15 Sci-fi TV Shows That Ended Too Soon
6. Space: 1999
The Beginning:
Off the back of successes in Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlett, Gerry Anderson probably thought he was the cats pyjamas – and who could blame him? Everything that he attached some strings to was turning to TV gold, and a more recent foray into live action entertainment (UFO) had struck a chord with audiences.
That all changed when this passion project hit screens in 1975, which despite boasting an impressive American cast in Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, some unique Space Odyssey-inspired visuals and a barmy plot only British sci-fi could yield – nuke the moon! – the show only lasted for two seasons.
The End:
At the time, Space: 1999 was the most expensive British television series in history, so the expectation was that viewing figures would justify the spend. While reviews were good, the US arm of production company ITC Entertainment got involved in the development of a second season (Year Two, as it was titled), introducing overly commercial storylines and some unwelcome humour.
With this decline in quality the show never saw a ‘Year Three’.
Its legacy lives on, though, with ITV teasing fans with a revival – as of 2012 it was to be titled Space: 2099 but the project remains in a skewed orbit – and sci-fi icon Ronald D. Moore admitting that he lifted the intro sequence from Space: 1999 for his Battlestar Galactica reboot.