It’s now been well-documented how Space: 1999, the final live-action science-fiction TV extravaganza from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (although the couple split acrimoniously between seasons) was spawned out of revamped plans for a second season of their signature adult science-fiction series UFO. The exploits of the Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation had come and gone on UK TV but when the show arrived in the States in the early 1970s it attracted good notices and decent viewing figures and a second season was put into pre-production. But when UFO’s appeal waned as its run progressed its second season was canned but Gerry Anderson craftily retooled many of its concepts and offered up a brand new sci-fi saga which would go on to become the most expensive TV series ever made (in its time) and which, despite lasting for only two seasons (only the first of which was actually much good), is still well-remembered today. Space: 1999, as this chunky, gleaming Blu-ray set proves, demonstrates just how ahead of his time Anderson was in terms of the sheer scope and scale of his imagination; this, like many of his earlier productions, is a series which happily stands up to the visual demands of what we might describe, without irony, as a more sophisticated modern audience.

You know the drill. In September 1999 (this was 1975, remember) the moon is blasted out of Earth orbit by an explosion of nuclear waste stored on its dark side. The crew of Moonbase Alpha finds themselves cast adrift in space, the moon wandering across the Cosmos (there are vague hints in the first series of some great metaphysical power guiding their path, a no more preposterous notion than the idea of the moon becoming a giant spacecraft) encountering hostile alien species and curious space anomalies. The first season is a big, booming, bombastic beast packed with stunning special effects sequences (the great Derek Meddings was yet to move on to a career in feature films) but too often scuppered by pompous pondering stories and populated by a cripplingly-dour cast of characters who rarely crack a smile or display much in the way of real human inter-action across twenty-four episodes. US-appeal stars Martin Landau and Barbara Bain do their best to inject some life into their characters but Bain is often worryingly-wooden and Landau looks visibly frustrated by the limitations of the role and the scripts. Yet when Space:1999 is at its best it’s thrilling; War Games, Death’s Other Dominion, Dragon’s Domain and Matter of Life and Death are series one highlights, broadening the format and exploring the premise of the series in ways many of the more leaden episodes clearly couldn’t.

Season two, however, is an entirely different proposition. With the first season having found little favour in the all-important US market (despite its stars), new producer Fred Freiburger retooled the show to make it leaner, faster and, it has to be said, far sillier. Many of the more appealing cast members are culled, the sets become smaller and the stories drift into silly, shlocky space-opera full of ridiculous bug-eyed monsters and snarling space villains. New characters are introduced – Catherine Schell’s shape-shifting alien Maya is a wasted opportunity – and at least the characters of Landau’s John Koenig and Bain’s Helena Russell are softened a little which allows them to display at least some humanity now and again. Plans to broaden the show’s appeal only served to alienate those who had appreciated the more cerebral approach of the first season and a new audience wasn’t tempted by a show which had clearly become an absurd, rather childish space fantasy.

It’s a game of two halves then, for Space: 1999 although you’re sure to be tempted to take your leave of the series early into its second run if you chose to take a chance on it at all. But even now it’s hard to fault the breadth of the show’s ambition, in its first year at least where there are some riches to be found amongst the narrative stodge and this set, despite the sheer disposability of season two, deserves a place on your shelf whether you’re an Anderson completest or just a fan of classic sci-fi TV in general.

Special features: Commentaries, text episode commentaries, image galleries, textless titles.

SPACE: 1999 – THE COMPLETE SERIES / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: MARTIN LAUNDAU, BARBARA BAIN, BARRY MORSE, CATHERINE SCHELL, TONY ANHOLT, NICK TATE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW