and develop pictures from it. Good thing my mom explained what was going on, and that I was smart enough not to try the same thing!
Anyway, I've had the film on laser disc (the precursor to dvd) for several years...it's letterboxed and includes the "blow the entire story" theatrical trailer. I'm sure the dvd has at least that much, tho' I haven't checked it out yet.

Hey, anybody else notice . . . the season 2 DVDs are out!

As a matter of fact, I did. I just got the first one of them. Watched "The Metamorph." Not too bad an episode. Wish they could have kept the quality that good for the rest of the season.

I know this will amount to a plug, but there isn't a plug category here on the Space: 1999 board...

I just received the all new Eagle II poster from Geo Alliance International (out of Quebec, Canada). This is an incredible piece of work! For those who don't know, it features computer generated artwork of an Eagle on a launch pad...the point of view is low, as though the viewer is sitting in one of the moonbuggies seen on several launch pads in the series. And the print quality is superb! It was worth the price, and the three mile, 20-degree Farenheit walk across town to the post office!

This is different from Roberto Baldassari's awesome cutaway poster that came out a couple years ago, which, IMHO, is a classic. (I'm fast running out of wall space!)

This topic picks up from a short discussion that started on the on the Breakaway board...

The way I see it, the hobby industry is going to kill itself as far as physical models are concerned. Most plastic kits are getting to be highly priced; I think alot of children with an interest in building them can't afford to do so. Multi-media kits (resin, metal, etc) are so expensive, many adults can't even afford them, and in many cases the skills needed to build them can take years to develop.

Another problem is ambivilence on the part of model-producing companies. To wit (and to tie this back in with Space:1999): When AMT Ertl re-released the Eagle and Moonbase Alpha kits a few years ago, I was hopeful they'd also re-release the Hawk. I wrote a letter to the company inquiring about that, and the reply I eventually received was that it wouldn't be produced because the company figured interest would wane in a kit series whose title contained a specific year, once that year had passed! This was despite the fact that I pointed out S:99's large fan base (and interest among the model building community for the kit's re-release) in my letter. I had also mentioned it would be nice to have other sf kits besides Star Trek and Star Wars (which, BTW, have also become rare commodities in the meantime).
At any rate, it looks to me like computer modelling is the next wave, as there is relatively high accessibilty to the the hardware and software, and people able to use it are getting younger and more skilled all the time. Douglas Nicol's computer art (also on the Breakaway board) is a nice example of what can be done. (I'm speaking as a non-expert in computer modelling, but I was impressed, considering the piece is one of his first attempts.)

As an aside, would "the way I see it" be abbreviated TWISI?

Physical models even of mundane subjects are getting very expensive. I also model modern armoured vehicles and a Tamiya kit of something like the Leopard 2 tank can cost £35.

Mixed media kits even more, and the Comet miniatures Eagles kits, although apparently of a high standard are extrememely expensive. Resin is a popular medium to work in with Sci-Fi but Resin has its own problems with vastly varying qualities.

If a company had the guts to produce physical models it could work out. Even if they didn't do a Space:1999 specific range but started out with a 'Classics of Sci-Fi' type range encompassing a number of shows, it could pay off.

I should have mentioned that there is a large-ish "garage kit" industry--independently produced kits (usually science fiction and figures from various genres including sf, horror and military) that are generally fairly high quality, but also fairly highly priced. The favored medium seems to be resin, and production runs tend to be limited, so the cost and availability of such kits is not likely to change in favor of the general hobbyist.
I once contemplated marketing a garage kit of the Meta Probe Ship, based on a scratch built model I'd made some years ago, but I wasn't sure how to get around copyright issues, nor did I think I could recoup the costs entailed in the kit's production. Besides, I'm sure someone like Small Art Works out of Canada will beat me to it!
I'm guessing that Japanese model companies are the only ones that will still produce plastic sci-fi kits with any regularity, although the American company Polar Lights is doing a fine job re-releasing old Aurora kits and making new kits of their own. No Space: 1999, though.

The main Sci-Fi kit maikers appear to be AMT/ERTL who do the Star Wars runs, whoever does Star Trek kits, and the Japanese end is represented with some western shows, like Thunderbird, but mainly things like the Gundam style.
Revell-Monogram started a line of B5 kits but only ever did the station and Starfury. They now do some Perry Rhodan models and some real life space program stuff.
Airfix has reissued the Pan Am Clipper shuttle from 2001 (yet again).

Hmm...I forgot to mention that AMT/ERTL discontinued all of the ST and SW models, at least for the time being. If they discontinued big name things like that, it's no surprise they killed the S:99 line. Too bad for us.

Halcyon also made a line of plastic Aliens kits, a couple of Alien Warriors, the APC and the Dropship.

Don't forget the Nostromo and the Sulaco. Nice kits. Very expensive, though.
Imai, the Japanese model company, just re-released their version of the Eagle, but it's more of a toy than a model. (At least they slightly corrected the landing gear this time.) It actually reminds me of a model kit version of the three foot long Mattell toy from the mid 1970's, which I still have, btw.

The Imai eagle is regarded as 'utter rubbish'. There were wheels in the passenger pod, and the only thing that really was going for it was the detachable framework.

You are correct, Craig.
I just took another look at "Collision Course" and I see the nuke-laying Eagles are not using the magnetic winch-bearing cargo modules. Eagle Ten has a line and claw suspended from a bare frame, and Eagle One has the same line and claw attached to the bottom of a standard pod.

I may have been hasty in surmising that operating an Eagle without a central module is not reccommended. The actual 44" studio model was built very sturdily; a grown man could stand on top of it without breaking it (though that was probably also not reccommended!) It was seen crash-landing on several occasions without the spaceframe coming apart, so the stress of full thrust may have been well within the frame's ability to bear even without the aid of a central module.

I can imagine that the spaceframe would flex a bit more though, and stronger vibrations running the length of the ship would result in a harsher ride.

For those who don't know, Peter Stoller's post above (March 24, 2002) continues a thread started on the Season One: Space Brain board!

Oh, shucks, it looks like we forgot to bring forks for the cake! Anyway...
As I'd said, I never considered that angle before, which is surprising. I guess I always just thought the support truss LOOKED sturdy enough that the idea never occurred to me. It was supported unconsciously by the podless Eagle in Collision Course. Still, I think you've brought up a valid point, and your ammendment above (the last line in your post about the frame flexing) gives us the best of both worlds.

I like the idea you mentioned on the "Space Brain" board about a new board to discuss Alpha infrastructure, etc. Could you try to contact the moderator to suggest it? I'm having terrible connection problems today (I've been kicked out five times this morning in less than an hour), and don't know if I'll even get through!
Let's see if this'll post now...

I'll put it up straight away . . . how about titling it "Alpha Technical Section"? That would cover all these topics.

Cool! Thanks, Todd. (Looks like my message posted, but the problem is a recurring one on my connection. URGH!)

Craig, never left a small problem like forks stop one from eating cake.

Yes, I like what you all have talking about the Eagles (I had the model and the Hawk also in the 1970's) as well as how does Moonbase Alpha operates. My brother and I came up with a personnel available from the losses from the first season (and were surprised when the good doctor had a larger figure beginning of season 2). How many Eagles did the base have on 13 September, 1999? Can they build their own? Interesting to hear what you all say.

Douglas Nicol, if you're lurking around here:
You're right about the Imai kit being rubbish, but its parts can be scavanged for some nifty scratchbuilding projects!
Regarding scale (or rather, "Scale:1999"): the Imai box claims their kit is 1/110 scale, but their kit is almost the same size as the old Dinky Toys die-cast metal Eagles from the 1970's, which are pretty fairly accurate in most of their details. Those toys, judging by the door sizes, are approximately 1/144 scale (a popular aircraft and spacecraft scale in the model kit world)...I placed some 1/144 scale figures alongside just to be sure, and it looks close enough!
The figures that came with the Moonbase Alpha oversized control room are closer to 1/110 scale. Actually, some would argue 1/96 scale; I'll go in between and say they're about 1/100. Anyway, once again using the figure-to-door method, they appear to be in scale (or darned close to it) with the Airfix/Fundimensions/MPC/AMT/Ertl Eagle kit. That kit's long been misidentified as 1/76 scale, which would make the doors only about five feet tall! (Yes, I held some 1/76 soldier figures up to compare!)

The Moonbase kit wasn't bad, although there were some errors like two missing launch pads. The Control rooms main error in my mind was having a spiral staircase up to the balcony.

The Dinky toys were quite accurate, and are quite pricey nowadays.

Re: Moonbase Alpha kit's oversized control room...
Koenig's office was also noticably too small, and the computer wall wasn't quite right. Nice kit overall, though.

The MPC Moonbase Alpha was indeed a nice kit, despite the inaccuracies. My favorite parts were those tiny 1/1000 scale Eagles. The buildings were closer to 1/2000 scale and the 3 launchpads were inbetween, about 1/1500 (the Eagles barely fit on them). Also, the buildings' vertical dimensions were exaggerated compared to the studio model. I've considered keeping the Eagles and scratchbuilding the entire base at 1/1000 to match the Eagles.

About the Imai Eagle having wheels instead of footpads, imagine building an Eagle soapbox racer...

In my memory,the Dinky Eagles looked good except for that horrid metallic green enamel paint job.

Peter, I've seen three paint jobs for the Dinky Eagles. The metallic green you mentioned, a metallic blue and a plain white.
Since I used to have both the Freighter and Transporter, I had both metallic finishes.
Also, later runs of the freighter had the radiation warning stickers removed from the 'waste canisters'.

I still have my green transporter and blue freighter; thay've become heirlooms of sorts for a new generation of 1999 fans.

Peter, I've also thought about a 1/1000 scale Alpha, and even built a launch pad and have plans drawn for an underground hanger. This project's been temporarily shelved (along with about a dozen others in various states of completion) in favor of a series of scratchbuilt 1/144 scale Eagles and probe ships.
I like the AMT/Ertl Eagles, and the Alpha figures and furnishings from the comtrol room, but accurizing that Eagle would take so much work, I might as well scratchbuild; 1/144 takes up considerably less room, but still has a nice size to allow for detailing. I'll also be working on a series of rooms to go with the ships (Main Mission, NGA3, quarters, etc.) as time allows. I had replicated NGA3 several years ago to go with the AMT 'control room,' but it's since been irreparably damaged.
Obviously, I'm looking at taking a few years to complete everything...too bad I can't just take off from work for a year!

NGA3?

Craig, is that the one from Bringers of Wonder?

Nuclear GENERATING Area 3, "Force of Life"

Ah right, brain must have been switched off. I'm sure I saw some of NGA3 redressed in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The reactor door and its housing. They were either in the Magrathea factory floor or on the Ark ship.

The reactor door also appeared in the Starship Altares in 'Into Infinity/The Day After Tomorrow,' (the title depends upon what country you saw it in) which starred Space: 1999 alums Nick Tate and Brian Blessed.

As for NGA3, the entire set was re-used as another generating area in "Alpha Child." (That was the episode after "Force of Life.")

I'm pretty sure, but not certain, the reactor door turned up again in "Bringers of Wonder, part 2" and "Beta Cloud" (the vacuum chamber).

There's a motion picture from around that time titled "God Told Me To" starring Tony LoBianco. I haven't seen the film, but the videotape box I spotted in the rental shop had a photograph inset on the back picturing a nude woman in distress inside what looks like Alpha's travel tube! Does anyone else know about this?

Right on both counts Peter. The doors turned up in the Nuclear Waste Domes in Bringers of Wonder, ironic considering I made a mistake concerning them. And in Beta Cloud there was the confrontation with the monster there.

Wow! I thought I was the only one to notice, or even to see, the video box for that film ('God Told Me To'). I noticed the travel tube right away, but it wasn't enough to convince me to rent the video...I suspect the film contains stock footage lifted from S:1999, or else the graphic artists who created the video box art just pasted pics together without having a clue (or a care) what images they were using.
Anyway, that was a few years ago, and I haven't seen the box since then.

Neither have I, and I'm not exactly burning to find out now, but it's interesting to know that others have spotted it.

Where's that thread on reactor doors? Alpha Tech Section? Oh, here it is, in the Sink!

Did anyone notice that the controls Zoref uses in "Force of Life" to unlock the reactor door are re-used inside Gwent in "The Infernal Machine?" In Gwent, the rods that Zoref pulled out were absent, so Koenig could insert the fragment of carbon rod, or whatever that was supposed to be, into the receptacle to give Gwent energy. And of course, the reactor door was not in Gwent, just the controls that had appeared next to it.

I hope that made sense; I've re-read it twice now, but I'm about to fall asleep on my keyboard, so "jhguheroiv" looks like it would make sense.

*thud* SNORE!

Peter Stoller asked (on the "Force of Life" board) "...what's your favorite set?"

I have several, most from Season 1, but for some reason, I've always loved "Force of Life"'s Nuclear Generating Area 3. It had so much going for it: the vastness (two and half stories), the angled ceiling windows, the big red anti-radiation doors, the red floor, the coolant domes (re-use of the NDA2 waste dome covers), the separate office area, and (of course) the big reactor door. All standard Alpha designs with just enough differences to make this area seem very important.
A close second place for me is Hydroponic Area 2 from "The Troubled Spirit." More NDA2 domes, presumably used this time as water storage units, a green floor, the window wall with the geodesic dome patterned trusses, the lab area with its multitude of storage and specimen shelves, and (of course) all those plants. Add to that the single moving camera shot that first reveals the set (with very moody guitar music!) and you've got a memorable set.
Main Mission and the attached Command Office come in 3rd for me. Not that they're any less cool, but they appeared in every episode, and so don't quite "wow" me the way the others do.
Runner up 1: Season 1 living quarters, in all there subtly varied forms. If I were stationed on the moon for a yearlong tour (which became MUCH LONGER after Breakaway), I'd want a place to call my own, rather than a barracks with bunkbeds. These sets were better than several apartments I've rented in my lifetime!
Runner up 2: Nuclear Disposal Area 2's Monitoring Depot, even though the interior set really doesn't quite match up with the exterior model. (I also like the model's re-use as a tracking station in "FoL.")
Not to leave Season 2 untouched, I kind of like the vacuum chamber room, which re-used NGA3's reactor door. The room's appearance in the episode may have been a tad contrived (as was a majority of the episode itself), but it makes sense for Alpha to have such a room for experiments in a controlable environment, or to test spacesuits for airtightness (note the spacesuit on the table). The purple lighting was a little cheesy, though.

I just realized all the sets I mentioned were on Alpha.
I have to agree with Peter (back on the "FoL" board) about the Gwent set's opening reveal; nice use of forced perspective!
For all it's problems, I kind of like Terra Nova, at least for the effort. It reminded me of some of the Star Trek sets, but with more vegetation. Too bad they couldn't have gotten the lighting to look more outdoors-y.
The Ultra Probe ship interior was also a favorite; once again, we see standard items reused in new ways (pilot's seat, interior and main doors).

For me in no particular order.

Nuclear Generating Area 3 from Force of Life.

The 'reception room' for the Launch Pad as seen in "Space Warp"

The whole of the Nuclear Waste domes set from "Bringers of Wonder". Was this a reuse of some of NGA3? The set was fairly grand.

From the same episode, the Archive area looked quite authentic.

The Spaceship Daria.

The Ultra Probe.

Main Mission and the Commanders Office.

NDA 2 Monitoring Depot.

The Isolation Area from "The Exiles"

I was impressed by the apparent size of the Thulean ice cave sets, and I suspect they were quickly repainted "rock" for "The Full Circle"'s big cave den.
Chunks of them may have been reused for Balor's prison and the often-evident rock walls and caverns of Year 2.

The more detailed Moonbase Alpha internal layout drawings (blueprints?) spoken of on the Tech section board were drawn by Keith Young if I understand correctly, and may be offered again later this year if not already.

For everyone's information, I'll generally be using these abbreviations in my posts regarding Space: 1999:
Space: 1999 = S:99
Season 1 (or Series 1) = S1
Season 2 (or Series 2) = S2
Moonbase Alpha = MBA
I may use others (such as NDA2, NGA3, etc.) as I have in the past. If in doubt as to what I mean when I abbreviate, just ask!

Sorry, one more... this time I'll abbreviate my abbreviation: S99 for Space: 1999.

For those tht might be interested in collectibles, a set of Space:1999 trading cards seems due to come out. I had the fortune of seeing the six card preview set today and will be getting one in a week. I will post more details when I get the cards regarding company etc.
I have been told though that the preview set is limited to 300 worldwide, and it will cost me £15 which I don't think is bad.

Okay, more info on the card preview set. They are standard trading card size, with the classic Season one S:1999 logo. There is text in the Alpha font saying 'Limited Edition of 300 preview sets'
The pictures on front are as follows.

Card 1-The Booster Eagle seen in 'The Metamorph'. The one with the lab pod and the spine boosters. The shot is facing the front of the Eagle with Pyschon in the background.

Image on back-same Eagle

Card 2-The Darian Mothership hanging over the moon with an Eagle going up to it.

Image on Back-View of Moonbase Alpha

Card 3-A conventional Eagle flying over the Waste Domes from 'Bringers of Wonder'

Image on back-Two Eagles landing side by side on pad. I suspect from Collision Course.

Card 4-A Rescue Eagle on the launch pad.

Image on Back-Rescue Eagle firing its landing jets.

Card 5-A Moon buggy with two astronauts. Probably from Bringers of Wonder.

Image on Back-Booster Eagle taking off/landing on Alpha

Card 6-The shot of a cargo Eagle lifting waste canisters from NDA 2. It's the classic shot over the top of the eagle looking down.

Image on Back-The Eagle with the transformed Maya taking off in Space Warp while in the hanger.


These are by Carlton Cards.

Overall image clarity is very good, quality pictures are used, and unlike some trading cards these are very sharp images. Any collector vaguely interested in Space:1999 should get these, if you are a card buff, all the better. Along with the book and DVD's, who knows, this could be a start of a new range of mainstream merchandise appearing.

Here's a little hypothesis I've come up with for S1:
What did the Pirians look like? I'd always thought the Guardian and the monster from "Dragon's Domain" bore supeficial resemblances to each other: bumpy texture, open maw at the base, central glowing "eye," the ability to hypnotize thier respective victims, teleportation. Then the idea occurred to me that the "DD" monster was a Pirian, or perhaps a devolved descendent thereof.
I'm assuming a few things, of course... First is that the Pirians created the Guardian in their own image, or at least a stylized or idealized image of themselves. It doesn't have the long tentacles the monster had, but there are thin, tentacle-like appendages connecting various spheres to the Guardian. (Tentacles clutching them?) Second, the Pirians were a spacefaring race at least briefly, before turning their backs on the stars and focusing on making their lives easier. (Hmm, sounds eerily like humans.)
At some point after the Guardian began to ease the Pirians' lives, perhaps some Pirians managed to retain their sense of independence and escaped. More likely, such deviants were exiled, since they couldn't be "perfected." To go even further, perhaps there actually was something wrong with a few Pirians, a mental defect that prevented "perfection"--even forced perfection--from being achieved, so those few were exiled.
Flash forward a bit, when the exiles, having wandered aimlessly for years in near solitude (or complete solitude, if they were sent individually) have gone insane from the isolation (an easy idea to take for any intelligent creature isolated in such a way, but even easier to accept if these indivciduals had mental problems to begin with). They've reverted to base behaviors, little more than instinctual: eat and reproduce. Eventually, only one is left, a ragged, dessicated shell of its former self, certainly not self-aware (if it ever was wholly self-aware in the first place). It falls into a deep torpor, conserving what little energy it has left, until something stirs it into awareness... only it's the awareness a spider has that food is nearby.
The alien crew of a starship investigates the Pirian vessel, only to be devoured by a hungry creature so far removed from Piri's past glory that one would never think it had hailed from there. Eventually, another starship happens upon the two vessels, and the cycle slowly repeats, until one day, as the ever-growing cluster of ships drifts near a planet named Ultra, a probeship from Earth arrives...

"...hypnotize thier respective victims..." was a typo--thier = their K

Just got the new novel Resurrection. I'm just so utterly disappointed I don't know where to begin. IMHO, this book absolutely bites. Never once while reading it did I get a sense of the old series. The writing is appalling - has William Latham ever heard of DESCRIPTION? All you get is page after page of dialogue, and most of it makes no sense whatsoever. The characterization of the members of Moonbase Alpha is way off base - I laughed out loud when Koenig referred to Russell as "breeding stock." Hey, that's romance for you! Lines like that will certainly melt the little lady's heart. If Powys Media plans on more books, they definitely need to hire a writer who has some sense of the series and is a decent author. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for the "resurrection" of Space fiction. But not on this juvenile and unsatisfying level. I read this book once and threw it in the trash - $15 wasted.

I'm afraid I have to agree with you, Anon. As much as I wanted to like the book, I just didn't. I've read fan fiction on the Space webring that is much better than the book. Ellen Lindow and Phillippa Sidle, for instance, are fabulous writers who have a great sense of the series and the characters. When I read their fiction, it's like reading a script from an unfilmed episode. Mr. Latham I'm sure gave it his best shot, but he just missed the mark. I also find his writing style rather irritating - reiminiscent of E.C. Tubb. Not that I'm discouraging the new books either, just in my opinion this wasn't quite what I thought would be the premier book in Powys Space series. Oh well...John Muir is supposedly writing the next one, let's hope his book will capture the essence of Space and have spot-on characterization.

Are the new books paperbacks or hardbacks?

I never buy the TV Guide Crosswords puzzle booklets that appear in every US grocery store checkout rack, but I couldn't help but notice the latest one (June 2002): "The Women of Outer Space!" More to the point, the bottom left corner of the cover is completely taken up by a photo of Barbara Bain in a publicity still of a spacesuit-clad (sans helmet & support pack) Helena Russell standing next to a Moonbuggy!
I bought the thing and read the very superficial summary (credited to Megan Walsh Boyle) of women roles in science fiction television. It mentions Russell: "A decade later [after Star Trek; TV Guide's error], Cdr. John Koenig and Dr. Helena Russell led an improbable mission in Space: 1999, a lavish British import about a lunar colony hurled out of orbit. As chief medical officer, Helena served the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha." (BTW, the quote is from Vol 12 #6 of the publication, copyright 2002 by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.)
No mention is made of S2's Maya, but at least the brief lines I quoted above give S99 a serious treatment for a change.

The new book is a paperback

Anyone who saw the most recent movie version of H.G. Wells' "Time Machine" and who is also a 1999 fan couldn't have missed the similarity of the new wrinkle in that plot (how man's exploitation of the moon caused it to explode and cause cataclysm on the earth) and the premise of Space:1999.

Unfortunately you were probably the only one to see it. Or is that fortunately? :-)

Hey, where's the spoiler warning in that last post, Todd? Sheesh! (Although I must admit that'll give me one more reason to actually see the film now.)

Last two DVD sets are on shelves now!

I don't know how many of you are members of The Planetary Society, but that group's latest issue of The Planetary Report has an article about the Haughton-Mars Project, a field research project on Devon Island in Arctic Canada that tests exploration devices and methods for the eventual exploration of the planet Mars. The first photo in the article shows a pair of spacesuit-clad reasearchers driving along the area's Mars-like terrain in--of all things--a Space: 1999 Moonbuggy!
OK, I realize the Moonbuggy was just a commercially available ATV, and the one in the photo is white instead of yellow, but I still think it's pretty cool. Unfortunatley, I couldn't find that photo on The Planetary Society's website, nor that one (or something similar) on the Haughton-Mars Project website. (I didn't have much time to do a lot of digging, though, so maybe it's there somewhere.)

Speaking of the Season Two DVDs. Anyone notice that the sound quality of some of the earlier episodes of the second season on DVD seems to be kinda poor? For example, "Journey To Where" doesn't appear to have very good sound. And the DVD version of "One Moment Of Humanity" seems to have much worse sound quality than my Columbia House VHS copy.

Am I the only one that is a bit ticked off at the fact that the French are getting hte "Message from Moonbase Alpha" short film on their DVD's yet the British and US viewers aren't?

Nope, Doug, I'm pretty steamed myself. •••• those Frenchys!

Some DVD players can be hacked to be made region-free and macrovision-free. Then all you need is a french DVD (region #?) and enjoy.

I have just learned from Ananova, the news site, that Tony Anholt has died, aged 61, of a brain tumour.

I don't know if this was the place to post this, but there doesn't seem to be a cast and chracter place.

I'm sure we all send our best wishes to his family.

For some time now, I've wanted to buy a copy of the Season 1 soundtrack on CD, but the only way to do so was to join Fanderson, the Gerry Anderson fan club. Not that I'm opposed to that, I guess, but I just didn't have the spare cash.

Now, that CD is no longer available!! The only S99 CD is for Season 2, which I don't want.

So, does anyone have an extra CD of Season 1 they'd like to part with?

All or nearly all the tracks from the series one original soundtrack CDs are available as free downloadable mp3s. I don't have the URL handy right now, but search 1999.net. I burned them to a pair of CDs and they sound good.

This URL offers Year 1 mp3s: http://www.space1999.net/~moonbase99/mp3.htm

Cool... nice to hear at last! There were a lot of subtle bits that were lost in the actual episodes, and they sound nice on their own.
Some of those songs, though...yeesh. The "Ring Around the Moon" soundtrack never really impressed me in the episode, especially during the spacewalk to the downed Eagle. The 'wakka-chuka' just killed the drama, though I did turn it into a funny pun: they're not on a space walk...they're on a space wakka-chuka.
It's funnier if spoken.

Or not.

And how 'bout that "hockey organ of love" from "Missing Link?"
Overall, though, a good score to the series. It's ironic that I visit that website periodically, but never noticed the page with the music! Thanks for the link.

'Black Sun' was supposed to anti-nit one of the biggest problems in Space:1999.

I just read in DVD cover notes (volume 4, I think) that the creators knew that the Moon couldn't arrive at a new planet each week. So they came up with 'Black Sun' to explain how the Moon ended up in a Universe where the normal rules did not apply.

There were 2 (at least!) problems with this:
1) Although BS was supposed to be an early episode, in many areas it was shown as episode 10, giving the critics a field day.

2) I didn't think BS made it clear that the area of space where they ended up was any different to our space.

Not every episode had the moon visiting a planet, either. Several ("RAtM," "E," "FoL," "AC," "VR," "EoE," "TTS," "SB," "TIM," MotD," and "DD.") took place in deep space. Plus, each episode lasted a few days, and there were weeks or even months between episodes, judging by Helena's "877th day since leaving Earth" note in "DD."
Yes, I'm ignoring the revised timeline that tries to reconcile the two seasons as one continuous series.

PS: That last post gave me a sense of deja vu; I may have discussed my point elsewhere, so I apologize for any redundancy.

Geo Alliance Int'l (see my plug-like post from 7 March 2002) has two new Eagle posters coming out, as well as postcards, mousepads and a t-shirt, all featuring really nice renderings of the second Eagle model made for S99 (the one which the Airfix/Fundimensions/MPC/AMT-Ertl model kit resembled).
Hopefully I can do this right...
Here's a link: Eagle II Home Page

COOOL!! It worked!

This formatting thingy is fun, once you get the hang of it!

Hey, Sophie, are you watching this series for the first time? Your posts seem to have a fresh perspective to them.

No, but I recently bought the DVD boxed set, and I'd forgotten a lot of the details since I last saw the shows on TV.

You're in Region 2, right? (England, or am I confusing you with someone else?) I recently saw some screen shots of the Region 1 vs. Region 2 menus, as well as a list of the specific bonus features (or in the case of Region 1, bogus features). After that, I decided I'm buying a multi-region DVD player and getting the Region 2 DVDs!

Yes, I'm in England.

OK, thanks for clearing that up for me.
When you get around to "Testament of Arkadia," I hope the visual quality of your Region 2 DVD is better than my Region 1, which was so dark, a lot of detail was lost, especially in the cave scenes. Even Koenig's office was dark & devoid of detail. I'm glad I kept my 12" laser discs!
I think I read somewhere that the Region 1 mega-boxed set, or whatever it's called, has cleaned up the problem, and that some editions of the set have "Message from Moonbase Alpha." I don't really want to re-buy the DVDs (in R-1 format, anyway) just to get "MfMA," so hopefully it'll get released separately. I wonder if I can trade my bad "ToA" DVD for a better one, though?
(goes off to search out an answer...)

I just got the Space: 1999 Megaset at Costco today for only $89.99 (about twice the number of STTNG eps on each disk and for the same price), so please forgive me for repeating anything that may have already been previously mentioned (I'm not gonna bother to scour all the threads cuz I don't have the time) and as of this writing have only watched the first two eps. There are 16 volumes, each with 3 eps and barely any extra features, which mostly consist of photo galleries of set pix, some season trailer galleries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. Season 2 has the "Original Year Two promo spots" and a gallery of original pre-production artwork on Vol. 13. Vol. 14 has a BBC "Behind The Scenes" segment and original theatrical trailers. Vol. 15 has the SPFX featurette with Brian Johnson and a rare "Blackpool exhibit film". Vol.16 has rare vintage interviews with cast and crew. I've seen the volumes at Best Buy being sold either individually or in packs of like maybe 2 or 4 together for $27.99, which is more collectively than the Megaset is alone at Costco. Of course, BB also sells the STTNG sets for about $20-30 more than Costco, too.

BTW, does anyone who's old enough remember the diecast metal Eagle toys from the 1970s? I so wanted one at the time. I think they were by Corgi, who also had a TOS Enterprise, which shot disks out of the front of the saucer section and I think the Engineering section's belly opened up (like bomb bay doors) to show the shuttlecraft.

Mark, first off welcome to the board. The die cast metal eagles were by a company called Dinky, who are sadly no longer with us. Their stuff which mainly was military and trucks was of very high quality and could outlast the owners.

There was two Dinky Eagles, one was the Transporter with the detachable pod, and the other was the Freighter as seen in Breakaway with a magnetic winch. There are six, I think, plastic replicas of the nuclear waste canisters. The earlier batches had radiation warning stickers on them, but apparently concerned parents complained and later ones were plain.

There was also three plastic model kits.

The Eagle Transporter made by MPC/Airfiz and by various other companies like Imai.

The Mark IX Hawk made by MPC/Airfix.

The Fundimensions Moonbase Alpha with three launch pads and a close up of Main Mission.

I still have my Dinky Eagles... there were various color (colour) changes in the two; mine happened to be green with a white passsenger pod for the transporter and blue with a white cargo pod for the freighter. I've seen (many years ago) a white freighter with a red pod. The freighter wasn't quite accurate compared to the studio model, but it's still quite nice. Mine came with four waste canisters, and has the "DANGER WASTE MATERIAL" stickers with the radiation symbols. (I'm looking at them right now.)
Space: 1999.net has a link to someone's page about the Dinky Eagles... I'll post it later after I check it out again.

There was a fourth Space: 1999 kit released by Fundimensions/MPC in the US, called 'The Alien.' It actually had nothing to do with the show, and was actually a dune buggy-like four wheeled vehicle with a spacesuited alien astronaut. It has recently been re-released without the alien figure as the 'Barris Moonscope' by AMT/Ertl. If you go to The Catacombs "What's New?" page, you'll see a brief note about it and a thank-you credit to yours truly for informing the Catacombs creator about it!

By the way, the Eagle kit made by Imai was actually a sub-par toy-like thing quite a bit different (and smaller) than the Eagle by Airfix, et al. It actually resembles the 3-foot long toy Mattell made around 1975, which I also still have (complete with the original box). Imai recently re-released their kit with "accurized" landing gear, but it's still a pretty inaccurate kit.

Here's that Dinky link:
Dinky Toy Eagle

Ooooooohhhhhh myyyyyyyyyy gawddddddd!!!!!!! Craig, you're my new best friend! Thanks a ton for that link! Those are exactly the Eagles that I remember from once upon a time! I remember two in the showcase, one with the passenger section and another with the freighter section and of course that's also the Enterprise I remember, too. Glad I was right about the shuttle lowering out from the bottom of the Engineering section. I used to gaze at those longingly but at the time they cost a whopping $15 and there was no way a kid like me could afford them, and dummy that I was I never asked for them for my birthday or xmas, which is only 4 weeks later. I didn't know about keeping them in their boxes to increase their value so I would've taken them out, tossed the boxes and played with the Eagles all day long. But I played with them in a different way, though. I used to draw birds instead of people in 6th grade cuz I wasn't good with people so birds were substituted. One character was a representative of me as a kid (and still is!) and whose dad was the president and owner of a toy company that made flying replicas of the TOS Enterprise that shot water out of where its "phasers" were, and his best friend had a Space:1999 Eagle that also flew and shot water out of its nosecone. I had quite the imagination at the time.

Douglas, thanks a ton as well for the Eagle info! I'm glad someone else besides me knows about them. And now I know someone who also actually has them!

Some of those Eagle links don't work, I've just noticed cuz I'm checking them out now.

You're welcome, MarkN! I'm just glad I took the time to learn some of the formatting here so I could actually provide it!

Water shooting out of the Eagle's nosecone...
I remember a squirtgun that was made in the shape of an Eagle (not wholly accurate, but very recognisable) where the water shot out just as you described. I'd begged my mom to buy it for me, but $1.99 US was just too much back then for a toy I likely wouldn't use, especially since I already had other squirt guns. For years, I almost thought I'd dreamed the whole thing up in my youthful fervor about things S99, but I finally found confirmation on The Catacombs "Merchandise" pages that such a toy existed. (As did a ton of others I never knew about!)
Re: keeping toys in mint condition: Don't worry about playing with them... that's what they're made for! (I cut up my Dinky Eagles boxes so I could use the various Eagle drawings against star and landscape photos to make up my own adventure pictures--complete with explosion pics I'd cut out of duplicate Star Wars bubble gum cards!) Sure, nowdays if you have the money to buy duplicates of every toy you purchase--one to play with and one to sell later--go for it, if that's your thing. (Just don't expect to finance a new house or anything!) But don't beat yourself up over doing as a kid what every other kid would have done, which is play with the toys.
I build plastic models, and some of those older kits are worth a bit of money to some collectors, if they are MIB (Mint In Box). I actually had someone criticize me for having built a model which (at the time I built it) was mass-produced, but over the years has become sought after. I know of another individual who has a vast collection of Star Trek action figures, the ones from about eight years ago or so, with the all-important edition number stamped on the card (which in that particular case smacked of forcing the "collectibility" a bit, but I digress...). This collection would be impressive, except the person won't even take the things out of the storage crates they're sealed in! I'm not talking about opening the toys' packaging (the figures do look nice still sealed on their original display cards), but actually taking them out of the boxes the person has them stacked inside. For all I know, those boxes could be empty; what's the point?
I just realized this whole thread is more of a "Sink: 1999" subject, rather than "Alpha Tech Section." Maybe the postings since Dec 28 should get moved over to that board...

I remember years ago having a toy belt with holster and the Stun gun that shot plastic disks out the front. God, I wish I'd kept hold of that.

The Airfix/MPC Eagle kit was rereleased in a limited edition by AMT/ERTL a few years ago and some model shops might still have it.

The same was done with the model Alpha.

Good luck finding the re-released Eagle; I think most people were like me and grabbed as many as they could when they were available. The Alpha kit, on the other hand, is still around. It's out of production, but a lot of places still have it on their shelves... I think part of the problem is that younger people haven't a clue what the Alpha kit is about, and didn't think it was worth the roughly $15 US most stores were asking for it. It doesn't help that the instructions were "picture only" (other than the generic 'how to remove the pieces from the sprue' and generic paint info present in all model kits). Even the Lunar Structure Designation picture that originally identified each building on the model in the 1970's was without any text in the re-release.
I wrote AMT/Ertl about this, and about when they were going to re-release the Hawk. The response about the text was that they needed to market to an international market and translating all the text would have cost too much and/or neglected certain countries whose languages weren't included in the several that the company used. I didn't wholly think that was a very good excuse. As for the Hawk, I was told that they didn't want to keep releasing a line of kits that had the year in the title, because it would make the line outdated!

I forgot about that disc-shooting stun gun with the belt and holster... did the belt buckle break off of yours, too? Mine also came with a "radiation detector" that looked a little like a tiny walkie-talkie. I still have that stuff in a box somewhere, along with a tiny stun gun flashlight that stopped working not long after I bought it (my parents bought it for me, that is).

Yes, the belt broke too

I got my Alpha kit cheap but haven't finished it. The Hawk cost me £25 at a collectibles mart and its pretty basic.

Comet Miniatures released some multi media Eagle kits but when I got hold of the Eagle Blueprints in a shop mine were fake. I informed Robert Baldassari and we got talking about a few things. He said he had got one of the Comet kits, not the biggest one and was quite disappointed with the quality and returned it. There are other third party unlicenced kits out there like comlocks and stun guns, mainly in resin but these vary widely in price and quality.

I bought one of those mixed media eagle kits from Comet, produced by AB models to be a 22" replica of the 44" Eagle One, and I too was dissapointed a bit by the rough quality of the cast resin and white metal parts; they required much dressing to finish properly. Still, even for £275 (plus overseas shipping!) I just HAD to have one for my own. This was one from the 2nd or 3rd batch of kits struck from the molds, and the person casting the parts probably was not giving them the extra care given to the first batch.

As far as playing with the toys from the 70's in the 70's: absolutely! They were made to be enjoyed that way. During a recent viewing of "Death's Other Dominion" I asked others present if they'd placed an Eagle toy or model outside in a snowstorm to watch it become nearly buried by snow like the one in the episode, and they all said yes.

I always crashed my model kit in the sandbox, snapping the landing gear* and skidding along to become half buried like in "The Last Sunset." I'd then use the figures from the Main Mission model (from the Alpha kit) to explore and get attack by toy dinosaurs, or flooded by a bucket of water, or attacked by giant insects (from those "Gigantics" dioramas based on 1950's giant bug movies) like that one Charlton comic. I was a little gentler with the Dinky toys, because I couldn't repair metal.

*My dad repaired them-and made them sturdier-with some Plastruct square tube, so they didn't snap after the first crash landing.


I think we really need to get this thread moved over to the Sink 1999 board; I haven't had luck reaching Todd, but given the recent holidays I'm not too surprised about that. I guess we could just keep posting here for now, so he can just move the whole thing at once without having to insert it between posts, eh?
On that note... Does anyone still have their S99 coloring books? If so, which ones?

I found the most fragile parts of the Dinky models was the engines coming off the main body. I think there was one attachment point.

Peter, it was the 22 inch Eagle that Roberto was disappointed in, but I guess you have to remember that resin casting is a hit and miss affair and resin moulds have an extremely short life span.

Todd, what about breaking down the Technical section a bit. One part to do with Alpha itself. Maybe another to do with Spacecraft, both Alphan and Alien, and a board for merchandising.

I second Douglas Nicol's idea; maybe we could follow the Tech Notebook format, if it doesn't waste too much space and/or Moderator time. (By the way, in case you missed it on the Alpha Tech Section board, thanks, Todd, for moving the toy stuff over here to the Sink!)

I'm going back over to the Tech board for a list of "chapters" the Tech Notebook had, just in case anyone's interested.

I still have my S99 board game, the American Milton Bradley "game adapted from the television series," complete with its $3.99 price sticker. Still play it once in a great while, when I can con someone into joining me. (Kids are great for that.)

BTW, Craig, about your 19 December post, I didn't see any image quality problems on the region 2 "Testament of Arkadia" DVD. The only darkness I saw looked deliberate.

Not having seen the R2 DVD's, I don't know if the darkness on them is deliberate or not. I can tell you that it's definitely a flaw on the R1 DVD, since (as I mentioned) my 12" Laser Disc has better brightness, and thus more details show up. To elaborate on my previous post, in the cave scenes, dark areas are pitch black and devoid of detail. Also, the comm post in Koenig's office (during the nice intro scene, where a picture of long-lost Earth adorns the monitor), is devoid of detail; non-lighted buttons disappear in the blackness.
If indeed the problem doesn't exist on R2 DVD's, it's just one more reason for me to get them!

I think that its becoming increasingly unlikely that we will see another live action Space:1999, though I dearly hope that might happen. Let's look at the state of TV Sci-Fi right now.

Stargate SG-1 is, as far as I know, near its end.
Farscape is cancelled.
Battlestar Galactica's rebirth has been one bad idea after another ignoring what the fans want the most.
B5:Legend of the Rangers is a no-show.
Star Trek:Enterprise has mixed feelings.


However, what about the possibility of a CGI show a la Roughnecks:Starship Troopers Chronicles?

With the advances in CGI technology this could be one way forward.

Depends, Doug. Would it be based on the novel or the horrendous film?

Well the CGI of Starship Troopers is a bit like the film, but is better, a lot better. They have the Marauder power suits, they use vehicles and a lot more.

The point I'm trying to make is that a CGI show of Space:1999 could be the way to go. You could have a lot more freedom to tweak the Eagles, show more of Moonbase Alpha, have more exotic locations rather than an English parkland area with mist turning out crew into cavepeople.

Now that's a cool idea, Douglas. How about two series, one as a continuation of Season 1 and the other as a continuation of Season 2? (Hey, stop rolling your eyes at me, everyone!) This way, fans could pick which series (or both) they'd watch... it's not like expensive physical sets and models would have to be built; CGI would make a two-series format easier. (Yes, I know it's expensive, too, but a lot easier to manipulate than physical things.)

If you have a video rental shop near you, see if they have the Roughnecks series. It's on video and DVD. There are four out in the UK and six in the USA. The animation in some respects is a little dated now, but you are talking about three year old technology at least. Even if it doesn't change your mind about starship troopers it can show the potential. In Roughnecks they brought in the Skinnies which I believe were mentioned in the novel.

Guess what, gang? (Don't worry; I'll tell you anyway.)
I found my disc-shooting stun gun while cleaning out the attic! The mechanism is loose, so it won't fire the discs, but I discovered that the belt buckle is intact! (It was a different toy gun's belt that had broken.) Unfortunately, the "radiation detector" wasn't in the same box (still looking for that), but I also discovered a wristband that came with the set, which basically looks like a miniature version of the belt, to be worn (obviously) on the wrist.

I also found the flashlight stun gun I'd mentioned; it's still broken, but after I patch it up it should look nice even though it won't function.

Well, jolly good for you.

(Hey, dude, are you being sarcastic?)

I don't even know anymore.

Just found out that Fred Freiberger passed away Sunday, March 2, 2003 at age 88.

does this mean we can't pick on him anymore?

Oh, hell no - dead people are still fair game.

This show never had the scripts to make it become a great SF TV series,the writing just was not there.But you absolutely could see that Lord Lew Grade really poured the money into the production values of this series.Sets,props,models,clothes,& fx are all superb!!! But if Gerry Anderson was able to revive any of his live action TV series,it should be UFO.It had a better premise than Space:1999.

Sorry, I have to disagree with you, the scripts in Series 1 were pretty decent for the most part.

fryburger dead just like the shows he killed.

Doug,in the most recent Filmfax magazine there is an interview with the late Barry Morse.He liked the Andersons but says that when they had group meetings with the cast & crew they were concerned totally with the "look" of the series.When Morse wanted to bring up character & story development in the meetings,the Andersons simply were not concerned with that facet of Space:1999.And to me,that unfortunately is evident with the show.Fantastic production standards that remain impressive to this very day,but the writing was substandard & there was no real chemistry among the cast.Gerry Anderson should have been as caring about the scripts as he was about the look of the show if he wanted a real hit.He should have hired top sf writers for the show as was done with the original Star Trek,as well as the writing talent as seen on The Twilight Zone & The Outer Limits.Also,a top story editor should have been a priority.The Andersons made the exact same critical mistake that Irwin Allen & other sf TV producers like Glen Larson(Battlestar Galactica)have done & continue to do to this day:create high standards for the visual aspects of a show,have an attractive cast,& the show will sell itself & do fine.Good writing must be the foundation,without it you have all sizzle & no steak.

Well I think there are some really good episodes there. For a start, Breakaway, the pilot is pretty good. My favourite episodes of Season 1 are Dragons Domain (if you ever get the chance to see it, if you haven't do so), Testament of Arkadia, War Games among others. Regarding the top writers of Star Trek, I know there were a number but if you're going to cite Harlon Ellison's "City on the Edge of Forever", there is a helluva difference between Ellison's script and the finished product, not that the finished product is bad of course. It's true that some of the acting wasn't great and I think it's unfair to call the writing substandard, there were foundations for good stories. Look at Mission of the Darians for example. If you want a real example of visuals over storyline look at Star Wars:Attack of the Clones, at least Anderson never had a line like "I'm haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me". Oh, by the way, I'm a UFO fan as well, I agree about it being good, but the difficulty with THAT particular Anderson show was the networks. The networks used to treating Anderson shows as kids TV suddenly got confronted with UFO and its admittedly for the time very dark storytelling, some of which is still pretty gritty.

I read Harlan Ellison's book that was a behind-the-scenes insight into his writing of his classic "City on the Edge of Forever" episode for Star Trek.It was fascinating & it sounds like you may also have read his book too Doug.But as upset as he was with the alterations on his plot,I think the ending that they had fit the series better.Yes,Space:1999 had intriguing premises for some of their episodes,but they somehow never seemed to gell into outstanding shows.The space ark from "Mission of the Darians" is absolutely astounding to behold!I loved being able to go online & see pictures of it,as well as all of the show's sets & ships.As I wrote,Space:1999 is second to none with their superb production values.I agree with you on Star Wars:AOTC,in fact,I was enormously disappointed in Episodes 1,2,& 3.Stunning & lavish visuals all the way around that are saddled with inferior scripts.George Lucas can create wretched dialogue.I also enjoyed UFO,in fact,I'd love to see it revived just as has been done with the terrific Battlestar Galactica of which I am a huge fan.

I always wonder if the series UFO was the inspiration for the X-Com series of computer games, as the plot seems uncannily familiar, moreso in the early games. In fact X-Com's first game was marketted in the UK as UFO. I admit to liking the new BSG and just got hold of the Region 1 DVD's as I heard the R2 ones had some picture quality issues as well as practically no extras.

Dragons Domain was a very dark episode compared to some of the other stuff, and although the monster now looks rather hokey it still is unique. The way in which it 'digests' its victims was quite unusual. I imagine the switchboards of the day might have had quite a few complaints regarding the rather graphic deaths.

Remakes can be a blessing or a curse, BSG had a good one, on the other hand, Tim Burtons Planet of the Apes never quite captured the spirit of the original, though the much complained about ending is practically the same as Pierre Boulles original novel bar the novel ending in Paris.

"God is dead." - Neitschze, 1882
"Neitschze is dead." - God, 1900

Apparently bringsthetruth made a wrong turn going through the black sun, as this isn't the "post silly comments about Nietzsche" board.

Fred Fried the show Berger!

"FryABurger is dead." - God, 2006

Are there going to be enhanced dvd's of the 2nd season,like for the 1st one?

I came across an interesting site online that was about a proposed revival of Space:1999.I was impressed with the premise which was vastly superior to the moon-gets-blown-out-of-Earth's-orbit & wanders at faster-than-light-speed which was atrocious science.The re-imagined scenario was that the crew of Moonbase Alpha discover a buried,centuries old alien instrument on the moon.Turns out it is a Psychon(Maya's race)teleportation device that is used to explore the galaxy.It has a series of coordinates in it that takes it to alien planets,so each week this machine would activate & transport the moon into the orbit of a new & unknown planet to the humans.The Alphans cannot control any of this or even shut down the machine.They hope that eventually it'll return the moon to the Earth.This would have been a much more exciting & credible premise for the show.If the series was to have strong writng this time around it could be sensational.

There's a website for "Space: 2099" that proposes to revamp most of the existing episodes in a rather fascinating way. 99 rolls off the tongue nicely, but 2019, 2029 or 2039 would have been better timing to keep these people "contemporary" to us and the technology "attainable" to what we have today.

Further to explaining the differences between Seasons 1 and 2, however, I would revise the start of "Metamorph" by showing the space warp happening, and show both old and new cast members being swapped. The space warp would have the unusual trait of retroactively changing the past. The commissioner in "Dragon's Domain" is seen at his desk, then his desktop is shown with a sheet of paper listing potential personnel to assign to Alpha. Names on the list include Tony Cellini, Tony Verdeschi, Paul Morrow and others.

The uniforms change. Where the personnel are sitting changes - for a second, we can see Kano and Morrow in "Command Centre", and Tony Verdeschi in "Main Mission", but it all settles down to how Season 2 began.

I'd also use the last few episodes of Season 1 to show, on the big screen, shots of Command Centre being built, and show some of the computer consoles on the wall missing as they've been moved. Also, exterior shots during those episodes would show the huge laser guns being assembled, and a special handling facility being built (the one seen in "The Exiles"), inspired after the affair with the Ariel object in "The Last Sunset".