Re-Watching Space: 1999
- Thread starter Mysterion
- Start date
Any guesses on who might disagree?That's what I always say.
Personally, I'd say it was was one of the best, mainly due to Brian Blessed and John Shrapnel.
Valerie Leon has a non-speaking role. Was as good looking at 60 as she was then.
The lost missions trope does get over used, but also delivers one of the best - and certainly most terrifying - episodes.
What would it take to melt Doctor Russell? (insert cold jokes here)
Sylvia Anderson would probably agree with you. She was never that happy with Landau but she really doesn't like bain (there's a video on youtube where she talks about them).
Death's Other Dominion is one of the better episodes of the first season and one I remember watching when it first aired way back in 76-77 or thereabouts. Anything with Brian Blessed in it elevates the material. When John Shrapnel overacts Brian Blessed that's saying something. It struck me when watching during the CometTV marathon that there seemed to be a lot of Thulian's in the caverns, and, according to the call sheet listed in The Catacombs, there were 20 extras. That seems like a lot for an expedition to Neptune. Also, Dr. Russell and Professor Bergman seemed awfully eager to embrace the idea of immortality and spend the rest of their (and the crew of Moonbase Alpha) days on a frozen ice planet with limited resources. You're looking at 300 or so people crammed into those ice caverns. Unless they carved out more space. Also, if the spaceship they (the Thulians) were attempting to rebuild could only accommodate 20 or so crew (based on the call sheet), what happens to the rest of them? Unless they find some way to cannibalize the Eagles, you're condemning a lot of people to an eternity on a frozen planet.
Well, it's a big planet.
(And it was Uranus, according to the Catacombs transcript.)That was the original idea, I understand, till the technical advisors pointed out that Blessed screaming would cause catastrophic acoustic shock to the Eagle...
Space: 1999 gets discussed at 6:19
Immortality would be hard to turn down! Yeah, there are some downsides--but they are theoretical ones that you might face at some point and you won't have any personal experience with when making the decision. But, the downside of rejecting immortality is stark and harsh--guaranteed death! So, I can totally see the temptation.
As for the living conditions, you're thinking too much like a mortal. Yeah, they might spend a long time by mortal standards in these caves, but over the very long run, they are bound to have visitors and someone is bound to rescue them. Even if it takes a very, very long time (by our standards).
I watched this as a kid when it first aired. And, the bleak conditions really stood out. I wondered if it as just because I was an impressionable kid, but no, when I recently rewatched it, and the outdoor blizzard scenes were excellent and convincing!
It's because all the formaldehyde used in the set takes a while to pickle you.
Sylvia is right—Landau is more of a character actor, like Nimoy, than a lead. He doesn't own the stage like a Shatner. But I didn't mind him in the role of Koenig. It's Bain I had more issue with.
He kind of became the de facto lead of Mission: Impossible late in its first season, once they dialed back Steven Hill's role -- even though Landau was technically only a "special guest star" the whole season. They offered Landau the series lead when Hill left, but he didn't want to be tied down to a show for more than a year at a time, so we got Peter Graves as a result.
Hmm. Now I'm imagining what Peter Graves would've been like as Koenig. Probably less shouty and more avuncular.
In watching that clip I noticed that Sylvia Anderson didn't mention the other actors that she would have preferred in the lead roles.
According to The Catacombs, Sylvia's choice's for Koenig was Robert Cult and for Dr. Russell was Katherine Ross (which is six degrees from Mission: Impossible since she's married to Sam Elliot who was in the fifth season of that show).
I'm not familiar enough with Katherine Ross's work to comment on what her performance might have been like, but I can almost see Robert Culp in the role of Koenig, if he pitched his performance somewhat between his role of Hoby Gilman on 'Trackdown' and Kelly Robinson on 'I, Spy' and not his later role on 'Greatest American Hero'.
According to The Catacombs, Sylvia's choice's for Koenig was Robert Cult and for Dr. Russell was Katherine Ross (which is six degrees from Mission: Impossible since she's married to Sam Elliot who was in the fifth season of that show).
I'm not familiar enough with Katherine Ross's work to comment on what her performance might have been like, but I can almost see Robert Culp in the role of Koenig, if he pitched his performance somewhat between his role of Hoby Gilman on 'Trackdown' and Kelly Robinson on 'I, Spy' and not his later role on 'Greatest American Hero'.
Culp would have been an interesting choice for Koenig I can almost imagine that. The only thing off the top of my head that I recall seeing Ross in was the movie The Final Countdown. She was okay in that, but not sure how she'd do as Dr. Russell.
BTW, will have a couple more episodes for folks here tomorrow night.
BTW, will have a couple more episodes for folks here tomorrow night.
Robert Culp was a fantastic actor. He would've been great in the part. Not that familiar with Ross.
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