Space: 1999 - Set Eight (Episodes 43-48)
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.
Dorzak isn’t a classic, but it does salvage this first disc by giving us something that isn’t primarily a paranormal plotline. Dark Shadows’ Kathryn Leigh Scott makes a guest appearance in a story that puts Maya’s loyalties to the test.
But don’t hold your breath - the first episode of the final disc, Devil’s Planet reminds me of nothing so much as the lowest-common-denominator, sub-Ed-Wood sci-fi (with a capital “sci” and a capital “fi”) serials of the 50s. Amazon women in tight red spandex trying to break Koenig’s will? Eeeeeeyeah. If the show hadn’t already passed a few jump-the-shark moments, this definitely would’ve qualified as a milestone.
The Immunity Syndrome strands several key characters on the surface of an inviting but deadly world, and the unusual pairing of Helena Russell and Maya must go against orders to save them. I’ll give the episode points for that unusual teaming of characters, but other than that it doesn’t rank up there with the best shows.
Finally, we come to The Dorcons, the last episode of the series. It’s good to see guest star Patrick Troughton outside of the TARDIS, seen here as the despotic ruler of a race pledged to hunt the Psychons to extinction - a task made a lot easier by the fact that Maya’s the last one. A fairly interesting episode, this is yet another plotline that later seemed to be echoed by Star Trek: Voyager countless times (I’m thinking of several episodes in which someone wanted to take their revenge on the Borg out on Seven of Nine).
A variety of real live bonuses spice up this last set, with special effects behind-the-scenes footage, rare commercials, and interviews. Man, if only these DVDs had been like this all along.
So, what’s the final summation? My closing thoughts after wading through both seasons of Space: 1999? A very interesting series, deeply flawed in places, and - though one could make this charge about any number of shows - many elements almost fatally date the show. I still stand by my assertion that this is what Paramount’s aborted 1970s Star Trek revival would’ve been like - too serious for its own good, simultaneously too goofy for its own good in places, and yet still strangely appealing. The first season, I’m okay with. The second season, overall…I can think of a total of less than half a dozen episodes I’d want to revisit. Fred Freiberger, may he rest in peace, did Space: 1999 about as many favors as he did for the third season of the original Star Trek - by trying to establish a mood and a look without really setting any storytelling goals to accomplish, he turned both shows into pale shadows of their former selves (and that’s saying something with this series!), and arguably may have made a better case for either show’s cancellation than any detractor could have given.
But it’s also important to be fair and not lay all of the blame at the late Mr. Freiberger’s feet. The first part of season two aired in 1976, while the last few episodes aired from August 1977 onward. Something very big happened in that gap, something beginning with Star and ending in Wars. As brilliant as Brian Johnson’s special effects were, as colorful as the costumes were, as neat as the sets were…the bar had been raised, and how. As in: how could something which, even at the time, was so obviously tied to the 70s (witness Derek Wadsworth’s discofied second season soundtrack music, as opposed to the less era-specific neo-classical of Barry Gray’s first season music) compare to that galaxy far, far away? It couldn’t. Many a rumor and many a story from the set has also recounted the influence of the egos of the two top-billed stars, and that probably wasn’t helping much if that was the case.
In the meantime, the post-Star Wars world of TV science fiction was shaping up. The BBC poured a little more money into Doctor Who, but to snatch the crown of Space: 1999’s serious-space-drama category, another series about rogues and rebels in a dystopian future had been concocted to compete with Space: 1999 (little did the BBC know that it wouldn’t be back to compete with). And overseas, the bar had certainly been raised, and Glen Larson’s Battlestar Galactica was shaping up to be “Star Wars for television” (to paraphrase Doug Netter) with an astronomical budget to match, and it too would be sold overseas. If nothing else, Space: 1999 can be held up as the last time for - arguably - at least two decades that British SF TV and American SF TV were on an equal footing in terms of production values.
Could anything have been done to keep the show going? Not without a hefty budget increase - but even that wasn’t going to buy better scripts without someone steering the ship. So whether you blame it on Freiberger, or blame it on George Lucas, or blame it on the times, like it or not, after The Dorcons, Space: 1999’s shelf life was up. And that’s sad because, almost begrudgingly, whether through the haze of memory of not having seen it for years or right after finishing yet another DVD set, on a certain level I still liked the show.
Also, note to some of the writers of Star Trek: Voyager - you need to send Gerry Anderson a royalty check. I’ve tried to bite my tongue in the course of writing these reviews and running into so many familiar storylines. I’ve tried to chalk it up to a similarity of theme - a crew whose vehicle is stranded alone with no way home, and yet has enough power to explore on its own - but there are far too many instances of almost exact copies of Space: 1999 storylines in Star Trek: Voyager’s history. I’m not saying the whole show was ripped off, but certain select stories…come a bit too close for me to be convinced that it was just a coincidence. Whether consciously, or perhaps through some unconsciously, unintentionally recycled memories of Space: 1999 (I’m really trying to offer every possibly benefit of every possible doubt here), a substantial number of this series’ stories would up reappearing later on Voyager. And that’s all I’m going to say about that particular issue.