In 1993, some fifteen years since my first/last encounter with the show, I started buying the ITC video releases of Space: 1999. I'm not sure why. I mean I'm not sure what exactly prompted me to start getting them then. I suppose I just saw them and that was it. Space: 1999 had always been my favourite show (at least until Wiseguy arrived here in 1988) and I probably bought that first tape just to see it again. And then I bought another and another, until I had all but one from the first season and almost a third of the second.

The October 1991 edition of Epi-Log was the only episode guide I had at the time. Epi-Log (a superb magazine) devoted twelve pages to the series, including 13 excellent b/w photos from both seasons and the front cover.

Much as I loved (and still love) that episode guide (with it's lengthy synopses of the episodes), I was very disappointed with the Editor's Comments paragraph, which was completely negative. Space: 1999 was Anderson's "worst series"; it's US ratings success was attributed to the "luck" of being in syndication at the same time as Classic Trek. The editor's two basic arguments against the show were it's "absurd" premise, arising from "a scientific impossibility,"; and it's "depressing" story-lines. "Does anything good ever happen to these people?" he asks.

I read this and thought: gee, maybe the moon can't really blast off like that, but it's a damn cool idea, and maybe nothing good ever did happen to the crew, but that - in itself - could make for good TV.

And so, when I started buying the tapes (something I did through '93, '94 and early '95) I immediately went and wrote down my brief thoughts on each episode into the margins of that very Epi-Log.

And here, basically, is what I wrote. Each comment, and rating, scibbled down immediately after watching each episode for the first time.

Tonight, September 12, 1999 (my birthday) I have just watched the concluding episode of Season Two. My last ever episode of Space: 1999. Since March of this year I've been watching the remainer of Year Two. In some cases this was my first time to see the episodes, and in all cases I made sure to come to my PC and write some sort of thoughts down (Hence the reviews written this year are somewhat longer). Eventually, I plan to write some proper reviews, but for now, I thought these might be of interest to other fans.

A+ BREAKAWAY

Excellent. A flawless pilot which stands on its own because it has a story. Straightaway a great sense of place is created. The visuals are impressive. The mystery is compelling.

A+ MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

Excellent. Wildly original, exciting, moving and deep. Lots of it is spectacular. A real gripper from start to finish.

A+ BLACK SUN

Beautiful. One of the very best. It starts off very ordinary, but the conclusion is exceptional and unique to Space: 1999.

C RING AROUND THE MOON

Tedious. Nothing much happens. Just lots of travelling over and back. The FX are superb. The soundtrack is superb. It is enjoyable to see the regulars up against such a mystery. And the ending is thought-provoking. Still a goofy episode, though.

A+ EARTHBOUND

Superb. Slow-moving, but compelling. Great ending. Great acting from Dotrice: "I did what was necessary, not what was right." Excellent sets and FX.

A+ ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE

Superb. What a novel story! Clever, unusual, sad, gloomy, thought-provoking and memorable.

C MISSING LINK

Disappointing. A slow-moving, but still oddly compelling episode. It's vague and somewhat dull, but it does pose some interesting questions. But absolutely nothing happens.

C GUARDIAN OF PIRI

Unexceptional. Just an outer space adventure, with a very boring message. The visuals are superb, but there is nothing happening that is worth caring about. Too long for the material. Very weak.

A+ FORCE OF LIFE

Brilliant. This simple story is very well directed, making it eerie and scary. The use of colour and lighting is remarkable. Ian McShane gives a stunning performance. Another good ending.

# ALPHA CHILD

A+ THE LAST SUNSET

Another great story. And it is brilliantly exectued. It builds to yet another downbeat ending. Could have done without the voice at the end, though. Great sci-fi story-telling.

# VOYAGERS RETURN

A+ COLLISION COURSE

Superb. A thrilling intro, a super story and epic storytelling propel this one into the arena of classics. Great finish. Superb guest-acting. One of the most beautiful episodes. An example of this show at it's very best.

# DEATHS OTHER DOMINION

A+ THE FULL CIRCLE

Superb. One of the most original and most thought-provoking episodes. The final moments are excellent. It is also a great adventure yarn, and it gives all of the cast a lot to do. Wonderful.

A+ END OF ETERNITY

Masterpiece. Brilliantly filmed. Has some excellent scenes. Austin at his best. The story raises questions unique to sci-fi. The climax is clever, and the final scene haunting. One of the most pleasurable hours imaginable.

A- WAR GAMES

An ordinary story is lifted by the statement it makes. One of the saddest, most downbeat episodes ever. The sense of profound loss lingers long after viewing.

A+ THE LAST ENEMY

One of the best and most original. Has some very strong points to make, and makes them amid a ton of explosions. A slow, somber, realistic four hours.

B THE TROUBLED SPIRIT

Good. Has very clever touches, and is extremely well directed. But it goes nowhere and amounts to nothing. Entertaining. But weird.

C SPACE BRAIN

Bad. The climax has Alpha over-run by soap-suds. Soap suds! Truly ridiculous. The story, however, is probably the shows most depressing. It has quite a message. But, c'mon, soap suds!!

C+ THE INFERNAL MACHINE

Slow, storyless and obvious. Might be a good half-hour. Excellent performances, truly excellent finish, but a daft story.

A+ MISSION OF THE DARIANS

Space: 1999 at it's very best. An epic adventure set inside a vast spaceship. An episode you immediately want to watch again.

A+ DRAGONS' DOMAIN

Excellent. Contains a great monster and a great hero. An absorbing and lonely episode. Scary, too. The long flashback is terrific. Has character warmth and humour. Great music.

A+ THE TESTAMENT OF ARKADIA

A powerful and unusual look at religion. Story type unique to Space: 1999. Baddies are religious zealots/fanatics. Alphans oblivious to the wonders around them.

# THE METAMORPH

B+ THE EXILES

A standard good/evil yarn. Has moments of depth, with Koenig's suspicions. But much is unexplained or non-sensical. Enjoyable and visually stunning, as well as hilarious in places.

A+ ONE MOMENT OF HUMANITY

Superb. Gripping, fast-moving, enjoyable, very thoughtful. The four central characters come across superbly. The visuals and soundtrack are sumptuous.

A ALL THAT GLISTERS

Great action-adventure. Creating suspense that only this show can. The mystery is very engrossing. Reilly goes from irritating/embarrassing to endearing. Great ending.

A+ JOURNEY TO WHERE

Epic adventure. From one side of the universe to the other and back into the past. A whirlwind of ideas and wild concepts. Absolutely no holds barred. Fantastic. It is both humorous and sad. One of the loneliest episodes ever. All five principles are used to the full. The ideas here are incredible. Impossible to do this story on any other TV series.

B+ THE TAYBOR

Enjoyable. Lost-in-Space-ish tale. Very light and campy, but with depth. He said he wanted companionship, but... what he wanted was beauty.

B+ THE RULES OF LUTON

Action-adventure. Another Star Trek rip-off. But a well done one. It uses the two best characters, and even explores their back-grounds. Killing; laws; enemies; life. All get an airing.

A THE MARK OF ARCHANON

Really good. A thought-provoking adventure. Well crafted and full of depth. On the down-side, Alan is badly written and comes across as a bit of a nit-wit!!

A- BRIAN THE BRAIN

An extremely wild idea. The climax is a rip-off of The Changeling. The episode sets out to say several things and some are muddled. But the whole thing is entertaining and enjoyable. Shame about the rip-off.

A NEW ADAM, NEW EVE

Good. The biggest strength of this one is the strong guest actor. Camera tricks are also very impressive. Once again, the four regulars are to the forefront, and - once again - they shine.

B CATACOMBS OF THE MOON

Average. In many ways you could almost call it a paraody of a season one episode, because its seems as if it is trying to be deep and ponderous. But, in the end, it's not deep enough. As ever, though, the cast and sets and FX and score are superb.

A+ SEED OF DESTRUCTION

Brilliant. The third absolutely top-notch episode of the season. The "Evil Doppleganger" story is a staple of sci-fi but I love the way it is treated here. Which is that the crew argue a lot and try to figure out what is going on. In other words, it is a realisic treatment of a fantastic element. And the excellent script keeps it up right to the finish, with a superb climax where the bad-guy tries every lie he can to keep the pretense up. Wonderful.

A+ THE AB CHRYSALIS

Top Notch. Another wonderful outing from year two (marred only by the silly 'upbeat' acting in the final scene). Visually this is one to gape at. Luscious models, beautiful planets and gorgeous sets. Robotic guardians appearing as boucing white spheres, and aliens in the nude, shrouded by mist. Fantastic. The spheres are quite hypnotic, and Koenig's argument with the aliens utterly gripping, as he pleads for the existance of Alpha. The opening scenes pull you straight in, with the doom-laden countdown and powerful explosion. Alan Carter has a lot to do and, unlike "The Mark Of Archanon", he doesn't come across as an idiot. As the episode winds down, escape truly seems impossible. You can't ask for better that that. It really is hard to imagine how this episode could possibly have been better.

A+ THE BETA CLOUD

Great. Much to my surprise and delight this is the third superb episode in a row. From the get-go it's action action all the way. An excellent alien costume, a great soundtrack, very good filming and editing and great use of the regular characters make this a top notch hour of TV. It amounts to nothing, and Frieberger doesn't even bother to explain what's it's all about about, but it is hugely entertaining. This is about as far removed from Season One as you are ever likely to get, but it's still going to rate as one of my all-time favourites.

A A MATTER OF BALANCE

Very Good. Two excellent guest stars, a pretty good story, a good monster suit and a nippy pace. Very enjoyable.

B+ SPACE WARP

Alright. Similar to - but not as much fun as - "The Beta Cloud." The fact that Koenig and Tony find a way back strains credibility to the limits. And we are never told what exactly is going on with Maya. Sloppy. However, for all it's flaws, it's a still a hugely enjoyable episode. Fast paced, exciting and visually stunning. In terms of sets, FX, filming, monster suits, etc. etc. it excels beyond what any other TV show ever accomplished. The Eagle crash is somewhat stunning. As is the excursion out onto the moon.

B THE BRINGERS OF WONDER

Tedious. There isn't enough story here to sustain two full episodes, so you get a lot of padding: scenes of the Alphans greeting their buddies-from-earth, scenes of Koenig begging to be released, and scenes of our heroes trying to stop Carter and his two friends. Over and over and over. It gets quite boring.

B THE LAMBDA FACTOR

Nothing Special. It's the type of story done in Season One, but not quite as well. That said, it does convey a good sense of life on Alpha, and Tony and Alan have a fair bit of stuff to do. The villainess is terrific, and her identity is successfully concealed for quite a while. In fact, everything unfolds splendidly. The closing scenes where we realise (a) what has been happening to Koenig, and (b) why he will be able to defeat the baddie, are very satisfying indeed. Landau, of course, excels in his role as the haunted Koenig.

A THE SEANCE SPECTRE

Good. When I realised that this was shaping up to be a story about some Alphans turning on Koenig, I wasn't expecting much. But the performances and story drew me in. Ken Hutchison is particularly good. And the scenes with the others in his team convey a great sense of comerarderie. This is one of those wonderful episodes with a real epic feel to it. A major evacuation, a collision course, a massive nuclear explosion... This is BIG storytelling. And I love it. I was also very pleased with the final scene. When you first see a lot of unhappy people staring at images of lush country side, you are inclined to think that maybe, just maybe, Sanderson was right and this is the Alphans staring at a missed opportunity.

A DORZAK

Another good one. Christopher Penfold does himself proud with this engrossing little tale. In the absense of Koenig, Carter and Tony make excellent leads. In many ways this is Carter's episode and Nick Tate is at his best. The leading guest star is wonderful and the two of them are wonderful on screen. The story is well written enough so that you aren't completely sure that Dorzak will turn out to be a baddie, yet you can be fairly certain. The ESP blocking device is cleverly introduced and it's function is well hidden until you need to find out. From start to finish this was very entertaining.

A DEVIL'S PLANET

Superb (again). An episode totally carried by Landau as Koenig (assisted by John Hug as Frazier). The story is strong and interesting, the villain is top-notch, the sets awesome, and the chase scenes (action sequences) very exciting. Hildegarde Neil and Roy Marsden are excellent and both are given some very strong scenes. The climax is particularly good, with the showdown between characters utterly rivetting and the actual end memorable. I really enjoyed the fact that Frazier had so much to do. Landau, as always, was great.

A- THE IMMUNITY SYNDROME

Excellent, apart from a weak ending. The show seems to be on something of a roll, and this is the fourth highly enjoyable episode in a row. Production values are impressive, with elaborate planet sets, an impressive dome interior and lots of excellent model work. Although Koenig has most to do, the action is spread nicely among everybody else. The choice of camera angles impressed me throughout, and gives the impression of being a big budget feature. The only flaw in the entire episode is the conclusion. Koenig looks positively stupid in his big silver suit (!) and the brief conversation he has with the alien is nonsense. Pseudo-depth, really. Had it been expanded properly it could have been the basis for a really intelligent episode. Instead, it stands out badly in what is basically an action-adventure story.

A- THE DORCONS

Good. There's nothing special about this, the final episode of Space: 1999 and indeed the early scenes are a bit OTT, but overall it develops into an enjoyable yarn, with Koenig caught between the various desires/ambitions of the guest characters. The first half, on Moonbase Alpha is a bit talky and uninteresting. Things come alive when Koenig follows Maya and starts a one man crusade against the enemy forces. Byrne did a great job of creating a truly unbeatable foe and when victory becomes possible - through the evil nephew - it comes as a delightful surprise to the viewer. All in all, an enjoyable hour of TV and not a bad way to bid adieu to (virtually) my favourite TV show of all time.

Review by Michael Leddy

Comments are welcome: rikerdonegal@hotmail.com

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