Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

It’s time to step aboard Moonbase Alpha for the first full volume of Space: 1999 adventures from Big Finish.

Released today, the full-cast audio dramas expand the universe of the 1970s sci-fi series, featuring Mark Bonnar as Commander Koenig and Maria Teresa Creasey as Doctor Russell.

13 September 1999: a freak accident blasts the Moon out of Earth’s orbit, hurling the 311 men and women of Moonbase Alpha into the far reaches of space. 

13 September 2019: Big Finish returns to the Gerry Anderson universe with a complete re-imagining of one of his biggest and best-loved shows – Space: 1999!  

24 February 2021: the adventure continues with two entirely new stories, and one adaptation of a classic 1970s TV episode. 

The Moon has been sucked through a wormhole in space and has arrived countless miles away from its proper place. The crew of Moonbase Alpha can only guess at the resultant devastation left behind on Earth. They must decide how best they can survive. 

Some Alphans find it difficult to let go of the notion of returning to Earth, others are facing the reality that they must find another home to ensure the survival of the human race. They can’t survive on Alpha indefinitely. 

Mark Bonnar said: “Space: 1999 and Martin Landau were two of my favourite things growing up. I auditioned for this part of Koenig. I sent in a recording saying some lines and, because I’ve played the Eleven for Big Finish, they knew I could do different voices. They specifically wanted an American accent and they wanted to know if I could maintain it. 

“The tone had to be right but because I know Space: 1999 so well, it made it a little easier than when you’re doing a ‘normal’ audition. I’ve always been interested in science fiction – whether it’s Star Wars, Doctor Who, Alien or The Thing – I’ve got a bit of history in being a fan. It’s a sign of a misspent youth! I know the genre fairly well and Space: 1999 in particular. Unlike the kind of characters that I usually play who can be untrustworthy and often cross the line, Koenig’s a solid good guy and very decisive.”

Director Nicholas Briggs added: “The Siren Call deals with the immediate aftermath of their odyssey, with a new threat emerging. Death’s Other Dominion is an adaptation of the TV episode of the same name, but there’s a much more analytical approach to the bizarre set of circumstances our crew find themselves in. Unpicking the illogicalities of the original plot was quite a task, with writer Roland Moore and I really working hard to solve the problems. A lot of that original episode was held together by the sheer force of Brian Blessed’s fairly youthful performance. But at its heart, it’s a story about hopes dashed.

“Goldilocks is more of a terrifying action set piece, with monsters, death and destruction. There’s a real atmosphere of threat, and Andrew Smith has created a great storyline. For me, the major challenge has been to draw all the stories together in terms of character development, their speech patterns and their relationships with each other.”

Space: 1999 – Volume 1 is now available as a collector’s edition box set (on CD at £19.99) and as a digital download (at £16.99), exclusively from the Big Finish website.  Big Finish listeners can save money by buying this box set in a bundle with the first release in this series, Space: 1999 – Breakaway, for just £36 on CD or £31 as a download. 

Click here to read our reviews of the pilot episode