Main Mission

No question, I prefer Main Mission to Y2's Command Center. It had more of a future feel. CC was like being in a submarine.
Anyone else?

I'm totally with you on this one. The Main Mission set of Year one was brilliant, bright and spacious and totally giving the impression of being the hub of operations whilst the Command Centre of year 2 was like a goldfish bowl, small, dark and dingy. Was it ever mentioned in the series why they changed to the smaller Command Centre, I don't recall it ever being mentioned.

Admin wrote:I'm totally with you on this one. The Main Mission set of Year one was brilliant, bright and spacious and totally giving the impression of being the hub of operations whilst the Command Centre of year 2 was like a goldfish bowl, small, dark and dingy. Was it ever mentioned in the series why they changed to the smaller Command Centre, I don't recall it ever being mentioned.

No, it was never mentioned on screen. Keith Wilson has some interesting things to say about the changes in the sets - which you can read in my upcoming book "Destination: Moonbase Alpha" (shameless plug ) I think his opinion is a lot like that of most fans - the Command Centre set had a very "small" feel to it, while Main Mission was impressive and massive. It had a scale to it that was unlike anything ever seen on television. Main Mission (and many other Year One sets, such as the incredible Nuclear Generating Area in "Force of Life") made the sort of impression that could make viewers exclaim "Look at that set!" in impressed awe. What other sci-fi series has ever done that? None that I can think of.

Yeah, I don't think anyone's going to argue with that. Main Mission is an amazing set.

And that bank vault they used, for the reactor door, in FOL. Anyone know where they borrowed that from?

I believe it was one of the banks in Berkeley Square, London.

Commander Koenig wrote:I'm totally with you on this one. The Main Mission set of Year one was brilliant, bright and spacious and totally giving the impression of being the hub of operations whilst the Command Centre of year 2 was like a goldfish bowl, small, dark and dingy. Was it ever mentioned in the series why they changed to the smaller Command Centre, I don't recall it ever being mentioned.

Realistically, you could argue that Command Basement was the result of something like War Games occurring (if it really occurred, and not just an illusion). However, from a visual/creative perspective, it's a total failure.

If War Games was the last episode of S1 and ended on a cliff hanger with the base in ruins, and certain personnel either missing or dead, I could at least find it justifiable, and not just another excuse for Fried Fatburger to put his stamp on and erase as much of the original series as he could.

GGREG FOR SPACE COMMISSIONER!!!!!!!!
You nailed it. Had WG been the last Y1 ep, alot could have made sense, albeit sadly, without such a jarring yank as finding the whole place redecorated.
Anybody here notice a pattern with shows FF got his hands on?

And, if things had ended with War Games as the cliff hanger, they could have explained what happened to Victor/Paul et. al. in the Metamorph, as things were left hanging the last time we saw them.

Still, this wouldn't make Command Basement/s2 any better...

ggreg wrote:And, if things had ended with War Games as the cliff hanger, they could have explained what happened to Victor/Paul et. al. in the Metamorph, as things were left hanging the last time we saw them.

Still, this wouldn't make Command Basement/s2 any better...

Well...War Games wasn't exactly a loose end...By the end of the episode, they were all alive again (and the Moonbase was back to the way it was before the attack).

Dana

I agree though, Main Mission was an absolutely amazing set...

It could be argued that some Main Mission catastrophe happened and the Alphans had to close Main Mission (and Alpha lost Victor, Paul, Tanya and Kano in the disaster...Since it was never mention onscreen what happened to them).

Dana

cmdrkoenig67 wrote:

ggreg wrote:And, if things had ended with War Games as the cliff hanger, they could have explained what happened to Victor/Paul et. al. in the Metamorph, as things were left hanging the last time we saw them.

Still, this wouldn't make Command Basement/s2 any better...

Well...War Games wasn't exactly a loose end...By the end of the episode, they were all alive again (and the Moonbase was back to the way it was before the attack).

Dana

Loose end? Not sure what you mean. I was talking about if WG had been the last episode & ended on a real disaster happening to the base then the changes in the Metamorph would make more sense...

Of course, the benefit of the changes and character disappearances not being mentioned onscreen is that it's given fans the chance to imagine over the years that the lost characters are still around (just working in the catacombs of the moon...), and that - in fan fiction at least - a return to Main Mission is possible.

Ggreg's idea of an alternate Y1 with War Games being the final episode and the destruction being real is an interesting one that could indeed have paved the way for Y2. But I can't imagine that Y2 would have been the same - could they possibly have sustained such major damage and losses of friends and colleagues, and then ended up being so light-hearted, as they are in Y2? But it might have been a much darker Y2, possibly even darker than Y1, and that might have been very interesting!

But I will forever love the "closed book" aspect of the ending of The Testament of Arkadia.

ggreg wrote:
If War Games was the last episode of S1 and ended on a cliff hanger with the base in ruins, and certain personnel either missing or dead, I could at least find it justifiable, and not just another excuse for Fried Fatburger to put his stamp on and erase as much of the original series as he could.

Fried Fatburger, I love it!!

CalgaryAlphan wrote:But I will forever love the "closed book" aspect of the ending of The Testament of Arkadia.

Truly. As if the reason for the moon's journey has completed its initial task, and the Alphan's can now go on to fulfill Arra's prophecy.

I doubt that anyone on the show ever thought of the s2 Command Center as an improvement. I believe that some of the sets from s1 were just gone by s2 (though my memory isn't firm on this), and that there just wasn't the budget to build any new, ambitious sets. Someone please tell me if I'm wrong about this.

As for a War Games where the damage was real and permanent, I'd rather have the losses of Victor et al be due to a different attack. I'd never want to lose the reversal at the end, and have it just be a straightforward battle story, as great as the battle scenes were. Also I like War Games for the sense of certain doom. Changing it so a lot of people survive would make it far less interesting.

I've always pictured Main Mission, Victor, Paul, etc., all being wiped out by the same asteroid or attack, with the small remaining functional portion of the room walled off, repressurized, and converted into an emergency substitute Main Mission.

CalgaryAlphan wrote:

Ggreg's idea of an alternate Y1 with War Games being the final episode and the destruction being real is an interesting one that could indeed have paved the way for Y2. But I can't imagine that Y2 would have been the same - could they possibly have sustained such major damage and losses of friends and colleagues, and then ended up being so light-hearted, as they are in Y2? But it might have been a much darker Y2, possibly even darker than Y1, and that might have been very interesting!

But I will forever love the "closed book" aspect of the ending of The Testament of Arkadia.

Yes, I love that ending as well. It's ironic that such a fitting poetic ending ended up being the final scene of the series last episode, since it wasn't planned to be the last episode (for me S1 is the only series of S99).

My ramblings above about WG continuity into s2 were just about trying to find a logical way to make the changes in s2, starting with Main Mission into Command Basement, logical.

I would be all for that darker s2 (s2 not being the same would be one of the greatest things ever to happen in SF tv) you mentioned, anything but what we got in reality. Although, all things considered, I would have preferred s2 carried on exactly the same as S1, cast and sets and mood/themes intact.

I felt lost in the Season's first Main Mission, I liked season 2 Command Center Better, it just seemed more busy. I like being busy.

mcgun106 wrote:I liked season 2 Command Center Better, it just seemed more busy.

Agreed - and more cosy. Imagine what the heating bills must have been for that huge Year 1 Command Centre.

ggreg wrote:

cmdrkoenig67 wrote:

ggreg wrote:And, if things had ended with War Games as the cliff hanger, they could have explained what happened to Victor/Paul et. al. in the Metamorph, as things were left hanging the last time we saw them.

Still, this wouldn't make Command Basement/s2 any better...

Well...War Games wasn't exactly a loose end...By the end of the episode, they were all alive again (and the Moonbase was back to the way it was before the attack).

Dana

Loose end? Not sure what you mean. I was talking about if WG had been the last episode & ended on a real disaster happening to the base then the changes in the Metamorph would make more sense...

That was my point in my response to your post. The disaster in war Games was all an illusion and at the end of the episode, everything was back the way it was (everybody was alive again). So, if it was the last episode, it would explain nothing in Metamorph.

Dana

[quote

That was my point in my response to your post. The disaster in war Games was all an illusion and at the end of the episode, everything was back the way it was (everybody was alive again). So, if it was the last episode, it would explain nothing in Metamorph.

Dana[/quote]

I guess you are not getting my point here: I said repeatedly if WG had really occurred and was NOT an illusion...

To me, the Main Mission set was the diamond in the Space: 1999 promise ring.

When I saw it for the first time I was blown away. Then the special effects, the Eagles, the exterior of the base itself... I knew that this show was something special.

The funtionality of the room from Main Mission Control to the Command Office and the huge door that separated them and allowed them to be one huge room, to me, was a master stroke of set design. I guess it was a bitch to light and film in though. Oh well, it all worked out from what I've seen...

I wish that series two would have kept it around. Tony and Maya sitting in Main Mission?