Catacombs International Guide
Space 1999 In The UK

UNITED KINGDOM

BBC2

BBC2 is the second channel of the state (non-commercial) broadcaster, and caters to more minority interests and sport. In the 1990s, the 6:25pm slot was the home of cult TV shows, including Star Trek and repeats of Battlestar Galactica. On 30 August 1994, BBC 1 (the main BBC channel) had shown War Games (at 11:15pm as part of a tribute to Lew Grade, see Radio Times listing). The episode (sourced from a 16-mm print) had received unusually strong ratings for the late timeslot.

In 1996, the BBC bought the rights to show Space: 1999, and were given D3 digital tapes sourced from 35mm interpositives stored in Los Angeles. They made edited duplicates of the episodes on D3 tape, removing the fade to commercials (on the basis that the episode was not interrupted by commercials), and the Year One "this episode" opening titles. They series was not broadcast for another two years.

In 1998, Space: 1999 reappeared, for the first time on national television, without commercials and (mostly) in production order. However, in keeping with tradition, the first episodes were cut, and the slot became more irregular as the series ran, often pre-empted by sport. Missing Link was delayed by sport and an on-screen caption appeared over an important scene (Sandra tells Helena not to let Koenig die) explaining a following programme cancellation.

Complaints after the first three episodes persuaded the BBC to abandon the editing, although eleven of the Year Two episodes were also BBC versions, presumably used by mistake. In addition, many episodes were edited. Viewer complaints about the ending of Death's Other Dominion may have prompted cuts to End of Eternity two weeks later, which drastically edited Bexter's attack on Koenig with the model plane. There were also some minor censorship cuts in some year two episodes as well, namely The Bringers of Wonder, Devil's Planet, and The Dorcons.

After Christmas, the last two episodes moved to Saturday afternoons.

The episode The AB Chrysalis, shown on 17 April 1999, was introduced by the BBC announcer with the words They don't make 'em like this anymore... thankfully. Unfortunately this seems to sum up the BBC's attitude to the show in terms of scheduling and editing.

Production Order	Episode	BBC broadcast
1	Breakaway	Mon, 11 May 1998 6:25pm (BBC version, cut)
5	Earthbound	Mon, 18 May 1998 6:25pm (BBC version, cut)
2	Matter of Life and Death	Mon, 25 May 1998 6:25pm (BBC version, cut)
3	Black Sun	Mon, 1 June 1998 6:20pm
4	Ring Around the Moon	Mon, 8 June 1998 6:20pm
6	Another Time, Another Place	Mon, 15 June 1998 6:25pm
7	Missing Link	Mon, 6 July 1998 6:25pm (delayed by sport until 6:40pm)
8	Guardian of Piri	Mon, 13 July 1998 6:20pm
9	Force of Life	Mon, 20 July 1998 6:25pm
10	Alpha Child	Mon, 27 July 1998 6:20pm
11	The Last Sunset	Mon, 3 August 1998 6:20pm
12	Voyager's Return	Mon, 10 August 1998 6:25pm
13	Collision Course	Mon, 17 August 1998 6:20pm
14	Death's Other Dominion	Mon, 24 August 1998 6:20pm
15	The Full Circle	Mon, 7 September 1998 6:45pm
16	End of Eternity	Mon, 5 October 1998 6:20pm (cut: Baxter's attack on Koenig cut by 20 seconds)
17	War Games	Mon, 12 October 1998 6:20pm
18	The Last Enemy	Mon, 2 November 1998 6:20pm
19	The Troubled Spirit	Mon, 16 November 1998 6:25pm
20	Space Brain	Mon, 30 November 1998 6:25pm
21	The Infernal Machine	Mon, 7 December 1998 6:20pm
22	Mission of the Darians	Mon, 14 December 1998 6:20pm (last before Christmas)
23	Dragon's Domain	Sat, 2 January 1999 4:55pm (moves to Saturday)
24	The Testament of Arkadia	Sat, 9 January 1999 4:25pm (sound fault)

Year Two (1999)

By Year Two, the run had become more confused. The Saturday afternoon slot floated between 3:40pm and 5pm from week to week. For some weeks, the show regained the Monday 6:25pm slot (running as well as the Saturday slot). The order slightly differs from production order, but does follow "days since leaving Earth orbit" (with the exception of Bringers Of Wonder).

For some regions of the country, such as Wales and the West Country (HTV), this was the first showing of some of the Year Two episodes.

Bringers Of Wonder was presented as a 90 minute "feature length" episode- not the (largely uncut) Destination Moonbase Alpha version, but a new version with two cuts in part one (Kandor on fire and the kendo fight), as well as the closing credits of part 1 and opening titles and in-show recap removed.

Production Order	Episode	BBC broadcast
25	The Metamorph	Sat, 16 January 1999 4:25pm
26	The Exiles	Sat, 30 January 1999 3:40pm (BBC version)
27	One Moment of Humanity	Sat, 6 February 1999 3:40pm
28	All That Glisters	Sat, 20 February 1999 4:20pm (postponed from 13 February)
29	Journey To Where	Mon, 22 February 1999 6:25pm (BBC version)
30	The Taybor	Sat, 27 February 1999 4:40pm (originally scheduled for Mon 22 February 1999 6:40pm)
32	The Mark of Archanon	Mon, 1 March 1999 6:40pm
31	The Rules of Luton	Sat, 6 March 1999 4:45pm (BBC version)
34	New Adam New Eve	Sat, 13 March 1999 5:05pm
33	Brian the Brain	Sat, 20 March 1999 4:05pm
36	Catacombs of the Moon	Sat, 27 March 1999 4:45pm
35	The AB Chrysalis	Sat, 17 April 1999 3:05pm
38	The Beta Cloud	Mon, 19 April 1999 6:40pm (BBC version)
37	Seed of Destruction	Sat, 24 April 1999 3:05pm
39	A Matter of Balance	Mon, 26 April 1999 6:40pm (BBC version)
40	Space Warp	Sat, 1 May 1999 3:05pm (BBC version)
45	Dorzak	Mon, 3 May 1999 6:35pm (BBC version)
44	The Seance Spectre	Sat, 8 May 1999 4:40pm (BBC version)
46	Devil's Planet	Mon, 10 May 1999 6:40pm (BBC version, cut: hanging in cell, Koenig punches woman)
43	The Lambda Factor	Sat, 22 May 1999 3:25pm (BBC version, cut; next episode follows immediately)
47	The Immunity Syndrome	Sat, 22 May 1999 4:15pm
41 42	The Bringers of Wonder - Part 1 The Bringers of Wonder - Part 2	Sat, 29 May 1999 3:25pm (BBC "feature length" episode*)
48	The Dorcons	Sat, 19 June 1999 4:50pm (BBC version, cut, postponed from 5 June 1999)

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