A few weeks ago there was a brief news story about Nasa planning to install a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 which — to people of a certain age — will have raised an eyebrow or two.
The inciting incident of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s epic sci-fi show Space: 1999 is the explosion of poorly stored nuclear waste on the moon, catapulting it and the occupants of the research station Moonbase Alpha out of Earth orbit and off on a journey of discovery across the galaxy.
Coincidentally, this week is the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of Space: 1999 on British television. It was the culmination of decades of adventure TV from the Andersons that started with the Supermarionation of Torchy the Battery Boy, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Joe 90, et al, through the live action years of U.F.O. and The Protectors.
Budgets were bigger — ITC boss Lew Grade expected it to sell well internationally1 — which meant bigger sets, better effects and two well-known stars. Real life couple Martin Landau and Barbara Bain had worked together on several seasons of Mission: Impossible and they were reunited as the leader and chief medical officer of Moonbase Alpha respectively.
While the stories were fairly derivative — Star Trek had recently roared back into popularity thanks to reruns and its ‘alien of the week’ model was highly influential — for audiences of roughly my age and gender it was the exceptional design that made the biggest impression. Anderson’s shows always had the coolest gear and the Eagle spaceship was a prized diecast toy for several years.
The relative lack of sales success of season one meant that season two was retooled to be more appealing to American TV execs. There was a more passionate romance between Bain and Landau’s characters, an alien science officer was introduced (played by Catherine Schell with extraordinary plaited eyebrows) and some forced humour brought in to balance the existential drama.
To help cover costs, Grade had episodes recut into feature films for theatrical release and all of them are about to be released on Blu-ray by Imprint Entertainment. The box also includes the rarely seen Italian compilation of three season one episodes, Spazza: 1999, with music by Ennio Morricone!
Morricone may be the master but nobody did this kind of theme tune better than Barry Gray. I think this Space: 1999 theme is the best thing he did and I leave you with the absolute boss version of it by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Where to watch Space: 1999
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