Information Space 1999 Episodes and gallery series 2.

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Series 2 saw many changes to the look and feel of the show, as well as cast changes.
The U.S. backers brought in Fred Freiberger as producer to jazz it up, improve ratings etc. Freiberger hadn't seen Series 1 but after viewing some episodes basically didn't like it. He knew he had to keep on Martin Landau and Barbara Bain but initially wanted everyone else to go. He was persuaded against this , but still he made cast changes and got rid of three main characters. Victor Bergman, Paul Morrow and David Kano, all gone with no explanation as to why. He was told this would cause confusion with fans wanting answers as to there whereabouts, because on the moon you can't disappear or leave but just get killed off. Freiberger waved these protests away, so the disappearance of the three characters wasn't explained. Perhaps they were on the moon still but demoted to minor roles on Alpha. Freiberger also introduced a more emotional Koenig and Russell and gave them a romantic attachment, and got rid of the huge Main Misson center and introduced a smaller set to be the main control room called Command Centre. The feel of the show was more claustrophobic, the stories more action packed with monsters and a comic book feel to proceedings. The thoughtful philosophical stories were gone. Gerry Anderson recalled getting a phone call from The States asking for ," more monsters Gerry, that's what the audience love." Then on a visit to the studio one U.S. backer said, " monsters? oh no, they're out of fashion Gerry " By then it was too late. They're are some very good episodes IMO in series 2, but also some dross,
also IMO. New characters were introduced including Maya, an alien science officer, from planet Psychon who has the capability to change shape into any other life form, alien, human or animal by a sort of controlled cell metamorphis, hence she's a metamorph. So for example if our heroes are in trouble and need to fight their way out of somewhere, she could turn into say a leopard , and when she turns back to humanoid, her clothes are back nice and pristine too !!

1. The Metamorph.
An Eagle is sent onto the surface of the planet Psychon, which has titanium, needed for repairs to the Alpha Base. It fails to return and is used by Psychon scientist Mentor as a bait with which to entice other members of the Alphan crew onto the planet. Mentor is building a biological computer which will hopefully transform his deteriorating planet back into the Eden it once was. However, the machine can only be fuelled by the living brains of humans, and he Mentor has his eye on those of the Alphan crew. Fortunately Mentor is not alone on the planet; his innocent daughter, the shape-shifting Maya, is unaware of her father's plans, so Koenig tries to convince her to side with the Alphans.

 

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2. The Exiles.
With Maya now a crew member the Alphans discover a young couple called Cantor and Zova who have been in suspended animation for some while. They claim that they are exiles from the planet Golos, following an invasion, and ask for the help of Alphan crew members to recover the rest of their comrades who are trapped in missile-like canisters in orbit around the moon. Helena and Tony convince Koenig that the alien couple are innocent beings and to allow them the chance to recover their people. However, Cantor and Zova abduct Helena and Tony, transporting them to the planet Golos, where it is apparent that they are not the young innocents they appeared to be.

 

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3. One Moment Of Humanity
.A sinister woman called Zamara materializes on the base, forcing Helena and Tony to accompany her to the planet of Vega, whose natives are anything but friendly. A servant of the Vegans, known only as Number Eight, informs the two Alphans that he and his race are the natural inhabitants of the planet and that Zamara and her race are androids, who, it turns out, want the Alphans to teach them warfare. A nice twist as the masked numbered servants turn out to be human and the human looking beings are androids.

 

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4. All That Glisters.
A lot of fans don't like this , but I quite like it. The Alpha Moonbase needs a rare ore known as Milgonite, which is detected on an extremely dry planet. Koenig leads a small landing force and discovers a glowing rock formation which comes alive and cuts off the party's links with the base. It is a trap - the planet needs water to survive and has lured the travellers there for the water in their bodies.

 

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5. Journey To Where.
A transmission from Dr. Logan in Texas City leads the Alphans to believe that they can finally land back on Earth through a revolutionary teleportation process. The downside is that it is now 2120 on Earth and the surface has become an unbreathable wasteland through centuries of pollution. The Alphans, though, are intent on abandoning the wandering moon. However, due to a hitch, the Alphan test subjects find themselves in a primitive and hostile environment. It is Scotland in the fourteenth century where the Scots are at war with the English invaders, who kidnap the Alphan trio.

 

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6. The Taybor.
The expansive Taybor, an inter-galactic merchant arrives from hyper-space on his ship the 'Emporium'. He is offering to sell things to the Alphans. Koenig realizes that if the Taybor sold them his space-ship, it would enable the Alphans to fly back to Earth, but the price the Taybor is asking for this transaction is Maya

 

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7. The Rules Of Luton.
Whilst Koenig and Maya are exploring a planet called Luton,which is lush in vegetation, she picks a flower and he helps himself to some fruit. As a result they are put on trial for murder by three talking trees, the Judges of Luton. The trial is by combat and the pair must face three aliens, one with superstrength, one which can render itself invisible and one which can teleport. Producer Freiberger apparently driving into the studio saw a roadsign to Luton and liked the name. Luckily he didn't see the sign to Dunstable!

 

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8. The Mark Of Archanon.
The latest extra-terrestials to be rescued by the Moon Alpha Base crew are Pasc and his young son Etrec, found in a chamber under the moon surface in suspended animation. They are from the usually peaceful planet of Archaron and they claim that they are victims of a rebellion, engineered by Pasc's wife Lyra. However, Helena discovers that they have both been infected with a virus which makes them considerably less friendly and more deadly than their initial claim.

 

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9. Brian The Brain.
The Alphans encounter an eccentric and intelligent robot who is known as Brian the Brain. Brian's creator Captain Michael and his crew have all died in mysterious circumstances and Brian asks for the help of Koenig and his crew. However, it soon becomes very apparent that Brian is anything but harmless and was in fact responsible for the deaths of Captain Michael and his colleagues. And he is ready to do the same to the Alphans unless they supply him with enough nuclear fuel to sustain him "forever"

 

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10. New Adam New Eve.
The tall and imposing Magus arrives on board the ship. He claims godlike powers, namely that he effected the Creation. But he is now disillusioned with the way that Life has progressed and wishes to start again. He plans to mate Helena and Tony and Maya with Koenig. But of course he is not God but a renegade cosmic sorcerer, and quite illogical at that, who needs to be controlled. I really like Guy Rolfe as God in this, exactly as you would expect a personification of God to be like.

 

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11. Catacombs Of The Moon.
Ship's engineer Patrick Osgood believes he can obtain tiranuim to make a new heart for his sick wife Michelle, from the catacombs of the moon, using explosives. The explosion which follows gives him a vision of the future in which the moon is destroyed by a fireball and a sudden heat storm strikes. Though Helena is making a new heart for Michelle, its repeated failures cause Osgood to become impatient. Convinced he is his wife's only salvation, he drags Michelle down into the catacombs, giving Koenig a double task - to avoid the fireball and save the Osgoods.

 

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12. The AB Chrysalis.
Alpha is on the verge of being destroyed by intense shockwaves emanating from a planet they're approaching. The Alphans land on the planet seemingly devoid of any human existence but being run by a group of machines. The machines explain to the visitors that their human overlords are in a state of regeneration but the chief machine, the Guardian,sees the Alphans as posing a threat and it is down to two newly regenerated females known as A and B to decide their fates

 

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13. Seed Of Destruction.
Whilst he is exploring an asteroid Koenig is taken over by an alien race known as the Kalthon, who replace him with an exact double. In consequence every action ordered by the fake Koenig is solely for the benefit of the Kalthon and to the detriment of the welfare of the Alphans. Helena realizes that something is wrong when 'Koenig' is cold to the touch and needs to convince the other crew members.

 

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14. The Beta Cloud.
A strange cloud drifts over the base and causes most of the crew to be stricken with illness. A monster, the 'cloud creature' appears out of the cloud and runs amok on the base. A voice from the cloud explains its purpose. The base must give up its life support in order to prevent the cloud from dying. With most of the crew indisposed through illness, it is down to Maya to employ her shape-shifting skills to beat the creature. Straight forward Monster attacks Moonbase story, Maya turns into various creatures to beat it, including a fly. Sigh .

 

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15. Space Warp.
Commander John Koenig and Security Officer Tony Verdeschi investigate a derelict spaceship in the third quadrant, but they are separated by light years from Moonbase Alpha when it's sucked into a space warp. Meanwhile, Maya, the shape-shifting science officer, is stricken with a fever that causes her to transform into a repulsive space monster that rampages throughout the base.

 

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16. A Matter Of Balance.
Several crew members explore the planet Sunin, including botanist Shermeen Williams, who appears to have visionary gifts. She links up with an alien, called Vindrus, who wants her help in transferring his body and that of his race, into solid matter, giving them proper human form so that they can join the universe as real matter. However, for every one of his race made flesh, an Alphan must lose their matter.

 

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17/18. Bringers Of Wonder -parts 1+2
1.Commander John Koenig loses his mind and crashes the ship he's piloting. After his crew saves him, Dr. Helena Russell hooks him up to an experimental machine meant to soothe his fevered brain. Meanwhile, it seems that Moonbase Alpha has finally been found by a rescue team made up of volunteers from earth. But the rescuers that look like long-lost friends, family and lovers to everyone else, look to Koenig like glowing heaps of gore.
2. Commander Koenig finally convinces Dr. Helena Russell and the shape-shifting science officer Maya that their supposed rescuers from earth are really hostile aliens. The trio discovers that the creatures live on energy and need a nuclear explosion on Moonbase Alpha to feed their starving bodies. The aliens hypnotize three crew members into thinking they are back on earth, performing seemingly benign activities, when what they're really doing is setting up the means for that nuclear explosion.—

 

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19. The Lambda Factor.
Lambda waves permeate Moonbase Alpha, causing instruments to malfunction and people to behave out of character. Crew member Sally dies in mysterious circumstances. Koenig is assailed by guilt-driven visions from his own past. It eventually becomes clear that the Lambda Variant has amplified psychic abilities on the base, in particular for Carolyn Powell, whose lover was previously Sally's boyfriend, and who is beset by jealous rage. Dr. Russell aids Koenig to overcome his own "ghosts", and prevent Carolyn from taking over the Moonbase.

 

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20. The Seance Spectre.
The moon is discovered to be on a collision course with a huge "dust cloud" within a solar system, possibly containing a planet. The leader of one of Alpha's lunar surface exploration teams (who Helena believes is suffering psychological issues), Sanderson, becomes a mutineer, posing a threat to the entire base by attempting to undermine the Alphan's anti-collision plans. Sanderson and his team are suffering from a psychological sickness caused by a longing to leave this claustrophobic existence on the moon and believe they have visions of paradise on the approaching planet.

 

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21. Dorzak.
A ship lands on Alpha and the commander upon entering and seeing Maya stuns her. She reveals that they're transporting a Psychon whom she claims is a criminal. When they awaken Maya she says the man is a good man. And they all are siding with Maya. But later he reveals his true intentions. My favourite episode of series 2, best by far IMO.