Space 1999, Set 2

Episode 8, "The Guardian of Piri": The planet Piri is discovered to be hospitable to humans, promising a potential home for the wandering Alphans. But there's a catch: on Piri, humans are lured by the promise of eternal, zombie-like happiness, and only Koenig knows how to rescue his crew from their hypnotic captivity. Guest star Catherine Schell would later join the regular cast as Maya.

Episode 9, "Force of Life": Technician Anton Zoref becomes possessed by an energy being that feeds on heat, making everyone on Alpha a target to its icy touch of death. As the body count rises, Koenig must order that Zoref be killed... But will his orders be carried out in time to save Alpha?

Episode 10, "Alpha Child": Unto Alpha a child is born, but soon joy will change to fear as every Alphan must bend to the will of its newest resident. The newborn swiftly transforms into something totally unexpected...the leader of an alien invasion.

Episode 11, "The Last Sunset": A miracle has happened: the moon has an atmosphere, which has been emitted by a satellite from the nearby planet Ariel. It seems as though Alpha will become a permanently habitable home for its human occupants--but will this surprising gift signal the final days of Moonbase Alpha?

Episode 12, "Voyager's Return": Sent from Earth years ago, the Voyager One probe is returning to Earth propelled by its innovative "Queller Drive." The probe's memory banks provide valuable data for Moonbase Alpha, but a fleet of alien ships arrives to condemn all of humanity for unleashing the "Queller Drive" as a destructive force in the galaxy.

This is the second set of episodes of the Earthlings trapped on the moon now travelling through space due to an accident. With the Oscar winning Martin Landau and this then wife, Barbara Bain, heading the cast they were well acted and rather nifty tales.

This set has Missing Link, where Landau is captured on planet Zenno, where humans appear to the be missing link; The Guardian of Piri, another planet where the Alphans try to land, but run into the Guardian, and once you gaze into its lights you are lost. Force of Life, (starring the wonderful Ian McShane) as a technician that is invaded by a heat-seeking life form; Alpha Child - the first child is born on Alpha Moonbase, but soon the joy turns to fear as the child shows strange powers; The Last Sunset - Suddenly the Moon has atmosphere...but how did this happen?; Voyager's Return. A space probe launched from Earth to acquire information comes back to moonbase with terrible repercussions.

So pop a bunch of popcorn and have a fun evening!


Space: 1999 at its best   June 13, 2003
Robert Cossaboon (The happy land of Walworth, NY)
In this set are some of the most complex and chilling episodes of the series. One of my favorites is the "Force of Life" episode, because it is so heavy on concept and doesn't rely on the gratuitous actions sequences that would come to be the norm in the second season. "Guardian of Piri" asks and answers the age old question, wherein lies the ideal life? "Missing Link" features an excellent performance by Peter Cushing and examines the extremes of human nature-can these extremes be bridged somehow? The second disc contains more action oriented episodes. "Alpha Child" concerns and outside menace brought onto Moonbase Alpha. "The Last Sunset" transforms the moon into a breathable planet. "Voyager's Return" is a fable about the hubris that often goes with the quest for knowledge, and the consequences that must be paid when you allow that quest to become unstoppable. These are all very solid episodes from a series that should've been so much greater than it ended up being.


This DVD set has some good episodes   July 27, 2002
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

One of the best episodes of Space: 1999 that I remember seeing as a child was The Last Sunset, which I did not see again for more than 25 years. I liked this episode as a kid, and I enjoyed watching it again on this DVD set. I thought that the story of having the moon develop an atmosphere like earth's was very interesting. Another episode that I remember as a kid was Alpha Child. I think that the most interesting part of the story was that the first child of Moonbase Alpha grew up and became an adult at an unusually fast rate, and was temporarily deaf and was incapable of speech for part of the episode. There was a certain sense of awe and wonder about this episode, the child was very enigmatic, and so was the story.