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Recently, thanks to the new books and finally getting a UK and better version of Year Two, I’ve had an interest in rewatching the series in no particular order.
EARTHBOUND: I found this one very surprizing. Rather than the staid, almost too stable and dull story I thought this was, I found it, perhaps thanks to expectations low, rather grand and rather good. It was interesting, entertaining and refreshing. I found it good that the aliens were not evil minded and Helena’s relationship to Zantor was subtle but nice. Koenig’s loyalty to the aliens was also nice. This one seemed very mature and serious but also different. It is true there was not much action but the ending was a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits/One Step Beyond type twist and Simmond’s fate, no matter how horrible he acted, was truly…. horrible and disturbing. Roy Dotrice is a good actor and he later starred in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST as Father. Lee was also very good in this. The interplay among the Alphans was also good as was the dilemma of picking who would go.
VOYAGER’S RETURN: I am biased toward this ep for some reason. It’s really not a typical First Year story as it’s rather straight forward. The guy that plays Jim Haines is rather good looking. The story is probably sort of like some of the more serious VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA episodes: man vs his own obsession or his own creation. The aliens are rather…odd in this and very hostile and mad. And very alien in some ways although they are human in shape. This one had some very odd camea angles and to this day I cannot understand why they would shoot a pole or through a small doorway when two people are talking and you can’t see them fully: maybe it’s because they are old men and no one wants to see old men? No. I think it’s was just the director trying to be artful and it kinda works in that something, God if you like, is watching the Alphans. That Mysterious Unknown Force maybe. In any event, a good episode.
TESTAMENT OF ARKADIA: this loses nothing at all over the years. In fact, it’s gained a lot. It holds up remarkably well today. The guest stars are rather good, even if one of them had some dubbing done to his lines (some or a lot I do not know). It all works and rather than having a specific alien threat, there is the interplay among the Alphans again and the strange events that happen on the planet. The music works rather well and the entire atmosphere also works. There IS religious/spiritual connotations that perhaps religion and spirituality are not the same thing and maybe even be at odds. In any event, like most First Year stories, there are more than one way to look at the story. It’s very good and that ending of the book and pen is also good. Enjoyable.
GUARIDAN OF PIRI: Perhaps when I watched this, I was very tired. I kept falling asleep. I still like the art design, the effects, the message, the music, and Catherine. She looks lovely. The planet, at least in the area the Alphans descend, is well done and well decorated. I just found it to be a rather dull storyline…everyone taken over ala INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, robots ala WESTWORLD and/or THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN/BIONIC WOMAN, and I don’t know what else. The ending is nice with life being brought back to the planet thanks to the Alphans and they cannot stay. But the rush away from the planet could have been better as the Moon leaves and frankly my memory played it up more than what is actually there. Another thing that bothered me when I first saw this and bothers me now is the death of the girl having a blood transfusion. NOW that is scary. And disturbing.
DRAGON’S DOMAIN: This is the scariest monster on tv. In fact, until CRIMINAL MINDS, 1999 might have been the scariest show thanks to just this episode. Yeah today it looks a bit hokey at times but there was something disturbing in 1976 about women dying on TV–it rarely happened. In addition guest stars rarely died so horribly and the entire graveyard in space is nothing new, not a new idea but it was so aptly portrayed here, the models look great and the music and the flashbacks…all added together with the conflict between John and Helena make this smashing ep still have impact. This ep is one of the best of the entire run and to be honest, it’s unforgettable.
I’ve also watched bits and pieces of other episodes but not sure that qualifies for a review. More next time. I’m also of the mind that the second season is not that bad. I was intially drawn to the show because of the second season…the action, the music, Maya…and that drew me to take a look again at the First Season. When SEason one went on I was rather young and the monster from DRAGON’S DOMAIN, the violence of ray guns exploding and bursting chests (John in WAR GAMES; Paul in MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH), the apparent coldness of the Alphans, and the horror of sutff like FORCE OF LIFE rather scared me off of it. I then watched some of the later eps such as THE LAST ENEMY and liked them. Others, like FULL CIRCLE, warned me off again. It is not my fav ep. In any event I think some of the second season can be linked to the first. Eps such as THE EXILES, IMMUNITY SYNDROME, even the strange force in SPACE WARP and BETA CLOUD, ABChrysalis, LAMBDA FACTOR, A MATTER OF BALANCE etc have a strange First YEar like quality to them in parts.
Speaking of the episodes The Last Enemy and Dragon’s Domain, I would like to address a topic that John Muir wrote in his book Exploring Space:1999. One concerning the stripping and recycling of materials left over from the Satazius and the Ultra Probe.
I’m surprised that there has never been any mentioning of the Alphans scavenging and stripping the remains of both spacecraft. Basically, recycling the materials for use on Moonbase Alpha. The aforementioned materials that could be used for the survival of Moonbase Alpha and the Alphans in general.
Most of all, if such alien technology from the Satazius, is compatable with the human technology used on Alpha(i.e. computer systems, life support, and other basic technical functions). The possibility of incompatability(?)and rejection could exist.
In a way, this also applies to the situation in the Year Two episode Brian The Brain. Surely, the Alphans could use the Swift for various Phase One probes, just to give the Eagles a bit of rest for maintenance and other diagnostic overhauls. Let alone, use what was left of the other Swift spacecraft that John, Tony, and Maya found on the surface of Planet D.
Most of all, they could use Brian(after being re-programmed, rebooted, his memory erased, and having the sound of his voice changed)for various tasks and other duties on Alpha. The A.I. computer could also be used to assist Maya with various scientific projects and other duties. The addition of Brian The Brain as a main character would definately give a new dimension to future Space:1999 stories.
Think about it. The Ultra Probe(once cleansed of any furthur alien contamination), Brian, and the Swifts are the property of the WSC. The Alphans would definately be entitled to the claim and ownership such ‘spare parts.’ Hopefully, there would not be a repeat of the events in Voyager’s Return, concerning the usage of those components.
Honestly, I can’t believe the Alphans would not take such an opprotunity to help prolong their survival in deep space. Such resources are few and far in between, if not rare in the galaxy.
🙂
In the Year Two omnibus, Koenig does in fact make use of Brian and the Swift. This is because I had the very same thoughts! Letting Brian just leave with the swift seemed foolish.
Another plot point in Y2 that always bothered me is that, for example, in The Mark of Archanon, the Alphans don’t even ask the Archanons for a ride home! We addressed that one too, btw!
Mateo
If I may ask, what happened, concerning Brian, the Swift, and the issue concerning The Archanons?
The reason for my inquiry is because I don’t own the Omnibus editions.
Since I already have the two seasons on DVD from A&E, I figured(For practacle and conservative reasons, let alone financial, because of today’s economy), that since I’ve
got the episodes, I don’t really require the novelizations.It makes sense, does it not?
🙂
It always used to be the case (in the days before DVDs and video recorders etc) that people bought the novelisations as ‘reminders’ or ‘souvenirs’ of the episodes (no matter how far from the transmitted version novelisations sometimes can be). In a sense, now the episodes are easily available on DVD, there may be less call for novelisations.
Personally I see novelisations as an essential part of enjoying a particular series, regardless of whether I already have them on DVD or not. It’s just a matter of taste. If you like novels then buy them, and if you don’t – or think they’re superfluous – then don’t.
However, I don’t think Powys would really be best serving themselves (in a business sense) by revealing the ‘revised’ plot details from the Omnibus for people who choose not to buy it. And in any case, it’s tantamount to a pretty big ‘spoiler’, surely.
Just my opinion.
– Simon
They did salvage the alien ship in SPACE WARP.
frankly, the novels also sometimes fill in questions about episodes (in any series that has novelizations) that the actual episodes don’t answer in them. For example in the series THE TOMORROW PEOPLE, Mike Bell never actually seemed to break out on screen but before the TP arrived home. In the novelization of ONE LAW, he breaks out while in the cell, imprisoned by Lord Dunning. This and other points are read about in novelizations of the TP. Likewise, 1999 might have answers in the novelizations that are not forthcoming in the series or the actual scripts/dvds, etc. While as a child, I actually enjoyed the TREK novelizations (more than the show, I”m NOT a Trekkie by any means) it annoyed me that the stories were so totally changed from the ones on TV. So any novelization has to, for me, do two things; not stray too far from the show’s transcript but add to it in a way that gives me more info about the story or more background to a charcater or more about a character’s thoughts in any given situation that we were not privy to. I don’t know the 1999 novelizations that well—I’m more into the original comics and original novels that gave us NEW stories that happened along the way or after the show ended. Those, too, can add new stuff.
The BEST novel I ever read off a TV show is FLIGHT OF FEAR by Carl Henry Rathjen for the TV show LAND OF THE GIANTS. It kept the real feel of the show, the characters seemed the same at on TV but furthered in their thoughts and a logical progression about how they changed over time thanks to their adventures and took the Spindrift spaceship to other parts of the planet, something the tv show didn’t always do.
WIth 1999, I’d love to see what they could do with a child/teen growing up on Alpha, such as Jackie Crawford and maybe his encounters with aliens and/or other Alphans.
THE LAMBDA FACTOR: I don’t know why they didn’t get Terrance Dicks back again because he seemed to understand the fundamentals of SPACE: 1999 better than anyone and to use it to a good extent in a good plot and be refreshing. Many things about this ep resemble First Year episodes: strange winds that howl through the halls, pressure deaths, hallways going dark, telepathic powers, strange mysterous unknown force hovering over Alpha with no way to stop it. Added to that the humanity and more personable bits that the new season added to the humanity that was already there from Year One, you have quite a kicker of an ep. The guest stars are all good and the girl who plays Carolyn Powell I could have sworn played in DOCTOR WHO but I thnk she did not. either way she’s good as a baddie and makes you want to hate her. On the other side, this is as much CARRIE as ALPHA CHILD was THE OMEN. Both of these eps, might have predated those movies, not sure. Either way the resemble each other. The new book DESTINATION MOONBASE ALPHA statest the Alan caught in the energy room sequence was poor, I thought it added tension to the ep and gave Alan something to do for a change in the Year Two stuff. On the negative, at times, Tony and Carolyn go a bit over the top in their yelling and stuff. Helena and Maya, the actresses who play them, are great, Martin is great in this. And poor Ziena, at least she got something to do in this ep and she does it marvelously. We once more feel the heat rise through her eyes and there’s one scene when the fake Sam and Tessa ghosts are in Command Center…that seems as if Sahn (Sandra!) and John are the only ones in the Command Center! The climax of the ep is phenomenal and one that is hard to forget. And what other show would depict the leader crying and running away from his nightmares AND telling the main villain that is in his chair that he does NOT hate her. Never happen on the original STAR TREK so here, there’s a maturity and peace-ability that just has no real rival. “There is no hate in us for you.” The force once more appears, nearly destroys Alpha, once more not even realizing it is doing so, then vanishes. At one point, John wonders if it is a living organism. The music is good, the plot good, the recreational aspects interesting (do you believe that many of those scenes in this ep were edited out in NYC!), and the carrying out of the script all really well done. The haunting used to be scary back in the 70s but so much horror, real life horror has made it just so so as a haunting. Still it packs an emotional punch.
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