Destination: Moonbase Alpha Read online

  DESTINATION:

  MOONBASE ALPHA

  THE UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORISED GUIDE TO

  SPACE: 1999

  ROBERT E. WOOD

  First published in the United Kingdom in 2009 by

  Telos Publishing Ltd

  17 Pendre Avenue, Prestatyn, Denbighshire, LL19 9SH

  www.telos.co.uk

  Telos Publishing Ltd values feedback. Please e-mail us with any comments you may have about this book to: [email protected]

  This edition 2014

  Destination: Moonbase Alpha © 2009, 2014 Robert E. Wood

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person then please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For Barry Morse (1918-2008) and Johnny Byrne (1935-2008).

  The heart and soul of Space: 1999, both on-screen and behind the scenes.

  ‘To everything that might have been …

  To everything that was.’

  CONTENTS

  Introduction and Acknowledgements by Robert E. Wood

  Foreword by Zienia Merton

  Year One: Introduction

  Year One: Production Credits

  1.1 Breakway

  1.2 Matter of Life and Death

  1.3 Black Sun

  1.4 Ring Around the Moon

  1.5 Earthbound

  1.6 Another Time, Another Place

  1.7 Missing Link

  1.8 Guardian of Piri

  1.9 Force of Life

  1.10 Alpha Child

  1.11 The Last Sunset

  1.12 Voyager’s Return

  1.13 Collision Course

  1.14 Death’s Other Dominion

  1.15 The Full Circle

  1.16 End of Eternity

  1.17 War Games

  1.18 The Last Enemy

  1.19 The Troubled Spirit

  1.20 Space Brain

  1.21 The Infernal Machine

  1.22 Mission of the Darians

  1.23 Dragon’s Domain

  1.24 The Testament of Arkadia

  Year One: Overview

  The Metamorphosis of Space: 1999

  The Disappearance of Professor Bergman

  Year Two: Introduction

  Year Two: Production Credits

  2.1 The Metamorph

  2.2 The Exiles

  2.3 One Moment of Humanity

  2.4 All That Glisters

  2.5 Journey to Where

  2.6 The Taybor

  2.7 The Rules of Luton

  2.8 The Mark of Archanon

  2.9 Brian the Brain

  2.10 New Adam New Eve

  2.11 Catacombs of the Moon

  2.12 The AB Chrysalis

  2.13 Seed of Destruction

  2.14 The Beta Cloud

  2.15 Space Warp

  2.16 A Matter of Balance

  2.17 The Bringers of Wonder Part One

  2.18 The Bringers of Wonder Part Two

  2.19 The Lambda Factor

  2.20 The Séance Spectre

  2.21 Dorzak

  2.22 Devil’s Planet

  2.23 The Immunity Syndrome

  2.24 The Dorcons

  Year Two: Overview

  The Abandoned Year Three

  The Space: 1999 Movies

  Fan-Produced Episodes

  Message from Moonbase Alpha

  The Return of Victor Bergman

  Judgement

  Hindsight: 1999

  A Return to Moonbase Alpha?

  Afterword by Barry Morse

  Appendix – Space 1999 Books and Merchandise

  Cast and Crew Index

  Reference Index

  INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  In late 1973, a television production team came together to create what they intended to be the most spectacular space science fiction series ever. Following an unprecedented shooting schedule of over 15 months, Space: 1999 premiered in 1975 with a spectacular opening episode, ‘Breakaway’. The programme continued through a second season, for a total of 48 episodes of widely varied style, tone and content – concluding in 1977 with an episode called ‘The Dorcons’. Despite Space: 1999’s relatively short run, the adventures of Moonbase Alpha would continue to capture the hearts and minds of viewers in all the years since.

  Regardless of what happened with network schedules, rating shares and critics in the 1970s, it is clear that today – more than 30 years since the series ended – Space: 1999 retains a loyal cult following around the world. Ultimately this is its vindication against whatever the harshest and most biased of critics could hurl at it. This book is presented in the desire to provide that conclusive reckoning owed to Space: 1999 – the crown jewel in Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s television career and, indeed, the crowning achievement in the careers of many of those who worked on it.

  Barry Morse once said to me, in relation to another topic, ‘I don’t know if the subject is thoroughly exhausted, but I certainly am!’ Those words echo in my mind as I consider the effort and time involved in writing this book … but it’s been an amazing pleasure.

  A note on the number ratings I’ve assigned to the episodes in this book: I have endeavoured to compare each season on its own merits. Therefore, Year One episodes are judged against other Year One episodes, and the same for Year Two. This seemed the fairest way to rate the episodes, given the divergence between the seasons. Many of Year Two’s episodes would have ranked significantly lower if I had judged them against the standards of Year One.

  Many people have contributed to the creation of this volume and I am delighted to acknowledge them. First, I want to thank Martin Willey (webmaster of The Catacombs – www.space1999.net/catacombs) for his generous assistance in so many ways, including providing an invaluable edit of this tome. The contributors to The Catacombs whose work has also helped enrich this book must be thanked, including Marcus Lindroos and Shaqui le Vesconte. I am greatly appreciative of all the assistance, advice, permissions, information and encouragement provided to me by the following: Martin Bower (model-maker extraordinaire – visit him online at www.martinbowersmodelworld.co.uk), Kit Bevan, Anthony Wynn, Paul Stankevitch, Hayward Morse, Sandy Byrne, Sandra Sprecker, David Ross, Ken Scott, Terry S Bowers, Tim Mallett and Glenn Pearce (Kindred Productions), Fanderson, Lis Therkildsen and Steen Pederson, Jovan Evermann, Phil Merkel and Chris Bentley (author of The Complete Gerry Anderson). I’d also like to thank Telos Publishing Ltd, Stephen James Walker and David J Howe for inviting me to embark on this project, and for making the experience so enjoyable.

  A special thank you to Prentis Hancock for being the ever-observant and supportive core of Main Mission – to this day. I am enormously grateful to Zienia Merton for her foreword, and all her valuable and caring encouragement. I am also deeply honoured to thank the late Barry Morse posthumously for his afterword, and his endless kindness.

  Finally, my eternal thanks to all of the actors, writers and production team quoted within these pages – it is through your words that this book is able to deliver a truly comprehensive account of Space: 1999, Moonbase Alpha, and those who sailed on her …

  Robert E Wood

  FOREWORD

  Zienia Merton

  I remember that whilst having lunch at Pinewood during the first
few months of Year One of Space: 1999 an actor (I had worked with him previously) promptly proposed to me on learning of the length of my contract. Well, why not – I could have taken care of the rent for a good wee while. I was always aware that while most of my fellow actors rather envied the long term run of the job, they were rather disdainful of the subject matter – a ‘sci-fi’ series – oh, the poor soul. Much more kudos on your CV to be ‘third attendant from the left’ in an out-of-town production of Much Ado About Nothing. Well, they may have been right – I have no way of knowing.

  However, Space: 1999 has certainly reached a greater audience, and as a young actress, Year One was my university. Working on a daily basis with an incredibly professional, helpful and warm group of people enabled me to learn (and, as important, relax) my craft. Invaluable and a gift from the gods.

  This book is a tribute to all who worked on and enjoyed the series, and Robert E Wood is to be praised for his dedication in the hours he spent editing and transcribing the myriad of tapes and interviews from the various conventions over the years. I know from speaking to a few folk that they have found it an invaluable record of the show from various aspects.

  There has always been some discussion as to a preference for either Year One or Year Two. I am definitely a Year One kinda gal. (The departure of Sylvia Anderson made it a very simple choice for me!) Well, no doubt the debate will continue. What I do want to say is that from conversations with fans across the globe, I know that they did love the series, and because of that common ground, amazing and lasting friendships have been formed, traversing all boundaries, and I feel honored to have been part of a team that brought that about. If these friendships were Moonbase Alpha’s legacy then we can all feel proud of it.

  Zienia Merton

  YEAR ONE

  INTRODUCTION

  Space: 1999 arrived on the television scene in the autumn of 1975 amid a blast of promotion and hype. It was, as the show’s production company ITC Entertainment stated in promotional material, ‘The Most Spectacular and Expensive Space Science Fiction Series Ever Produced for Television.’

  ORIGIN

  ITC was a British production and distribution company formed in 1954 by television mogul Lew Grade. It specialised in action-adventure television series (such as The Saint and The Prisoner), children’s programming (The Muppet Show) and films (On Golden Pond), produced for worldwide markets. Many ITC productions featured American leading stars specifically to appeal to the US market. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson ran one company that frequently produced shows for ITC. The Andersons had spent many years developing their careers in television, and were the creative force behind a number of popular programmes starring puppets, including Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5, Stingray and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. They moved on to live action projects with their 1969 film Doppelganger (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun), a valiant effort to break into the adult drama market while maintaining the quality special effects with which Anderson projects were already strongly associated. From there they created and produced 26 episodes of the adult-orientated live-action science fiction series UFO, starring Ed Bishop, which debuted in the UK in 1970.

  In 1972, Gerry Anderson produced and directed a one-off science fiction pilot (again featuring puppets), called The Investigator, which was never screened on television. Then, in 1973, Anderson completed production on the second season of his next series, The Protectors, an action-adventure show starring Robert Vaughn, Nyree Dawn Porter and Tony Anholt. UFO had by this point proved an initial success in syndication in the United States, and ITC chairman Lew Grade commissioned the Andersons to bring it back for a second series. UFO was set in 1980 and had been based around the idea of aliens invading Earth. The concept was moved forward 19 years and became known as UFO 2 and then UFO: 1999, and considerable effort was put into pre-production design work. However, as ratings for UFO dropped in the key US markets of New York and Los Angeles, Grade informed Anderson that he was no longer interested in financing a second series. This left the Andersons with a choice – abandon all the work they (and others, such as production designer Keith Wilson) had put into the second series of UFO, or rework the material into something entirely new. Anderson proposed to Grade that he and Sylvia would revamp the already-completed design work into a new science fiction series that would incorporate spectacular special effects with human-interest stories, and Grade agreed.

  As Gerry Anderson recalled: ‘The first 17 episodes of UFO led the ratings in New York and Los Angeles, which are the two key markets in America. So it was hugely successful. The American office [of ITC] phoned through and said, “Gerry, quick – we want a second series.” We started to get ready for a second series and then for some reason or other the ratings dipped a little, which they always do on shows. They panicked and told Lew Grade to cancel the series. I was very upset, so I went to see Lew and I said, “Look, I’ve done a lot of work and I reckon I could twist this around and make it into another science fiction show.”’

  The new programme was to be the latest model off the ITC/Anderson production line, and was assigned a greatly expanded budget. As such, its international marketability became a prime concern, leading to input from Abe Mandell, President of ITC in New York. Mandell expressed the desire that this new series not be set on Earth (as UFO had been) at all. Gerry Anderson’s response was to suggest blowing up the Earth, thus ensuring the series would have to take place in outer space. However, it was discussed and concluded that blowing up the Earth might make viewers at home a little uncomfortable. So the concept of blowing up the Moon was developed, and the new series initially became known as Menace in Space. Through the autumn of 1973, as plans continued to progress, the working title was changed to Space Probe and then to Space Journey: 1999. Among other titles considered for the series were Space Intruders, The Space Ark and Journey Into Space.

  Gerry Anderson relates: ‘I was told that American audiences liked to see shows where Earth people are constantly meeting aliens and going from planet to planet. I didn’t want to copy Star Trek. At the time, I had been toying with the idea of doing a series about a Moon base, which looking to the near future is very feasible. And so I presented a format that initially dealt with life on the Moon. And the criticism I received from the States was this: if we proceeded with the show, it wouldn’t be long before the writers started taking us back to Earth … which isn’t what the States wanted. Abe Mandell, the president of Lew’s company in New York, phoned and said, “I want you to do something that will make it impossible for you to shoot a show on Earth.” So I had to find a way of making that impossible. So we blew the Moon out of orbit. Taking into account the current problems of disposing of nuclear waste, it seemed to me that the Moon might be a good place to store the stuff. And, if there was an accident and if the velocity was to be increased as the result of such an explosion, the Moon would go off on a rampant trajectory, which would mean that unlike the crew of the Enterprise, our people would never know where they were going to go next. It would not be a controlled flight. In fact, it would be a decidedly out of control flight. Very adventuresome, that.’

  Production designer Keith Wilson has given his own account of the origins of Space: 1999: ‘I’m probably the [longest-standing] member of the team in relation to working with Gerry Anderson. I actually started in the film industry working for Gerry Anderson 40 years ago, so I worked on everything Gerry did up until Space: 1999. Not that I was the designer of the early shows, but during that period I began to design more and more. We came to do UFO and I got involved designing almost everything: costumes, sets, all that stuff. Then we went off to do The Protectors, and during that time a friend (who again was someone who had worked for Gerry Anderson for a long time) and I decided that we would like to write a television series. Not many people know this. And we did – we wrote a television series. We did it in our spare time. We did the format for the show, named the characters, and basically it was about the end of the Earth. A team of peo
ple, unbeknown to governments, has built a base on the Moon. And the Earth is destroyed, and they travel through space on the Moon. We went to Gerry Anderson with this series and said, “Might be quite interesting. Lew Grade might be interested in a new series.” Gerry took it and said, “Yes, very good. Very good.” Months went by and I said to this friend, “No word from Gerry? Has he said anything? Has he read it?” He said, “I don’t know.” So, we went to see him. We said, “Gerry, can we have the format back for the show?” He looked at us like we were stupid. “What? Oh, I don’t know where it is. It’s in a drawer somewhere.” A couple years later, guess what comes along? So, you could say the original idea for Space: 1999 was mine.’

  The original Space: 1999 Writer’s Guide was compiled by George Bellak and Christopher Penfold and was dated 3 September 1973. The Guide laid out the essential tenets of the series. It established the basic physical layout of Moonbase Alpha, the approximate size of its crew (300 – although ‘Breakaway’ would state the exact number as 311), and the various sections that comprise the base (Main Mission, Medical and Psychological, Technical and Engineering, Reconnaissance, Security, and the Service Unit). Aspects of life on Alpha such as relaxation and feeding were considered carefully and, after detailing how people could bring a certain amount of their own personal possessions to Alpha from Earth for their tour of duty, the Guide stated, “A weird collection of idiosyncrasies would be reflected … This is one way in which we hope to populate Moonbase Alpha with credible human beings with whom we can readily identify.”

  In October of 1973, Lew Grade officially announced that Space: 1999 was about to enter production. The first season of Space: 1999 was billed as ‘A Group Three Production’. Group Three was a company formed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, in partnership with Reg Hill (who served as Production Executive for Space: 1999). The first series produced by Group Three was The Protectors. Following its success, Group Three then produced Year One of Space: 1999. At the end of Year One, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson would separate, with Sylvia removing herself from her business arrangements with Gerry. Thus, Group Three was dissolved.