This has been brought to mind with the recent death of Martin Landau, who starred as Commander Koenig in the series. During his acting career he played a range of characters in TV shows like Mission Impossible and feature films such as North by Northwest and Crimes and Misdemeanours. Space 1999 wasn't the best thing he did (that was probably Ed Wood) but it had quite an impact on me as a schoolboy in the 1970s.
The series' premise was that in the near future (1999) an accident on the Moon would send it out of Earth's orbit. This was a man-made catastrophe, caused by an explosion in nuclear waste dumps. By the end of the Twentieth Century, the programme's writers envisaged humans living on the Moon (in Moonbase Alpha) and the show followed their plight as they were hurled into deep space.
Looking back, it sounds like a ridiculous plot but there was a feeling at the time, amongst some scientists and academics, and most schoolchildren, that one day we'd all have a chance to go to the Moon. With the Apollo Moon landings and continuing 'Space Race' between the US and USSR, there seemed every possibility that we'd have the opportunity to leave Earth's gravity. As flying had been for our parents, space travel looked to become something ordinary for us. Various science-fiction books, films and TV shows suggested this. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Star Trek and the works of Isaac Asimov, it seemed almost inevitable. We'd all get to travel among the stars.
But Space:1999 was one of the first programmes to hint at the flaws in the dream. That, like the 1970s global economy, things didn't always go to plan: even if we did get to live on the Moon, it would be to handle waste from the energy industry with its associated risks. Science and exploration would take a backseat to business and politics. This was starting to hit-home in the mid-seventies as power cuts, inflation and strikes affected the UK and US. Growth slowed and unemployment rates rose. The US was trying to unravel itself from the war in Vietnam while the UK faced terrorism threats from the IRA.
The mid-seventies was a difficult time but series like Space:1999 made Saturday mornings worth waiting for. Commander Koenig's adventures suggested the future wasn't necessarily bright but it was exciting. Maybe it wasn't Martin Landau's best acting, but it was fun to watch.