Space 1999 blasted TV science fiction into a new dimension – watch it again on Rewind

To name a few UFO, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, the Tomorrow People and Timeslip. Of course, Star Trek – which I hated.

The BBC’s Blakes 7 – also rubbish, apart from Paul Darrow as the Avon – first shown in 1978 – rode the wave created by Star Wars.

Blasting into my sitting room one Sunday teatime in 1975 came Space 1999. Its effect was seismic – at last, a first-rate sci-fi show.

Its credentials were excellent – conceived and produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray fame.

It also owed much to their other real-life sci-fi series UFO – about a base on the moon set up to intercept interplanetary craft.

In the premiere episode, nuclear waste stored on the Moon explodes, knocking the Moon out of Earth’s orbit and sending it and the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, hurtling into space.

The date of the blast – September 13, 1999.

The 23 episodes of the first series which followed, showed the Alphans searching for a new home while encountering a space warp, a black hole, warring aliens, a lonely computer and a space brains – in the shape of bubble bath.

Everything about it was epic – real-life couple Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, who had propelled Mission Impossible to stellar ratings, led the cast as Commander John Koenig and Dr Helena Russell respectively.

Landau was the real deal – a star of Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and who won an Oscar for his role as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood.

Its premise was audacious and imaginative – if scientifically impossible as killjoy Isacc Asimov could not wait to point out. I did not care, I was hooked on the hokum.

The programme’s special effects director was Thunderbirds’ Brian Johnson who went on to work on the Empire Strikes Back and Alien.

The show drew visual inspiration and technical expertise from the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey. There were commlocks, laser guns, shuttles and spacecraft – the Eagles.

Guest stars in the first series included Joan Collins, Brian Blessed, Leo McKern, Margaret Leighton, Catherine Schell, Lisa Harrow, Julian Glover, his wife Isla Blair, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

Austrian fashion designer Rudi Gernreich’s clothes were the only dull note – grey flares and tunic, except for a coloured sleeve which signalled the wearer’s rank.

Though its reception was, at best, lukewarm, Space 1999 got a second series – revamped including brighter attire.

It also introduced a new character – shapeshifter Maya, played by Catherine Schell who had appeared in the first series episode Guardian of Piri – some fabulous-looking nonsense about brainwashing.

Her father, Mentor ruler of the planet Psychon, was played by Brian Blessed, also a guest star in the first series.

The Protectors star Tony Anholt was brought in as chief security officer Tony Verdeschi and Maya’s love interest. Nick Tate remained as Eagle pilot Alan Carter but the brains of the outfit Professor Victor Bergman, Barry Morse, was a gonna.

Though the emphasis remained on the Alphans’ search for a home, the theme was overshadowed by romance between the main characters – yuk – and encounters with ever-more bizarre aliens which reached a nadir with the jelly-like blobs in the two-part Bringers of Wonder.

Even the most-devoted fan, me, could see it was silly. For the most part, though, I was obsessed. Down came the posters of Roger Moore and Peter Wyngarde – up went pictures of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain.

I bought the magazine Look-in every week cos it had a Space 1999 cartoon strip. I had the annuals, the novels, a Moonbase Alpha manual, soundtrack vinyl albums, collected every sci-fi mag from Sci-fi Now to Starburst, joined the fan club and wrote for its fanzine.

My memorabilia has been sold off apart from my Eagle, a 16th birthday present from my sisters.

I grew up and moved on. Watching Space 1999 now on Rewind is a joy but tempered with knowing nostalgia are times that are never as good as we thought.