Thursday, March 23, 2023

Book: The Making of Space: 1999 (Heald)



The Making of Space: 1999
- A Gerry Anderson Production -

by
Tim Heald

Ballantine Books
1976

3 comments:

Simon St. Laurent said...

I remember buying this book. It was in late 1976, not long after the premiere of the second season of Space: 1999. Even as a young teen, when I wandered through a department store, I gravitated to the book section; in this case, Woolworths. This book caught my eye very quickly. And quickly I read it once I got it home.

It's interesting how one's interests change with age. When I got the book, the most interesting chapters for me were "Special Effects", "Art Direction", and "Music" (composer Derek Wadsworth's contributions were notable). When I reread it a few years ago I found "Scripting" the most interesting essay... probably because the book 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 us 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.)

"The Making of Space: 1999" is well worth reading if one is into this sort of thing.

Greg Woods said...

Woolworth's book section rocked. Especially the cheap ones.

Simon St. Laurent said...

It did! There was always a good mix of stuff.

Thanks!