Episode Critics
Compiled by Martin Willey

9. Brian the Brain

...handles a humorous idea more effectively [than The Taybor], and at times touches moments of high drama. It's nail biting stuff. (Richard Houldsworth, TV Zone, 1993)

It sounds bad enough already but a hole in the ground, round or square, could not be dug deep enough to bury this syrupy, soporific shambles. It must have taken a production team of rare genius to be able to find such a bad script, foster such lame performances, encourage so much false laughter and so many forced smiles and yet come up with something so incredibly feeble and banal it defies sarcasm. 5/10 (Anthony McKay, DWB, 1993)

At a time when every SF TV series had to have a cute robot as a regular character, it was a brave move to make Brian a villain and then not have him join the cast at the end of the episode. Brian's boxy but effective design and Bernard Cribben's skilful vocalisation steal the show. B (Chris Bentley, SFX 20, 1996)

An entertaining and satisfactory adventure. Though it holds no real surprises or innovations for the Space 1999 format, it nonetheless stands out as one of the better second season entries because of the suspenseful love test. It is rewarding to see the relationship between these characters defined so well for a change. The story also benefits from an intelligent plot and, for once, clearly defined character motivations. (John Kenneth Muir, Exploring Space: 1999, p123)

Keith Wilson got to play with some nicely coloured perspex while designing the interior set of Swift, which certainly makes this episode more watchable. Of course, when the coloured bits of perspex are more interesting to watch that the characters, you know the episode isn't a success. Brian The Brain is embarrassing and irritating beyond belief, and manages to prove that robot can over act. 5.5/10 (Bob Wood, The Future Is Fantastic, 2001)