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Oooo, I love this series. 5 from each year.
Year One
Breakaway
Another Time Another Place
Space Brain
End of Eternity
War Games
Year Two
The Metamorph
Journey to Where
The Bringers of Wonder (Destination Moonbase-Alpha)
The Seance Spectre
The AB Crysalis
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That was Dragon's Domain. Yeah the first year really pushed the envelope in the horror genre. In the 80's WPIX ran 1999 in the overnights. Watching that episode at 2 am was nightmare fuel.
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That was Dragon's Domain. Yeah the first year really pushed the envelope in the horror genre. In the 80's WPIX ran 1999 in the overnights. Watching that episode at 2 am was nightmare fuel.
There are certain shows, episodes of things, to this day, I can not watch late at night (the series UNSUB for one, "Deaths-Head Revisited" "A Nice Place To Visit" and "After Hours" episodes of "Twilight Zone" also come to mind). And you're so right, Scott, "Dragon's Domain" truly is the stuff of nightmares (End of Eternity would run a close second, especially with the unsettling tracked-in electronic music).
YES! That episode was also on my mind. Right when Koenig questions Balor about how he was responsible for an Alphan's death and Koenig's beating and subsequent healing. The library music kicks in and Balor turns, his eyes wide and expression gleeful: "Yes! Everything that you say is absolutely correct!"
The shots of Balor's artwork with the screams of his victims overlaid is blood-chilling in the wee hours as well.
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Space 1999 also had the most believable space suits Ive seen in a Sci Fi series or movie.
That is until the face plates flipped up while they were on the Moon’s surface, which happened a lot.
I remember it happening twice. Once during the beginning of Breakaway and another time in Space Warp. It usually only happened when someone was tossed around on the lunar surface.
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Posted: |
Sep 8, 2021 - 12:49 PM
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By: |
Broughtfan
(Member)
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"The Black Sun" contains some laughably bad dialogue.
Here's but one example, an exchange early on between Dr. Bergman and Commander Koenig:
Bergman: Now, John, you didn't know. Neither did I (fine, okay). If anyone's to blame it's me (because?)...I suspected it hours ago (hmm...)
Koenig: A black sun.
Bergman: Right. So, what are we gonna do about it?
Koenig: What can we do? We'll all be dead in three days.
Thankfully as the season progressed the writing got markedly better.
Despite these dialogue issues, the episode has some things going for it:
Barry Gray's fine dramatic score, one of only a handful he composed for series 1 (with some beautiful, ingenious variations on his MT theme).
The brief, sweet scene with Paul Morrow and (a shivering) Tanya as the latter looks to spend her final hours listening to Paul fingerpick on the guitar.
Koenig/Bergman brandy scene (genuinely affecting scene between Landau and Morse)
Bergman - Koenig exchange (on what Bergman expects once the Moon is pulled into the black sun): Whatever it is...I just hope it's interesting (like with Mr. Spock, Bergman, a true man of science, takes a wait and see attitude about what impending doom might entail).
Epilogue scene (Eagle returns to MA despite Carter's attempt to fly the craft in the opposite direction).
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I've watched the SPACE: 1999 series only twice, with only a handful of segments viewed 3 times - so I haven't been as intimate with this program as with other shows whose episodes I saw dozens of times.
What I took from SPACE: 1999 during my 2nd viewing (especially from season 1) was its emphasis upon inexplicable metaphysical experiences without tidy resolutions. The episodes which resonate most with me tended to be directed by guys who worked on 1960s British TV series such as David Tomblin [THE PRISONER], Charles Crichton or Ray Austin [THE AVENGERS].
I have only 2 favo(u)rites from Year Two; there are at least 8 that I love from Year One, so here is my Top 10.
1. "End of Eternity" by Johnny Byrne/Ray Austin
2. "Force of Life" by Johnny Byrne/David Tomblin
3. "Dragon's Domain" by Christopher Penfold/Charles Crichton
4. "New Adam, New Eve" by Terence Feely/Crichton (Guy Rolfe as God)
5. "Earthbound" by Anthony Terpiloff/Crichton
6. "The Lambda Factor" by Terrance [DOCTOR WHO] Dicks / Crichton
7. "The Troubled Spirit" by Byrne/Austin (with a sitar concert!)
8. "The Infernal Machine" by Terpiloff & Barrows/Tomblin
9. "Missing Link" by di Lorenzo/Austin
10. "The Full Circle" by Jesse Lasky & Pat Silver / Bob Kellett
Additional aspects regarding Year One that further distinguish SPACE: 1999 apart from American-styled TV fiction is its co-production with Italian RAI plus an overall European focus on atmosphere moreso than the creditable.
Indeed, the entire premise of the series is one of fantasy and not scientific veracity.
Infrequently conveyed is that the final 25% of Year One (the last 6 stories filmed out of the 24-episode season) witnessed the fulfillment of the agreement with RAI to utilize Italian artistes. This, in my opinion, is the peak period of the whole series - when, according to Sylvia Anderson herself, the production team had hit its stride and, finally, attained a stylistic identity.
Beyond my Top 10, the next faves in my queue include "The Testament of Arkadia", "Mission of the Darians" and (maybe) even "Space Brain" (love Carla Romanelli!)
Just as things were getting mighty good during Year One's production wrap-up, Penfold resigned & Gerry divorced Sylvia & SPACE: 1999 would not be re-newed for Year Two unless it became more Americanized.
It did ... and not for the better in my assessment.
Not to be too harsh on Year Two, though, I'll posit that John Goldsmith's "Seed of Destruction" is engrossing and above-par considering the show's revamped standards ... plus Terence Feely's 2-parter remains special.
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There was one episode, "The Lambda Factor," that at first I thought was absolutely terrible, the worst. It was laughable. And then I genuinely started laughing, and I became pretty sure it was done as a purposeful "so bad it's good" outing. It really did get hilarious, and that doesn't just happen by accident, you know?
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Posted: |
Sep 10, 2021 - 6:35 AM
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By: |
Broughtfan
(Member)
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The sad aspect about series 2 is that all that money was spent changing those great Alpha sets, costumes, etc so that when time came to produce the episodes there was, apparently, very little left over for the actual episodes. One of the impressive things about series 1 is the sheer sense of scope of the standing and specially built sets of which, I feel, there is a dearth in series 2. I remember seeing "Guardian of Piri" and "The Infernal Machine" and marveling at the sheer sense of scope in the production design (like nothing I'd seen on American television, at least up to then).
Along similar lines, Keith Wilson (production designer for both series) said something once in an interview which endeared the man to me (and maybe Matt Jefferies and Gene Roddenberry as well) for life when some interviewer commented on the superiority of Space: 1999's (series 1) production design to that of "Star Trek" to which Wilson replied, 'Yes. Well they didn't have the money we had.' That's class.
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Season 1 I regard a classic as a whole. Individual episodes Breakaway and Dragons Domain. Second season too poor for me. And I generally feel an Anderson show with no Barry Gray=no sale. His music is the soul that binds the Anderson shows together.
Keep wondering if I'll one day succumb to Season 2 if I see it ridiculously cheap in one of Network's sales, mind ..
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Posted: |
Sep 10, 2021 - 7:36 AM
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By: |
Spinmeister
(Member)
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I'll watch any S1 episode.
It's all style over substance (and science), of course, but that look, sound and vibe: a slick, expensive looking, intersection of 2001, Star Trek and Lost in Space, was (and still is) undeniably attention grabbing. And you still can't beat its opening credits for virtuoso salesmanship.
Some of my favorites include:
Breakaway (scientific accuracy aside, a well structured, dramatically satisfying opener)
Force of Life (monster on the loose eps are always good for a gruesome lark)
War Games (pre-Star Wars outer space battles with really cool spaceships)
Dragon's Domain (completely nonsensical, but effectively creepy, Lovecraftian horror none the less)
Collision Course (whole lot of metaphysical BS sold by the committed performances and compelling visuals)
Guardian of Piri (take your pick: a seductive, scantily clad Catherine Schell or a shirtless Nick Tate in ass hugging slacks idling about one of the most bonkers planetary tableaus ever conjured.
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That was some The Thing (82) level gore. 
