In their book 'Fantastic Television', Gary Gerani and Paul H. Schulman took 'Space:1999' to task for its apparent contempt for the laws of physics, and made the somewhat extraordinary claim that 'these days audiences are used to heavy dollops of science with their science fiction'.<br /><br />Really? Well, I do not remember there being dollops of science, heavy or otherwise, in 'The Six Million Dollar Man' or 'Planet Of The Apes'. If every sci-fi film or television series had to be 100% scientifically accurate, there would be some pretty dull stuff floating around.<br /><br />It was Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's follow-up to 'U.F.O.' and in fact started life as an aborted second season. The premise was that a nuclear waste dump on the Moon had exploded, triggering a series of violent blasts that took it - and the men and women based on 'Moonbase Alpha' - out of the Solar System and careering off into the unknown. The Alphans gave up any hope of getting back to Earth, and began looking for a new home.<br /><br />Martin Landau took up the lead as 'Commander John Koenig', the man responsible for making the important day-to-day decisions concerning the running of the base, while his then-wife Barbara Bain played 'Dr.Helena Russell', Alpha's chief scientific officer. Both had recently starred in the hit series 'Mission: Impossible'. Landau was excellent, while Bain's performance has been the subject of much debate over the years, with many describing her as 'wooden'. I certainly think the show would have benefited from a different actress in the role.<br /><br />Barry Morse played 'Professor Victor Bergman', a sort of father figure to whom everyone turned to for advice. He brought much humour and warmth to what otherwise could have been a stock role.<br /><br />There was hardware a-plenty; the Alphans travelled from one part of the base to another in 'travel tubes' and carried portable communication devices called 'commlocks'. They also had cute looking ray-guns that resembled office staplers! What should have been the second episode - 'Black Sun' - unfortunately went out later in the original run, meaning viewers missed an important plot point - the Moon had passed into a region of space where the normal laws of physics did not apply, hence Dr.Asimov and all those sticklers for scientific accuracy were misinformed in their harsh criticism.<br /><br />'Space: 1999' rightly took the view that entertainment should take precedence over authenticity. The first series rivalled '2001: A Space Odyssey' in terms of grandeur and spectacle. With the exception of 'Dragons Domain', it was a monster-free zone. Episodes such as 'Breakaway', 'Dragons Domain', 'Force Of Life', 'The Infernal Machine', 'End Of Eternity' are worthy of the highest possible praise. Unfortunately, it never quite succeeded in emerging from 'Star Trek's' shadow. Had Year 2 been made to the same standard as 1, I believe this would have happened eventually.<br /><br />It was denied the opportunity to be a hit in Britain because it was not networked. However, it did well enough abroad for a second season to be commissioned. American producer ( and the man who assassinated 'Star Trek' ) Fred Freiburger was brought in first as a head writer, then as producer. He knocked the series out of shape, pushing it down the same road as 'Lost In Space', with ludicrous monsters running amok. Out went Barry Morse and in came Catherine Schell as the shape-changing Psychon 'Maya'. She was lovely but her presence unfortunately negated the need for any imagination in the scripts, as each time the Alphans faced a crisis they simply got her to turn into a monster. Tony Anholt's 'Verdeschi' was another major error. <br /><br />Someone at H.T.V. ( my local I,T.V. region ) must have sensed Year 2 was a no-no - we did not get to see it until 1984! <br /><br />It is a little alarming to watch both seasons in conjunction. So different are they it is hard to reconcile them as being part of the same series. Nevertheless, Year 1 is the best remembered, and stands as one of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's finest productions.