Space: 1999 - Cancellation, Reprieve and Changes

Cancellation, Reprieve and Changes

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 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.

The largest stumbling block for 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 and Gerry Anderson's wife when they formally separated (and subsequently divorced). Fred Freiberger, whom Gerry Anderson had considered for the writing position, was then brought on board to help guide 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 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 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 the alien Maya. The argument was that an alien character on Moonbase Alpha 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, who could transform into any lifeform in the blink of an eye, Mandell approved 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 as 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 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 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 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 the cast (Paul and Tanya's disappearance is explained in the Powys Media book The Forsaken by John Kenneth Muir). Dr. Bob Mathias (Anton Phillips) was present in 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 her name was shortened to "Sahn" and the character only appeared in a fraction of the episodes, albeit more prominently in some episodes than in many of those of the first series.

Along with Maya, Tony Anholt was added to the cast in Year Two as Security Chief Tony Verdeschi, a character who neither appeared, nor was ever mentioned, in Year One. His character 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 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 seasons, 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 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. The montage of events from "Breakaway" and the episode about to unfold featured in Year One was dropped in favour of a special-effects sequence depicting the Moon being blown out of orbit into space. With Morse gone, Schell 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.

Rudi Gernreich's minimalist costume was considerably modified from the original unisex design to include an optional skirt for women and much more detail work on the tunic portion, including turtleneck collars, coloured stitching, patches and photo ID badges. In addition, colourful jackets – generally red, blue or green – became part of most characters' ensembles.

The expansive Main Mission set, with its balcony and windows revealing the lunar surface, was replaced by a more compact Command Centre, supposedly deep underground. (Once again, this change was explained in the Year Two Writers' Bible and Technical Manual as necessary for security, but never shared with viewers). Medical Centre, Generator Section, Life Support and the Alphans' living quarters became smaller, while the interior of the Eagle command module was updated with additional buttons, flashing lights and television monitors, while the Eagle also lost a section of corridor (the galley/storage area) between the passenger module and the cockpit. (This was to accommodate its placement on Pinewood Soundstage "L", with the other standing Alpha sets; the Eagle was permanently affixed to the boarding tube/travel tube set and jammed between the travel-tube reception area and the Medical Centre.)

The sombre mood created in Year One by the effective use of light and shadow in the filming of Moonbase Alpha interiors was abandoned in favour of a generally brighter cinematography, and even the lettering used in signage and costuming—most noticeable on spacesuits and Eagle Transporter doors—changed to a simpler, less futuristic style.

Production Designer Keith Wilson stated in an interview in Destination: Moonbase Alpha that he was always being ordered by Producer Fred Freiberger to make sets smaller, taking away the expansive (and expensive) feeling of the first series' interiors. Freiberger was very budget-conscious and, despite press releases to the contrary, the production team was working with less money this series. If there had been a budget increase, the 'stagflation' economy of the seventies would have canceled it out. When interviewed, many of the actors state they were asked to accept less money, including Landau and Bain (who were the only ones with enough clout to be able to refuse).

Freiberger emphasised action-adventure in Year Two stories to the exclusion of metaphysical themes explored in Year One. Of Year One, he commented, "They were doing the show as an English show, where there was no story, with the people standing around and talking. In the first show I did, I stressed action as well as character development, along with strong story content, to prove that 1999 could stand up to the American concept of what an action-adventure show should be." Since Year One was quite serious in tone, one of Frieberger's ways to accomplish this objective was to inject humor into Year Two stories whenever possible, but much of it seemed to the more vocal fans to be forced, especially at the conclusion of an episode, where the Alphans were seen as jovial and light-hearted despite whatever violent or tragic events may have previously befallen them.

Members of the Space: 1999 cast were disenchanted with the scripts. Martin Landau: "They changed it because a bunch of American minds got into the act and they decided to do many things they felt were commercial. Fred Freiberger helped in some respects, but, overall, I don't think he helped the show, I think he brought a much more ordinary, mundane approach to the series." One particular episode ('All That Glisters', which dealt with the threat of an intelligent rock) was of such allegedly deficient quality that it sparked a confrontation between Freiberger and the cast. Landau disliked the story so strongly that he wrote the following notes on his copy of the script: "All the credibility we're building up is totally forsaken in this script!"; "...Story is told poorly!"; and "The character of Koenig takes a terrible beating in this script — We're all shmucks!" Anholt revealed that, "the more the cast complained about a script's flaws, the more intractable and unyielding Freiberger became." Dissatisfaction on Landau's part about scripts was not new to Year Two, though. Sylvia Anderson remembers that he often voiced criticisms of scripts during production of the first series.