By Broadcasting Brain
Space: 1999, the first major science fiction television series to follow Star Trek, deserves a second chance at life. Space: 1999, which ran from 1975-77, chronicles the adventures of an international crew of scientists and specialists on Earth’s Moon. Although it was cancelled after two seasons, fans still fondly remember the series. In light of other pop culture recycling that permeates today’s creative content, why not see what can be reused from this series?
As Space: 1999 begins, Commander John Koenig arrives at Moonbase Alpha, charged with ensuring the successful launch of a manned deep space probe after a series of mysterious crew deaths. His old colleague Professor Victor Bergman is there as chief scientist and advisor, while Chief Medical Officer Dr. Helena Russell tries to determine the cause of the deaths. The cause is determined to be radiation poisoning from unstable nuclear waste disposal sites, which explode, blasting the Moon out of Earth’s orbit, on an unknown trajectory at unknown speed, towards open space.
The series is a story of survival, adventure, and hope as the crew of Moonbase Alpha, the only manned settlement not on the Earth, searches for a new home in space. They encounter aliens, other humanoid civilizations, space phenomena, fearsome machines, and have several failed encounters with planets which could have provided homes for the lost Earthlings. You might see some parallels with later series like Battlestar Galactica (both versions) and Star Trek: Voyager.
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