Destination: Moonbase Alpha

Really "The Bringers of Wonder" of course. Or Bringers of Teardrop Cleavage and Rotting Rancid Python Blancmange Aliens. Did they really intend this for movie theaters?

My taping of this starts with the local station's announcer announcing: "Martin Landau and Barbara Bain stretch the limits of credibility in Destination: Moonbase Alpha!" Hey, don't shoot the messenger, I think the writer had something to do with it....

The "movie" version starts with a Star Wars exposition consisting of letters receding into space, starting with: "Far out into the galaxy of the Universe is the Moon..."!! The stupidity is just too good to be true. 2100 is a more realistic year though... but they then say that it's well into the 21st century. It sure is, extremely well into it, the final year! They say nuclear waste feeds the station... I guess people have learned to eat nuclear waste, given enough condiments!

Koenig joy rides in an Eagle, and Landau seems uncomfortable with it. Well, if I were stuck in season 2, I'd get drunk and steal an Eagle and trash it too I guess.... Maybe Arnold Rimmer stole Koenig's body! ("Bodyswap")

John Koenig burned his grandma's wig? The line "There are angels everywhere!!" was creepy.

Tony's skeptical about faster-than-light travel... you're already going faster than light, Tony! Deal with it!

Is Guido American? Is Tony? Occasionally Guido's accent sounds as if it might be someone's idea of American, but Tony's never is.

Slow-moving huge aliens masquerading as smaller fast-moving humans... problematic? If you're walking briskly down a corridor with one, they can't really keep up, can they?

I'm going by some old notes I made months ago, so I'm not totally sure what I meant in every case.... Funny line from Maya, unintentional I guess: She's asked how she overpowered an alien I guess, and she answers, "I hit him with my stick."

"Low speed chase!!" In reference to the aliens, not sure what scene.

The bit about experiencing a lifetime of happiness in an instant is interesting. In fact, this ending may be the point where s2 picks up and shows some promise toward the end. Except for the planet of the space vixens of course, the next one after this I think. The Alphan presented with the dilemma isn't a regular character, though he's a familiar actor from the Avengers and other things. If it hadn't been for the emphasis on monsters and action, they might have expanded on the idea that if you could experience that much joy in a few moments, perhaps nothing else matters. It's obviously what the episode title refers to. That would have made for a REAL science fiction premise.

This actor with the Roman nose takes a good look at the canister he's carrying and says, "It's atomic fuel!!" ... and immediately DROPS it like the proverbial hot potato, like it has cooties! Isn't that dangerous?

Slow-moving huge aliens masquerading as smaller fast-moving humans... problematic? If you're walking briskly down a corridor with one, they can't really keep up, can they?

Even as a lad, this point truly bothered me and ruined an otherwise decent series 2 episode. Unless they are using the same sort of mind-projection to make the humans think the simulacrums are keeping pace, but that is not what the episode images suggest.

The bit about experiencing a lifetime of happiness in an instant is interesting.

Indeed, this one point makes for a haunting proposition. If they could have ended the story on this point, instead of that pathetic series-two false 'happy-happy, joy-joy' schlock, this could have been held up as the high point of the second series.

Magnus Greel wrote:The bit about experiencing a lifetime of happiness in an instant is interesting.

'Bringers of Wonder' was and always will be my favourite story ever from Space 1999.

Koenig's acting as he stands there shouting at everyone that the visitors are Monsters is very well played.

Koenig's words to the main alien at the end of the story - "It is better to live in reality than as a fool in somebody else's dream' are very profound (mmm, The Matrix franchise may have got some ideas from this episode !)

Love this episode - great story - made a big impression on me as a child when I first saw this episode - and will always hold this story as special.

"It is better to live in reality than as a fool in somebody else's dream." ... is a good line, I have to admit.

Bringers of Wonder is the best adventure from series two I'd say! Love the idea even if it is stolen a bit from Star Trek's The Menagerie! That terrific music of the Swift approaching earth in part two is fantastic and can be found on the year 2 CD, apparently as part of The Taybor episode!