SPACE: 1999 - THE COMPLETE SERIES + BONUS DISC (1975-77) Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, Nick Tate, Catherine Schell

This fondly remembered 1975-77 sci-fi series from Gerry Anderson is set on Moonbase Alpha, where on September 13, 1999 (Some twenty odd years into the future at the time of production), the colonized moon was blown out of orbit by an explosion in a nuclear waste dump on its dark side.

Moonbase Alpha – a research colony on the surface of the moon – and its crew of 300 were subsequently sent spinning off into space, and their subsequent adventures throughout the galaxy brought them into contact with giant man-eating squid; moving rocks that murdered humans; cosmic gas clouds; blobs of living foam; sexy robots of the planet Pirl; a man-turned-machine name Gwent and the fearsome and mythical Arra (played by Margaret Leighton), queen of the planet Astheria.

Alpha was headed by Commander John Koenig (Martin Landau) and chief medical officer, Doctor Helena Russell (Barbara Bain), played by real-life husband and wife.

Other key crew members included Professor Bergman (Barry Morse), a brilliant scientist with an artificial heart; Chief Space Pilot Captain Alan Carter (Nick Tate); and Maya (Catherine Schell), a female alien “shapeshifter” from the planet Psychon who could transform herself into other forms (an orange tree, a lion, a gorilla, etc.) for short periods of time by rearranging molecules.

The show arrived on TV screens in 1975 amid a huge splash of publicity. There were spectacular special effects by England’s Brian Johnson, and even the futuristic, unisex jumpsuits they all wore were by the famous designer Rudi Gernreich.

The series was set to run in more than 100 countries around the world. Nevertheless, all three American networks turned it down, so the English producers took it directly to individual US stations, via syndication, and got it scheduled in practically every city in the country.

Comes with a bonus disc containing the two-part "The Space: 1999 Documentary".