Space 1999 Vs. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The randomizer pulled a first last night when choosing another show and episode to watch. This is the first time it has asked me to review another show made by the same production company. With all that said it is alright I love Gerry Anderson shows, but what makes this show different that I am about to review. It is one of his few shows that is live action, but what also makes it rare believe it or not it is one of his few shows I own, but have never watched. The show is Space:1999 and the episode the randomizer chose was Voyager's Return. Space 1999 stars then husband and wife duo Martin Landau and Barbara Bain better known in the U.S. for their portrayals of Cinnamon Carter and Rollin Hand in Mission Impossible. In this series Martin Landau plays Commander John Koenig leader of the Moonbase Alpha surrounded by his crew Doctor Helena Russell(Barbara Bain), science adviser Professor Victor Bergman(Barry Morse), and executive officer Paul Morrow(Prentis Hancock). A very well rounded cast if I must say. In Space: 1999, a nuclear explosion send the moon out of Earth's orbite hurling in space like a spacecraft leaving the crew stranded on the moon. The crew must not search new planets in hope of finding a new place to live.In some ways the show and crew are setup similar to Star Trek, but in other ways it is definitely its own show with its own concept. With that being said lets get to the episode overview.

Episode Overview: We open up to one of the Eagle spacecrafts investigating a strange unidentified object that came across the screen. The object's starts sending a signal. "This is the voice of Voyager One, Greeting from the people of planet Earth." All of a sudden the Eagle ship explodes and the credits roll. Commander Koenig gives his crew the order to tell Voyager 1 they are from Earth and to tell the satellite to shut down its drive, but Voyager 1 refuses because the order goes against the ship's primary directives. Somewhere else in the ship unknown to the rest crew Dr Quellen going under a different name, the man who created the Quellar Drive in Voyager, overhears what is going is his lab. Quellan hurries to the location where Koenig is at and tells him to stop. Quellan introduces himself and says that he can stop Voyager 1. A few minutes later we find ourselves in a conference room with the ship's main personnel. Bergman thinks they should save Voyager 1, Morrow thinks Quellen shouldn't be trusted because his drive killed 200 people in the past, Russell thinks Voyager 1 should be destroyed just on the basis you can't risk the entire crew's lives, and Koenig takes all this into consideration and in the end decides on a plan that gives Quellen a chance to stop the drive and recover the information. Koenig also gives the orders that no one else on the ship must know that he is Dr Quellen. Morrow objects to this notion because Quellen's assistant is Jim Haynes, whose father was one of the 200 killed by the drive before, but Morrow reluctantly agrees. Koenig's plan is to have three Eagle's spread across the red zone in anticipation if Quellen fails to shoot and destroy the Voyager 1, but the Voyager must first cross the green and yellow zones first before they destroy it. This plan gives Quellen plenty of time to prepare and a machine setup that can stop disable Voyager 1. Everything is going to plan and Quellen even succeeds in building a machine to deactivate Voyager 1, but that comes at a hefty cost his assistant realizes only one man could of built this machine and that is Doctor Quellen in a rage over his father's death Jim Haynes tosses Quellen into the machine sending him into shock and Moonbase's only chance for deactivating the machine with it. A few minutes later Dr Russell revives Doctor Quellen and after a short break he restarts his work of building a machine that could deactivate Voyager 1. Voyager 1 enters the redzone and the eagles are in place, but that is not the only thing behind Voyager 1 three more mysterious UFO's. Koenig has to make the decision now or never to destroy the Voyager 1 and save their lives. Despite his crew panicking he believes in Doctor Quellen abilities to stop the machine. All around the eagle and Moonbase alpha the ships are now trumbling getting ready to blow up at any moment with no chance of survival, but out of nowhere Quellen succeeds in deactivating the Queller drive in Voyager 1. Voyager 1 lands the crew of Russell, Quellen, Bergman, and Koenig enter the satellite to recover the information box. When out of nowhere Aachon the Chief Justifier of Sidon face appears. Aachon asks which person represents the crew Koenig step forwards and says he represents the Earth and accepts responsibilities. Aachon responds that you and your people must die for the millions of people Voyager 1 killed on two worlds. Three Zidon ships are on there way to destroy moonbase one and Earth. Nothing on Moonbase could even take these ships on. Dr Quellen feeling guilty for what his drive has done leaves his room in a hurry and makes his way to Voyager 1, but on the way Jim Haynes wants to join him, but he says no. No one else on Moonbase Alpha knows Quellen's plans. Quellen boards Voyager 1 and lifts off. Koenig orders him to return, but Quellen refuses as he makes his way to the Zidon ships. Quellen asks for an audience with Aachon explaining that he created the drive with good intentions and that only he should be responsible for deaths that occured. Aachon refuses and Quellen with no choice activates the Queller drive causing Voyager 1 to explode and the three Zidon ships. Koenig is now with Jim Haynes giving him his condolences and explaing the man sacrificed himself so billions could live. Credits Roll.

Episode Review: If this episode is what I can expect from the rest of Space 1999 then I have got a lot of great viewing ahead. The moment I heard Voyager 1 come across the screen my head immediately thought of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Was Roddenbery that bored that he had to copy their costumes and copy a good portion of the plot? Voyager 1 and Vger, you couldn't be anymore obvious where you got this from. The machine on its way back to Earth just like Vger. Everything in Voyager's path just like Vger will be destroyed. The creator must just with Voyager 1 to stop the threat to Earth just like Vger. There are other similarities and I am quite surprised Gerry Anderson didn't sue over the similarities, but then again stranger stuff happens. With all that said this a great episode. The performances from Landau, Bain, and Morse are fantastic. Jeremy Kemp puts on one of the best guest performances I have ever seen on a show. Your left hiding behind the sofa the entire episode just because of the suspense this episode had. Like I said before this is the first time I have seen this show despite owning for a few years. I watched this from A/E Blu Ray release and all I can say is you couldn't ask for a better picture. My dad's christmas present which was a show that I wanted to see, but it was not a high priority. So the Space 1999 kept getting pushed off. Voyager's Return and the randomizer just caused Space 1999 from being on the backburner to the highest priority after I get myself caught up on the show I am currently watching. One last note Space: 1999 has one of the best television intros I have ever seen, but this is pretty common among Anderson productions. Anderson knows how to get people hooked and keep them wanting more.

Tonight's Show Dad's Army Episode 23 Branded I guess the randomizer was tired of Gerry Anderson, but I was not.