Vienna
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Post by Vienna on Sept 3, 2015 18:34:10 GMT
As Series 2 is finally out on Blu-ray this autumn, I thought we should have a thread for this TV show. This science-fiction series was the most expensive produced for British television at the time and the last production by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The series centres on the the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research station on the Moon, who are blasted into outer space by a massive thermonuclear blast on 13th September 1999. Although rather dated now, and with incomprehensible plots and wooden acting, this was my favourite TV show as a young kitten in the 1970s. Anybody used to watch this?
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Sept 3, 2015 19:51:51 GMT
I remember watching it as a young lad but don't really remember any of the story lines. I mainly watched it because i loved the space craft. Of course our very own Harry Aitch Fielder pops up in this series. Who had the Dinky model complete with droppable pod
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Post by Sam Tyler on Sept 3, 2015 20:59:07 GMT
This was a series that passed me by. I never got into watching it at all as my 'Anderson' enjoyment started to wane with Joe 90. I loved Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, and most of Joe 90 but after than my interests in TV tailed off for a number of years. At the time I had too many other interests to bother sitting down in front of the gogglebox.
However, as an adult I've often thought about catching up on some of those but still have got round to this yet.
Maybe it is time to rectify that.
Sam
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Sept 3, 2015 23:40:35 GMT
Blimey, five years since Network released Space 1999 series 1 on blu-ray, to paraphrase little William Hague "it's alright for you, some of you won't be here when The Sweeney series 4 comes out on blu ray" I think one of my older brothers might've had the Eagle Transporter, though it's easy to confuse with Thunderbird 2 which also has a droppable pod. Either way it would be nice to know what happened to those childhood toys mother, what did you do with them? Arthur's too young to have seen it originally but I seem to remember watching Space 1999 on Sunday afternoons. The blu ray quality is superb but even at a reduced price I've not forked out for series 1, I know ITC shows have their following & it's unfair to judge them as a group but I've never taken to them, including The Prisoner, it's the glossy US friendly production values that bother me. That said, the theme tunes to Space 1999 are top, hard to choose but I think I prefer the second theme, although had the second theme been the first I think I'd probably prefer that.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Sept 8, 2015 15:28:18 GMT
Good post Vienna All in all Space: 1999 was a bit of a victim of some poor scripts, forced actors/guest stars, a lack of commitment, political infighting within ITC (Frieberger v Anderson v Grade) and poor scheduling from ITV. These things have been mentioned extensively on Anderson fan sites and Wikipedia and I suppose this is why it didn’t achieve the success it could/should have done and in some respects gets a the bad press it does. To be honest I too had forgotten about Space: 1999 despite seeing it as a kid in the mid-70’s by the mid 1990’s until the BBC re-ran one as part of a Horizon documentary night in 1994. That maybe gave me the soft spot I have for Space: 1999. I wouldn’t get it on DVD but did very much enjoy the re-runs it had on ITV4 around 5-6 years ago, maybe time it had another repeat! Like most ITC stuff it works best when you take on board the escapism idea they’re trying to sell you but my own personal preference is for more grittier, real life stuff that Euston Films etc. did as the 70's progressed into the 80's.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 18:17:51 GMT
Yeah used to love Space 1999 remember watching it in the 70s when im pretty sure it used to be on sunday afternoon.. I thought the plots were good! I used to have an eagle transporter mint in the box, sold it about 12, yr ago for 90 quid, wish I kept it now ????
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Post by Tyne Tees Colour on Sept 11, 2015 9:06:30 GMT
All in all Space: 1999 was a bit of a victim of some poor scripts, forced actors/guest stars, a lack of commitment, political infighting within ITC (Frieberger v Anderson v Grade) and poor scheduling from ITV. Like most ITC stuff it works best when you take on board the escapism idea they’re trying to sell you but my own personal preference is for more grittier, real life stuff that Euston Films etc. did as the 70's progressed into the 80's. I like ITC but only a few of the series touched upon realism. As mentioned, the glossy productions and escapism were aimed at global markets. This was evident in the late 60s when 'Department S' was up against 'Public Eye' from Thames. And again in the late 70s with 'The Return of the Saint' against 'The Sweeney'. At the very end of ITC, some interesting productions emerged like 'The Long Good Friday', 'Bloody Kids' and the TV mini-series 'Wolcott' (starring George Harris from The Sweeney ep 'Pay Off'). This indicated how ITC productions were heading into realism just prior to the cessation of the company.
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Mar 4, 2019 21:34:08 GMT
I believe it was originally intended to be a follow on from UFO but it morphed into something totally new.
How the hell the moon wasn't blown apart by the explosion that removed it from orbit I don't know.
Also how did it get to entirely new solar systems within a week or two!
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Mar 5, 2019 22:38:28 GMT
Episode 1 is now on at 10pm on Forces TV most evenings.
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Mar 6, 2019 0:04:33 GMT
Episode 1 is now on at 10pm on Forces TV most evenings. Oh, and the moon still didn’t blow apart following the most massive nuclear explosion!
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