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131-550: Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television programme that ran for two series from 1975 to 1977. In the premiere episode, set in the year 1999, nuclear waste stored on the Moon's far side explodes, knocking the Moon out of orbit and sending it, as well as the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, hurtling uncontrollably into space. Space: 1999 was the final production by the partnership of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and was, at

262-456: A "mysterious unknown force", which was guiding the Alphans toward an ultimate destiny. The second series used simpler action-oriented plots. The first series of Space: 1999 used a "teaser" introduction, sometimes called a "hook" or " cold open ". This was followed by a title sequence that managed to convey prestige for its two main stars, Landau and Bain (both billed as 'starring') and to give

393-401: A US network sale, insisted the series have American leads and employ American writers and directors. George Bellak , a well-known American television writer, was brought on staff. As stated by series writers Christopher Penfold and Johnny Byrne , it was Bellak who created and polished the series' defining concepts. Bellak wrote a ninety-minute opening episode titled "The Void Ahead", which was

524-545: A bunch of dialogue to say after. We had the Commlock. All of those things were on the verge of happening anyway. Now we're way past it. When we made it, 1999 seemed so far away." Following the completion of the first series, the production team prepared for a second series to commence production in the autumn of 1975. Gerry Anderson had staff writer Johnny Byrne prepare a critical analysis of the first twenty-four episodes, assessing their strengths and weaknesses in order to mount

655-630: A close forerunner of " Breakaway ". Bellak also set up a writers' guide defining the three leads, the facilities of the Moonbase and potential storylines. At this point, the staff seemed to make creative changes that brought the series closer in concept and appearance to 2001: A Space Odyssey . Even the title Space: 1999 evoked comparison with Kubrick's film. (Before, the title of the new series had greatly varied: Space Journey: 1999 , Journey in Space , Menace in Space and Space Invaders —the invaders of

786-457: A completely electronic score for " Ring Around the Moon ", and Big Jim Sullivan performed a one-off sitar composition for " The Troubled Spirit ". Library music, classical compositions, and score excerpts from earlier Anderson productions augmented the five Gray scores and gave the impression of an expansive musical repertoire. The second series was scored by jazz musician and composer Derek Wadsworth ; American producer Fred Freiberger wanted

917-415: A faulty spacesuit per the scripted scene. Likewise, it was mentioned in this publication that Morrow and Kano had died in an Eagle crash between series and explained that Dr. Mathias, supposedly Alpha's psychiatrist (although he seems to be more Russell's assistant), was on sabbatical doing research. Fred Freiberger felt that these characters were one-dimensional and had no fan support; he told Nick Tate that

1048-528: A female superhero, wears traditional folkloric clothes and tries to save traditional elements of Dutch society against the factory owners. Italian TV shows include A come Andromeda (1972) which was a remake of 1962 BBC serial, A for Andromeda (from the novels of Hoyle and Elliott), Geminus (1968), Il segno del comando (1971), Gamma (1974) and La traccia verde (1975). French series are Highlander: The Series , French science-fiction/fantasy television series (both co-produced with Canada) and

1179-528: A floor-to-grid measurement of 30 feet (9.1 m). For the first series, Stage L housed the "standing sets"; such as Main Mission, the Eagle interior, the travel tube, and a small section of corridor. Due to the limited studio space, other sets depicting Alpha interiors, such as Medical Centre, were assembled as needed. Stage M was the "swing stage" – used for planet exteriors, spaceship interiors, and whatever else

1310-478: A fraction of the episodes, albeit more prominently in some than in many of those of the first series. Security Chief Tony Verdeschi also joined as a new character, played by Tony Anholt . Verdeschi, who assumed the base's second-in-command role, neither appeared, nor was ever mentioned, in Year One. However, Moonbase Alpha personnel treated Verdeschi as if he had been in their midst since "Breakaway". His character

1441-453: A group of Dutch space explorers and their adventures, De duivelsgrot (The devil's cave), broadcast from 1963 to 1964, about a scientist who finds the map of a cave that leads to the center of the Earth and Treinreis naar de Toekomst (Train journey to the future) about two young children who are taken to the future by robots who try to recreate humanity, but are unable to give the cloned humans

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1572-453: A hand over their nose and mouth, while using the other hand to push the victim's jaw up. The corpses had no visible injuries, and were supplied to medical schools for money. Compressive asphyxia (also called chest compression) is mechanically limiting expansion of the lungs by compressing the torso, preventing breathing. " Traumatic asphyxia " or "crush asphyxia" usually refers to compressive asphyxia resulting from being crushed or pinned under

1703-406: A hand, pillow, or a plastic bag. Smothering can be either partial or complete, where partial indicates that the person being smothered is able to inhale some air, although less than required. In a normal situation, smothering requires at least partial obstruction of both the nasal cavities and the mouth to lead to asphyxia. Smothering with the hands or chest is used in some combat sports to distract

1834-429: A large weight or force, or in a crowd crush . An example of traumatic asphyxia is a person who jacks up a car to work on it from below, and is crushed by the vehicle when the jack fails. Constrictor snakes such as boa constrictors kill through slow compressive asphyxia, tightening their coils every time the prey breathes out rather than squeezing forcefully. In cases of an adult co-sleeping with an infant ("overlay"),

1965-419: A low oxygen atmosphere, or in a vacuum; environments where sufficiently oxygenated air is present, but cannot be adequately breathed because of air contamination such as excessive smoke. Other causes of oxygen deficiency include but are not limited to: Smothering is a mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the mouth and/or nostrils, for instance, by covering the mouth and nose with

2096-630: A man who becomes trapped in a telephone booth, while passersby seem unable to help him, won the 1973 International Emmy Award for Fiction. The series Plutón B.R.B. Nero (2008) was a brutal SF comedy by Álex de la Iglesia , in the line of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Red Dwarf , or Doctor Who , with 26 episodes of 35 minutes. Other series of the 2010s were Los protegidos (2010-2012), El barco (2011-2013), and El internado (2007-2010), all three inspired by North American productions, with minor SF elements. The latest success

2227-413: A massive thermonuclear explosion on 13 September 1999. The force of the blast propels the Moon like an enormous booster rocket, hurling it out of Earth orbit and into deep space at colossal speed, thus stranding the 311 personnel stationed on Alpha. The runaway Moon, in effect, becomes the "spacecraft" on which the protagonists travel, searching for a new home. Not long after leaving Earth's Solar System ,

2358-503: A more "driving, searing" score for his new action-adventure format. Aside from the new theme music, which was more synthesised than the theme for Year One, Wadsworth also composed original music for the episodes " The Metamorph ", " The Exiles ", " One Moment of Humanity ", " The Taybor ", and " Space Warp ". Much of this music was reused in other episodes. Other Anderson shows influenced the Space: 1999 spacecraft and elements. The cockpit of

2489-554: A new and improved second year. Byrne then commenced writing scripts in an improved first-series format: "The Biological Soul", "The Face of Eden", and "Children of the Gods". He engaged British writer Donald James to develop his first-series format story "The Exiles". Director Ray Austin was again contracted as one of the main directors of the show and stayed with the show until leaving to direct in America. The largest stumbling block for

2620-411: A new source of income for actors, who began to charge money for autographs that they had previously been doing for free. This became significant enough that lesser-known actors would come to conventions without requesting any appearance fee, simply to be allowed to sell their own autographs (commonly on publicity photos). Today most events with actor appearances are organized by commercial promoters, though

2751-581: A newborn infant long enough to cause apparent harm. It results most commonly from a drop in maternal blood pressure or interference during delivery with blood flow to the infant's brain . This can occur as a result of inadequate circulation or perfusion , impaired respiratory effort, or inadequate ventilation . There has long been a scientific debate over whether newborn infants with asphyxia should be resuscitated with 100% oxygen or normal air. It has been demonstrated that high concentrations of oxygen lead to generation of oxygen free radicals , which have

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2882-482: A noble example of mankind, they return him unharmed. They then use a beam to reduce the Moon's gravitational influence to zero, sending it careening out of orbit into deep space. The project continued forward. Group Three Productions, a partnership of the Andersons and production executive Reg Hill, was to produce the series; ITC Entertainment and Italian broadcaster RAI were to provide the funding. Grade, aiming for

3013-469: A number of fan-run conventions still exist, such as Toronto Trek and Shore Leave . The 1985 series Robotech is most often credited as the catalyst for the Western interest in anime. The series inspired a few fanzines such as Protoculture Addicts and Animag both of which in turn promoted interest in the wide world of anime in general. Anime's first notable appearance at SF or comic book conventions

3144-428: A number of smaller fiction/fantasy television series, including Tang in 1971, about a secret organization that attempts to control the world with a new super weapon, "Les atomistes" and 1970 miniseries "La brigade des maléfices". Another French-produced science fiction series was the new age animated series Il était une fois... l'espace (English: Once upon a time...space ). Anime-influenced animation includes

3275-562: A one-hour draft first re-titled "Turning Point", then finalised as "Breakaway". One week before live action filming commenced, Visual Effects Supervisor Brian Johnson and his team began work on the visual effects sequences for the first episode at Bray Studios near Maidenhead , Berkshire on 5 November 1973. For the first six weeks, no usable footage resulted until the team discovered a dragging brake had affected film speed. Studio rehearsals commenced at Elstree Studios near Borehamwood , Hertfordshire on 12 November 1973. During filming of

3406-430: A perfectionist and demanded take after take of scenes; even coverage of reaction shots of the background extras required running a whole scene from beginning to end. His two-hour director's cut was assembled and sent to ITC New York for a viewing. Abe Mandell was horrified by the finished product. Anderson re-wrote several key scenes and, after three days of re-shoots, re-edited the pilot into a one-hour episode that appeased

3537-424: A renewal of the series for a second year. In addition to the alien Maya character, to be played by Catherine Schell , numerous other changes were made for what was branded Year Two. The most visible change was the absence of Professor Bergman ( Barry Morse ). Morse's departure was due to a salary dispute, but he later claimed that he was glad to leave, and he had told Anderson: "I would rather play with grown-ups for

3668-466: A role in reperfusion injury after asphyxia. Research by Ola Didrik Saugstad and others led to new international guidelines on newborn resuscitation in 2010, recommending the use of normal air instead of 100% oxygen. Classifications of different forms of asphyxia vary among literature, with differences in defining the concept of mechanical asphyxia being the most obvious. In DiMaio and DiMaio's 2001 textbook on forensic pathology, mechanical asphyxia

3799-648: A science fiction television series based upon Zoran Živković's story, winner of a World Fantasy Award . Návštěvníci (The Visitors) was a Czechoslovak (and Federal German, Swiss and French) TV series produced in 1981 to 1983. The family show aired in a larger number of European countries. For a list of notable science fiction series and programs on television, see: List of science fiction television programs . People who have influenced science fiction on television include: [REDACTED] Media related to Science fiction television programmes at Wikimedia Commons Asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation

3930-576: A second series of the Century 21 production UFO to show-runners Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Grade had one stipulation: the new series would be set primarily on the Moon within the environs of an expanded SHADO Moonbase; the ratings indicated the Moon-centric episodes had proved the most popular with audiences. The Andersons and their team would quickly revamp the production, flashing ahead nearly twenty years for UFO: 1999 with Commander Ed Straker and

4061-407: A sense, virtually all animated series allow characters and objects to perform in unrealistic ways, so they are almost all considered to fit within the broadest category of speculative fiction (in the context of awards, criticism, marketing, etc.) The artistic affinity of animation to comic books has led to a large amount of superhero -themed animation, much of this adapted from comics series, while

Space: 1999 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4192-400: A series of French-Japanese cartoons / anime , including such titles as Ulysses 31 (1981), The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982), and Ōban Star-Racers (2006). The first Spanish SF series was Diego Valor , a 22 episode TV adaption of a radio show hero of the same name based on Dan Dare , aired weekly between 1958 and 1959. Nothing was survived of this series, not a single still; it

4323-538: A similar mechanism are cave-ins , or when an individual is buried in sand, snow, dirt, or grain. In homicidal cases, the term burking is often ascribed to a killing method that involves simultaneous smothering and compression of the torso. The term "burking" comes from the method William Burke and William Hare used to kill their victims during the West Port murders . They killed the usually intoxicated victims by sitting on their chests and suffocating them by putting

4454-409: A solution had to be worked out. Four of the later episodes produced (" The Troubled Spirit ", " Space Brain ", " Dragon's Domain " and " The Testament of Arkadia ") featured Italian guest artists. The necessity to telex story outlines and scripts to New York for approval caused further production delays. The incessant re-writing this brought about eventually caused Christopher Penfold to resign during

4585-462: A soul. All three of these television series were aimed mostly at children. Later television series were Professor Vreemdeling (1977) about a strange professor who wants to make plants speak and Zeeuws Meisje  [ nl ] (1997) a nationalistic post-apocalyptic series where the Netherlands has been built full of housing and the highways are filled with traffic jams. The protagonist,

4716-508: A stethoscope, but a little beeping, all-purpose medical scanner similar to Dr McCoy's whistling medical "tricorder" on Star Trek . The opening credits for the first series featured a dramatic fanfare composed by long-time Anderson associate Barry Gray , whose scores for the series were his final compositions for an Anderson production. Gray scored five episodes—" Breakaway ", " Matter of Life and Death ", "Black Sun", " Another Time, Another Place ", and " The Full Circle " — Vic Elmes provided

4847-482: A technique that went back to the earliest days of visual effects: spacecraft and planets would be filmed against black backgrounds, with the camera being rewound for each successive element. As long as the various elements did not overlap, this produced convincing results. In technical terms, the advantage was that all of the elements were recorded on the original negative, as opposed to blue screen, which would have involved several generations of duplication. Another benefit

4978-446: A twenty-mile wide installation on the Moon. Maddox would view all aspects of Earth defence from Central Control, a facility at the hub of the base and accessible only by Moon Hopper craft, which would require the correct pass-code to traverse Control's defensive laser barrier. The Commander would also have access to a personal computer called "Com-Com" (Commander's Computer), which would act as a personal advisor, having been programmed with

5109-446: A weight of approximately 450 kg or 1000 lbs). In cases where people have stacked up on each other in a human pile, it has been estimated that those at the bottom are subjected to around 380 kg (840 lbs) of compressive weight. "Positional" or "restraint" asphyxia is when a person is restrained and left alone prone, such as in a police vehicle, and is unable to reposition themself in order to breathe. The death can be in

5240-423: A while." With Morse gone, the role of the boffin on Alpha was filled completely by Maya, whose people's science was far in advance of mankind's. Also, her character was conceived to be able to provide "outside observation of human behaviour" as had been provided by the character of Mr. Spock on Star Trek . Maya shared Spock's logical approach to problem-solving and advanced intelligence, but differed in that she

5371-469: A wide array of software. Models have been an essential tool in science fiction television since the beginning, when Buck Rogers took flight in spark-scattering spaceships wheeling across a matte backdrop sky. The original Star Trek required a staggering array of models; the USS Enterprise had to be built in several different scales for different needs. Models fell out of use in filming in

Space: 1999 - Misplaced Pages Continue

5502-551: A working partnership, beginning with Supercar in the early 1960s and including the marionette fantasy programmes Fireball XL5 , Stingray , Thunderbirds , Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , Joe 90 and The Secret Service , as well as the live-action drama UFO . Space: 1999 owes much of its visual design to pre-production work for the never-made second series of UFO , which would have been set primarily on

5633-505: Is El ministerio del tiempo ( The ministry of time ), premiered on February 24, 2015 on TVE 's main channel La 1 . The series follows the exploits of a patrol of the fictional Ministry of Time, which deals with incidents caused by time travel. It has garnered several national prizes in 2015, like the Ondas Prize , and has a thick following on-line, called los ministéricos . Serbia produced The Collector ( Sakupljač ),

5764-569: Is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing . Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia , which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are many circumstances that can induce asphyxia, all of which are characterized by the inability of a person to acquire sufficient oxygen through breathing for an extended period of time. Asphyxia can cause coma or death. In 2015, about 9.8 million cases of unintentional suffocation occurred which resulted in 35,600 deaths. The word asphyxia

5895-529: Is attributed to positional asphyxia. Therefore, passive deaths following custody restraint that are presumed to be the result of positional asphyxia may actually be examples of asphyxia occurring during the restraint process. Chest compression is a technique used in various grappling combat sports, where it is sometimes called wringing, either to tire the opponent or as complementary or distractive moves in combination with pinning holds , or sometimes even as submission holds . Examples of chest compression include

6026-573: Is caused by pressure from outside the body restricting respiration. Similar narrow definitions of mechanical asphyxia have occurred in Azmak's 2006 literature review of asphyxial deaths and Oehmichen and Auer's 2005 book on forensic neuropathology. According to DiMaio and DiMaio, mechanical asphyxia encompasses positional asphyxia, traumatic asphyxia, and "human pile" deaths. In Shkrum and Ramsay's 2007 textbook on forensic pathology, mechanical asphyxia occurs when any mechanical means cause interference with

6157-419: Is from Ancient Greek α- "without" and σφύξις sphyxis , "squeeze" (throb of heart). Situations that can cause asphyxia include but are not limited to: airway obstruction , the constriction or obstruction of airways, such as from asthma , laryngospasm , or simple blockage from the presence of foreign materials; from being in environments where oxygen is not readily accessible: such as underwater, in

6288-402: Is left somewhat enigmatic in the first series as episodes involving other planets invariably begin with the Moon having already reached a planet and in the first few episodes of this kind, such as "Matter of Life and Death" and "Missing Link", the episodes actually begin with the Alphans on their way back from a planet, an initial Eagle flight having taken place before the episode even begins. In

6419-438: Is not known if the show was even recorded or just a live broadcast. The 60s were dominated by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador and Narciso Ibáñez Menta , who adapted SF works from Golden Age authors and others to a series titled Mañana puede ser verdad . Only 11 episodes were filmed. The 70s saw three important television films, Los pajaritos (1974), La Gioconda está triste (1977), and La cabina (1972), this last one, about

6550-512: The Asgard characters are puppets in scenes where they are sitting, standing, or lying down. In Mystery Science Theater 3000 , the characters of Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo , two of the show's main (and most iconic) characters, are puppets constructed from random household items. As animation is completely free of the constraints of gravity, momentum, and physical reality, it is an ideal technique for science fiction and fantasy on television. In

6681-527: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Later series made in the 1960s included The Interpretaris (1966) Vega 4 (1967), and Phoenix Five (1970). The country's best known Science Fiction series was Farscape ; an American co-production, it ran from 1999 to 2003. A significant proportion of Australian produced Science Fiction programmes are made for the teens/young Adults market, including The Girl from Tomorrow ,

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6812-716: The Eagle space shuttle and the Moon Buggy, were represented with a mixture of full-sized props, photographic blow-ups, and detailed scale models . Dozens of models for the various alien spaceships and the Mark IX Hawk from the " War Games " episode were built by model maker Martin Bower , often at several different sizes to account for the intended use. Rather than relying on the expensive and time-consuming blue screen process, as for Star Trek , Johnson's team often employed

6943-814: The Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 97 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in an overcrowded terrace, 95 of the 97 from compressive asphyxia, 93 dying directly from it and 3 others from related complications; the 2021 Meron crowd crush where 45 died; the Astroworld Festival crowd crush in 2021, where 10 died; and the Seoul Halloween crowd crush in 2022, where at least 159 died during Halloween celebrations. In confined spaces, people are forced to push against each other; evidence from bent steel railings in several fatal crowd accidents has shown horizontal forces over 4500 N (equivalent to

7074-729: The Super Robots such as Mitsuteru Yokoyama 's Tetsujin 28-go ( Gigantor ) and Go Nagai 's Mazinger Z , and the Real Robots such as Yoshiyuki Tomino 's Gundam series and Shōji Kawamori 's Macross series. Other primary aspects of Japanese science fiction television are the superhero tokusatsu (a term literally meaning special effects ) series, pioneered by programs such as Moonlight Mask and Planet Prince . The suitmation technique has been used in long running franchises include Eiji Tsuburaya 's Ultra Series , Shotaro Ishinomori 's Kamen Rider Series , and

7205-619: The Super Sentai Series. In addition, several dramas utilize science fiction elements as framing devices, but are not labeled as "tokusatsu" as they do not utilize actors in full body suits and other special effects. Among the notable German language productions are: Danish television broadcast the children's TV-series Crash in 1984 about a boy who finds out that his room is a space ship. Early Dutch television series were Morgen gebeurt het  [ nl ] (Tomorrow it will happen), broadcast from 1957 to 1959, about

7336-467: The knee-on-stomach position ; or techniques such as leg scissors (also referred to as body scissors and in budō referred to as do-jime ; 胴絞, "trunk strangle" or "body triangle") where a participant wraps his or her legs around the opponent's midsection and squeezes them together. Pressing is a form of torture or execution using compressive asphyxia. Perinatal asphyxia is the medical condition resulting from deprivation of oxygen ( hypoxia ) to

7467-594: The 1950s". Doctor Who , which launched in 1963 and ran until 1989, then was revived in 2005, was listed in the Guinness World Records in 2006 as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world and as the "most successful" science fiction series of all time. Other cult British series in the science fiction genre include The Tomorrow People , Space: 1999 , Blake's 7 , Star Cops and Red Dwarf . Science fiction in Canada

7598-478: The 1960s espionage series I Spy ) and Katharine Ross (co-star of 1960s blockbuster movies The Graduate and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ). Lee H. Katzin , a highly respected American television director with a speciality for pilot episodes, was selected to direct the opening segment and brought into the fold as a primary director for the remainder of the series. The show's vehicles, including

7729-453: The 1970s. No other show attracted a large organized following until the 1990s, when Babylon 5 attracted both Star Trek fans and a large number of literary SF fans who previously had not been involved in media fandom. Other series began to attract a growing number of followers. The British series, Doctor Who , has similarly attracted a devoted following. In the late 1990s, a market for celebrity autographs emerged on eBay , which created

7860-472: The 1990s as CGI became more affordable and practical, but even today, designers sometimes construct scale models which are then digitized for use in animation software. Models of characters are puppets . Gerry Anderson created a series of shows using puppets living in a universe of models and miniature sets, notably Thunderbirds . ALF depicted an alien living in a family, while Farscape included two puppets as regular characters. In Stargate SG-1 ,

7991-471: The Alphans, and the audience, have no concrete answers. Speaking about the show in 2010, Bain reflected: "We had some very good science fiction people as advisors who knew what they were talking about. For instance, they knew that sound up there wouldn't travel, and it would just be quiet up there. But then we wouldn't have a series, so we couldn't do that. There were various considerations that had to be made, but they were based on what is, or what was, known at

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8122-502: The Commander's personality and moral sense. In the half-hour opening episode "Zero-G" penned by the Andersons, Earth's deep space probes have discovered an advanced extraterrestrial civilisation. Maddox is kidnapped for an interview with the aliens. Angered by humanity's innate hostility and WANDER's defensive posture, they travel to Earth with the intent of isolating mankind within the boundary of Earth's atmosphere. Having judged Maddox

8253-459: The Eagle has a slight resemblance to the cockpit of an earlier Anderson Supermarionation series, Fireball XL5 . Thruster and engine sounds were similar to those previously used in Fireball XL5 , Thunderbirds , and Captain Scarlet . Lighting effects for Moonbase Alpha were comparable to those from UFO , as well as the concept of the elevating spacecraft launch pad. After almost 30 years,

8384-548: The Family , Petrocelli , and Starsky and Hutch . Though Anderson and Grade were satisfied with this choice, Abe Mandell had concerns about why he was unemployed and available at the time. Then ITC Entertainment President Sir Lew Grade abruptly cancelled the series' production in late 1975 when ratings in the United States had dropped during the later autumn months of the year. Grade had already been disappointed by

8515-497: The February 28, 1976 edition of TV Guide , critic Cleveland Amory panned the series. In his review he noted, "[T]here was practically no dialogue for quite a while, which, in view of what was to come, was a terrific idea. Then came lines like... 'We're sitting on the biggest bomb ever made.' In a show like this, that's one line they should have avoided at any price." He criticized the acting, saying, "The special effects are good, but

8646-475: The Midlands" and forbade any Earth-bound settings. Anderson responded that in the series opener, he would "blow up the Earth". Mandell countered that this concept might be off-putting to viewers, to which Anderson replied he would "blow up the Moon". The Andersons reworked UFO: 1999 into a new premise: Commander Steven Maddox controlled the forces of WANDER, Earth's premier defence organisation, from Moon City,

8777-466: The Moon and featured a more extensive Moonbase. Space: 1999 drew a great deal of visual inspiration and technical expertise from the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The programme's special effects director Brian Johnson had previously worked on both Thunderbirds (as Brian Johncock) and 2001 . In 1972, Sir Lew Grade, head of ITC Entertainment , proposed financing

8908-443: The Moon, and for its realistic production design. Asimov's responses were based on the pilot episode only. Subsequent episodes (such as "The Black Sun", third in production order, and "Another Time, Another Place", sixth in production order) suggest the Moon reaches the stars by passing through wormholes and hyperspatial tunnels, a plot point made more overt in the second series' episodes, notably "The Taybor" and "Space Warp". This issue

9039-693: The Servant of the Guardian in the Year One episode " Guardian of Piri ". In addition to the cosmetic changes, the characters were "warmed up." Koenig and Russell went from a barely noticeable courtship to a physically passionate, full-fledged romance, in which the devotion ran so deep that they offered to die for each other ("Brian the Brain"). In addition to Bergman, Year One supporting characters Paul Morrow ( Prentis Hancock ), David Kano ( Clifton Jones ) and Tanya Alexander ( Suzanne Roquette ) were also removed from

9170-487: The actors are awful, even Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, whom you will remember from Mission:Impossible; and Barry Morse, of The Fugitive. Miss Bain's part is the zombiest, which is some distinction, as the cast is huge." Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were surprised and disappointed that the public (and critics) never granted them the suspension of disbelief given to other science-fiction programmes. The characters seem aware of

9301-480: The apparent implausibility of their situation. In "Black Sun", Victor Bergman asserts the chances of their surviving the explosion which knocked them from orbit are "just about infinite." In "Matter of Life and Death", Koenig remarks "many things have happened since we broke away from our own solar system, unexplainable things." How they survived and are able to travel the Universe seems to be a central mystery to which

9432-517: The audience some thirty-plus fast-cut shots of the forthcoming episode. The second series eliminated this montage. The programme would then offer four ten-to-twelve minute long acts (allowing for commercial breaks in North America) and finished with a short (and, in the second series, often light-hearted) "epilogue" scene. The headline stars of Space: 1999 were American actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain , who were married to each other at

9563-451: The audience would not remember them and that, as far as he was concerned, they were just "somewhere else" on Alpha, lost in the crowd of three hundred other people. Other changes included the main titles and theme music . Year One's opening montage of events from " Breakaway " and the episode about to unfold was dropped in favour of a special-effects sequence depicting the Moon being blown out of orbit into space. With Morse gone, Schell

9694-448: The basic concept of a series, influencing all the artistic choices. By the late 1990s, improved technology and more training and cross-training within the industry made all of these techniques easier to use, so that directors of individual episodes could make decisions to use one or more methods, so such artistic choices no longer needed to be baked into the series concept. Special effects (or "SPFX") have been an essential tool throughout

9825-523: The cast (Paul and Tanya's disappearance is explained in the Powys Media book The Forsaken by John Kenneth Muir. In the 2022 Space: 1999 Moonbase Alpha Technical Operations Manual he is revealed to be in a year-long coma following an accident. David Kano's job is assumed to be no longer based in Command Centre and no mention is made of Tanya). Dr. Bob Mathias ( Anton Phillips ) was present in

9956-457: The coal shortages due to industrial unrest of the early 1970s did not delay filming, for Pinewood had its own generators, but it affected film processing because the lab was an off-site contractor. Group Three's commitment to its financial partner, RAI , to include Italian actors in the cast also had to be addressed. Originally, two supporting roles were intended for Italian actors; with the casting of Nick Tate and Zienia Merton in those roles,

10087-541: The development of the Massive software application permits producers to include hordes of non-human characters to storm a city or space station. The robotic Cylons in the new version of Battlestar Galactica are usually animated characters, while the Asgard in Stargate SG-1 are animated when they are shown walking around or more than one is on screen at once. In general, science fiction series are subject to

10218-470: The domestic television market, most Canadian productions involve partnerships with production studios based in the United States and Europe. However, in recent years, new partnership arrangements are allowing Canadian investors a growing share of control of projects produced in Canada and elsewhere. Australia's first locally produced Science Fiction series was The Stranger (1964–65) produced and screened by

10349-559: The earliest forms of media fandom was Star Trek fandom . Fans of the series became known to each other through the science fiction fandom . In 1968, NBC decided to cancel Star Trek . Bjo Trimble wrote letters to contacts in the National Fantasy Fan Foundation, asking people to organize their local friends to write to the network to demand the show remain on the air. Network executives were overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of correspondence, and they kept

10480-885: The end of the episode it appeared that he would be a regular character; by the second (transmitted) episode the character vanished, reappearing partway through the first series in the episode " Earthbound ", his only other appearance on the show, in which it is implied that he dies from asphyxia inside an alien spacecraft. Over its two series, the programme featured guest appearances from Christopher Lee , Margaret Leighton , Joan Collins , Jeremy Kemp , Peter Cushing , Judy Geeson , Julian Glover , Ian McShane , Leo McKern , Billie Whitelaw , Richard Johnson , Patrick Troughton , Peter Bowles , Sarah Douglas , David Prowse , Isla Blair , Stuart Damon , Peter Duncan , Vicki Michelle and Brian Blessed . (Blair, Damon and Blessed each appeared in two episodes portraying different characters.) The English actor Nicholas Young (who portrayed John in

10611-599: The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. Similar broad definitions of mechanical asphyxia have occurred in Saukko and Knight's 2004 book on asphyxia, and Dolinak and Matshes' 2005 book on forensic pathology. According to Shkrum and Ramsay, mechanical asphyxia encompasses smothering, choking, positional asphyxia, traumatic asphyxia, wedging, strangulation and drowning. Sauvageau and Boghossian propose in 2010 that mechanical asphyxia should be officially defined as caused by "restriction of respiratory movements, either by

10742-479: The fears of ITC. Katzin was not asked back to the programme after the filming of his second episode "Black Sun", which also ran over schedule. Scheduled for a twelve-month shoot, the twenty-four episodes took fifteen months to complete, with the production experiencing a number of difficulties. Britain's mandatory three-day work week in the early months of 1974 and the unplugging of the National Grid during

10873-456: The first decade of the 21st century, changes in provincial tax legislation prompted many production companies to move from Toronto to Vancouver . Recent popular series produced in Vancouver include The Dead Zone , Smallville , Andromeda , Stargate Atlantis , Stargate Universe , The 4400 , Sanctuary and the reimagined Battlestar Galactica . Because of the small size of

11004-399: The first episode, it became apparent that the troubled Elstree was under the threat of imminent closure. One weekend, the company secretly relocated sets, props, costumes, etc., to Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath , Buckinghamshire , resulting in a union blacklisting of the production. Scheduled to be completed in 10 days, filming on "Breakaway" overran by more than two weeks. Lee Katzin was

11135-429: The first series) and Hungarian-born, US-raised Catherine Schell (as the alien Maya in the second series). Before moving into the role of Maya during the second series, Catherine Schell had guest-starred as a different character in the Year One episode " Guardian of Piri ". The programme also brought Australian actor Nick Tate to public attention. Roy Dotrice appeared in the first episode as Commissioner Simmonds and at

11266-548: The first time—on Stage L—into a standing complex of interconnected sets (the first series' sets had been assembled as needed and the size of the Main Mission/Command Office complex was prohibitive for the construction of a lasting series of rooms.) Vibrant colour was much more evident in this series' Moonbase sets. Gadgets and equipment with a futuristic appearance typical of contemporary science fiction were also more evident. For example, Helena no longer used

11397-427: The first two Year Two episodes, was mentioned in the third episode, and then also disappeared without a trace. His character was replaced by several recurring physicians. Alan Carter ( Nick Tate ) was to have been written out of the series, but he had become so popular with fans that he remained. Sandra Benes ( Zienia Merton ) remained with the series in an on-again off-again association, but the character only appeared in

11528-540: The forces of SHADO fighting their alien foes from a large new Moonbase facility. However, toward the end of its run, UFO experienced a drop in ratings in both the US and the UK; nervous ITC executives in both countries began to question the financial viability of the new series, and support for the project collapsed. In the meantime, production designer Keith Wilson and the art department had made considerable progress in envisioning

11659-561: The heavy sleeping adult may move on top of the infant, causing compression asphyxia. In fatal crowd disasters, compressive asphyxia from being crushed against the crowd causes all or nearly all deaths, rather than blunt trauma from trampling. This is what occurred at the Ibrox disaster in 1971, where 66 Rangers fans died; the 1979 The Who concert disaster where 11 died; the Luzhniki disaster in 1982, when 66 FC Spartak Moscow fans died;

11790-479: The history of science fiction on television: small explosives to simulate the effects of various rayguns , squibs of blood and gruesome prosthetics to simulate the monsters and victims in horror series, and the wire-flying entrances and exits of George Reeves as Superman . The broad term "special effects" includes all the techniques here, but more commonly there are two categories of effects. Visual effects ("VFX") involve photographic or digital manipulation of

11921-516: The impossible characters and settings allowed in animation made this a preferred medium for both fantasy and for series aimed at young audiences. Originally, animation was all hand-drawn by artists, though in the 1980s, beginning with Captain Power , computers began to automate the task of creating repeated images; by the 1990s, hand-drawn animation became defunct. In recent years as technology has improved, this has become more common, notably since

12052-433: The lack of an American network broadcast sale. Gerry Anderson and Fred Freiberger rallied and pitched the idea of a new series with the addition of an alien character to Moonbase Alpha, who would shake up the dynamic of interaction on the Moonbase and regain viewer interest in the United States. On the strength of Anderson and Freiberger's proposal of adding an alien character from the planet Psychon named Maya, Mandell approved

12183-576: The last title being the Earthmen trapped on the runaway Moon.) For the lead characters of John Koenig and Helena Russell, Gerry Anderson approached the husband-and-wife acting team of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. Landau and Bain were high-profile stars in America after three years in the popular CBS espionage series Mission: Impossible . Producer Sylvia Anderson let it be known that she would have preferred British lead actors; since Grade insisted on Americans, she would have chosen Robert Culp (star of

12314-505: The long-running Mr. Squiggle , Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left , Ocean Girl , Crash Zone , Watch This Space and Spellbinder . Other series like Time Trax , Roar , and Space: Above and Beyond were filmed in Australia, but used mostly US crew and actors. Japan has a long history of producing science fiction series for television. Some of the most famous are anime such as Osamu Tezuka 's Astro Boy ,

12445-469: The look and design of the new series. Their work was then shelved for the foreseeable future. Anderson would not let the project die; he approached Grade's number two in New York, Abe Mandell , with the proposal for taking the research and development done for UFO: 1999 and creating a new science fiction series. Mandell was amenable, but stated he did not want a series set featuring people "having tea in

12576-413: The majority of science fiction media fandom has been represented by males of all ages and for most of its modern existence, a fairly diverse racial demographic. The most highly publicized demographic for science fiction fans is the male adolescent; roughly the same demographic for American comic books . Female fans, while always present, were far fewer in number and less conspicuously present in fandom. With

12707-491: The male extras. The female characters tended to wear skirts and knee-high boots throughout the second series rather than the flared trousers used in Year One. The costumes for Year Two were designed by Emma Porteous, who later designed the wardrobes for several James Bond films. The Moonbase interiors were also upgraded for the second year, with the existing stock of wall panels, doors, and computer panels (along with some bits from other Anderson productions) being assembled for

12838-414: The nearest star. He also noted that describing Moonbase Alpha as being on the "dark side" of the moon was an error as no part of the Moon is permanently dark. If the far side was meant rather than the dark side, Asimov points out, then the explosion would drive the Moon towards Earth, not away from it. He praised the programme for the accuracy of the representation of movement in the low gravity environment of

12969-536: The onscreen image, usually done in post-production . Mechanical or physical effects involve props, pyrotechnics, and other physical methods used during principal photography itself. Some effects involved a combination of techniques; a ray gun might require a pyrotechnic during filming, and then an optical glowing line added to the film image in post-production. Stunts are another important category of physical effects. In general, all kinds of special effects must be carefully planned during pre-production . Babylon 5

13100-455: The opponent, and create openings for transitions , as the opponent is forced to react to the smothering. In some cases, when performing certain routines, smothering is combined with simultaneous compressive asphyxia. One example is overlay, in which an adult accidentally rolls over onto an infant during co-sleeping , an accident that often goes unnoticed and is mistakenly thought to be sudden infant death syndrome . Other accidents involving

13231-601: The original Moonbase Alpha model reappeared in the public eye online when a site gained exclusive access to photomap the model and solicit its sale. As the November 1973 start date approached, George Bellak fell out with Gerry Anderson over creative issues and left the production. Story consultant Christopher Penfold acted as head writer, bringing in American writer Edward di Lorenzo and Irish poet Johnny Byrne as script editors. Penfold reworked Bellak's opening episode into

13362-533: The original version of The Tomorrow People ) appeared in a Year Two episode, "The Bringers of Wonder". Several guest stars went on to appear in the Star Wars films, including Cushing, Glover, Lee, Blessed, Prowse, Michael Culver , Michael Sheard , Richard LeParmentier , Shane Rimmer , Angus MacInnes , Drewe Henley , Jack Klaff and Jack McKenzie . Space: 1999 was the last in a long line of science-fiction series that Gerry and Sylvia Anderson produced as

13493-460: The part of Barbara Bain ("the plots and characterisation on Space: 1999 have been primitive..." and "A disappointing collage of wooden characters, boring dialogue and incomprehensible plots..."). Isaac Asimov criticised the scientific accuracy of the series by pointing out that any explosion capable of knocking the Moon out of its orbit would actually blow it apart, and even if it did leave orbit it would take hundreds of thousands of years to reach

13624-547: The position of the body or by external chest compression", thus encompassing only positional asphyxia and traumatic asphyxia. If there are symptoms of mechanical asphyxia, it is necessary to call the Emergency Medical Services . In some countries, such as the US, there may also be self-acting groups of voluntary first responders who have been trained in first aid. In case of mechanical asphyxia, first aid can be provided on your own. In case of choking on

13755-448: The process they worked under made "good scripts less than they had been" and forced them to waste time re-writing "bad scripts to make them acceptable". Byrne remained until the end of production; his last tasks were writing filler scenes for the desperately short " The Last Enemy " and a re-shoot for the troublesome "Space Brain". The scenes re-mounted for "The Last Enemy" concluded principal photography on 28 February 1975. Countries where

13886-484: The reach of current reality obliges producers to make extensive use of specialized techniques of television production. Through most of the 20th century, many of these techniques were expensive and involved a small number of dedicated craft practitioners, while the reusability of props, models, effects, or animation techniques made it easier to keep using them. The combination of high initial cost and lower maintenance cost pushed producers into building these techniques into

14017-404: The rising popularity of fanfiction , a large majority of which is categorized as slash fanfiction . Female fans comprise the majority of fanfiction writers. U.S. television science fiction has produced Lost In Space , Star Trek , The Twilight Zone , and The X-Files , among others. British television science fiction began in 1938 when the broadcast medium was in its infancy with

14148-424: The rising popularity of fanzines, female fans became increasingly vocal. Starting in the 2000s (decade), genre series began to offer more prominent female characters. Many series featured women as the main characters with males as supporting characters. True Blood is an example. Also, such shows premises moved away from heroic action-adventure and focused more on characters and their relationships. This has caused

14279-403: The same financial constraints as other television shows. However, high production costs increase the financial risk, while limited audiences further complicate the business case for continuing production. Star Trek was the first television series to cost more than $ 100,000 per episode, while Star Trek: The Next Generation was the first to cost more than $ 1 million per episode. One of

14410-478: The series as a producer and acted as show-runner. Freiberger had produced the third and final season of Star Trek in 1968–1969 and eight episodes of the first season of The Wild Wild West (including one in which Martin Landau guest-starred) before being dismissed. Immediately after Space: 1999 he would go on to produce what would be the final season of The Six Million Dollar Man . His writing credits included Slattery's People , The Iron Horse , All in

14541-477: The shooting of " Space Brain ", after completing his writing commitment with the script "Dragon's Domain". In a later interview, Johnny Byrne stated that "one episode they (New York) would ask us to speed things up, forcing us to cut out character development; then the next episode, they asked for more character moments, which would slow down the action; then they would complain there weren't enough pretty girls in another." Years later, Byrne and Penfold would agree that

14672-487: The show on the air. Although the series continued to receive low ratings and was canceled a year later, the enduring popularity of the series resulted in Paramount creating a set of movies, and then a new series Star Trek: The Next Generation , which by the early 1990s had become one of the most popular dramas on American television. Star Trek fans continued to grow in number, and first began organizing conventions in

14803-534: The show was sold include France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey, Iran, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Peru, Japan, Malaysia, Canada, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. One of the first previews of the series was in Australia on the Seven Network in July 1975, but the station later split the first series into two series. The second series

14934-399: The staff had been having all material vetted by ITC's New York office. ITC's compromise was to hire a high-profile American staff writer-producer. At this time, Sylvia Anderson left her role as producer when she and Gerry Anderson formally separated (and subsequently divorced). Fred Freiberger , whom Gerry Anderson had considered for the writing position, was then brought on board to help guide

15065-565: The time and had previously appeared together in Mission: Impossible . To appeal to the American television market and sell the series to one of the major U.S. networks, Landau and Bain were cast at the insistence of Lew Grade over the objections of Sylvia Anderson, who wanted British actors. Also appearing as regular cast members were the Canadian-based British actor Barry Morse (as Professor Victor Bergman in

15196-415: The time, the most expensive series produced for British television, with a combined £6.8 million budget. The first series was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and Italian broadcaster RAI , while the second was produced solely by ITC. Two series of the programme were produced, each comprising 24 episodes. Production of the first series was from November 1973 to February 1975; production of the second series

15327-498: The time. For all I know now it's out of date. I don't really know." She added that some of the technology on Space: 1999 has come to pass: "We made up a scanning device for Dr Russell. Someone would simply be lying on the floor half dead, and I would [scan them] with this funny little thing that was a prop. I could read all his vital signs. They can pretty much do that [with a medical device] nowadays. There were times that we were playing with props that didn't read anything — I just had

15458-503: The transmission of a partial adaptation of Karel Čapek 's play R.U.R. . Despite an occasionally chequered history, programmes in the genre have been produced by both the BBC and the largest commercial channel, ITV . Nigel Kneale 's The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and its sequels have been called "one of BBC Television's earliest audience successes" and Kneale became "one of the most influential television and film writers to emerge in

15589-413: The vehicle, or following loss of consciousness to be followed by death while in a coma, having presented with anoxic brain damage. The asphyxia can be caused by facial compression, neck compression, or chest compression. This occurs mostly during restraint and handcuffing situations by law enforcement, including psychiatric incidents. The weight of the restraint(s) doing the compression may contribute to what

15720-423: The wandering Moon passes through a black hole and later through a couple of "space warps" which push it even further out into the universe. During their interstellar journey, the Alphans encounter an array of alien civilisations, dystopian societies, and mind-bending phenomena previously unseen by humanity. Several episodes of the first series hinted that the Moon's journey was influenced (and perhaps initiated) by

15851-506: Was a charming, fully emotional person. Most importantly, however, her Psychon abilities as a metamorph with the power of "molecular transformation" allowed her to convert herself into any living thing for an hour at a time, were designed to add a certain "wow" factor to the newly revamped series. Maya had an impish sense of humour. When love-interest Tony Verdeschi offered her some of his home-brewed beer, Maya tried it, then turned herself into Mister Hyde . Schell had previously guest-starred as

15982-408: Was designed to serve primarily as a secondary male action hero, and became a romantic interest for Maya. No on-screen explanations were offered for the cast changes. One scene in " The Metamorph " mentioning Bergman's death was scripted and filmed, but cut from the final edit. The Moonbase Alpha Technical Manual produced by Starlog magazine picks up this explanation, stating Bergman died due to

16113-550: Was featured in his place as a regular alongside Landau and Bain, and all three were depicted in action-oriented images as opposed to the mannequin -like stances Landau and Bain had assumed in the Year One main titles. New series composer Derek Wadsworth 's new theme dropped Barry Gray 's alternation between stately, orchestral passages and funky rhythmic ones in favour of a more consistently contemporary piece. Science fiction on television The need to portray imaginary settings or characters with properties and abilities beyond

16244-443: Was from January 1976 to December 1976. The premise of Space: 1999 centres on the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research centre located within the crater Plato in the Moon's northern hemisphere. Humanity had been storing its nuclear waste in vast disposal sites on the far side of the Moon , but when an unknown form of "magnetic radiation" is detected, the accumulated waste reaches critical mass and causes

16375-588: Was in the form of video showings of popular anime, untranslated and often low quality VHS bootlegs. Starting in the 1990s, anime fans began organizing conventions. These quickly grew to sizes much larger than other science fiction and media conventions in the same communities; many cities now have anime conventions attracting five to ten thousand attendees. Many anime conventions are a hybrid between non-profit and commercial events, with volunteer organizers handling large revenue streams and dealing with commercial suppliers and professional marketing campaigns. For decades,

16506-472: Was needed for a given episode. The unisex "Moon City" uniforms for the first series were created by Austrian fashion designer Rudi Gernreich , a personal friend of series star Barbara Bain. Other costumes were designed by Production Designer Keith Wilson, who was also responsible for set design. Wilson's innovative Moonbase set construction, using 4-by-8-foot (120 by 240 cm) plastic foam-board panels, linked together Lego-like into whatever room configuration

16637-611: Was produced by the CBC as early as the 1950s. In the 1970s, CTV produced The Starlost . In the 1980s, Canadian animation studios including Nelvana , began producing a growing proportion of the world market in animation. In the 1990s, Canada became an important player in live action speculative fiction on television, with dozens of series like Forever Knight , Robocop , and most notably The X-Files and Stargate SG-1 . Many series have been produced for youth and children's markets, including Deepwater Black and MythQuest . In

16768-462: Was required, made for a uniform and realistic appearance for the Alpha interiors (not to mention being relatively cheap and quickly assembled). For the second series, the Moonbase uniforms were updated and coloured decorative stitching and turtleneck collars were added, as were various badges and patches. Red, navy, or dark-green jackets also appeared, originally on just the senior staff, then on many of

16899-422: Was shown in 1979. Response to the series varied: some critics praised it as a classic, citing the production values and multi-layered storytelling (" Space: 1999 is like Star Trek shot full of methedrine . It is the most flashy, gorgeous sci-fi trip ever to appear on TV..." and " Space: 1999 is a visually stunning, space-age morality play..."); others panned it for poor plotting and wooden acting, especially on

17030-631: Was that the camera's exposed negative contained completed effects thereby avoiding the costs of the blue screen "optical" technique. The disadvantage was that the number of possible angles was more limited. For instance, a spaceship could be seen approaching a planet from the side, but could not move in front of it without the elements overlapping. Special effects director Brian Johnson and most of his team went on to work on Ridley Scott 's Alien and, later, The Empire Strikes Back . Space: 1999 used Pinewood Studios sound-stages L and M. Each studio measures 90 by 105 feet (27 m × 32 m), with

17161-401: Was the first series to use computer-generated imagery , or "CGI", for all exterior space scenes, even those with characters in space suits. The technology has made this more practical, so that today models are rarely used. In the 1990s, CGI required expensive processors and customized applications, but by the 2000s (decade), computing power has pushed capabilities down to personal laptops running

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