Space: 1999

Space: 1999
Premiere	September 4, 1975
Finale	November 12, 1977
Creator	Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Network/Provider	ITV
Style	60-minute sci-fi drama
Company	Group 3 Ltd., Incorporated Television Company, Radiotelevisione Italiana (season 1)
Seasons	2
Episodes	48
Origin	UK

Space: 1999 is a sci-fi drama that aired on ITV.

Produced by Gerry Anderson, Space: 1999 tells of the voyages of Moonbase Alpha. The moon has been used as a dumping ground for Earth's nuclear waste for some time, Alpha oversees this function among other things. In 1999 a freak accident occurs and the stockpile of nuclear waste explodes, pushing the moon out of Earth's orbit and hurtling into space. With no way of returning to Earth, they find themselves stranded on Alpha, and are effectively moving aimlessly through space. They encounter new life forms and civilizations, and hope one day they will be able to leave Alpha and settle on a habitable planet. Heading Moonbase Alpha was its commander, John Koenig, who was assisted by base medical officer Dr. Helena Russell (with whom he later developed a romantic relationship), second-in-command Paul Morrow (replaced by Tony Verdeschi in the second season) and science advisor Prof. Victor Bergman. In Season Two, the Moonbase Alpha crew was joined by new science officer Maya, a metamorph who could turn into any living thing she chose to become, as a replacement for the presumed-deceased Bergman.

The series bears many comparisons with Star Trek, especially season two, which was produced by Fred Frieberger, who also worked on Star Trek. To sell the series to North American markets, Lew Grade, the owner of ITC Entertainment (which co-produced the series), insisted on the casting of American actors as the lead characters, so series co-creator Gerry Anderson cast Martin Landau and Barbara Bain (the husband-and-wife acting team who previously had appeared as regulars on Mission: Impossible) as the show's leads over the objections of co-creator Sylvia Anderson, who had initially wanted British actors in the lead roles, then noted that since Grade wanted American actors as the leads, she would have chosen Robert Culp (of I Spy fame) and Katharine Ross (who appeared in feature films The Graduate and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid).

After failing to get the interest of the American broadcast networks, ITC was able to sell Space: 1999 into first-run syndication on local American stations beginning in the fall of 1975. In Canada, CBC Television also picked up the series, initially for regional airing on some of its owned-and-operated stations with its airtime varying, then giving it full network clearance on both its O&Os and its privately-owned affiliates in the fall of 1976, usually airing at 5:00 p.m. local time on Saturdays (except in the Atlantic provinces, where it aired at 6:00 p.m. in the Atlantic Time Zone/6:30 p.m. Newfoundland Time); during the National Hockey League season from October to April, Space: 1999 aired in the late afternoons, prior to telecasts of Hockey Night in Canada.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
ITV
Season One	September 4, 1975	February 19, 1976				24
Season Two	September 4, 1976	November 12, 1977				24

In-Depth

At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Complete Series  (Region 1)
30th Anniversary Edition Megaset			July 31, 2007	purchase		17
Megaset			September 24, 2002	purchase		17
Episode Collections  (Region 1)
Set 1			January 30, 2001	purchase		2
Set 2			January 30, 2001	purchase		2
Set 3			July 31, 2001	purchase		2
Set 4			July 31, 2001	purchase		2
Set 5			February 26, 2002	purchase		2
Set 6			February 26, 2002	purchase		2
Set 7			June 25, 2002	purchase		2
Set 8			June 25, 2002	purchase		2

External Links

• Space: 1999 on IMDb

• opening credits for season 2on YouTube