So here we are, at the end of the Space: 1999 odyssey. Diving right into the first disc, The Lambda Factor – by Doctor Who’s former script editor Terrance Dicks – is a bit of an oddball psi-powers story, and possibly its most interesting element is in pushing Tony Verdeschi to the forefront of the action.

The Seance Sceptre chases this down with another psi-powers story, though it at least has the good graces to kick things off with the weirdest and yet grooviest teaser of the entire series (it’s a montage under a long electric sitar solo). You might notice a very young Carolyn Seymour (recognizable from many a later Star Trek and Babylon 5 guest appearance) among the guest stars. (more…)

featuring the episodes Metamorphosis and Friday’s Child

So…the raggedy alcoholic Zefram Cochrane we saw in Star Trek: First Contact (and later, in more cleaned-up, respectable form in the series premiere of Star Trek: Enterprise) was once this vastly-more-presentable football champ of a young man? (more…)

I thought that The Matrix had shown me the pinnacle of DVD cool. Then the Star Wars prequel DVDs raised the bar. The Doctor Who DVDs set a high water mark for TV on DVD. Babylon 5 sure didn’t hurt either. But get this: the Spacecraft Films archive releases are in the same league as all of the above, at least – and the closest approximation of any specific category that I can imagine is that of “documentary.”

Put simply, Spacecraft Films’ DVDs are digitally remastered, unedited archives of all of NASA’s existing footage from a given mission or series of missions. Apollo 8: Leaving The Cradle is a breathtaking archive of the first manned mission to leave Earth’s orbit and swing around another body in our solar system. (more…)

featuring the episodes Operation – Annihilate! and Catspaw

They can’t all be winners, and this volume – spanning the end of the first season and the beginning of the second – proves that. Operation – Annihilate! is a relatively flashy action showcase surrounding an alien infestation of the planet where Kirk’s brother Sam lives. The aliens, resembling nothing so much as Silly Putty left out in the sun too long, fly around on lengths of regrettably visible wire, attempting to attach themselves to their would-be victims to control their bodies. (more…)