Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon’s far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and sending it and the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha hurtling uncontrollably into space. The series was the last production by the partnership of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
The underlying story line of Space: 1999 centres on the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, Earth’s Space Research Centre on the Moon, following a scientific cataclysm. Mankind had been storing its nuclear waste in vast disposal sites on thefar side of the Moon. The accumulated waste reaches critical mass and, on 13 September 1999, detonates in a massive thermonuclear explosion initiated by a build-up of an unknown form of magnetic radiation. The force of the blast hurls the Moon out of Earth orbit and into deep space at colossal speed, stranding the 311 personnel stationed on Alpha. The runaway Moon, in effect, becomes the ‘spacecraft’ on which the protagonists travel, searching for a new home. During their interstellar journey, the Alphans encounter a vast array of alien civilisations, dystopian societies, and mind-bending phenomena previously unseen by the eyes of mankind.
The concept of travelling through space encountering aliens and strange worlds is similar to Star Trek and Lost In Space, although the programme’s visual aesthetic was heavily influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey. In another nod to Kubrick’s epic, the first series of Space: 1999 explored mystical or metaphysical themes, offered little exposition or explanation of plot points, and often left stories unresolved. The inhabitants of Alpha were unwilling travellers, and represented present-day Earthmen cast adrift in a vast, unexplainable universe where Earth-bound logic and laws of nature no longer operated. Several episodes hinted that the Moon’s journey was influenced (and perhaps initiated) by a ‘mysterious unknown force’, which was guiding the Alphans toward an ultimate destiny.
The revamped second series centred more on ‘action-oriented’ plots and dynamic character interaction (a la Star Trek), with a deliberate aim at the American audience. This series, the Alphans were portrayed as cosmopolitan citizens of the galaxy, riding their travelling Moon through a more-ordered, scientifically sane universe. Gone was any mention of the ‘mysterious unknown force’ and, as stated several times in the dialogue, the Alphans felt they were in charge of their own destiny.