A Thot for the Day: Feline Linguistics

 A Chinese house cat knows more Mandarin and/or Cantonese than I do.

Picturing: Working the Oxberry Animation Stand

The multi-talented visual effects artist/supervisor Francois Aubry works his magic on the Oxberry animation stand at Film Opticals of Canada, here in Toronto. I operated the company's Oxberry optical printer and would occasionally cross the hall to see how Francois was doing... on one trip I took a snap.

This pic contains many memories of working some long days and nights. On occasion, Francois and I would drop our 35mm film work at Deluxe Labs (on Adelaide Street) in the wee hours. One such occasion had us delivering film at 4am. After the handover of film cans at the service desk, Francois turned and made for the client coffee table.

Me: "You're having coffee at this hour?!"

Francois: "It's good to have coffee at this time. It's the 'time of the liver'."

Me: "If I had coffee now I'd be up till our shift tomorrow!"

Film workers....

Battle of Britain Day 2024: Battle of Britain Day 1990

The poster said all I had to know. On September 15, 1990, there would be a celebration to remember on the River Thames. That of "Battle of Britain Day, 1990". This World War Two history buff did not plan his trip to coincide with the event, but I was in London, England, and would be around to attend the fireworks.

I stood among a large crowd on the river's south bank, metres upstream from Tower Bridge. The sky darkened, the vintage searchlights fired up, probing and irradiating a low cloud ceiling. All that was missing was the drone of unseen Heinkel, Dornier, and Junkers aircraft. The Blitz was terrible for London's denizens throughout the summer of 1940, so nobody was celebrating the act of war, but the repelling of invaders... German "Luftwaffe" bombers. (Since there had been no definitive and crippling blows to the Royal Air Force, necessary if Unternehmen Seelöwe [Operation Sea Lion], the invasion of England, was to have any chance of succeeding, Adolf Hitler lost interest and turned his attention to the east.)

Music blazed from sparking loudspeakers as fireworks of all colours and stripes rose streaking from a barge anchored to the sparkling waters before us. For many Brits here, this sight and sound must have been emotional. I too was feeling it: Composer Ron Goodwin's magnificent themes for the films Battle of Britain and 633 Squadron were the perfect accompaniment, and helped lift us all up high. (Aces High!)

That event was the 50th anniversary of the great battles fought in the skies over England. Now we're at the 84th.

Battle of Britain Day 2024: Book on the Battle

The Battle of Britain

- The Greatest Battle in the History of Air Warfare -

by

Richard Townshend Bickers

Salamander Books Ltd

1999

Battle of Britain Day 2024: Battle of Britain (1969)

Battle of Britain was a troubled feature film production complete with massive cost overruns and a shoot that seemed to have no end, this historical aviation epic provides some satisfaction for those movie fans who want to see a breed of filmmaking that will never be seen again. No film company today could afford to make a film like Battle of Britain, at least not one using exclusively the same production methods ― much of it would be done using fake CG fakery, by people who've never taken the time to see how an aircraft, like a Spitfire or Heinkel, twists and turns in the sky. (Try YouTube.) As far as the film as a film goes: It depends on whether the viewer can enjoy a 132-minute story about a critical moment of history. The Royal Air Force's warding off of the mighty German Luftwaffe during the summer of 1940.

What one sees are grand air battles and an abundance of name-actors (at that time, of course). Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Curt Jurgens, Robert Shaw, and Trevor Howard are a few of those stars who play historical characters or 'average people' swept up in that pesky thing we humans almost never ask for but often get: War. In this case World War II.

A highlight of many: "The Battle in the Air." It makes me a firm believer in cinema's capabilities.

Kudos must go to director Guy Hamilton (1922 - 2016) for giving a somewhat unwieldy story, one with necessary density, some personality; and for remembering the people, who are so often forgotten in these epics.

Battle of Britain Day 2024: Battle of Britain Film Extras

My dad took me to see Battle of Britain when it hit the CFB Baden-Soellingen movie theatre. We were living in then West Germany, specifically in a small town, surrounded by Germans, which somehow enhanced my movie-going experience. Not only do I love the sound of that language but in this movie the Germans actually speak Deutsche.

To illustrate how big of a deal this movie was at the time, there was a live-from-London television special one evening celebrating its premiere. German television network ARD or ZDF (I can't remember which) picked up the live feed: There were searchlights and men dressed in vintage uniforms manning an ack-ack gun placement. I could hardly wait to see the movie.

Unfortunately, producing-studio and distributor United Artists lost a lot of money on Battle of Britain. The film did not 'travel' much outside of Europe (read: the USA), which it had to do in order to make back the investment. As a tie-in documentary hosted by actor Michael Caine outlined most effectively, regular folk, including those on the Isles, could tell you next to nothing about the battle. And this was less than thirty years after the events. The idea of an ignorance of one's own history as being an 'American' thing is a false one. (Author Clive Cussler recounts a sobering personal experience in his non-fiction book, The Sea Hunters, where he was taken aback by some of his fellow Americans ― politicians in this case ― not knowing, or, more importantly, not even caring, about their own history.)

Director Guy Hamilton, guiding light of Battle of Britain, claimed that United Artists lost ten million dollars (late 1960s currency) on the deal.

As a child what I liked was Battle's spectacle: The wide-screen; the colour; the music; the you-are-there vibe.

The now-defunct "Festival Theatres" repertory chain here in Toronto would screen the film every few years, and I would be there with interested friends.

As I've told people over the years, "Battle of Britain was my Star Wars."

Battle of Britain Day 2024: Battle of Britain DVD

Battle of Britain

Directed by

Guy Hamilton

United Artists

1969

Battle of Britain Day 2024: The Film Score

Battle of Britain

- Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack -

Music Composed and Conducted by

Ron Goodwin

"Battle in the Air" Composed by

Sir William Walton

Battle of Britain Day 2024: The William Walton Score

Walton

Battle of Britain Suite

- Sir William Walton's film music Vol. 2 -

Sir Neville Marriner Conducts

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Chandos Records Ltd

1990

Battle of Britain Day 2024: Final Thought for the Day

"Music blazed from sparking loudspeakers as fireworks of all colours and stripes rose streaking from a barge anchored to the sparkling waters before us. For many Brits here, this sight and sound must have been emotional."

― September of 1990, as I stood near the River Thames for a "Battle of Britain" 50th Anniversary commemoration.

Space: 1999 Day ― Breakaway from Earth

Summer, 1975. As per my usual habit after arriving at my local shopping mall, I immediately made my way to W.H. Smith, the bookstore. After perusing the shelves for a few minutes my eyes made contact with two particular pocket books sharing the same main title: "SPACE: 1999"

One book was black and one pink. On the covers were some eye-catching photos. What was this? Well, according to the books' back cover text, Space: 1999 was a new and exciting science fiction television programme from ATV.

I'd have to wait a couple of months for this new and exciting show to premiere.

French CBC premiered Space:1999 here in Canada on Monday, September the 1st ― Labour Day. For the English-language premiere of "Breakaway", the show's opening episode, I'd have to wait till 10:30am on the following Saturday. That's right, CBC affiliate CKVR programmed Space for Saturday mornings ― they were not alone in this regard. (Due to the majority of television networks taking a pass on the series, it had to be sold on a station-by-station basis.) Hamilton, Ontario, independent station CHCH gave a little more respect: Sundays at 5.30pm.

UFO, a previous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson SF series, had been given a full-network run by CTV (Canadian Television) beginning in 1970. No doubt CTV was pitched on buying the producing team's latest show, but they passed. French CBC ("Radio Canada") bought in, but the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English-language side waited until the second, and as it turned out, final, year of Space before committing to a coast-to-coast transmission. In the Toronto market that meant "Saturdays at 5pm".

Before I go I have to say something controversial. After all, my piece thus far has been pretty "vanilla": While it had problems of its own, the second year of Space: 1999 was an improvement on Year One.

"SPACE: 1999" (Orbit Books)

AD 1999. On the moon's near side a colony of scientists

and astronauts prepares for man's first venture into

deep space . . . On the far side of the moon catastrophe

threatens as the nuclear waste dumped there edges towards critical mass . . .

Space: 1999 Day ― Simmonds Is Earthbound

"Earthbound" is one of Space: 1999's finest hours.

When Space premiered back in September of 1975, I was there in front of the colour tube to welcome another starfield patch... even if stars were a bit on the scarce side in this colourful import from the UK. Since I know the old SF television series very well, due to my then space cadet rating, I can pick and choose what I want to watch. And I choose this episode.

Despite the chintzy-looking alien 'sleeper ship' set and its even chintzier inhabitants, the Kaldorians, the episode works because of an engaging story and a great character: Commissioner Simmonds, played to perfection by Roy Dotrice, was sorely needed as a continuing foil for the bland Moonbase Alpha regulars ― not in an annoying Doctor Zachary Smith (of Lost in Space) way, but as Simmonds the full-blooded reactive and contrarian human being. It was not to be, however.

Simmonds is the floating variable in "Earthbound". Visiting alien leader Zantor, portrayed most effectively by some dude named Christopher Lee, is an unknown quantity in a friend-or-foe sense; but having the boisterous bureaucrat producing his own sneaky threat made for interpersonal drama that was all too rare on Space: 1999. (Year One, that is; Year Two was a huge improvement in that regard.) This dynamic sets up and plays out the themes of "nobility" and "trust".

The episode's middle section, involving a threatened Helena Russell, suffers a little from a false false alarm ― obviously the sequence was inserted to fill out the script's page count ― but the more driven element of the narrative picks up when the good Commissioner does what he feels is right; for him. The ending is potent, and one for the memories bank ― and worthy of EC Comics. Space: 1999, Year One, is considered by many of its fans to be more horror than science fiction.

Space: 1999 Day ― Ring Around the Bathtub

I copped "Ring Around the Bathtub" from a friend of mine. That mocking title about sums up Space: 1999's most rotten Year One episode: "Ring Around the Moon"

For as much as I like to point out its badness, I find myself being strangely drawn toward "Ring". There is something I cannot explain about its appeal. Maybe lines like "This is Triton's universe..." keep drawing me back, time and again, with Plan 9 pleasures. By the way, the proper line should be: "This is Triton's galaxy."

(This kind of ineptness, unfortunately, happened far too often on Space: 1999 ― science fiction produced by people who didn't understand science fiction, which might explain why the show's first season worked best as "horror". The second, and final, season was less horrific.)

The film editing in "Ring" is rough, giving the viewer the impression that there were problems in editorial. The inter-cutting between scenes is often awkward and disjointed; as though a scene or two is missing here and there.

The script is also "off". The episode's opening contains one of those crewmembers-going-berserk moments. Fine. But this serious matter goes on for two minutes before Dr. Helena Russell yells to Sandra Benes, "Sandra, call security!" No! What took you so long? Anyone?

Perhaps the biggest problem with the episode is the awful acting, especially by Martin Landau; even the usually above-the-fray Barry Morse suffers from unconvincing deliveries. (In all fairness, Morse thought he was working in a nuthouse with this program. Morse left 1999 at the end of the first season, telling the producers something like "I'm going off to play with the grownups now".) The one person who shines here is Barbara Bain as Dr. Russell. Her performance is restrained, and applicably subtle. The good news is that Bain had a chance to show her stuff in Space: 1999's slightly improved second season.

One element in "Ring Around the Moon" is outstanding: The music; not composed by Barry Gray in this case, but by Vic Elms and Alan Willis. Its sparseness and rawness adds to the out-of-whack nature of the episode's storyline. As a matter of fact, the score's "beat" would foreshadow Derek Wadsworth's vibrant and fitting Year Two music.

(For me, Barry Gray, as much as I love his work on previous Gerry & Sylvia Anderson programs, was clearly not into this series ― one indicator of this was the composer's reuse of themes he had originally written for the 1969 Anderson feature film Doppelganger [Journey to the Far Side of the Sun]. One can also hear a major smack of his opening theme tune for the 1968 film Thunderbird 6 in the 1999 title music. Composer Gray produced some fine cues for Space: 1999's first season, but most were seemingly telexed in.)

Like a few episodes of this series, "Ring Around the Moon" is best viewed at 2 o'clock in the morning, I think. Which will be the time of the day when I'll watch this one again....

Space: 1999 Day ― Opening Titles: Year One

My introduction to Space: 1999 happened in the early evening of Monday, September 1st, 1975, when CBLFT (the CBC's French-language flagship station) premiered it here in the Toronto-area market. I did not see the colourful new SF series in colour that day, as I had watched it on the 10-inch black-and-white Sony portable in my bedroom. (The chromatic, and English-language, version of Space awaited me the following Saturday morning. This then space cadet was there with bells on to greet "Breakaway", the series opener.) The dynamic visuals alone, even in a monochromatic state, were worth the price of admission. My initial reaction to this television series theme music? Good! Till the 22-second mark: that's when the twangy electric guitar took over. I remember wincing. "That's corny."

The theme was composed by Barry Gray, the talented music man of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson film and television productions. His stellar contributions were an important part of the Anderson's successes. In the case of Space: 1999, maestro Gray made the series seem more important, and better, than it actually was. One could argue that the best parts of Space, its first season, that is, were the opening and closing title sections. ("Sections"? Sorry, that's a carryover from when I worked in "titles and opticals".)

Before I go, in the name of controversy the best Space: 1999 theme tune is from Year Two....

Space: 1999 Day ― Opening Titles: Year Two

While the first season of Space: 1999 was generally disappointing to this then young teen, I harboured some anticipation for its second: "Year Two", as many fans call it.

During the summer of 1976, the CBC ran, in high rotation, an ad campaign for their upcoming 1976-1977 television season. "See the brightest stars on C B C!" sang the enthusiastic women's chorus over cartoony animated stars, then a voiceover promoted alongside a quick succession of clips from upcoming shows. Space: 1999 was looking a little different; still recognizable, but somehow looking enhanced. The imagery was all of a few seconds, but suddenly I couldn't wait.

Saturday, September the 4th, at 5pm... "Breakaway"? Oh, no. I'd seen the series opener a few times. No need to see it again. However, being a full-network presentation, the print was total high-quality 35mm (with the broadcast itself originating from a 2-inch "Quad" video playback).

Okay then. A geek had a hard time waiting, but I understood. The CBC wanted to show the episode that had kicked off the series, and the moon out of Earth's orbit. I'd have to swim through another week of high school. It was going to be a long week.

Saturday, September the 11th, and hello! I really dug that new opening. The most striking change was the theme music. Immediately I loved it. One listen and the tune was embedded. Very catchy space stuff. The beat was wow and now. The images were energetic. Both elements had been recharged and rebooted; dedicated to the concept of a new introductory sequence; a lead-in to a series of necessary alterations.

(As this episode, "The Metamorph", rolled out, I became convinced there was an effort in the production's front office to improve the series.)

As I learned upon watching the end credits, Derek Wadsworth was the composer of Space: 1999's new signature tune, and his work had continued into the episode's next hour.

The episode's underscore supported and enhanced the action onscreen, and, at times, it was pretty and inviting. The storyline carried dark moments, including its hinting at an impending exploding home world, but when called for, composer Wadsworth grooved with the gardens of playful levity in the Grove of Psyche ― before the big bang. (The background music wasn't alienating like it had been in much of Year One. That season's repetitive re-tracking of certain cues made for a viewing experience that could be both dreary and depressing.)

Year Two's opening was a much-needed fresh kickoff to a series-premise that was preposterous, but one that did hold some promise. Mr Wadsworth's amazing Space theme was proof that the right opening title music can set one off in a new and improved direction.

Bravo.

Editorial note: The picture cutter must have enjoyed assembling this title sequence. What exactly is John Koenig firing at? The previous season? (Symbolism that I never noticed until I began to key this in. Credit to my space brain.)

Space: 1999 Day ― Breakaway (Book)

Though not the first Space: 1999 tie-in book, here in Canada that would have been "Breakaway" from Orbit Books, which I discovered sitting on a bookstore shelf in the summer of 1975, this was the first one I bought. That September, shortly after the television series began its two-year run, I grabbed Pocket Books' premiere release in their 1999 line. The cover is emblazoned with the bold title "Breakaway", also the name of the show's premiere episode, but there are three other adaptations in this volume: "Matter of Life and Death", "Ring Around the Moon", and "Black Sun".

I don't know how well these books sold. Having watched the video side of Space: 1999, I can't imagine that many people ran out to collect them ― perhaps they were purchased in good faith, with some hope.

"Breakaway", the adaptations, I read with a charged blast of enthusiasm, and no little reverence, in September of 1975. We young ones welcomed a new space series, and its printed offspring.

SPACE: 1999

"Breakaway"

- first novel in the spectacular new epic -

by

E.C. Tubb

Pocket Books

September 1975

Space: 1999 Day ― The Making of Space: 1999 (Book)

Late 1976: not long after the premiere of Space: 1999's second season.

Even as a young teen, when I wandered through a department store, I automatically gravitated to the book section; in this case, Woolworths. On an island bookrack was a freshly published paperback with the somewhat intoxicating title of "The Making of Space: 1999", sitting, awaiting rescue by a geek in shining polyester. And quickly I read it once I got it home.

It's interesting how one's interests change with age. At the time of my first read, the most interesting chapters for me were "Special Effects", "Art Direction", "Camera and Crew", and "Music" ― essentially the "tech credits". When I reread it a few years ago I found "Scripts" the most interesting essay... probably because this making-of was researched and written during production of the show's second year, when incoming producer Fred Freiberger was on a mission to improve Space's scripts and characterizations ― he succeeded, for the most part. Also, as a teacher would hammer into my classmates and I in film school, the script is the most important element in a film or television series. With a Czech accent: "No script, no movie!" (Luddy was great; tough, but great.) "The Making of Space: 1999" is well worth reading if one is into this sort of thing.

Before I go I have to say something controversial; controversial to many Space: 1999 fans, at least: I much prefer the theme music and background scores in Year Two.

The Making of Space: 1999

- A Gerry Anderson Production -

by

Tim Heald

Ballantine Books 

1976

Space: 1999 Day ― Destination: Moonbase Alpha (Book)

This 418-page book on the television series Space: 1999 (1975 - 1977) is a mixed bag. The first thing that struck me while reading Destination: Moonbase Alpha, and I can say this due to research I've done on old television programs, was the apparent lack of original research. I got the impression that writer Wood didn't interview enough of those all-important behind-the-scenes people, folk important to production of a science fiction television series, with all its parts and pieces. There are no numbers, numbers drawn when one gets access to production paperwork. These deficits make for far too much conjecture on the writer's part.

The plus: Robert E. Wood is fair and balanced in his episode reviews ― he's Canadian, eh?

Yes, "Journey to Where" is an outstanding episode ― for Space: 1999, at least.

I was surprised he didn't rate "Dragon's Domain" higher given that episode's status among fans.

" 'The Rules of Luton', just four point five (out of ten)? Rubbish!"

Destination: Moonbase Alpha is highly recommended to fans of the series. Part of the appeal of the book is Mr Wood's obvious love for Space: 1999.

Destination: Moonbase Alpha

- The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Space: 1999 -

by

Robert E. Wood

Telos Publishing Limited

2009

Space: 1999 Day ― Space: 1999 RCA LP Record

In my continuing look back at the 1975-77 television series Space: 1999, it's time I spill some ink on a certain vinyl disc.

Like many young men at the time, I liked the show and bought as much tie-in material as I could find: The Charlton "Space: 1999 magazine" was one (I bought a few issues, including the first), but no model kits at all. The Airfix "Eagle Transporter", for instance, never made it to my town.

One element of Space: 1999 that I like, although more then than now, are the Barry Gray music scores. When RCA records released an "original television soundtrack recording" vinyl record LP of the Gray music I snapped it up... well, when I discovered it in the bin at Sam the Record Man, that is. This would have been late 1976. I remember playing it for the first time at home and being a little disappointed in the music selections. After I had grabbed the record in the store and flipped it over to the back side I scanned the track titles. These were all named after episode titles (no track called "Koenig Pops His Top, Again!" or "And Yet Another Explosion"), but after spinning the vinyl, I realized that the titles were arbitrary; there was no music from "Breakaway" on the cut called "Breakaway". And the cool 'travelling' music from "Dragon's Domain" was not on there ― I had not known that the piece was called "Adagio in G-minor" and that it had been written by a composer named Tomaso Albinoni; although that attribution is debated today. Also, I had seen the Norman Jewison picture Rollerball (1975) and remembered the tune being used there, too. To top off the Confusion in F major, there were two obvious "that's not from the show" moments.

Once I got past the little surprises including the rather brief track lengths ― there was a lot of looped "bing bong boong baa, bing bong boong baa" gobbling up valuable time between each cut ― the album was a fan's fix.

I still have the LP; it's packed away in a box somewhere (I know where). One of the very few times I have put it on the platter in the last forty years was in the summer of 1994 when friends were visiting. Somehow the subject came up: Perhaps it was my British friend Paul who mentioned "nineteen ninety-nine". Onto the Akai direct-drive turntable went the vinyl. Considering we were no longer fans of the program, some of us would have been mild ones at best when Space: 1999 originally ran, we enjoyed a warm and fuzzy nostalgic time that evening.

"SPACE: 1999"

- An Original Television Soundtrack Recording -

Music Composed

by

Barry Gray

RCA

1976

Space: 1999 Day ― Space: 1999 Years 1 & 2 (CD)

In late 1976 I bought the RCA LP record, Space: 1999. While I was a little disappointed in the incompleteness of the album, and the seemingly interminable space-outs between the cuts, it contained music from the series ― its first season, as that was "1999" at that point.

In early 2022, with a degree of nostalgia, I welcomed a Silva Screen Records CD set: Space: 1999 - Year 1 & 2

Barry Gray wrote material, very much in the Gray style, for Year One; Derek Wadsworth jazzed Year Two to great effect.

Both sides work in that they match, respectively, Space: 1999's seasonal timbres....

Year One: winter

Year Two: summer

Space: 1999

- Years 1 & 2 -

Music

by

Barry Gray

and

Derek Wadsworth

Silva Screen Records

2021

Space: 1999 Day ― Mega Set (DVD)

Why would I want a complete series DVD set of a show that I left behind in my youth, and have vague fond memories of enjoying when its parts were first broadcast? It must have been the agreeable price for all forty-eight Space: 1999 episodes in one box. The exact outlay of cash is lost to sixteen or seventeen years ago.

Scanning the back of the box reminds me of the plethora of extras, special parts that may have decided there's some space on my shelf. There's a seven-minute piece of 16mm film origination from 1976 featuring special effects director Brian Johnson and his boys as they set up and shoot miniatures for Space at Bray Studios. Watching this Johnson-narrated silent footage now reminds me of the appeal to this then fourteen-year-old model maker.

Also on the set: productions stills; Year Two behind-the-scenes featurette; pre-production artwork; a BBC behind-the-scenes segment; vintage interviews with cast and crew, including series designer Keith Wilson.

Three episodes have running commentary: producer Sylvia Anderson's bird's-eye view is very informative, and yes, Robert Culp should have been cast as "John Koenig"; writer Johnny Byrne and writer/script editor Christopher Penfold, two pleasant chaps who talk about the ins and outs of producing a series with its own identity; and Space: 1999 authority Scott Michael Bosco, an error-ridden fanboy take not worth one's time, though he does settle down and offers some intelligent analysis of "Death's Other Dominion", a superior episode.

I've since replaced this DVD set with the "Complete Series" Blu-ray set.

Why would I want a complete series Blu-ray set of a show....?"

Space: 1999

- 30th Anniversary Edition -

A&E

2007

Space: 1999 Day ― The Complete Series on Blu-ray

I was a young teen when Space 1999 premiered in 1975, and at that age one's smarts are starting to form, blasting one into a 'critical' mindset. Perhaps if I had been a few years younger I might have become smitten with the on-screen events; events often racing against molasses, on my Zenith television as it rendered cool multi-colour Supermarionation-type explosions too often punctuated by a rudimentary, and leaden, sense of drama.

Space: 1999 was re-viewed by my adult self in the mid-eighties when CKVR re-ran it on late-night television, and I saw all of its flaws, of which there are many. This designer wants to go back in time and put some Christmas tree lights into that sparsely-detailed Main Mission set: there's nothing for the actors to do, or to look at. (The actors are forever trading plastic folders with one another.) When 1999 first aired I never got the feeling that it was 24 years into the future. A smart critic at the time noted that it looked more like five years into the future ― true, as my local Radio Shack store had more advanced-looking electronics in 1975. Also, while I watched the show in colour, the monitors onscreen were all in black & white.

Technical concerns, yes.

The scripting was the real issue, as were the characterizations ― the regular cast, that is. Some of the guest casting was inspired. Billie Whitelaw, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Brian Blessed, Joan Collins, and Patrick Troughton were just a few of the stellar guest-shots who gave the programme some much-needed gravitas.

The writers tried to spin profundity by having stories, too many stories, resting all too comfortably and conveniently in ambiguity ― mix it with aliens whispering from behind out-of-focus glistening Christmas tree tinsel, and the viewer can only be swept up in the magic of it all. In Year One, that is. Year Two discovered a sense of fun, and applied it when necessary. And the 'reboot' season more or less eschewed the metaphysical mumbo jumbo.

When the above Blu-ray set hit store shelves in 2019, I snapped it up. Darn right I did. My boss at the time was from Quebec, and he was very much an old fan of Cosmos: 1999. He too grabbed the set....

Space: 1999

- The Complete Series -

Shout! Factory

2019

Space: 1999 Day ― Space: 1999, Cancelled: 1977

To be honest, I don't remember hearing that Space: 1999 had been cancelled. It probably just fell by the wayside as we geeks went on to something more interesting. The second season ended and a third season never arrived. (No doubt TV Guide's end-of-book yellow 'teletype' page made note of the show's axing. In late 1975 it was that page that announced Space's renewal for another television season of twenty-four shows.)

Clipping from Starlog Magazine, number 5.

(click on picture to blow up)

Space: 1999 was cancelled ― or left adrift ― in early 1977, or as some pundits have put it: Space: 1999, Cancelled: 1977. After two bumpy seasons of meteor storms, face-paint aliens, two-dimensional characterizations, soap bubbles, and even worse, disappointing viewer numbers, the colourful SF/horror UK-import television series finished its run of metaphysical mumbo jumbo and simple creatures not-so-great, ending up discarded mid-Atlantic. (The show never really caught on here in North America). Sir Lew Grade's, and ATV's, initiative to leave cathode ray marks through its own solar-deficient star-fields, while valiant, and not without conviction, was not to meet a successful syndication package. Forty-eight films was not enough linear celluloid to make for lucrative "stripping" (Monday to Friday at 5pm, kind of thing). If a commitment had been made to produce another twenty-four shows, more people reading this might have an idea as to what a "space nineteen ninety-nine" is. However, history has made its judgement, cheating me out of a potential conversation with someone, even someone my own age, about a "remember that show?" and leaving me with a dialogue-killing "I don't think I know that one".

It's possible that Space: 1999 was simply ill-conceived, getting off to the worst possible start, cutting itself off at the landing pads, leaving itself with enough leverage to break the Earth's moon out of Earth orbit, and sending it straight to oblivion instead of planets of interest. Going through a black hole (or a "Black Sun", in Space's case) knocked the series even further from what the audience expected. Audience expectation should never be overrated. In fact, it's important for the bottom line; the return on investment. It's a business. Introducing the viewer to something a little off the beaten astro path is fine, but any such re-education program is doomed to fail if that new way of looking at space phenomena is too obtuse, and worse, transparent. The remote channel-changer was becoming more commonplace in the mid-seventies. Treating its controllers to almost static forward narratives in the first few minutes of an episode will leave that "ep" prone to being abandoned for a mindless sitcom, and television station schedulers moving the series to a less prime time slot, or dropping it altogether midrun.

Space's second season was aware of what had come before it, and it reorganized its own DNA as best it could without becoming another series all together, and entertained that built-in audience, if leaving those fans who truly believed that the first batch of twenty-four somehow constituted profundity feeling forgotten. While Year Two, on average, was more fun and presented characters at least resembling human beings, it was saddled with that cosmic albatross around its neck: a dusty moon running at indeterminable speeds uncontrollable and, too often, misguided. And stories demanding, but not delivering, enticing drama.

No, I'm not a hater of Space: 1999, to use modern parlance. I was there, after all, to give something new and seemingly exciting, according to the prerelease publicity machine and its materials, a chance, but this then fourteen-year-old knew what constituted good drama and a sense of storytelling. I'll nuke a too-often repeated lie that we Trekkers were hostile to the new kid on the block. To use UK parlance: Rubbish! We were there with bells on! Many of us were kids, and dry sponges ― the fannish protective and reactive baggage was a few years away, at least. Keep in mind that two years earlier my friends and I welcomed The Starlost. If we became quickly disillusioned and disappointed by some strange new space vehicle, it may have been due to a feeling we were being sold VHS box cover "not exactly as advertised" content. (As collectors of physical media will tell you, what's on the covering artwork is often better than the movie itself; like finding one of those binned videotapes marked down: "Was $19.99, now $0.99!") Many of us may have gravitated back to our Star Trek reruns, which were in high rotation in 1975 - 1977, but if we ultimately rejected Space: 1999, we did so because we felt that too much promised cosmic-level quality content had been left in the promotional artwork, and in the heavens, not through any perceived encroachment on our precious star treks.

I was there.

Yes, indeed.

And I remember the fabulous sights, sounds, and, disappointments... all leading to my look back at a television series that could have been so much better, but is now wrapped tidily in nostalgia.

This Coming Friday a Look Back at Space: 1999

"Journey to Where" is one of the few good episodes of Space: 1999, a short-lived science fiction television series that didn't know where it wanted to go, outside of gravitating towards some annoying metaphysical nonsense, but one that continues to spark fond memories for those of us who were there watching from 1975 to 1977.

On Friday, I will run a thirteen-part series taking a critical but fun rescan of "Nineteen Ninety-Nine".

Visual FX keys Nick Allder and Brian Johnson

with the Eagle transporter — a fan favourite.

A Thot for the Day: Instamatic Knot

No self-described "professional photographer" should ever pick up his camera in order to take pictures, and on the screen see: "No card in camera."

(The modern day equivalent of: "You left the lens cap on.")

For my seventh birthday my parents bought me a Kodak Instamatic 133. From that point on it was a matter of graduating through several cameras, each one more sophisticated than the last. From that wonderful series of film cameras I was able to graduate to the digital type with minimal problems.... 

... generally.

An Animated Star Trek Premiered 51 Years Ago Today

On this day in 1973, another Star Trek series premiered: Star Trek, commonly referred to as "The Animated Series".

On the morning of September 8, 1973, I sat in front of the colour Zenith television to watch a series that I had only learned about the evening before when NBC aired an hour-long 'sneak preview' for their Saturday morning kids' shows. The premiere episode, "Beyond the Farthest Star", was exciting stuff to a preteen fan of the live-action Trek.

I don't have any physical-media copies of this program, although it is available on Paramount Plus. Tonight might see me chilling with a glass of wine in front of the flatscreen, watching a certain series premiere. (Wine is not something I would have enjoyed on a Saturday morning in 1973. Although, my bowl of Shreddies did taste kinda funny, now that I think about. I remember the strange imagery taking hold, becoming more and more strange and far out with each spoonful of cereal.)

What separated animated Star Trek from its competing kid-fare, was the scripting. Writers of note include: DC Fontana, Larry Niven, David Gerrold, (original-series director) Marc Daniels, and Samuel A. Peeples, who wrote "Beyond the Farthest Star".

A Star Trek Celebration Book (Outside and In)

This book has sat on my shelf for three years. After buying Star Trek: A Celebration, I gave it a very quick scan before filing it. Today, "Star Trek Day", is a good reason to crack it open again.

The chapters are varied and interesting. Many of us love the cast, and the characters they played, but I thought I would not cover their respective chapters, as most fans know all about them. For this post I decided to capture a few of those fascinating behind-the-scenes sections. A small sampling....

Art Department — Making Strange New Worlds

Designing for the Future — Unexpected Exposure

Makeup Department — First In, Last Out

VFX Department — Making the Impossible Real

Music Department — Opera in Outer Space

Los Angeles Times and Star Trek — September 1966

In September of 2015, the Los Angeles Times reprinted a story that it had first published on the 21st of September, 1966....

"Star Trek is Costly Sci Fi Epic"

In the semi-darkness of a massive sound stage on the Desilu-Gower lot, strange creatures dart about through web covered catacombs.

In a far off section, where it gleams eerily, grotesque screams penetrate the air. Above it, a rather sarcastic and unmistakable human voice shouts, “Hold it! Let’s take it again…”

I find articles like that fascinating. Yes, what did they think back then of a given show, especially one that would go into the history books, and endless reruns?

For the piece, then LA Times staff writer Don Page visited the Desilu sound stages. Star Trek had started regular series production that May, and only two episodes had aired ("The Man Trap" and "Charlie X") by the article's date of publication, so history hadn't yet decided if the whole enterprise to that point in time was big money well spent, or if yet another television series in the era of "deficit financing" would dig a big loss for its producing studio.

Star Trek Premiered on NBC 58 Years Ago Today

September the 8th, 1966, is a date known to many Trekkers.

I'm just old enough to have remembered Star Trek first airing but I must have missed it. Maybe my parents saw the trailer on CTV for the opening episode, "The Man Trap", and its great and scary monster, and made the decision to make sure I missed it. (It was Canada's CTV network that actually opened the series — on Tuesday, September 6th, 1966.)

The charade had to last but a few weeks: In October we left for West Germany, and I did not see the series on ZDF, ARD, or the two French channels. (However, I did watch the telefantasy series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Invaders, and The Prisoner on French and/or German television.) ZDF began running Trek in 1972, which I found out about three years ago.

I first saw Star Trek in June of 1970. My British cousins were watching it on BBC2 ― in colour ― and I joined them in silence while visiting.

Back here in Canada, CTV's flagship station, CFTO, began its long run of "stripping" Trek. In September of 1970 a regular Monday to Friday at 5 p.m. screening schedule started the magic for many of us. "What is this exciting, striking, beautiful, and colourful show?", I must have pondered at the beginning as I got lost in its vortex. This was a communal experience for many viewers, for in the syndication market it was a true "water cooler" (and "water fountain"!) television series.

My own private joke regarding my own fandom: It was seven years ago that I bought the complete series on Blu-ray. Before that I had just odds and ends on VHS and DVD. As for the Blu-ray format, I've watched just one episode.

But I am a fan.

How many dramatic television programs are, or will be, remembered fifty-eight years after they hit the video airwaves?

Perhaps I should pop on "The Man Trap" this evening....