Space:1999

Space: 1999
Year One title screen
Genre	Science fiction, Adventure, Drama
Created by	Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Written by	Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Pip and Jane Baker, Tony Barwick, Johnny Byrne, Terrance Dicks, Terence Feely, Fred Freiberger, Donald James, Bob Kellett, Thom Keyes, Jesse L. Lasky, Jr., Edward di Lorenzo, Keith Miles, Christopher Penfold, Pat Silver-Lasky, Anthony Terpiloff, Art Wallace, David Weir
Directed by	Ray Austin, Tom Clegg, Kevin Connor, Charles Crichton, Val Guest, Lee H. Katzin, Bob Kellett, Robert Lynn, Peter Medak, David Tomblin
Starring	Martin Landau Barbara Bain Barry Morse Catherine Schell Prentis Hancock Clifton Jones Zienia Merton Anton Phillips Nick Tate Suzanne Roquette Tony Anholt Jeffery Kissoon Alibe Parsons Yasuko Nagazumi
Composer(s)	Barry Gray (Year One) Derek Wadsworth (Year Two)
Country of origin	United Kingdom Italy (first season)
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	48 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Gerry Anderson
Producer(s)	Sylvia Anderson (Year One) Fred Freiberger (Year Two)
Cinematography	Frank Watts Brendan J. Stafford (Year Two)
Editor(s)	Bill Blunden, Mike Campbell, Derek Hyde Chambers, Alan Killick, David Lane, Ray Lovejoy, Alan Pattillo
Camera setup	Single
Running time	48–50 minutes
Production company(s)	Group Three Productions (ITC/RAI) (Year One) Gerry Anderson Productions (ITC) (Year Two)
Distributor	ITC Entertainment
Release
Original network	ITV (United Kingdom)
Picture format	35 mm film 1.33:1 aspect ratio
Audio format	Mono
Original release	4 September 1975 (1975-09-04) – 5 November 1977 (1977-11-05)

Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television programme that ran for two series and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, set in the year 1999, nuclear waste stored on the Moon's far side explodes, knocking the Moon out of orbit and sending it, as well as the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, hurtling uncontrollably into space. Space: 1999 was the last production by the partnership of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and was the most expensive series produced for British television up to that time. The first series was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and Italian broadcaster RAI, while the second series was produced solely by ITC.

Two series of the programme were produced, each comprising twenty-four episodes. Production of the first series was from November 1973 to February 1975; production of the second series was from January 1976 to December 1976.

The premise of Space: 1999 centres on the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research centre on the Moon. Humanity had been storing its nuclear waste in vast disposal sites on the far side of the Moon, but when an unknown form of electromagnetic radiation is detected, the accumulated waste reaches critical mass and causes a massive thermonuclear explosion on 13 September 1999. The force of the blast propels the Moon like an enormous booster rocket, hurling it out of Earth orbit and into deep space at colossal speed, thus stranding the 311 personnel stationed on Alpha. The runaway Moon, in effect, becomes the "spacecraft" on which the protagonists travel, searching for a new home. Not long after leaving Earth's solar system, the wandering Moon passes through a black hole and later through a couple of "space warps" which push it even further out into the universe. During their interstellar journey, the Alphans encounter an array of alien civilizations, dystopian societies, and mind-bending phenomena previously unseen by humanity. Several episodes of the first series hinted that the Moon's journey was influenced (and perhaps initiated) by a "mysterious unknown force", which was guiding the Alphans toward an ultimate destiny. The second series used more simplified "action-oriented" plots.