https://www.facebook.com/BrianJohnsonSFX/posts/2201047740212470 Brian Johnson, who worked on the original series, Alien(1979), Empire Strikes Back(1980) et.al. states that there will be a new updated Gerry Anderson's SPACE:1999 television series.
I wonder if they will do away with some of the more hokey idea. Was suggested in a thread here some time back that instead of massive nuclear explosion, Alpha is inolved in the testing of a new FTL drive that makes use of wormholes which triggers accidently whisking the moon off the to the otherside of the galaxy.
Awaiting green light, so there's no actual announcement yet. "Space: 2099" was announced years ago, but it appears to have stalled. No indication if these are related projects/potential projects.
The update will probably do something like that. Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds was rebooted and is in it's third season; still in production. So, I think Gerry Anderson's Space:1999 will be a great series to reboot. original Thunderbirds: reboot in third season Thunderbirds:
Weren't there two different projects both called Space: 2099? One was a flat-out reboot of the series, the other was re-editing the ORIGINAL series such that the time frame was pushed forward a hundred years (and also doing a bit of trim here and there to improve the pacing).
I used to be on the "A reboot needs to find a more plausible premise" bandwagon -- my personal reboot idea was one where the base isn't on the Moon, but on an asteroid that turns out to house an ancient alien facility with a hyperdrive. But since rewatching the original, I'm not so sure. The first season wasn't trying to be plausible science fiction; rather, it was a surrealist show that embraced the idea of outer space as an unknowable realm of mystery that defied human understanding and shattered all our certainties. The Moon being blown out of orbit didn't make sense because it wasn't supposed to make sense, because nothing in the larger cosmos fit into our narrow, inadequate human concept of sense. A reboot that wholeheartedly embraced that trippy, metaphysical surrealism and took it even further could potentially be more interesting, and certainly more distinctive, than one that just tried to "fix" the original's logic holes and make a more conventional space drama.
Well, this is a surprise. I had no clue that he was still alive and still working. Or that he has a Facebook presence.
Not sure how they can bring back the semi-nihilistic feel of the largely spectacular season 1. Roll with the premise that was deemed implausible back then and there's actually much to rather enjoy. It's ironic that while the main premise is absurd, the show often sticks to scientific accuracy within episodes to make up for the sheer fantasy element behind the show's premise. It's a weird mix, but a fascinating one. Heck, "War Games" would easily be in the top 3 episodes to show off first, after two others that set up the situation as "War Games" needs the knowledge of the show to really work its best. So about season 2, where even the good episodes were loaded with structural plot problems because the "scare factor" was given prominence... At least Maya wasn't a bad addition. The change in the show's format and not utilizing the characters fairly well was the problem, especially when the show shoehorns its own rules and changed things with no explanantion - like the one with the big robot that looks like a fish loses credibility the instant it's revealed it's a robot. "Beta Cloud", if I recall... no motivation told... a minor rewrite would have worked WONDERS, but as it stands it's the penultimate clunker in a season loaded with them... so to say which one is THE worst requires the most horrible thing imaginable to do: Rewatching season two. Oh, heck no... Well, season 1 got it all right but didn't have enough viewers, so... Anyway, what would be even more hokey is probably what will happen instead: Moon flies out of orbit and the show is set on Earth with all the calamity that's happening to the people with the tides and the rest of it. ) Heck, everyone knows the moon's orbit increases by an inch per year anyway - so Space:2099 is already happening, sorta... LOL!
The differences in the opening credits alone say it all about the change in feel and tone of the show. Right down to the moon's neat little 90 degree turn there, something season 1 wouldn't dare show with a straight face... the only thing missing is a turn signal.
Well said, and one of the things that I don't think I (or much of anyone really) caught on or latched onto, were the occasional hints that a larger power(s) was behind it all. I noticed that element more watching the show a few years back and it helps to understand a lot of the implausibility in certain elements of the show, specifically it's premise. I know that "Black Sun" comments on this, and "Testament Of Arkadia" hints that the Alphans were supposed to be there and it's why the moon was blown out of orbit. To bring Arkadia back to life. One of the things I LOVED about Space:1999 was the utter mysteriousness of it's universe. In Trek we know Fed Space, Klingon Space, Romulan Space, know the Dominion is this side of the galaxy, the Borg on that side, etc, etc. It all feels too mapped out. In Space:1999 you just have no clue as to where they are, what's around them, etc. And the combination of beautiful spacescapes and eerie music, especially in Season 1 made space seem vast and unknowable. I also loved how, in Season 1, you'd have episodes like "Force Of Life" where some strange life form takes over a guy, we get some horror story, then it just goes on it's way at the end. Just one big spooky mystery. As for the moon being blown out of orbit, yeah, it was pretty way out back then and I was only seven years old at the time. But I loved it anyway. I loved that the crew could not control the moon and just had to go along with it. "Space Brain" is one of my favorite episodes because of that. I love how they describe the moon as basically a bullet going through this vast entity who's well being was needed by who knows how many worlds. I loved the near future tech, but often times they were ham strung by it. I always wondered why there were no Hawks on Alpha with the Eagles. The Hawks were fighter craft, so there was either space combat going on, or the potential for it existed to justify the building of Hawks....so it always seemed strange to not have some on the moon. Aside from the moon always being lit in deep space, the other thing that stands out for me is how the moon might as well be asteroid sized considering how nothing ever happens that far away from Moonbase Alpha. In the war of the sexes episode, it never occurs to the aliens to just build their base a thousand miles away from Alpha. Or how whenever a meteor is heading towards the moon, it has to be threatening to Alpha. I know, tv reasons, but still. Anyway, I hope they do this and can find a way to retain that cool, spooky and mysterious feel of Season 1.
I would love to see someone take a crack at remaking Space:1999. Though it may simply be impossible to recapture that feeling of season one. Where space was this wild, weird place where anything could happen.
Space:1999 season one: http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/epguide/ty1.html Breakaway Matter Of Life And Death Black Sun Ring Around The Moon Earthbound Another Time, Another Place Missing Link Guardian Of Piri Force Of Life Alpha Child The Last Sunset Voyager's Return Collision Course Death's Other Dominion The Full Circle End Of Eternity War Games The Last Enemy The Troubled Spirit Space Brain The Infernal Machine Mission Of The Darians Dragon's Domain The Testament Of Arkadia
It was speculated that there were Hawks on the moon, but their base was constructed on the Dark Side (as they were probably assigned there to face any possible alien threats rather than needed on Earth), and this base would have been destroyed when Disposal Area Two went up. I definitely feel that Season Two was a wasted opportunity, throwing away the metaphysical vibe of Season One for kewl monsters of the week, and the only stories I really liked were Bringers of Wonder and Brian the Brain, although Brian Blessed almost saves The Metamorph single-handedly. Even the effects seemed inferior to Season One.
Yeah, Brian Blessed is always a blast to watch! But I did like the addition of the Maya character, generally. One recurring theme from season 2 that I remember being annoyed with was "Koenig as savior". He was the only one who could see through the creature's illusions, or was immune to the alien's telepathy, or whatever. So the rest of the cast thought he was going crazy, but it always turned out in the end that he was right, and if they'd only listened to him, it would have been sooo much better. Got really tired of that trope.
Brian Blessed also was great in the season one episode "Death's Other Dominion" http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/epguide/t14dod.html
I like the idea that there was a launch site for Hawks but it and they all got destroyed when the Moon was blasted out of Earth's orbit.
Ah! The "Ultima Thule" episode. I especially remember the folks aging to bloody skeletons in the Eagle. But I'd forgotten that Brian Blessed was in the episode.