SPACE 1999

Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television programme, created by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson. It ran on ITV for two series from 4th September 1975 to 5th November 1977 and was comprised of 48 episodes.   Although sadly the show was not nationally Networked and different ITV Stations ran it at different times. 

At the time Space: 1999 was the most expensive series produced for British television. The first series was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and Italian broadcaster RAI, while the second series was produced solely by ITC. 

In 1972, Sir Lew Grade, head of ITC Entertainment, proposed financing a second series of the Century 21 production UFO to show-runners Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Grade had one stipulation: the new series would be set primarily on the Moon within the environs of an expanded SHADO Moonbase; the ratings indicated the Moon-centric episodes had proved the most popular with audiences. The Andersons and their team would quickly revamp the production, flashing ahead nearly twenty years for UFO: 1999 with SHADO fighting their alien foes from a large new Moonbase facility.

However, toward the end of its run, UFO experienced a drop in ratings in both the US and the UK; nervous ITC executives in both countries began to question the financial viability of the new series, and support for the project collapsed. 

In the meantime, production designer Keith Wilson and the art department had made considerable progress in envisioning the look and design of the new series.  Anderson would not let the project die; he approached Grade's number two in New York, Abe Mandell, with the proposal for taking the research and development done for UFO: 1999 and creating a new science fiction series. Mandell was amenable, but stated he did not want a series set featuring people "having tea in the Midlands" and forbade any Earth-bound settings. Anderson responded that in the series opener, he would "blow up the Earth". Mandell countered that this concept might be off-putting to viewers, to which Anderson replied he would "blow up the Moon".

The Andersons reworked UFO: 1999 into a new premise: Commander Steven Maddox controlled the forces of WANDER, Earth's premier defence organisation, from Moon City, a twenty-mile wide installation on the Moon. Maddox would view all aspects of Earth defence from Central Control, a facility at the hub of the base and accessible only by Moon Hopper craft, which would require the correct pass-code to traverse Control's defensive laser barrier. The Commander would also have access to a personal computer called "Com-Com" (Commander's Computer), which would act as a personal advisor, having been programmed with the Commander's personality and moral sense.

In the half-hour opening episode "Zero-G" penned by the Andersons, Earth's deep space probes have discovered an advanced extraterrestrial civilisation. Maddox is kidnapped for an interview with the aliens. Angered by humanity's innate hostility and WANDER's defensive posture, they travel to Earth with the intent of isolating mankind within the boundary of Earth's atmosphere. Having judged Maddox a noble example of mankind, they return him unharmed. They then use a beam to reduce the Moon's gravitational influence to zero, sending it careening out of orbit into deep space.

The project continued forward. Group Three Productions, a partnership of the Andersons and production executive Reg Hill, was to produce the series; ITC Entertainment and Italian broadcaster RAI were to provide the funding. Grade, aiming for a US network sale, insisted the series have American leads and employ American writers and directors. George Bellak, a well-known American television writer, was brought on staff. As stated by series writers Christopher Penfold and Johnny Byrne, it was Bellak who created and polished the series' defining concepts. Bellak wrote a ninety-minute opening episode titled "The Void Ahead", which was a close forerunner of "Breakaway". Bellak also set up a writers' guide defining the three leads, the facilities of the Moonbase and potential storylines.

At this point, the staff seemed to make creative changes that brought the series closer in concept and appearance to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Even the title Space: 1999 evoked comparison with Kubrick's film. (Before, the title of the new series had greatly varied: Space Journey: 1999, Journey in Space, Menace in Space and Space Invaders—the invaders of the last title being the Earthmen trapped on the runaway Moon.)

For the lead characters of John Koenig and Helena Russell, Gerry Anderson approached the husband-and-wife acting team of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. Landau and Bain were high-profile stars in America after three years in the popular CBS espionage series Mission: Impossible. Producer Sylvia Anderson let it be known that she would have preferred British lead actors; since Grade insisted on Americans.

 Lee H. Katzin, a highly respected American television director with a speciality for pilot episodes, was selected to direct the opening segment and brought into the fold as a primary director for the remainder of the series.

As the November 1973 start date approached, George Bellak fell out with Gerry Anderson over creative issues and left the production. Story consultant Christopher Penfold acted as head writer, bringing in American writer Edward di Lorenzo and Irish poet Johnny Byrne as script editors. Penfold reworked Bellak's opening episode into a one-hour draft first re-titled "Turning Point", then finalised as "Breakaway".

One week before live action filming commenced, Visual Effects Supervisor Brian Johnson and his team began work on the visual effects sequences for the first episode at Bray Studios near Maidenhead, Berkshire on 5 November 1973. 

Scheduled for ten days' filming, "Breakaway" overran an additional fifteen days. Lee Katzin was a perfectionist and demanded take after take of scenes; even coverage of reaction shots of the background extras required running a whole scene from beginning to end. His two-hour director's cut was assembled and sent to ITC New York for a viewing. Abe Mandell was horrified by the finished product. 

Anderson re-wrote several key scenes and, after three days of re-shoots, re-edited the pilot into a one-hour episode that appeased the fears of ITC. Katzin was not asked back to the programme after the filming of his second episode "Black Sun", which also ran over schedule.

Scheduled for a twelve-month shoot, the twenty-four episodes took fifteen months to complete, with the production experiencing a number of difficulties. 

Group Three's commitment to its financial partner, RAI, to include Italian actors in the cast also had to be addressed. Originally, two supporting roles were intended for Italian actors; with the casting of Nick Tate and Zienia Merton in those roles, a solution had to be worked out. Four of the later episodes produced ("The Troubled Spirit", "Space Brain", "Dragon's Domain" and "The Testament of Arkadia") featured Italian guest artists.

The necessity to telex story outlines and scripts to New York for approval caused further production delays. The incessant re-writing this brought about eventually caused Christopher Penfold to resign during the shooting of "Space Brain", after completing his writing commitment with the script "Dragon's Domain".

 In a later interview, Johnny Byrne stated that "one episode they (New York) would ask us to speed things up, forcing us to cut out character development; then the next episode, they asked for more character moments, which would slow down the action.

 Years later, Byrne and Penfold would agree that the process they worked under made "good scripts less than they had been" and forced them to waste time re-writing "bad scripts to make them acceptable". Byrne remained until the end of production and the show concluded principal photography on 28 February 1975.

Following the completion of the first series, the production team prepared for a second series to commence production in the autumn of 1975. Gerry Anderson had staff writer Johnny Byrne prepare a critical analysis of the first twenty-four episodes, assessing their strengths and weaknesses in order to mount a new and improved second year. 

The largest stumbling block for the staff had been having all material vetted by ITC's New York office. ITC's compromise was to hire a high-profile American staff writer-producer. At this time, Sylvia Anderson left her role as producer when she and Gerry Anderson formally separated (and subsequently divorced). 

Fred Freiberger, whom Gerry Anderson had considered for the writing position, was then brought on board to help guide the series as a producer and acted as show-runner. Freiberger had produced the third and final season of Star Trek in 1968–1969.

Then ITC Entertainment President Sir Lew Grade abruptly cancelled the series' production in late 1975 when ratings in the United States had dropped during the later autumn months of the year. Grade had already been disappointed by the lack of an American network broadcast sale. Gerry Anderson and Fred Freiberger rallied and pitched the idea of a new series with the addition of an alien character to Moonbase Alpha, who would shake up the dynamic of interaction on the Moonbase and regain viewer interest in the United States. On the strength of Anderson and Freiberger's proposal of adding a ahpe changing alien character from the planet Psychon named Maya, Mandell approved a renewal of the series for a second year.

In addition to the alien Maya character, to be played by Catherine Schell, numerous other changes were made for what was branded Year Two. The most visible change was the absence of Professor Bergman (Barry Morse). In addition  Year One supporting characters Paul Morrow (Prentis Hancock), David Kano (Clifton Jones) and Tanya Alexander (Suzanne Roquette) were also removed from the cast. Dr. Bob Mathias (Anton Phillips) was present in the first two Year Two episodes, was mentioned in the third episode, and then also disappeared without a trace. His character was replaced by several recurring physicians. Alan Carter (Nick Tate) was to have been written out of the series, but he had become so popular with fans that he remained. Sandra Benes (Zienia Merton) remained with the series in an on-again off-again association, but the character only appeared in a fraction of the episodes, albeit more prominently in some than in many of those of the first series.

Security Chief Tony Verdeschi also joined as a new character, played by Tony Anholt. Verdeschi, who assumed the base's second-in-command role, neither appeared, nor was ever mentioned, in Year One. However, Moonbase Alpha personnel treated Verdeschi as if he had been in their midst since "Breakaway". His character was designed to serve primarily as a secondary male action hero, and became a romantic interest for Maya.

No on-screen explanations were offered for the cast changes. One scene in "The Metamorph" mentioning Bergman's death was scripted and filmed, but cut from the final edit.  Other changes included the main titles and theme music. 

Rudi Gernreich's minimalist costume was considerably modified from the original unisex design to include an optional skirt and leather boots for women and much more detail work on the tunic portion, including turtleneck collars, coloured stitching, patches and photo-ID badges. In addition, colourful jackets (generally red, blue or green) became part of most characters' ensembles.

The expansive "Main Mission" set, with its balcony and windows revealing the lunar surface, was replaced by a more compact "Command Center" supposedly deep underground (again, this change was never explained onscreen). Medical Centre, Generator Section, Life Support and the Alphans' living quarters became smaller, while the interior of the Eagle command module was updated with additional buttons, flashing lights and television monitors, while the Eagle also lost a section of corridor (the galley/storage area) between the passenger module and the cockpit. (This was to accommodate its placement on Pinewood Soundstage "L", with the other standing Alpha sets; the Eagle was permanently affixed to the boarding tube/travel tube set and jammed between the travel-tube reception area and the Medical Centre.)

With the last-minute renewal from Grade, the production team hit the ground running for Series Two.  Production began on 26 January 1976 and was scheduled to last a mere ten months for all episodes.

To fulfil the scheduling requirement and cut production costs, Freiberger used the "double-up script" solution. During "double-up" instalments, two first-unit production teams would film two episodes simultaneously. Landau and some of the supporting cast would be given expanded roles and would film an episode on location or on sets constructed for that story in Pinewood's Soundstage "M", while Bain and the remaining supporting cast (also in expanded roles) would film their episode in the standing Alpha sets on Soundstage "L". Landau and Bain would then be given minor roles in the opposing episodes. 

Freiberger was very budget-conscious and emphasised action-adventure in Year Two stories to the exclusion of metaphysical themes explored in Year One. Members of the Space: 1999 cast were disenchanted with the scripts. 

Relations between Freiberger and the Year One veterans were strained. Landau complained about stories he felt were lightweight or absurd when compared to the previous year's efforts. 

Principal photography came to an end on 23 December 1976 with "The Dorcons". 

The producers and studio intended to continue the show with a third series. This was to be shorter than the previous two, with 13 episodes, for budget reasons. Maya was considered to be a successful character, and the producers began grooming her for a spinoff show that would run concurrently with the third series of Space: 1999. Had this project gone ahead, Maya would have been absent from Space: 1999. The "Maya" series was also intended to run for 13 episodes a year.[6]

As filming on Year Two came to its conclusion, it became apparent that there would be no third series, and the second series ended with the episode "The Dorcons". The Maya spin-off was also abandoned. According to statements by Martin Landau the reason for cancellation was due to financier Lew Grade's decision to redirect funding to new movie projects.

Video, DVD and BluRay releases have maintained an interest for the show and in 2019 Big Finish started producing audio adventures, reimaging episodes from the TV series and writing new adventures for the characters.

I was too young for the original Space 1999 broadcasts and my overwhelming memory is seeing the show on Sunday afternoons on  ATV in early 1977. I know I never saw "Breakaway" on TV and had to wait until I finally got the Alien Attack VHS video in the late 1980s before I got to see that.

As a 9 year old I remember being obsessed by the Moonbase. There seemed to be so much attention to detail that it seemed real to me. I could have watched whole episodes, where nothing happens but we juist see people walking around the base and showing us what all the rooms look like. It was a little disppointing when episodes mainly took place on planets as I wanted to see the base. Although the Eagles were really cool too so happy if they featured a lot. Plus even at a young age I had a huge crush on Nick Tate as Alan Carter. 

I truly believed by 1999 there really would be a base on the moon and I  worked out that by then I'd be in my early 30s and would be able to go and work on the base!!!

I also loved when Maya was introduced and that she could change her form. 

I hadn't been aware of the merchandise initially  and it wasn't until the early 80s that I first discovered the Novels and Annuals and so every time I was in a second hand store or jumble sale I was on the look out to complete my collection.  Interestingly when I read the first season books I didn't rememebr that they were in Main Mission and I only remembered Command Center.

My Brother had a dinky Eagle for Christmas one year and I never understood how he got one and I didn't as I was the bigger fan! 

Then at Christmas in 1983  we gfinally had a video recorder. Going to my local video shop I found the Destination Moonbase Alpha Movie. I was so happy to finally be able to watch some Space 1999 again. I rented that movie so many times.  By the end of the 80s I'd found all 4 movies and then in 1992 ITC started releasing all the other episodes on Video and it was wonderfully to finally be able to relive all the episodes.

When the DVD releases came in 2001 I started buying those too even though I didn't have a DVD player.  I've bought each release right up to 2022's Ultimate BluRay Box set. and most weeks I still watch an episode or two.

 There are obvious differences between the 2 years and I'm fully aware that there are fans who have a favourite year and will criticise the other year but I love them all. I think there are faults in both Seasons and neither is perfect but there are things I like in both years. As a 9 / 10  year old Year 2 had far more action and humour. The uniforms were also better and Maya was cool. As an adult I like the slower pacing of Year 1. So it depends what mood I'm in as to what year I watch. It's all Space 1999 to me .