Review of Space 1999: Volume 1

Introduction

September 13th 1999 and the nuclear waste dumps on the far side of the moon explode, sending Moonbase Alpha (and the rest of the moon!) hurtling off into deep space. Ok, it didn`t really happen, but I remember thinking it should have...

Space 1999 was a series I grew up with in the 70`s and early 80`s and one I have very fond memories of. Created by Gerry Anderson of Thunderbirds fame (and Stingray and Captain Scarlet...), this was his first attempt at live action (Oops, I`ve been outgeeked.... having been suitably admonished, I must reveal that the first live action production by the Anderson team was UFO! That`ll teach me to not forget to check the fan sites ;). The first episode is a little wooden, with the cast acting like puppets although the quality of the acting (and direction) swiftly improves as the series progresses.

Where Gerry`s influence shows is in the set design and the fantastic models - the Eagle is probably the best designed spacecraft of all time.

Video

Video is excellent quality, considering the age of the show and is (naturally) full frame. Colour is good and space is nicely black.

There are no obvious digital artefacts knocking around and only a small amount of dust - not enough to intrude.

The dvd menu has a nicely animated Eagle flying around with the theme tune in the background whilst selected scenes from the episodes on the disc roll in one corner.

Which is nice.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital Mono and is perfectly servicable. All dialogue is clear and there`s a goodly amount of background beeps and whistles to keep things feeling nice and "Sci-Fi".

The theme tune is still one of my all time favourties.

Features

The interactive menus are presented like screens from the series and we get various documentaries and fact files as well as a couple of tv ads in typical Carlton fashion.

Conclusion

WooHoo! This is still one of the best and most original sci-fi tv series ever (IMHO ;). The first episode does drag on a little in a scene-setting way but it`s worth the wait.

If you remember these from the first time `round - and remember enjoying them, what are you waiting for. If you are a weird Eastenders fan, why have you read this far?