The Merchandise Guide
Fan Clubs
Club Cosmos 1999

The French fan club began in 1988. In France in 1987, the channel La Cinq had started a repeat run of the series (titled "Cosmos 1999" in French), and continued into the first French broadcast of Year 2. Interest in the series was high. Video releases in 1992 encouraged the popularity of the series in France.

The club was run by Chantal Battiston, Richard Plumel and Claude Merckel. The quarterly club newsletter was named "Aigle" ("Eagle"). Conventions were organised in 1991 (with Barry Morse), 1993 (with Prentis Hancock and Suzanne Roquette), 1995 (Prentis, Zienia Merton, Anton Phillips) and 1998 (Prentis, Zienia Merton, Johnny Byrne, Anton Phillips, see photos). The newsletter was a traditional mix of fan fiction, news, articles on the episodes and characters, and series analysis. Regular articles discussed the translation differences between the original English ("VO") and French translation ("VF"). There were also reports from UK and US conventions which members attended.

In 2000, the club was renamed as "Destination Alpha", and the newsletter became "A la Derive" (Breakaway). Chantal Battiston remained president. It ran until 2004, when it finally closed after 15 years. Archives including stories and analysis were available for several years in the "Destination Alpha" site on space1999.net.

There were around 40 issues of "Aigle" and 8 issues of "A la Derive".

Above: comics by Marc Velay, 1997

---

Space: 1999 copyright ITV Studios Global Entertainment