Throughout the pantheon of classic genre shows, one of the most beloved is the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century series that ran from 1979 to 1981. And now, with that series fully restored for an upcoming Blu-ray release, we’ve got two sets of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Series to give away to some lucky readers.
To be in with a chance of winning this stunning prize, simply answer the below question:
Which UK channel was the first one to air Buck Rogers in the 25th Century?
a) ITV
b) BBC Two
c) Channel 5
Email your answer, along with your address details, to [email protected] labelled Buck Rogers before midnight on Sunday, March 18th.
The official word on this hotly-anticipated new release reads:
Sit back and enjoy all 33 episodes across 2 seasons of this timeless sci-fi classic, now fully restored and in Hi-Definition.
Following the success of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, Glen A. Larson developed Buck Rogers in the 25th Century for television. Props, costumes, effects shots and sets from Battlestar Galactica (1978), which was still in production at the time, were recycled for the series.
The series ran for two seasons in America from 1979 – 1981. ITV began showing Buck Rogers on 30th August 1980. It was in the same Saturday timeslot that the BBC began screening season 18 of Doctor Who. Due to Buck Rogers’ popularity, Doctor Who’s ratings fell from a series high of 16.1 million to a low of 3.7 million – the lowest ratings in the programme’s history. This prompted the BBC to move Doctor Who to a weekday evening slot. The BBC began airing repeats of Buck Rogers on BBC Two in 1989 and again in 1995-96.
Synopsis: The year is 1987 and NASA launches the last of America’s deep space probes. Aboard this small starship is a lone astronaut, Captain William Buck Rogers. In a freak mishap Ranger 3 and its pilot are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support system and returns Buck Rogers back to Earth 500 years later. He is forced to readjust to a new world and its people – who blame his generation for a nuclear holocaust which left the earth a radioactive wasteland. Buck is soon enlisted to help save the Earth from an alien threat, working with Colonel Wilma Deering and a robot-droid known as Twiki. They roam space and planets to welcome back the lost and dispossessed.
Twiki was mainly played by Felix Silla and voiced by Mel Blanc. Felix Silla also played “Cousin Itt” in The Addams Family. Mel Blanc, was an American voice actor who voiced pretty much every cartoon character you can think of including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner and the Tasmanian Devil.
Cast: Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Pamela Hensley (Season 1), Tim O’Connor (Season 1), Felix Silla, Mel Blanc, Eric Server (Season 1), Thom Christopher (Season 2), Jay Garner (Season 2), Wilfrid Hyde-White (Season 2).
Extras: ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’- Theatrical version of the pilot episode ‘Awakening’, feature Length version of ’Flight of the War Witch’, syndicated 2 Part Version in Hi-Definition of ‘Journey to the Oasis’.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Series is released on April 2nd.
