‘The character didn’t actually have a name in the scripts that had been written, because the part had been written for Zienia’s character, but the producer said, “Oh, you’ve got a nice name that’s unusual and sounds rather futuristic – do you mind if we use it?” I said, “Not at all!” But I’m not sure that it was the right decision, because it’s sometimes difficult for people to divorce the character that you’re playing from the real-life you, so using your own name – especially one as unusual as mine – probably wasn’t a good idea.’
Explaining the part-time basis of his involvement, John Hug said: ‘I wasn’t in all of the episodes, but when I was employed, they employed me on a weekly basis – one week or two weeks, whenever they wanted me. When it got to the last episode, they specified the days that they wanted me. I suppose it was a budget thing – they wanted to cut back on the money that they were forking out. So they specified three days, whereas before they would book me for two weeks even if I didn’t work every day. What happened was that all those three days that they booked me, they didn’t use me. So then they had to employ me on other specified days. They finished up paying me more money for the specified days than they would have had to pay to me for two weeks! So it was cutting off their nose to spite their face.’
Of her departure from the series, Zienia Merton related: ‘There were rumours, rumours, rumours about, “Is series three going to happen?” I don’t drive, so I used to travel with Tony Anholt, who would ferry me in, and if we finished at the same time I’d get a lift back, or whatever. Everybody was gossiping. I was offered a lead role in a film that was going to shoot in Norway. I thought, “What should I do?” Then they eventually wrote a script where Sahn was let loose out of Command Centre and she went onto a planet! It was “Devil’s Planet”. I thought, “I don’t believe it – I finally get three lines! I actually go down a travel tube! This is wondrous. This is amazing.” But the dates clashed, didn’t they. The Norwegian film that was offering me a lead role was very accommodating, but the Space: 1999 dates changed and kept conflicting. I don’t think they had that much imagination to be that mean, it was just in the planning that things changed.
‘So I went to my agent, who said, “What are you going to do?” Poor Tony, giving me lifts in and out, would hear, “Oh Tony, what am I going to do?” Decision time came. I rang my agent and said, “Okay – go for the Norwegian job.” I thought in regard to Space: 1999 that they didn’t really want me that much on the second series, so maybe by the third I could be really out in the cold. And the film was a lead. You have to take chances – that’s what life’s about …
‘So on the next day of shooting in the afternoon Tony said to me, “Zienia, can you hang on? Are you in a hurry to get home? Because I’ve got to go see Gerry …” So I said, “Sure. Okay. I’ll meet you in the bar.” So I was waiting in the bar and finally Tony arrived and I remember he said, “Well, who’s a clever girl then? There is no series three.” And that is what I remember of it.’
Gerry Anderson acknowledged the difficulties the production faced regarding their filming and broadcast schedules: ‘It is of course true that we, the production company, failed to maintain deliveries and keep pace with transmissions, but in fairness to myself, the decision to proceed with the second season was made so late that it was known both by ITC and me that a breakdown in deliveries was likely even before the cameras started to roll.’
SUMMARY
Christopher Penfold related: ‘I didn’t stay with the series. The series changed quite substantially in series two, and it wasn’t repeated after that. So, in the scheme of things, I’m not sure that it is considered hugely successful. The fans consider it successful, and that’s wonderful. I felt it was something that we could really have built on. I think Space: 1999 – like Star Trek – could have gone on for four generations.’
Johnny Byrne said: ‘If I had any regret it was that, due to the demands of the format, [we had to have our] main characters on screen for most of the time, [and that meant keeping] in the background a host of really fine actors and actresses, like Nick Tate and Zienia Merton, to whom we would otherwise have been able to give something a bit more profound. In one story we would have Sandra, in others Nick Tate, and of course Clifton Jones. It was very difficult because not only were these good actors – and like all actors and actresses they have egos – but also it was very demoralising week in, week out, for Sandra to have to say [lines like], “The heat levels are rising, Commander.” You know, she wanted a bit more than that. I would like to have seen more of Zienia Merton, a very talented actress.
‘The other regret is, looking back, I would have loved to have brought out a bit more acutely the sense of wonder that they were taking with them: to have made it an absolute point, and to have shown the degree of leadership needed to stop them reverting into any of one of ten thousand possibilities we never really examined. Occasionally, Alpha Moonbase was swept by great typhoons of unreason, mind control and things like that, but we never tackled the problem of people in such a desperate situation. Their morale would have crumbled but for having very strong leadership. We tried to show the strong leadership, and I think Martin did it well. He is a good actor, Martin. He is a very instinctive actor.
‘I was very sorry when I had to move on. It was like having to pass on your favourite toy.’
Martin Landau has said: ‘Space: 1999 fans are more die-hard than Star Trek fans. They are amazing. The show had an enormous following. It’s very popular everywhere …. Barbara won the Bravo Award as most popular actress in Germany for Space: 1999. It was a much better show than most people realise. We hit some, we missed some, we tried things. I liked the first season better. It was truer. They changed it because a bunch of American minds got into the act, and they decided to do many things they felt were commercial. I think the show’s beauty is that it wasn’t commercial. It had it’s own rhythm. I felt the episodes we started with in the first season were much more along the lines I wanted to go. To some extent, that was corrupted. I felt it would grow. Episodes like “Earthbound”, “Black Sun” and “War Games” were ones with ideas and integrity. Fred Freiberger helped in some respects, but overall I don’t think he helped the show. I think he brought a much more ordinary, mundane approach to the series. Space: 1999 had a style of its own, a feel of its own, a look of its own that would have grown if it had been left alone. It needed time and wasn’t given that time. They rushed the process. If the format hadn’t been changed, I know it would have hit.
‘I think Space: 1999 is going to become a period piece. I enjoyed working on it. I liked the idea, as did Barbara, of a show set in the not-too-distant future. I liked the concept of a group of people being forced into a situation they weren’t either emotionally or technologically prepared for. Had they wanted to, they couldn’t have done it. They couldn’t have gone into deep space with the technology they had and survived. So this accident caused them to face perils and the unknown and all kinds of things. And not being in control [of] their trajectory added a wonderful element. The characters in Star Trek were so far into the future that they were sort of in control of their destiny to a much greater degree than the denizens of Moonbase Alpha. And because Space: 1999 was only 25 years into the future, it didn’t remove us, or make us into beings that were too greatly advanced, beyond what is going on today … So I felt it was a great idea and an interesting show in terms of testing human capabilities and strengths and weaknesses, and coming into contact with many other kinds of species they were completely unprepared to encounter. Being on Space: 1999 was an interesting time.’
Barbara Bain said: ‘If one was philosophical about it, the show might be described as an allegory of the human will to survive … Most people thought of it purely as entertainment. And it was. Martin and I [had] a good time working on it.’
Nick Tate observed: ‘There were a lot of damn good episodes that came out of the second year, and I got to do quite a few good shows. But, quite frankly, I
preferred the majority of storylines from the first. In the first season there had been a sense of truth and humanity about the concepts. It was built around certain known concepts and wasn’t just science fiction; it was more science fact. In the second season, they tried to be more fanciful, but they didn’t spend the money and take the time that the show really needed … I’d had three years on Space: 1999 – the first series started in November 1973 and we worked most of 1974 and finished in March 1975. So it was a 15-month production for those first 24 episodes. The second season was shot from about the end of January through to December 1976, all in 11 months … So if you notice any difference in quality in the shows [in the second year, remember that] they were made very fast.
‘The show’s original concept had been [formulated] by both Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. When they broke up, it really destroyed much of what had been established during its first series. It seemed as if Gerry was prepared to allow somebody else to come in and totally change the humanity Sylvia had brought to the programme. We moved further away from science fact and started moving deeper into stories that had a much weirder slant. In the second season we would up having, I think, some very silly characters. We weren’t able to spend either the money or the time on the original concepts and, as a result, many of the creatures we encountered looked more like pantomime dragons.
‘Space: 1999 is loved by fans because it was about real people. It was the characters’ humanity that I think made people love it so much. [It had] high production values, thoughtful storylines, strong acting, good directing and – in the end – staunch and loyal fans.
‘It’s like some distant dream, really. I’ve absolutely not lost contact with it, though, because I get invited to conventions and go to them whenever I can. I also have a fan club, the International Nick Tate Fan Club, and I get fan mail all the time. So it’s never totally gone from my life. We all had a nice time working on Space: 1999, and we all felt that we were doing a show that could have longevity. Sure enough, here we are now, and people are still interested in it … I’m proud of Space: 1999. The show was good. I’ve done lots of diverse work in theatre and film, and Space: 1999 represents a section of my life that I feel good about. For me, it’s a couple of years out of my life and they are proud years. I don’t regret it in any way.
‘Space: 1999 finished in 1977. I’ve had to move on and have another life, and life’s been really good to me and I’ve been very happy with my career. I can’t keep on reliving what was in effect a disappointment to me. I thought Space: 1999 would go on and grow, and I think it deserved to, but other factors caused its downfall. And that’s disappointing, because the show itself wasn’t disappointing. I loved working on it – I enjoyed the people immensely and I enjoyed what it did for me. But I can’t keep reliving something that isn’t going to come back. Unless it really does come back: and if it does, I’ll be there, if they want me to be. But if anybody was to remake it, they’d have all young people [in the cast]. So I can’t keep on going down that road.
‘I think if a new Space: 1999 were to come out now it would have to have brand new actors in it, and there might be one or two cameo appearances by some of us that are still around – Prentis and Zienia and Anton and Clifton. We would all love to do it, and we are all young enough to. And Martin or Barbara could be in it, and Catherine Schell, who is a wonderful actress. I was very sad to hear about Tony passing away – he was a lovely man, a good man, and a fine actor, too. He and I never had any problems working together – we were put into a situation where it was hard for us. As two guys, we got on well together. So there would be no objections from any of the actors who worked on the show to come back and do it again – I’m sure we’d love to – but just how it could all be put together, I don’t know. It’s a shame that nobody’s ever done anything about reviving Space: 1999, because it was a great concept and had some really good characters.’
Zienia Merton asserted: ‘I think Year Two was too simple. Everybody was doing silly jokes and stuff … There were a lot of jokes in “Full Circle”. There were a lot of nice moments in there. It’s very difficult to try to get the right mix between a series about scientists – scientific stuff – and a soap. You know, it’s very difficult. I know that we were told we were wooden in the first year, but it takes time … I thought what was put in its place, what was thought to be warm and funny, was absolutely boring.
‘Space: 1999 is remembered because it was done with deep integrity, and the production values were brilliant … If there had been a Year Three I certainly wouldn’t have done it on the same terms as Year Two, which was absolutely ghastly for me. But I’m a very practical person and a very realistic person, and I [realised I] really wasn’t wanted on Year Two. You win some; you lose some – that’s life. The second year wasn’t that memorable for me – if it was memorable at all, it was for all the wrong reasons. But I loved Year One. My affection for Year One is undiminished.’
Catherine Schell explained: ‘Space: 1999 was my favourite, because we all got along so well. We had so much fun doing it, so many giggles and laughs, and it was really sad when that ended. I was really sad. It was wonderful. We laughed so much and had a terrific time. It was one of the best years of my life, doing that show. It was very hard work though. Sometimes we would be working until nine o’clock at night, and then had to get up again the following morning. But I never had a feeling of, “Oh, I have to go to work again.” I always looked forward to it every day.
‘If anything, Space: 1999 had a detrimental effect on my career, as is often the case when one becomes closely associated with a particular part. I was very grateful for the “Bronze-Otto” awarded to me by the German magazine Bravo for my portrayal of Maya, but believe me – it isn’t an Oscar! And I never received any work from Germany on the strength of the Otto.
‘I still find Space: 1999 a beautifully photographed show that deserves to be paid attention to … I still like my part as Maya, but I do not like to be identified with Maya all the time, because that has not been my only role. Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and the others were great colleagues. We were a great team and enjoyed each other’s company a great deal. I also received quite a lot of fan mail, but hardly had the time to answer it. Sometimes my chauffer only showed me the photographs to sign. I did that, and he did the rest … It’s always a risk to play a part like that: it would be very difficult to find another job afterwards for a long time, because people would see you identified with that part … I didn’t work for well over a year after the series finished.’
Tony Anholt had a similar viewpoint: ‘I would have had qualms about [doing another season], not because I thought the show or any of the people were not good enough. It wouldn’t necessarily meet with my own particular aspirations as an actor, and having felt that The Protectors did me more damage, personally, than it helped, I would probably have had the same fears about Space: 1999 … It seems to have done me more damage than good. I’d have probably fallen into the trap that actors tend to fall into: if there didn’t seem to be anything better, if the money and the security were good, and if I thought the fact that there was a third series meant it was getting more successful, I might well have said yes.
‘Following Space: 1999 I had six months out of work; that is inevitable when you’ve been in work for quite a while. I had got rid of my agent, because I discovered he had no idea Space: 1999 was being transmitted after seven episodes had gone out, and his interest in me seemed to be waning. I got another agent and said, “I want to get back to the theatre,” because my own feeling was that … the casting people, directors, if they still knew I existed, had forgotten I was capable of doing a bit more than pointing a laser gun at some monster on a cloud.’
Schell summed up the series by saying: ‘There was an awful lot of moving and running around in corridors, sudden head-turnings, meaningful looks. I don’t know what they were about, but there was a lot of that … The scripts, on the whole, were fine; they were very good. But there we
re some really cheesy lines!’
John Hug said: ‘Everyone who worked on Space: 1999 was totally committed to it, and they made me feel completely at home. Nobody was standoffish, they were all very friendly, and it made for a pleasant working environment. I think we all thought Space: 1999 was good. It looked polished, it was well made, the sets were good and it was fun to do. That’s what I basically remember about it – it was an enjoyable summer.’
Emma Porteous recalled: ‘The joy of being in the film business is that every new script is something different. There are always other nice things beckoning, and one has to move on. But I did enjoy Space: 1999 very much.’
Fond of his time working on the series, Brian Johnson said: ‘Space: 1999 was just the sort of show I’d always wanted to do, from the point of view of producing a lot of effects in a short time without an excessively large budget. And knowing we had to get all those shots in time made me try to think of new ways of doing things like Moon surfaces. For instance, I used a lot of photographic cut-outs. All those shots you see of Moonbase Alpha are photographs.’
Derek Wadsworth stated: ‘I was extremely lucky. At the time I did the music, I imagined that it would go on air a week or two later and, with a little luck, might possibly enjoy a later repeat. There was no concept that it might still be showing actually in 1999! … I am a science fiction fan. We are dreamers who sometimes get a bad press. Scientists are the ones who seek the answers; I like to think that sci-fi fans are amongst the ones who seek the questions. Thank God for imagination.’
Summing up his impression of the series, Fred Freiberger said: ‘I thought it was a great show. I thought it was terrific, and the people I was working with – they were all just great. I loved them all. It was very, very pleasant – a happy set, as they say … One of the things I loved about Space: 1999 was that there was no interference from a network. If there was anything wrong, Gerry and I, as producers, had the responsibility. ITC may have spoken to Gerry about things, but I had no interference. When you’re involved with a network, there’s a lot of interference. There’s somebody always on your back. But with Space: 1999, the greatest pleasure was there was no network to deal with. The mistakes you’re making are your own – they’re not forced on you. I don’t expect the fans to make any allowances … If anybody doesn’t like the show, that’s quite all right.’
Destination: Moonbase Alpha Page 57
