In an attempt to save the day, John Koieng, a young courageous commander for the Moonbase Alpha, who after the horrible explosion that takes the moon out of its orbit, struggles against solving that disaster, while investigating on the matter, the thing that challenges him, as he is shocked by revealing the truth, so he makes a unity with the whole crew.
Season two saw the budget reduced and a new reliance placed on action, adventure and monsters. But the first season remains a compelling watch, serious to the point of being po-faced.
But because of the rest of the narrative elements... and the solid emotional underpinning - the flaws don't feel so substantive. It's a reaction that's relatively common when canvassing Season One.
Created in Britain by Gerry Anderson... and his wife, Sylvia Anderson, the show stands second to Star Trek, an obvious inspiration, as the best science-fiction nonanthology television show to explore scientific and sociological concepts.
The pacing of the show may be a bit slow for today's youngsters who are used to faster paced programming, but the original Star Trek-era fans will no doubt always embrace this television classic.
The first season is a big, booming, bombastic beast packed with stunning special effects sequences... but too often scuppered by pompous pondering stories...
The show quickly becomes ridiculous, as the Moon regularly passes by planets or asteroids containing angry aliens, missing Earth probes, space brains, alien ghosts and warring rival populations.
The first season featured better stories and a great opening credits sequence backed by Barry Gray's excellent score, but it had to contend with several dull secondary characters.
This is not to suggest, in any way, that Space: 1999 is great art. But it is fun television, of the sort that has left countless thousands of viewers still heartbroken over the demise of Star Trek.
