Catacombs Press GuideTV Clips
Compiled by Martin Willey
Catacombs Press Guide
Roy Dotrice surprised on set of 1999 (during filming of Earthbound). A specially written "fake" scene with Sandra, Paul and Simmonds was written in which Dotrice was surprised by host Eamonn Andrews. The film has since been destroyed, but still photographs exist of Eamonn Andrews on the Main Mission set. More
The UK government produced numerous short adverts promoting health and safety, shown during children's programming in the UK. The Green Cross Code Man was a superhero character who advised children to cross the road safely. In 1975 three adverts were created starring Dave Prowse as the superhero (this was before he appeared in The Beta Cloud and Star Wars). In the first two of the adverts his voice was dubbed by another actor. When the adverts were launched, road casualties dropped 11%, making it one of the most successful and popular public information campaigns. The adverts were shown until 1980. Prowse made numerous visits to school dressed as the character over 14 years. In 2014 he returned to play the character for an additional advert.
The first advert features two familiar desks in his control room. Also in the distant left is a corner unit from Main Mission. The tops of the desks are not altered from Year 1 Main Mission, but they have solid bases like Year 2 Command Center. The centre desk seems to have some UFO console details.
US (Philadelphia-based) syndicated weekday chat show featured Landau and Bain as co-hosts, talking about the show. Among the clips shown was one of Kano, repeated several times with different language dubs. Among the guests they talked to was Buster Crabbe (Flash Gordon in 1936, Buck Rogers in 1939).
Other talk shows were the Merv Griffin Show on 19 August 1975 (syndicated) and the Tonight Show (NBC), with guest presenter McLean Stevenson on 29 August 1975.
Two programmes, introduced by Chris Kelly, introducing Space 1999 and Gerry Anderson's puppet shows.
Gerry Anderson was interviewed in front of Main Mission computers & in Eagle chairs (in front of Main Mission desks). Martin Bower was interviewed with his replica models in front of the Main Mission computer. In part 2, Brian Johnson was interviewed with models of Moon and Eagles, and Gerry Anderson appeared at the start and end of the programme.
In the London area only, these were repeated on Saturday 14th May 1977 at 10am, and on Saturday 21st May 1977 at 10.05am.
Science programme about the Viking mission to Mars and the possibility of life in space. It featured clips of Hawks strafing the base.
Chris Moore remembered the following, but is not certain: the programme's name was along the lines of "Is there anybody there?", or "Is there anybody out there?". It may have been broadcast as little as a week or two before the landing, which would give it a date of 1976. It was presented, or narrated, by James Burke (it may have been part of series 5 of the Burke Special, which went out April-May 1976). He also adds:
Fourthly - and this is very suspect - I seem to recall the Eagles in the clip shown had missiles attached to the passenger module, or possible on a pallet in the payload area. (Although if this is the case, they would have to be very carefully positioned in order to avoid shooting bits of the Eagle itself off!) I also recall watching subsequent broadcasts of "War Games" - during the '70s and '80s - very carefully but never saw those missiles again. So either I was mistaken or they were shots that never made it into the finished episode. Might be interesting to see if anybody can uncover those shots.
For Sunday tabloid on 'is TV good for you?'. Clip of Eagle launch
The Muppet Show was a television series made in Britain by ITC which was a big hit with audiences around the world from 1976 to 1981. One of the regular skits was "Pigs In Space", a Star Trek parody. The set, the cabin of the spaceship Swinetrek, was decorated with numerous "computer panels" from Gerry Anderson's series UFO. In some episodes, particularly in the second 1977-1978 season such as the John Cleese episode shown here, a prop from Space: 1999 appeared. This was two of the mobile nuclear generators (featured in A Matter Of Balance and also seen in The Lambda Factor), fixed together (the label "Moonbase Alpha Nuclear Generator Unit" was clearly visible on screen).
The episode "The Invisible Enemy" was shown 1 October to 22 October 1977, and like The Muppet Show featured some props from Space: 1999. Like many Doctor Who episodes of the time, it included actors who had appeared in 1999 (see more). Here Michael Sheard and Harry Fielder appear. Special effects director was Ian Scoones, a veteran from Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds. The episode required an unusual amount of model work; as the unions wouldn't have allowed freelancers to come to the BBC studios, Scoones was allowed to use an external film studio. He went to Bray Studios where he could use a 35mm Mitchell camera with an experienced model cameraman - Nick Allder, who had recently finished Space: 1999. Allder used an effects model from Space: 1999 that was still at Bray- the "barrel moon" used for rolling lunar horizons. While Allder had filmed used multiple exposures for 1999, there was no time for this for Doctor Who. The shot was done as a single take, with the model on wires.
The interior sets re-use some consoles from Gerry Anderson's UFO, which also appeared in other Doctor Who stories. They also used some familiar white designer furniture- two Pileo lamps (facing the wall, oddly), a Jarama reception desk with a Sorella lamp, a Selene chair, a Gaudi chair and a Giano Vano telephone table. All these furnishings would have been hired from a prop hire company; they were almost certainly sold to the hire company from Space: 1999 at the start of 1977 when the sets were broken up.
A low-budget US horror film (directed by Larry Cohen) featured some flashback scenes of a woman being abducted by aliens. The first flashback "in the alien spaceship" is a black and white negative shot; later more shots of the abduction are shown in colour as the woman narrates her experience. The exterior of the alien ship is an Eagle; the interior is a Moonbase Alpha travel tube. The woman floats up to landing Eagle (a shot from The Testament Of Arkadia)- the scene cuts just before the nose of the Eagle is seen. Inside the naked woman floats in the travel tube and is engulfed by a ball of light. See IMDb. Thanks to Steven Reder.
The second series episode "Obsession", shown on ATV on 7th October 1977, features a number of props from the series. The production designer for the series was Keith Wilson and assistant art director Michael Ford, both of whom had been responsible for Space: 1999.
The RAF Control room featured early in the episode features 3 Main Mission desks (Kano's, Paul's, and another), plus a couple of keyboards from Main Mission, and two trolley bases often used on Alpha for monitor screens and the Log Recorder.
Later we see a room belonging to Larry (Martin Shaw), where General Canvey is held hostage. Martin Shaw sits in Koenig's Domani chair behind a glass table (as used by Kara and Commissioner Dixon), by a Pileo lamp, and a Sorella lamp.
The BBC sitcom started with the pilot aired in December 1977, followed by 5 episodes in July-August 1978. In the pilot, the spaceship control room has two modified Main Mission desks. In the last episode, Mission Control on Earth uses Kano's desk.
The Rockets was a French "space rock" band formed in 1974 that became very popular in Italy in the late 1970s. Their 1977 instrumental "Space Rock" had a 1978 music video featuring clips from War Games that was often shown on Italian television. The band is shown with silver make-up and stern expressions in front of various space scenes, which from about half way through include many shots of Eagles, Hawks and explosions. The falling Eagle from the series titles is also briefly seen. Thanks to Andrea Gualco.
Episode 'Time Bomb' (series 3 episode 7). There are two shots from The Last Enemy: planet Delta next to its sun, and (Deltan) Satazius over Alpha. There are also two shots of Texas City from Journey To Where. Three of the four shots were not seen in "Space 1999" (they are unused shots). The first Texas City shot only appeared on the Command Center Big Screen. The shots came from a stock footage library. Thanks to Steven Reder.
This Richard Burton film was produced by Lew Grade's ITC. At the start, Burton is watching the TV news, reporting on a lost spaceship. A still photo of the crew appears on the TV screen as Burton is hit, and his blood splatters across the screen. The black and white still shows three astronauts in Moonbase Alpha spacesuits. At least two are holding helmets. It is not a shot from Space: 1999.
"Ma Che Sera" was an Italian variety show hosted by dancer Raffaella Carra shown on Saturday night TV in March-April 1978. In episode 4, Carra sings the 1932 Cole Porter song "Night and Day" (in English), with a science fiction-themed dance number. The spaceship that Carra sits in (a studio set), and launches (model), is clearly based on an Eagle. Thanks to Gordon.
The serial "The Stones of Blood" was shown in October-November 1978. The spaceship set (episodes 3 and 4) includes a Main Mission desk with a UFO moonbase panel on top. The control panels on the desk have been replaced.
Paul Kirkley's book Space Helmet for a Cow (vol 1, p 146) states that a model of an Eagle was used (an Airfix kit). The leg pod sections can be seen on the four corners of the ship. Thanks to John Tone.
Tomorrow's World was a weekly technology and science magazine, running from 1965-2003, featuring unlikely innovations like the mobile telephone. TW Time Machine was a 1997 series that looked at what happened to some of the featured innovations. A publicity photo (from the Sunday Times TV listings, 1998) shows presenter William Woollard in 1978 by Kano's desk.
4 episode serial "War of The Empires": Kano's desk is controls of the Thargon ship, seen throughout the serial (the opposing Sorson ship controls feature displays from the UFO moonbase).
In the first episode we see several shots of the moon (from Black Sun and Another Time Another Place), and the Collision Course shuttle approaching the Moon representing a NASA space shuttle (although side views are a conventional shuttle model).
American singer Amii Stewart reached no. 5 in the UK charts in July 1979 with her disco medley cover of The Doors "Light My Fire". The video is a typical 1970s disco production, with fire, smoke and dancing in leotards, except for brief scenes showing Alphan astronauts. The astronauts wear helmets and Alpha shoulder insignia, but no front or back pack. In the first shot, an astronaut is holding up a smoke hose (this shot is later seen in false colour). Later, towards the end of the video, Amii dances round on astronaut, then appears out of the smoke behind two facing away. Lastly, she dances over one astronaut lying on his back on the floor.
The 4-part story "Destiny of the Daleks" was shown in September 1979. The Dalek control room includes two modified Main Mission desks, with Bergman's perspex sphere on top.
Bringers Of Wonder filming blooper: Maya shoots guard- Shaw trips over guard. More.
Nightmare of Eden episode 1. An astro-zoologist shows pictures of planets he has visited. The first, called "Bros", is the Eagle landing area on the planet Retha from The Full Circle. Later the Doctor's assistant Romana dials up two more 1999 planets: Three images are seen on screens: Piri from Guardian of Piri (as planet "Ranx") and the ravaged Terra Nova in Matter of Life and Death (planet "Gidi"). (thanks to Chris Cuthbert, James Poll, John Trone, Doctor Who Magazine #538, June 2019, p64)
The children's programme staged the first "Great Blue Peter Bring And Buy Sale" (a format still repeated). Presenters Simon Groom and Tina Heath appeared with one of the auction items, a moonbase building model made by Martin Bower (the origin of the item was not mentioned).
The following year, on 11th September 1980, Peter Duncan (Cantar in The Exiles) began as a presenter. During his first programme, he was introduced with still photographs of some of his previous acting roles, including several photos of the ageing make up in The Exiles (the photos were not identified as being Space 1999).
A British soft-porn comedy film directed by Norman J. Warren and starring Barry Stokes (who appeared in Voyager's Return). When the ship lands to abduct the humans, at about 8 minutes in, the shot is of the Satazius landing from The Last Enemy (reversed at 22 minutes, to show the ship launching). In space, the ship is the Altares from Into Infinity. Many of the sound effects were also borrowed from Space 1999.
An Italian/American produced children's comedy, the English version was titled The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid, and the Italian version Uno sceriffo extraterrestre - poco extra e molto terrestre. In the finale (1:24 into the movie), the Sheriff, played by Bud Spencer, watches the alien child (played by Cary Guffey, the child actor from Close Encounters of the Third Kind) being beamed up to a spaceship. The spaceship is the battleship from War Games. The clip is the overfly of the battlecruiser, accompanied by two small Hawks. Just before the rear engines appear, the clip freezes (awkwardly), and an animation shows a blue glow cross one of the underside panels, then a column of light reaches down, which in the live action is the light beam that Guffey steps into. The sequel (English title Everything Happens to Me, Italian title Chissa perche... capitano tutte a me) features a clip from Gerry Anderson's UFO.
Thanks to Ekmar Brand.
This film starred Ian McShane (Zoref in Force of Life) as an alcoholic ex-footballer . The production designer was Keith Wilson. In one scene, McShane and co-star Suzanne Somers are watching the TV news in bed. The news reader is sitting in front of a corner section of Moonbase Alpha wall, with the letters "BBC" stuck on. Thanks to Simon.
Episode 'The Leisure Hive', episode 2. A planet is represented by a shot of the Moon in the space warp. (thanks to Chris Dale, image thanks to James Poll)
Presenter Susan Stranks visits Pinewood Studios. In the credits of Pinewood productions, there is a shot of Eagles taking off from Piri
A skit of Star Wars featured the comedians as robots, in front of a back cloth showing opening and closing end title space shots, the Moon entering the Black Sun and the Space Warp.
A reversed clip of Terra Nova from Matter Of Life and Death appears at the opening and end of the video while the band played on a stage throughout. From Steven Reder: I have found no information as to when it was made. The album the song was released in 1977 but Don Kirshner, the director of the video, had a series on late night in the States where he produced new music videos for popular bands in 1981. I'm sure this is where I first saw the video but still, the date is up in the air as to when it was produced.
Titles & credits uses photographs, with animated rocket jets, of:
Hawk, Metamorph Eagle, War Games Doomsday machine, Last Enemy Deltan ship. More.
Bringers Of Wonder blooper, introduced as from "Buck Rodgers".
This English pop-rock group produced a song based on the British comic book character Dan Dare (in his 1982 re-launch incarnation, not the 1950s original). One of the musicians (probably Ray Walton) wears an original Year 2 Command Center uniform with braces (the others wear generic yellow jump suits)
This Spanish film includes SFX shots stolen from Space:1999. A asteroid moves near the Moon (End of Eternity?), a blue light moves over a rim of stars (Force Of Life). and the Moon in the AB Chrysalis warp. Description by Chris Dale:
The sequence is meant to show an meteorite crashing on Earth. It starts with the asteroid approaching the Moon, but then gets goofy. The meteorite's approach is intercut with some scenes back on Earth of various people doing stuff. The Force of Life ball of light hurtles along, and then its approach to Earth is represented by the UFO end titles played upside down and backwards. A little boy is looking at it through his telescope, as it becomes the Moon in the AB Chrysalis warp thingy, before it crash lands on Earth.
The film was shown as part of Mystery Science Theatre on US public television. Spotted by Jon Stadter, more information from Chris Dale.
This song was originally recorded in German and was re-recorded in English for international release, becoming a hit in Canada and the US. It was Peter Schilling's first international hit. The English video features NASA footage of an Apollo launch, but at one brief moment about 2 minutes 20 seconds in there is a clip from The Exiles. The SFX shot zooms towards the moon with blue space warp effect (in the episode, when Zova returns to Alpha from Golos).
A quick shot of the Dragon's Domain Ultra Probe (captioned as the "SS Minestromo") at the start of a skit based on 'Alien' (and puppet character Sooty)
BBC1
Catacombs Of The Moon clip of her in burning bed.
Gerry Anderson's Terrahawks- retrospective includes Lambda Factor clip of Alan trying to turn off engine; Financial Times comment as rival to 2001
On Nick Allder (doing FX on The Keep). B/w Eagle photo & comments on cheap FX
Dragon's Domain Ultra Probe. First programme of Saturday morning magazine.
Effects shots of Moon in A B Chrysalis shockwave, the blue light in space from Force Of Life, and the closing credit image of a comet in space.
Effects shots of Moon in Space Warp (seen behind a boy riding a cruise missile). Thanks to Gordon Moriguchi.
The science fiction themed video ends in a dance scene. One female dancer is wearing the silver collar of an Entra guard, from Devil's Planet. Beside her is a male dancer, seen earlier in the video, wearing the collar of High Priest Petros from Mission of the Darians (which in turn was seen in the 1964 film Carry On Cleo). Thanks to David Penn.
Children's programme produced by Yorkshire TV for the ITV network. Graham Thornton interviews famous people about their childhoods, to see what led them to their chosen careers. He is joined by 3 children as guest interviewers. The subject of the September 22nd show was Gerry Anderson. On the table in front of them was the original 44 inch Eagle 1 model. The show concentrated on the puppet shows, and did not mention UFO or Space: 1999. One of the child interviewers, Kulvinder Ghir, later became an actor.
The Rah Band was song writer Richard Anthony Hewson, with vocals by his wife Liz Hewson. The single reached no.6 in the UK charts in the week beginning 21st April 1985, and spent 7 weeks in the top 40 singles.
There are frequent shots of Last Enemy Satazius leaving orbit, and later landing on the lunar surface (slightly more complete than seen in the episode). Also seen briefly are the Space Brain approaching, and a shot of the moon and planet from Yr 1 credits. A couple of shots of clouds crossing the moon may be from Journey To Where.
Backgrounds of alien ship interior: some are blueprints of Eagle
TV Quiz: add up numbers in TV show titles.
TV Quiz: clip. From Ian: The clip shown was the "This Episode" montage from "Space Brain". It started from the Eagle falling onto the lunar surface and ended just before Barry Morse's credit. The question was either what was this show called or where was it set? (I don't remember which). I do recall Gyles Brandreth answering "Moonbase Alpha".
Several showed moon in space shots for back cloth
TV Quiz: Last Enemy clip (("Think, Commander!" to Koenig's "We want no part of this war".)) Questions: Name the series (give or take a year); where are they? ((They made the Moon into a spaceship)); What kind of mission had Martin Landau & Barbara Bain been in before? ((Impossible))
Bringers Of Wonder blooper (clapperboard not shown)
Various space shots from credits (small Eagles in flight, planets, etc), plus episode clips of the Moon.
Song refers to Gerry Anderson's 'Thunderbirds'. Reached no 11 in end of March. More images
The Kreno animal's head featured in an illustration (it appears as the head of a long snake like creature, with the "Forbidden Planet" saucer overhead). "Mrs Thatcher will then begin a whistle stop tour of other historical disasters, expressing her deep condolences to the survivors of the Crimea, Agincourt, Roarke's Drift... and the attack of the giant man eating centipedes on the planet Kalufrax. Dismissing criticism of her visits as 'electioneering', she told reporters 'The Daleks do a very difficult job for which we should all be grateful.'" said the commentary.
A clip of the War Games bomber in the Eagle sights and the explosion over the horizon of the Moon was shown as the climax of the title and end credits sequence of this series, which featured clips from ITC films of the 1970s and 1980s. The 2nd programme, "Against All Odds" featured action-adventure films including "Alien Attack". Anthony Quayle narrates "In Space 1999's Alien Attack the human colony on Moonbase Alpha rely on a single spacecraft to save them." The heavily cut sequence from War Games shows Alpha being strafed by a Hawk, Koenig telling Alan they are relying on him, then jumping to the bomber passing Alan's crippled Eagle: they head up the target display and destroy the bomber. The sequence lasts 1 minute 15 seconds. The Best Of British series was produced by David Withers, who also supervised the editing of the first two Space 1999 compilation movies.
The 6th episode, "Just An Illusion", featured special effects. The second clip was the sequence from "Cosmic Princess" with the Maya creature in Eagle 4. The sequence lasted 1 minute 45 seconds, from where Maya retracts the boarding tube, with abbreviated scenes as the Eagle is brought down from the launch pad, before the Eagle launches and crashes in the hangar, and Alan and Helena send in the rescue unit. Anthony Quayle narrated "Husband and wife acting team turned producers Martin Landau and Barbara Bain made full use of British technology. The make up, by Basil Newall and Connie Reeve, was an especially strong feature in Space 1999, The Cosmic Princess, a Gerry Anderson production." At the end of the episode, after scenes from "Thunderbirds In Outer Space" and "The Amazing Adventures Of Joe 90", a clip from "Journey Through The Black Sun" was shown, lasting 1 minute 40 seconds. This showed the Moon entering the Black Sun, Koenig looking at his aged hand, and selected dialogue in the Black Sun until the Moon emerges (with Arra's words heard over). Quayle narrated "Brian Johnson was one of the Academy Award special effects winners for Alien, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. He created his own special wizardry on Gerry Anderson's Journey Through The Black Sun." Dialogue includes "Everything is everything else" to "That is a lovely way to understand it", and "Are you...God" to "Gone". Quayle concludes the episode over the scene of the Eagle travelling into space and disappearing: "The movie magicians, the screen sorcerers, they are the technicians, the people who create just an illusion."
Clip of and questions on "Space: 1999": "All That Glisters". Features rock attempting to merge with Maya/rock, aboard Eagle; the rock turns red and Koenig fires laser at it. Questions: what is the series? (Space 1999), who were the husband & wife team who starred? (Martin Landau & Barbara Bain), and what was the base called? (Moonbase Alpha).
From Stephen Herbert: Renegade Soundwave were a electronic dance outfit from Sheffield and in this energetic, cut-and-paste montage music video, there was approx 2-3 sec shots of the introduction scene of Space 1999 (Series 2) with the wall to wall computer banks/Space 1999 logo/multiple explosions. You need to freeze-frame or slow the video footage to see it as there's much going on in this video. They were on Mute Records in late 80s/early 90s, and this video seemed to pay homage to mid-70s TV in a roundabout way. I think their might also be a very short grab of Landau and Schell, but this video also takes the crashing car intro to "The Protectors" TV show also. (Thanks Stephen!)
Copyright Martin Willey