Back in 1980, when Tom Baker was embarking on what was supposed to be his victory lap as Doctor Who, millions turned their backs on his alarmingly shagged-out Time Lord and watched Buck Rogers in the 25th Century instead. Yes, genre fans, we felt we’d crossed a picket line, but all that stone-faced pontificating about ‘Block Transfer Computation’ and ‘Charged Vacuum Embodiments’ were the last thing we needed on a Saturday afternoon. How about a campy SF concoction featuring scantily clad space-ladies in lycra, cute robots and cool spaceships? No contest, frankly.
Co-created by Larsen with The Outer Limits originator Leslie Stevens and (very) loosely based on the 1939 film serial starring Buster Crabbe (who cameos in the pilot film), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century tells the very tall tale of a 20th Century playboy astronaut (Gill Gerard) who gets lost in space and ends up frozen in time. Rescued by Earth forces 500 years later, he’s soon put to work in a weekly battle against big-haired space fox Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley) while teamed with no-nonsense fighter pilot Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray). Cute tech support came from helmet-headed robot assistant Twiki (Felix Silla in a very sweaty suit and the voice of Mel Blanc) and super-intelligent computer brain Dr Theopolis, who Twiki wears like a giant Flava Flav-style neck medallion. It was a fun concept, and before you could say “STARBURST cover features” (we had it on twice) and “Look-In picture strip”, Buck Rogers’ feel-good adventures were blowing a great big ITV raspberry over the fence at Doctor Who, who sat there furiously playing with his BBC Micro and pretended it was all a bad dream.
Seen today, the series retains the campy charm that bedazzled us at the time. Gil Gerard’s smooth-talking performance was never going to win him any Emmys, but he’s an assuring hero in that late 70s, James Brolin/Lee Majors sort of way. He’s out-gunned in the acting stakes, however, by Erin Gray who many teenage boys held a candle for (as it were) and most episodes are sprinkled with an eclectic roster of guest stars including Vera Miles, Jack Palance, tragic Galaxina star Dorothy Stratten and a memorable turn from Jamie Lee Curtis in an orange jump suit.
Despite being produced straight after Battlestar Galactica, Larsen’s 1978 single-season response to Star Wars, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century playfully jumps back to a pre-Lucas Logan’s Run-style of 70s futurism where everyone looks ready for a night out at Studio 54 and a modernist shopping arcade doubles nicely (and cheaply) for the interior of Earth Control. That said, the effects are excellent for TV of the time, with some very nice motion-controlled space battles featuring those Corgi die-cast favourite Starfighters, the sight of which may have you clicking on eBay.
Fans will tell you the first season is vastly superior to the truncated 11-episode second, and it’s hard to argue with that. The addition of Wilfred Hyde Whyte as resident boffin and the character of birdman Hawk (Thom Christopher) work OK, but the budget-driven decision to set the whole thing on a spaceship undermines the original concept. Gerard’s performance is less gung-ho, the scripts are less frivolous, and Wilma’s kick-ass wings are clipped. It was fun while it lasted.
This set includes all 33 episodes of the show, the original TV movie released in UK cinemas ahead of the TV series, and two other alternate-version stories, all looking rather splendid.
BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: GIL GERARD, ERIN GRAY, TIM O’CONNOR, MEL BLANC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
