History Series / Space1999

This British TV series was created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the creators of ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' and other "{{Supermarionation}}" fare, being produced by Lew Grade's ITC (in co-production with Italy's RAI during the first season, explaining the presence of Italian guest stars). It originally aired in the UK between 1975 and 1977, although several season one episodes were premiered in the US (like "Another Time, Another Place") and Australia (like "Ring Around The Moon"). It consisted of two seasons, each with a different approach; season one was slow-paced and cerebral, whereas season two had more "monster of the week" episodes. Its premise was simple: on September 13th 1999, a ridiculously small explosion blows the moon out of its orbit and accelerates it to a velocity sufficient to send it hurtling out of the solar system and travel interstellar distances in improbably short times.

Although it still retains a substantial and enthusiastic following, ''Space: 1999'' is mainly noteworthy only for its high production values; its effects work was outstanding for the period and still looks quite good today. Most of the equipment and vehicle designs are realistic (no unnecessary streamlining in the vacuum of space, no silly aesthetic flourishes), and those that move had some of the more realistic physics to grace TV until ''Series/BabylonFive'''s Starfuries (notwithstanding at least one scene that showed a stationary spacecraft ''rocking'' back and forth in space). The main problem with the series is that despite the high production values and all the acting talent (Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, and many notable guest stars) in the show, they had nothing approaching consistently competent writing. The series premise is not just impossible by any understanding of science (the energies required to de-orbit the moon are on a par with those required to ''completely vaporise it''), it's downright silly. And the scripts rarely rose above the level of the first episode--they could be dramatically quite good but scientifically absurd. How it survived two seasons over three years is a wonder. (Season 1 also had some cool music by Barry Gray -- as it turned out, the last music that Gray would ever compose for Anderson. In fact, that would be his last screen work of any kind.)

** The Eagle Transports, possibly the most realistic fictional spacecraft ever created.

This British TV series was created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the creators of ''{{Thunderbirds}}'' and other "{{Supermarionation}}" fare, being produced by Lew Grade's ITC (in co-production with Italy's RAI during the first season, explaining the presence of Italian guest stars). It originally aired in the UK between 1975 and 1977, although several season one episodes were premiered in the US (like "Another Time, Another Place") and Australia (like "Ring Around The Moon"). It consisted of two seasons, each with a different approach; season one was slow-paced and cerebral, whereas season two had more "monster of the week" episodes. Its premise was simple: on September 13th 1999, a ridiculously small explosion blows the moon out of its orbit and accelerates it to a velocity sufficient to send it hurtling out of the solar system and travel interstellar distances in improbably short times.

** A LOT of the aliens had hilariously odd names, especially for those who lived in the UK. Psychons ("The Metamorph") get a pass due to the nature of the plot; however the villain of "The Infernal Machine" being named Gwent (for those who don't know, a council in Wales), the entire episode "The Rules of Luton" (Luton is a town just outside London), and "One Moment of Humanity", which featured aliens called the ''Vegans'' are noteworthy examples.

** David Kano, Moonbase Alpha's computer expert in the first season averts this trope fairly well for a 70s series, and he certainly gets a lot more to do per episode than, say, Lt. Uhura.
** Doctor Matthias, as well, had an important role in many episodes, being one of only two doctors on the base.

* CompleteMonster: Balor in "End of Eternity".

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: "Force of Life", in that [[IanMacshane Zoref]] is a heat-seeking one.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: "Force of Life", in that [[IanMacshane Zoref]] is a heat-seeking one. To a lesser degree, Balor in "End of Eternity".

* FlatCharacter: There's not that much to say about most of the characters beyond the ones who appear in the title sequence, although they tried harder in Season 2.

* {{Antimatter}}: "Matter of Life and Death"

* ActingForTwo: "Seed of Destruction"

* EldritchAbomination: "Space Brain". How the aliens in "War Games" view the Alphans.

* TheMutiny: "The Testament of Arcadia"

* OurWormholesAreDifferent: "Black Sun", "Space Warp"

* GodGuise: "New Adam, New Eve"

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: "Force of Life", in that [[IanMacshane Zoref]] is a heat-seeking one.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Gwent in "The Infernal Machine".

* XDaysSince: Episodes in the second season usually begin with the narration "X days after leaving Earth's orbit". The totals, however, frequently don't agree with numbers used during the first season.
* YouCantFightFate: In "The Troubled Spirit", everything the Alphans do to stop Mateo's "ghost" actually [[spoiler:causes its eventual creation.]]

* {{Gendercide}}: What the combatants in the episode "The Last Enemy" were aiming for.

* InfiniteSupplies: Played Straight and Averted. While Alpha has its own mining and production facilities, this isn't enough to avoid the trope. However, averted in the Season One finale, "Testament of Arcadia". Commander Koenig tells the fanatics who want to settle on a dormant planet that taking the amount of supplies they want will doom the rest of them to a slow death.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The [[spoiler:first baby born on the moonbase in the episode "Alpha Child"]] is never mentioned again.

* YouCantFightFate: [[spoiler: In "The Troubled Spirit", everything the Alphans do to stop Mateo's "ghost" actually causes its eventual creation.]]

* TerraDeforming: In one episode, the Alphans make contact with Earth, where it's a couple of centuries later due to Relativity or something, and the entire population lives in domed cities because the outside environment is toxic. That exact phrase "Who needs nature" has become something of a CatchPhrase, and you get the sense that nobody on Earth is too bothered about the loss of the ecosystem.

** Creator/BrianBlessed played Dr. Cabot Rowlan in an episode of the first season (dying at the end of it), then returned in the second season to play Maya's father (and died again).

->''Many things—beating with a rubber truncheon, water torture, electric shock, incessant noise, reruns of ''Space: 1999''—may cause agony as they occur, yet leave no enduring injury.''