Review of Space 1999: Volume 3

Introduction

After the worldwide success of his famous puppets in Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray, Gerry Anderson turned his hand to live action sci-fi in 1975`s "Space 1999".

Following a freak explosion, Moonbase Alpha is blasted out into deep space where the crew (headed by Martin Landau), have to struggle to survive against the elements, aliens and themselves.

Video

The video comes in full-frame and is of a very good standard considering the age and television origins of the material. There is no dirt or grain and the image is sharp and stable throughout the episodes.

Gerry Anderson has always made very visually appealing programs and Space 1999 is no exception. The sets inside Moonbase Alpha are well created and look pretty realistic, although the same bits of corridors do seem to be used regularly. Effects include the use of models, an Anderson speciality, and they look excellent, with the only letdown being the explosions, which always look fake when done in miniature.

Audio

Sound comes in Dolby Digital Mono and is more than adequate.

There are plenty of sound effects – doors, buttons, computers etc in the space station, plus explosions etc when required. Added to this is a classic theme tune that you`re bound to remember when it fires up at the start of the first episode.

The dialogue is always clear and understandable.

Features

Extras consist of a look at memorabilia and the "Eagle" spacecraft via a series of text and picture based screens, along with a stills gallery.

The disc is packaged in a Black Amaray case, and contains a folded colour insert giving some background information, the chapter breaks in each of the four episodes, and details of other Gerry Anderson DVDs available.

Conclusion

Overall, this is the third Gerry Anderson series that I`ve come across on DVD, and like Thunderbirds and Stingray, Space 1999 is very well presented which will delight fans of the series.

Space 1999 is a well-made series, following the usual high Gerry Anderson production values and as a result is still very watchable twenty five years later, unlike some of it`s counterparts from the mid-seventies. The plots are reasonably varied (and not dissimilar to any number of any other sci-fi series that sees humans stranded in outer space - Star Trek Voyager for example) and well acted by the strong cast (look out for a young Lovejoy).

The video is of a very good standard, and the soundtrack is more than adequate. Well-presented menus and four 50-minute episodes per disc add up to a good overall package.