Review for Space 1999 - The Complete Second Series

After a five year wait following the 2010 release of the first series, Network have invested in a stunning new release of ‘Space 1999 - The Complete Second Series’ and they’ve done an excellent job. No self-respecting Gerry Anderson or Sci-Fi fan will want to be without it and if you get a move on you might even be able to bag one of the limited edition box-sets with unique packaging (see below) destined to be collectors’ items within weeks of release. But whichever version you get, you’re going to be buying in to some 20 hours and more of utter TV heaven.




Series 2 was a very different series than Series 1 (and not quite on par in my view) but it still offers up feature-film production values and at least one new celebrity from the era in each of its 24 episodes. It’s so much fun that, if you’re like me, you’ll want to go back and watch Series 1 all over again.

For the unitiated, the series is a classic seventies sci-fi which, as it was produced from 1975 – 1977, looked to a future (1999) where a nuclear waste dump on the moon unexpectedly detonates, blasting the moon out of orbit and taking the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha on a fantastic voyage of discovery to the stars, fraught with danger at every turn.



Whilst Series 1 was a bit more cerebral and thought-provoking than Series 2, with Barry Morse adding a human intensity missing from the second series, there is no doubt that Series 2 is somewhat easier fare, very much like Star Trek (the original series) in format with lots of colourful and frequently comic-book style characters.

Series 1 had benefitted from all the extra materials that had been saved from UFO in anticipation of a new series commission. When that didn’t come Anderson pitched a new series in order to maximise his investment. By the time Series 2 was commissioned, many of the sets had been torn-down. Whole areas of Moonbase so prevalent in Series 1 were simply missing in a much simplified Series 2. (When I asked Gerry Anderson in an interview for this site, why they had taken the decision to lose some of these fantastic sets he told me most unequivocally, “budget”).



Series 2 was commissioned at an unhappy time for the Andersons as well who had just separated and were finding it difficult to work together. As a result Gerry Anderson brought Fred Freiberger, who had produced the third and final season of ‘Star Trek’, on board as a producer – also with the hope that the series would gain traction in the US, filling the vacuum left by the now cancelled ‘Star Trek’.

Other notable changes were that the wonderful Barry Morse from Series 1 didn’t renew his contract for Series 2 (as Professor Bergman) as he felt, with Frieberger on board, the series would be dumbing down. He was right of course, and as a result he left and in my view was much missed in Series 2. After all, Morse was a very unlikely Sci-Fi hero in the first place.
He was replaced with two new characters;Security Chief Tony Verdeschi played by Tony Anholt (who had featured in an earlier Anderson series, The Protectors) who added some male eye candy (compared to Morse) but remained a bit wooden throughout, and the addition of the exotic Hungarian beauty Catherine Schell as a shape morphing alien, Maya, which simply made the series more Marvel comic book and less real somehow.



Despite an archive interview with Landau on set claiming that series 2 was much better with more character development he later admitted (in a lengthy interview from 1995 which is included in this set) that on reflection it just wasn’t as good the first series– and I agree.

Barry Gray was also not on hand to score the episodes so even the theme tune changed, in theory, to become ‘more contemporary’ rather than the mix of funk and classic orchestration that had made the music so great in Series 1.

But for all of these changes, and some episodes which certainly stretch intelligent credulity (like the infamous ‘All the Glisters’ which was so bad it nearly caused an all-cast walk-out); the series manages to maintain a period gusto and is undeniably a lot of escapist fun. It also looks absolutely fantastic on Blu-ray with an all-new transfer from the original 35mm negatives. It looks as good as an feature film from the period. It’s a huge leap from the quality of my creaking Carlton releases which I bought as soon as they were available some fifteen years ago.


 
Audio is excellent too with new 5.1 mixes for those that want them and original mono tracks for those who don’t (like me). The 5.1 mixes are a lot of fun though and should probably be the natural choice – highly respectful to the original intent.

Rounding off the set are a whole bunch of extra features. They’re a real rag-bag of stuff from then until now which makes them a lot of fun – I love how Network do this stuff. So here’s what you can look forward to.


 
Unexposed: Behind the Scenes of Series Two (25 minutes)
Remarkably, this ‘making of’ featurette was made in 1976 when no one would normally have bothered for a TV series. Some contemporary film students were tasked with making a production about how a TV series was made. As Series 2 of Space 1999 was in full flight at Pinewood it became an obvious choice. Whilst the interviewer is quite wooden, the actors are not and seem relaxed and happy to talk. They also managed to cover interviews with Gerry Anderson, Martin Landau, his wife and co-star Barbara Bain, Keith Anderson (set designer) and Brian Johnson (Special Effects) as well as some great footage of the series being shot

Cosmos: 1999 (14 minutes)
What an oddity! This is a very hokey fan-made stop-motion piece based on the series (called Cosmos: 1999 in French-speaking Canada). Using Action Men and Barbie’s it attempts to create an episode of the series and does a half-decent job with lots of attention on set details, costumes and so on. I wonder if they went on to a career in TV?

Seed of Destruction (52 minutes)
As the episode ‘Seed of Destruction’ was a bit more like Series 1 in pace and tone, someone has taken the time to re-cut it as if were part of that season, replacing the music and the titles and so on. I didn’t bother to watch it all but maybe I will at the end of my re-watching Season 1. A bit superfluous really.

Behind the Scenes – Model Shop (6 minutes)
This was actually shot at the Special Effects unit at Bray Studios (original home of Hammer) where some of the spill-over work from Pinewood took place. It’s narrated by BrianJohnson and is a reminder of how much work goes into this stuff!

Interviews from 1976 (30 minutes)
These slightly dodgy home video interviews, shot in 1976, with most the key cast and crew, make for an interesting watch.

Martin Landau Interview from 1995 (45 minutes)
This is a lively career spanning interview (in a French hotel) with Landau following his role as Bela Lugosi in the Tim Burton movie, ‘Ed Wood’. Behind him are displays featuring Space 1999 and Mission Impossible and the focus is very much on these two shows.

Stock Footage Archive
A fist-full of unused and deleted scenes which remain ungraded.

Outtakes
Blooper-reel with standard gaffs, originally compiled and edited for Denis Nordon’s 1980’s series ‘It’ll Be Alright On the Night’.

Trailers and promos (11 minutes)
Including a trailer for the theatrical movie (cut from TV shows as was often the way back in the day) ‘Destination Moonbase Alpha’.

Clean series two titles

Image galleries

Music only tracks on all episodes

Script and annual PDFs
Woo-hoo!! All five annuals are included here as PDF’s – worth the price of the set alone! Also included are shooting scripts for all 24 episodes (mostly black and white although the script for ‘Mark of the Archanon’ is colour), an ITC marketing flyer and a document outlining the approach taken to creating the ‘fanimation’, ‘Cosmos: 1999’

This set is an absolute must-buy for any fan of Gerry Anderson’s work, seventies sci-fi or just great retro TV. It’s lovingly restored and beautifully presented. Highly recommended,