The important thing to remember is that there's no correct running order for
Space: 1999. It's the nature of the beast. Unlike modern shows, where events take
place in a specific order and "story arcs" continue from episode to episode, the film
series of the sixties and seventies were deliberately designed to have as little continuity
between episodes as possible. This was done to make the shows more saleable - broadcasters
knew they were buying a series of (largely) self-contained films, which gave them much more
flexibility in the way they could transmit the show; episodes could be dropped, switched
around or preempted without any difference being discernable to the viewer.
[Well, that's the theory. It's blatant nonsense however - in the first
American screenings, Dragon's Domain was shown as the second episode. Even a
half-asleep viewer's going to notice that the episode opens 877 days after the Moon left
orbit, and wonder what the hell's been going on for the last two and a half years!]
So, the show is designed to have a definitive first episode, to establish the format and
introduce the characters, with all subsequent episodes being interchangeable. Part of the
sales package would be an instruction to open with Breakaway, after which it would
be up to broadcasters to sort out a running order - or more likely to put the episodes out
completely at random.
What this doesn't do is take note of the way the series develops. The producers may have
been aiming to have interchangeable, continuity-free episodes, but with the best will in
the world, subtle changes are going to work their way into the show. Characters will start
to be written differently once the writers see how the actors are playing them. Ideas and
concepts that didn't work out are quietly dropped. The thinking at the time was that such
differences were small and wouldn't be noticed by the casual viewer. [This
seriously underestimates the intelligence and observation of the audience, of course, but
it really does seem as if tv executives thought their consumers were idiots.] All
they had to avoid was doing something irrevocable, like killing off a major character, as
they couldn't guarantee that other episodes featuring that character wouldn't be screened
later. (They can kill off Commissioner Simmonds in Earthbound; since the only
other episode he appears in is Breakaway, there's no way you can show those out of
sequence. But the only other major characters we see dying are single episode guest stars;
by the same token, we never see what happens to Jackie Crawford after Alpha Child.)
[I'm reminded of the character of Mr Leslie in Star Trek - he's not
one of the main players, but he's a named and recognizable character who features in a huge
number of episodes - he's killed off by the alien creature in the episode Obsession,
yet is seen back on duty several times subsequently. This would have seemed even worse
once the episodes were being shown in random sequence in syndication.]
So, is there a "right" order in which to show the series? It's quite common these days
to place the episodes into production order. This is how they're arranged on the DVDs for
instance; and it's the order in which the BBC (mostly) showed the first series. Now, one
might think that this would take account of those subtle changes I talked about - that's
true to an extent, except for that fact that it's not a progressively linear development,
as multiple scripts were being written and re-written at the same time. (Take Matter of
Life and Death - it was produced second, but there's just as much dialogue suggesting
it's not the second episode as that suggesting it is...) Then again, there are some fans
who argue that the production order makes more sense of the changes to the set layouts.
For instance, the basic design of Main Mission changes as the series goes on: the lighting
behind the translucent panels changes colour; the steps along the wall leading up to the
windows disappear; and Kano acquires his own rotating desk in the centre. Well, I
seriously have to ask: should we allow what must have been practical production
decisions to dictate our understanding of the narrative? Let's think about
this for a second. What that's effectively saying is that, in the midst
of their desperate struggle to survive, Koenig got the decorators in to completely remodel
the room - a huge control room sitting at the top of a tower overlooking the base. Is that
really credible? Surely, it's far better to overlook what amount to a few visual continuity
errors? (I would guess they took the steps out to make the set easier to work with -
perhaps to create some more floor space for the cameras and actors to move in. As for the
lighting panels - I think constant changes in colour make more sense within the context of
the series, as a deliberate attempt to break up the sterile look of the base and prevent
claustrophobic reactions in the personnel.) There are other more aesthetic and
narrative reasons why production order is unsatisfactory: to take a single example, it
means watching War Games and The Last Enemy - two episodes in which the base
comes under heavy military attack - back to back. Any responsible broadcaster would
separate these episodes to stop it looking like the programme is repeating itself.
When I started watching the series, courtesy of the ITC video releases, I had no idea
what the production order was. All I could tell then was that the order in which the
episodes were being released was clearly wrong. So, because I'm of that sort of mind, I
found myself trying to work out the "proper" running order. [Even before
I'd seen all the episodes! It's like a sort of intellectual jigsaw puzzle - you move the
pieces around to see what fits best, then when something new comes along and spoils your
theory, you move them around some more. It's an organic process, but it does mean that
once finalized, the sequence sets in stone in my mind. That's one reason why I've stuck
with it for this site - although I do genuinely believe it works to enhance the viewing
experience.] For the first series, this was based on what little continuity there is
in the show - lines of dialogue, and other hints that certain events might occur
later than others, changes in the characters' attitudes, and so on - but
overall, the aim was just to come up with the most logical and watchable sequence
of events. The second series was relatively easier to order, since most of the episodes
are given a date at the beginning. This means that the sequence is much closer - though not
identical - to the production order. (As for the two episodes without dates, their
approximate positions can be inferred from the dates given in the episodes produced around
them.) Of course, going with the stated chronological order is not without its own
continuity problems, but I'll examine those in the episode analyses. [You
have to wonder though why they bothered to put such obvious dates on the second series -
it flies in the face of the way film series are supposed to work. You can be sure that
the episodes weren't ever screened in that order (although the BBC rerun in 1999
almost managed it...) - so the alert viewer would have seen the Alphan's chronology
jumping about.]
So, to go back to the first series: in creating my running order, I noticed that the
episodes divide roughly into two categories - those where the Moon arrives at a new planet,
and those where the Alphans are visited by aliens or encounter various space phenomena.
Since one of the common criticisms of the show is the perceived regularity with which the
Moon encounters a new planet, it made sense to alternate the two different types of episode
- that way, they wouldn't seem to arrive at a new planet every week. (In actuality, it's
not every week, as the series takes place over a much longer timescale.) This may create
some artificial and arbitrary shuffling of episodes, but I felt it was important to maintain
this balance. At the same time, I made sure that episodes dealing with similar concepts were
moved apart in an attempt to keep things fresh. My third decision was to try and suggest a
progression further into the depths of the universe - which meant that episodes that
retained some link to Earth (whether it be aliens who had observed our world, or discovering
lost Earth expeditions) would be placed in the first half of the series, with the more
exotically strange episodes later on.
I'll now briefly outline my reasons for the placing of each episode:
1. Breakaway September 13th 1999: the odyssey begins.
2. Earthbound Time has moved on since the breakaway, with talk of the Alphans
adjusting and coming to terms with their situation - but no more than a few weeks: it's
clearly stated that the date is still 1999, and the Moon must still be in the general
vicinity of Earth to enable the Kaldorian ship - which after all is heading that way - to
be able to pass close enough to identify the Moon and lock on to it. (One might also note
that whilst Koenig and Helena are now on first name terms, as they will be throughout the
rest of the series, he still calls her "Dr Russell" when formally requesting her assistance
in dealing with the alien ship). But the deciding factor here is the
presence of Commissioner Simmonds. He's a strong personality, and the
way he dominates this story makes it inconceivable that any significant events could have
occurred since the breakaway without his involvement. Wouldn't he have taken over the
interrogation of Lee Russell for instance? Given his behaviour here, he would certainly
have tried to get aboard the survival ship in Black Sun. Some fans will seriously
try to suggest that Simmonds just sulks in his quarters during any intervening episodes;
but to my mind, there's no way that any episode without Simmonds can fill the second
slot. [Interestingly, the BBC repeat run broke from following the
production order to insert Earthbound as the second episode.]
3. Black Sun The Moon's passage through the black sun moves it into a
different part of the universe - perhaps one where different physical laws appply. This
might explain some of the scientific oddities in the show - for that reason alone, I
think this episode has to come very early on. But several factors place it after
Earthbound: the problem of Simmonds's absence, as discussed above; the fact that the
Kaldorian ship, on a general course towards Earth, wouldn't have been able to locate the
Moon if it had moved to a different area of space; and the fact that a black hole that
close to our solar system really ought to have been detected already.
4. Missing Link Now an unspecified distance from Earth, the Alphans encounter
their first planet. Koenig leads an expedition to attempt a landing, which almost ends in
disaster - perhaps this leads to the more cautious approach seen in subsequent episodes of
sending a survey Eagle first (with a more expendable pilot.) The fact that Koenig falls in
love with Vana and wants to stay with her also places this episode here: I can't see him
being prepared to abandon Alpha and his responsiblity to the personnel any later in the
series. (There's also the question of his growing relationship with Helena - it's hinted at
in the preceding episodes, but hasn't fully blossomed yet. Although it remains a fairly
low-key piece of characterization throughout the rest of the first series, I find it hard
to see Koenig leaving Helena and falling for another woman - even a golden-skinned one -
any later in the series than this.)
5. Voyager's Return The Alphans encounter a lost space probe that has been
charting the universe. I place this here as it explains something of an anomaly in the
series: that the Alphans are seen to display fairly detailed knowledge of the planetary
systems they visit, often knowing the names of alien worlds before they reach them; even
possessing star charts of distant parts of the galaxy. In this episode, they successfully
retrieve the data that the Voyager probe has been collecting, which is said to provide a
huge amount of invaluable astronomical and scientific information. The probe's launch is
dated to 1985, which Victor says was fifteen years ago - suggesting that time is moving on,
and from the Alphans' point of view, the date is now 2000.
6. Matter of Life and Death Although filmed second, I feel this episode fits
best a little further into the series. It's made clear that Terra Nova is not the first
planet they've encountered, but the first that seems to hold the promise of a successful
colonization. More importantly from a character point of view, this is the episode that
brings Koenig's relationship with Helena to a head. Though it's been hinted at
(his concern for her safety in Earthbound and Black Sun, her tears over
having to terminate his life support in Missing Link), they clearly haven't
committed to each other before now (hence Koenig's romance with Vana, and even the
suggestion of an attraction between Helena and Captain Zantor). The unexpected reappearance
of Helena's husband here probably crystallizes Koenig's feelings (quite apart from the
obvious jealousy he displays) - as he lies apparently dying, he tells her: "We almost made
it, you and I..." In the epilogue, Kano reports to Koenig on the results of a feasibility
study that Computer has been running, about how many potentially habitable planets the Moon
is likely to encounter along its current trajectory. This would make sense with my placing
of Voyager's Return - the raw data for these projections are obviously the
information downloaded from the probe.
7. Ring around the Moon The Tritonian probe is defeated with evidence of its
home planet's destruction - something which Victor gains from his "galaxy charts". This
must be more information derived from the Voyager probe.
8. The Last Sunset A character-based episode with a sad ending, this seems to
fit here before some of the more fantastical worlds the Alphans encounter.
9. Alpha Child After that sad ending, a new beginning: the first birth on
Alpha. This is something that was surely going to happen sooner rather than later. (The
timescale I'm proposing would suggest this is about a year after the breakaway, implying
that the child was conceived around three months afterwards. We have to assume that once
Helena became aware of this first conception, strict birth control was imposed on the
Alphans - as a "baby boom" would certainly upset the precariously balanced environment of
the Moonbase such as Koenig describes in this episode. That's why we never see any more
children in the future.)
10. Death's other Dominion Victor says the 1986 Uranus probe was fourteen
years ago, suggesting again that the date is 2000 (I would say very late in the year).
Within that timescale, I'd want to place the episode as far as possible from Matter of
Life and Death, which also features a mysteriously transformed survivor of a lost
space expedition.
11. Force of Life In keeping with my proposed scheme, as the Moon leaves the
Earth ever further behind, the mysteries of deep space become increasingly bizarre. Here, an
inexplicable alien force affects the base.
12. Guardian of Piri The growing strangeness of the universe sees the Moon
arriving at the weirdest planet so far.
13. The Troubled Spirit In contrast, I felt it was interesting here to
demonstrate that the human mysteries of life and death could be just as strange and
incomprehensible as any alien influence. This is one of the four episodes featuring Italian
guest stars, which help to emphasize the international nature of the Base - but it's useful
for our purposes to move these episodes apart somewhat: once again to add variety, and to
prevent all the Italian personnel suddenly turning up one after the other.
14. The Last Enemy The base sustains damage during a military attack. As
stated earlier, I'd want to place this at some distance from War Games. Here, we see
Koenig ordering a preemptive attack against the Bethan gunship. I really don't see him
acting in this way after the lesson he learns in War Games, so this episode must be
placed earlier. (He's already given a similar order in Alpha Child, but called it
off - only for more aliens to arrive and get the better of the Eagles. This would suggest
why he doesn't want to take any chances this time. Nevertheless, Victor remarks it's not
really his style.)
15. Collision Course Here, it might seem as if I'm breaking my self-imposed
rule by having two "planet" episodes back to back. But I'll permit myself this:
Collision Course starts out as a "phenomena" episode, and the presence of the planet
only becomes apparent later on - and the thrust of the plot is more about avoiding the
danger of collision than it is about the chance of colonizing the planet. This is the first
episode to really confirm earlier hints of a higher force guiding the Alphans' destiny, so
fits nicely here to start the build-up to the final episodes.
16. Dragon's Domain Another episode with an Italian guest star, placed here to
help separate it from the others. This is the only first series episode (aside from
Breakaway) to be specifically dated: the story starts 877 days after the Moon left
orbit - that's 6th February 2002. This fits within the timescale I've been suggesting,
allowing a space of two to three months between each episode. (It seems odd that we haven't
met Cellini before now, considering he's an old friend and colleague of Koenig's - but I
can't argue with such a definitively-given date.)
17. The Full Circle A character-based episode, providing a change of
pace from the mystery and horror of previous instalments.
18. Mission of the Darians Although a "space phenomena" episode, this one
plays out more like a "planet" episode, as the Alphans are offered the chance of a new life
with the Darians.
19. End of Eternity I wanted to move this episode as far away from Death's
other Dominion as possible, since they're both episodes touching upon the theme of
immortality. It's hard to know which way round they should be viewed, since in both cases
the Alphans (Koenig excepted) seem keen to gain the secret of eternal life, as if the lesson
learned in each episode had no effect upon them. (So it's best to keep them as far apart as
we can, and hope no one notices!) Victor's apparent wish for immortality here seems more of
a throwaway speculation than it did in Death's other Dominion. When discussing
Balor's claims, Helena comments that they know immortality is possible - presumably this is
referring to the events of Death's other Dominion, indicating that this episode must
be the later one.
20. War Games This is the flipside to The Last Enemy, with Koenig's
fear of a uncommunicative and militarily-powerful force leading him to launch another
preemptive attack. The consequences seen here mean he's unlikely to do this again. Since,
before the final revelation, it really does appear as if the base has been destroyed and
abandoned, I wouldn't want to place this any earlier in the series - it just wouldn't have
the same impact, the same sense that this really could be the end. (There is, I think,
something mournful and elegaic about all these last few episodes - here, there's an almost
funereal tone, culminating in Victor's moving farewell speech.) The alien world here is
strange and completely unknown - we don't even find out its name - suggesting that perhaps
the Alphans have moved beyond the areas surveyed by the Voyager probe.
21. The Infernal Machine The elegaic theme continues with this meditation on
loneliness, the meaning of identity and the vanity of seeking a continued existence beyond
death.
22. Another Time, Another Place This episode was filmed sixth, but I choose to
move it almost to the end of the series for the simple reason that it shows the Alphans
finally returning to Earth. Having this occur much earlier in the series robs it of any
dramatic and emotional impact - but after so many travels, to finally get what they want,
only to have it snatched away, is heartbreaking. [The original video
release had this one quite near the end of the series as well, so I felt that impact with
all the weight of the previous episodes behind it - just for once, that peculiar release
order made some sort of sense. I couldn't imagine this episode playing earlier in the
series.]
23. Space Brain Following the space/time warps of the previous episode, the
Moon could be almost anywhere in the universe now. (Certainly they're not in a region that
Voyager One charted - or it would have recorded the existence of the Space Brain - or more
likely the probe would have been crushed by the Brain's antibodies.) Here, Koenig seems to
be enacting the lessons learned in War Games - although initially planning to use
nuclear charges against the Brain, he's uneasy about the whole notion of a preemptive
attack against an entity they don't understand, and goes out of his way to attempt to
communicate with the Brain - sadly, all to no avail, and the mournful epilogue fits
perfectly into the mood of this part of the series.
24. The Testament of Arkadia The Alphans finally discover the purpose behind
their wanderings. There's no doubt that this revelation should be kept for the last
episode of the series. Koenig's expression of hope in his final log entry makes for the
perfect coda. [This was also the last episode to be filmed. Back when I
started watching the series, I didn't know that of course. Indeed, thanks to the completely
random order of the ITC video releases, I saw this one fourth! But even then, before I'd
started thinking about developing a running order, I had this one pegged as a possible last
episode - sometimes, these things are simply inevitable.]
As I said above, the first series takes place over a timescale of several years. The
only definite date is given in Dragon's Domain: February 2002. So regardless of
where you place that episode, the whole series covers at least two and a half years. (I've
got Dragon's Domain as the sixteenth episode, so I'm projecting a timescale of
three and a half to four years.) This is contradicted by the second series, whose stated
dates clearly indicate that the whole first series occurs within one year of the breakaway
- the second series is allowed to stretch over six years however, a much more acceptable
timescale. There's no easy way to reconcile the discrepancy, and no leeway in the given
dates. By my timescale, the first series overlaps the first twelve episodes of the second.
(This is perhaps evidence for arguing that the two series in fact take place in alternative
universes, a notion I'll be examining in some detail later.)
I make no claims that this running order is perfect, or even the best way to view the
series - but it works for me, and I hope I've outlined my thinking clearly here. (It really
depends on what indicators you think are significant - there are plenty of other
opinions on the matter.) I think it's certainly in the spirit of a seventies film series
that its running order be completely free for the individual to decide; and so I'm pleased
to present my own preferred order on this website.
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