Good compilation of "Space:1999"

This set of three episodes from the show's first season captures that season's ernest side with mixed results. It still seems hard to believe that "Space 1999" only lasted two seasons (mindful that the second season was stretched out over two years in the UK) and that the entire tone of the show was revamped in season two - more exotic aliens, a younger heroic figure in place of staid and sage Barry Morse and even Catherine Schell as the lovely (when she wasn't shape-shifting) alien, Maya.

SERIES BACKGROUND: The show follows the adventures of the Alphans, unlucky inhabitants of a human base on the moon. In "Breakaway", nuclear waste stored on the moon spontaneously explodes, blasting the moon out of orbit and into a wider cosmos.

On This tape:
In "Alpha Child", the Alphan's worries are briefly allayed by the birth of the first native lunar-born human. Joy is tempered when the child begins exhibiting strange signs....of something. This started as one of the serious episodes though with Julian Glover running around the base in what looks like a toga, it looks more like a season-2 episode. The mystery and resolution are way too pat and unsatisfying, and this is the low point of the tape.

"Last Sunset" is a more sensitive episode, briefly liberating the Alphans from the confines of their base. When Alpha appears to near orbit of another alien world, the planet sends a fleet of small probes to give the moon an atmosphere. The effects on our heroes of their new-found freedom seem poignant, especially when you know it won't last - even the closing shots seem wonderfully fleshed out, as the sun sets on the moon one last time.

"Voyager's Return" has the Alphan's sharing an unwelcome reunion with the Queller probe, a huge, unmanned spaceship powered by a revolutionary engine that destroys anything it comes in contact with. Getting past the implausibility of the premise (the dangers of the engine were realized before it was launched; you'd think that with the research and money spent, they would have realized its destructive potential before it was given a chance to endanger anybody), this was a pretty compelling idea. Confronting the despised Professor Queller (who, luckily enough, was staying on Alpha at "Breakaway" under an assumed name), the Alphans learn to forgive him for the destruction he unwittingly caused with his engine, and narrowly avert extinction when the probe nears the moon. Unfortunately for our heroes, theirs is not the only cross Queller has to bear, and the probe itself is not alone when it passes near the moon.

Great Videos but cannot find the " Making of Space:1999"

These videos are great, very entertaining and nostalgic.