John Koenig - Series One

Series One

Shortly after leaving Earth's solar system, the Moon was drawn into a black sun (later known by science as black holes) and emerged in unknown space far across the universe. Traversing space warps and other bizarre phenomena continued to increase the Moon's velocity and allowed it to encounter a number of other solar systems. In many of these systems, the Alphans encountered planets with intelligent life. In many cases, the alien life proved to be hostile or indifferent to the Alphans' plight. As the base commander, Koenig often found himself confronted by baffling and frightening situations which no human had ever faced, and the strain took its toll.

During the first season Koenig was often depicted as somewhat short-tempered, irritable and prone to outbursts at even those closest to him, such as Victor Bergman and Helena Russell. One of the running jokes among many Space: 1999 fans is that Main Mission Controller Paul Morrow, Koenig's second-in-command, was often his "whipping boy" in the first season: Koenig is seen to yell at him or simply assault him in a number of episodes (see The Last Sunset, Collision Course, The Testament of Arkardia). Morrow remained unflappably loyal to Koenig.

Koenig did display a lighter side to his personality on occasions - in one episode, he was seen enjoying a musical concert by Moonbase personnel, and in another episode he was depicted as finishing a jigsaw puzzle in record time much to his personal satisfaction. In Dragon's Domain, he presented Helena with a hyacinth that he had cultivated himself with 'a little help from the guys in Hydroponics'.

He occasionally made clear mistakes in judgment - in the episode War Games, he ordered a preemptive attack on a squadron of apparent Earth warships - an attack which had devastating consequences for Moonbase. In Matter of Life and Death, he spends most of the episode cautious about the mystery of Terra Nova and Lee Russell, but with time for the Phase Two probe running short, impulsively changes his mind and rushes down to the planet surface against the mounting evidence that danger awaits them and in Alpha Child he allowed the five-year-old Jackie Crawford unlimited access to Alpha and its vital systems - but in the end he always seemed to find ways to help the base survive to another day.

Over the course of the first series, he slowly developed a romantic relationship with Helena Russell. There was an unmistakable first-sight attraction in Breakaway which developed into an understated romance; they displayed very little public affection, perhaps due to the constant crises and strain everyone faced. He also maintained his close friendship with Victor Bergman and relied on the older man as a sounding board and conscience.

In the episode "Dragon's Domain" , Koenig's friend Tony Cellini was able to prove that his story about a deadly monster devouring his crew on the Ultra Probe five years previously was true; the Moon encountered the armada of deserted alien spaceships and an examination showed the Ultra Probe docked with an alien ship, just as Cellini had reported. Unfortunately, Cellini was so desperate to prove his story and redeem himself that he commandeered an Eagle and docked with the Ultra Probe, where he attempted to vanquish the monster with an axe (as the monster was immune to laser fire). Koenig followed and was forced to witness the death of his friend. He then retrieved the fallen axe and killed the creature. He and Helena then entered the events into the official record, finally vindicating Cellini.