Rating: 
Summary: A Superb Reference Book, Diminished By Special Pleading
Review: John Kenneth Muir has written two books here. One is a comprehensive production history of "Space 1999" and a detailed guide to its 48 episodes. The other is a passionate defense of the series as an influential, high-quality landmark in the history of televised science fiction. Readers who are fans of the series will welcome both elements of the book, as other reviews on this page make clear.
Readers with a deep interest in science fiction but no special love for "Space 1999" will also find Muir's history and episode guide invaluable but will likely find his argument unpersuasive. A lifelong reader and viewer of SF who also writes about it professionally, I fall firmly into this latter category. Here's why:
1) Determined to rehabilitate a series he clearly loves after a quarter-century of savage reviews, Muir overreaches. He argues, for example, that viewers of "Thunderbirds" (an earlier series by the same creative team) could almost forget that they were watching puppets rather than live actors. Even the biggest fan of the earlier series would find this hard to credit. Elsewhere, Muir reverently describes guest stars Brian Blessed, Roy Dotrice, Ian McShane, and Julian Glover (among others) as "famous actors" . . . as if they were the likes of Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud rather than established character actors who did such work routinely.
2) Assessing the contributions of "Space: 1999" to the development of televised science fiction, Muir falls into the "after X . . . therefore because of X" trap far too readily. He implies, time and again, that this or that element of later series such as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Babylon 5" must have been inspired by similar elements in "Space 1999" simply because they came later. He is doubtless right about some of them, but never seems to consider the possibility that (for example) the presence of a shape-shifting alien in both "Space: 1999" and "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" is simply the result of *both* series drawing on an established science fiction plot device (see, for example, John W. Campbell's story "Who Goes There?" from 1939).
3) Muir fails to come to grips with the series' most frequently cited flaws. His treatment of its scientific errors is typical. The concept of "Space: 1999" depends on the Moon breaking loose from its orbit (propelled by an exploding nuclear waste dump on the far side) and hurtling though space fast enough to encounter a dozens of other planetary systems in 5 or 6 years of story time. This is purest nonsense, but Muir is undaunted. Faced with a widespread consensus that his beloved series rests on bogus science he responds that: 1) Every SF series does it; 2) The critics are nitpicking; and 3) The laws of nature might be different "out there." He thus displays a deep misunderstanding of: 1) The nature of televised SF; 2) The nature of SF in general; and 3) The nature of science.
I watched nearly every episode of "Space: 1999" during its run, and remember many of them fondly. I remember the series as a whole as an interesting failure: full of interesting ideas, but undermined by bad science, a dramatically flawed premise, bland dialogue, and a near-total lack of engaging characters. I'm willing to be convinced that it was better than that, but Muir has utterly failed to do so.
Five stars for devoted fans of the series (who will be predisposed to buy Muir's arguments); three for the (probably few) others deeply enough interested in televised SF to consider buying a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: At last! The story of Space:1999 between one cover!
Review: Space:1999. You either love it or you hate it. This mid-1970's science fiction television program seems to inspire a lot of passion with no middle ground even after 20 years. The book "Exploring Space:1999" explores the reasons behind fandom's feelings quite adaquitly. The author, although an admitted fan, keeps a fairly objective view of the program as he "reviews" each of the 48 episodes in production order. Often he points out simularities in storylines and style in series that have followed. In particular, there are comparisons to Star Trek: The Next Generation, a program which prided itself on being a "thinking man's" science fiction televison program. Space:1999 did that first and in many ways, helped pave the way for the "intelligent" programs on the air today such as "Babylon 5" and the various Treks. The book is a bit of a let down when it comes to telling the history of the program. Only actress Catherine Schell was interviewed for the project. The bulk of the information comes from mainstream magazine stories and interviews. Personally, I would have loved to have seen more information from the script writers and editors about the evolution of the series and it's scripts. An example is that in the begining, ITC New York insisted on having an American script editor. In the days before E-mail and faxes, this caused quite a problem with the development of the early episodes. In the reviews of these stories, the author comments on the quality of the scripts but offers no explaination for the downslide. Articles and interviews of this nature have appeared in fanzines over the years and many of them are now available on the internet. Hopefully, there will be a revised second edition of the book which incorporates some of this material. Still, dispite my criticisms, it is great to finally have an objective telling of the program's history between one cover. "The Making of Space:1999" published in 1976 was basically a big PR product to help promote the changes to the second season of the program an barely touched on the first season. I enjoyed the book and appreciate the work the author put in to it. But, I would only recommend it to true fans of the series like myself.
Rating:
Summary: At last! The story of Space:1999 between one cover!
Review: Space:1999. You either love it or you hate it. This mid-1970's science fiction television program seems to inspire a lot of passion with no middle ground even after 20 years. The book "Exploring Space:1999" explores the reasons behind fandom's feelings quite adaquitly. The author, although an admitted fan, keeps a fairly objective view of the program as he "reviews" each of the 48 episodes in production order. Often he points out simularities in storylines and style in series that have followed. In particular, there are comparisons to Star Trek: The Next Generation, a program which prided itself on being a "thinking man's" science fiction televison program. Space:1999 did that first and in many ways, helped pave the way for the "intelligent" programs on the air today such as "Babylon 5" and the various Treks. The book is a bit of a let down when it comes to telling the history of the program. Only actress Catherine Schell was interviewed for the project. The bulk of the information comes from mainstream magazine stories and interviews. Personally, I would have loved to have seen more information from the script writers and editors about the evolution of the series and it's scripts. An example is that in the begining, ITC New York insisted on having an American script editor. In the days before E-mail and faxes, this caused quite a problem with the development of the early episodes. In the reviews of these stories, the author comments on the quality of the scripts but offers no explaination for the downslide. Articles and interviews of this nature have appeared in fanzines over the years and many of them are now available on the internet. Hopefully, there will be a revised second edition of the book which incorporates some of this material. Still, dispite my criticisms, it is great to finally have an objective telling of the program's history between one cover. "The Making of Space:1999" published in 1976 was basically a big PR product to help promote the changes to the second season of the program an barely touched on the first season. I enjoyed the book and appreciate the work the author put in to it. But, I would only recommend it to true fans of the series like myself.
Rating: 
Summary: # 1
Review: The definitive book on this TV series. Captures the essence of the show, describes its impact on later series, and details the long history of Space:1999, down to criticisms lodged by science fiction fans and reviewers alike. Now that the DVDs have been released, this book makes for a perfect companion, filled with insightful episode commentary and information.
Rating:
Summary: A work of love...
Review: This book is a true work of love! Kenneth Muir was superb in describing the very thought provoking show of the 70`s - Space 1999. A lot of people disregard this show or despise it as a minor one, but it was the predecessor of series like Babylon 5, Alien, Star Trek - The Next Generation and others. Muir showed his knowledge not only in the Space 1999 series, but all the SCIFI universe. The only thing missing in this book is more interviews with the stars Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and others.I recommend and it is one of my favorites!
Rating:
Summary: A work of love...
Review: This book is a true work of love! Kenneth Muir was superb in describing the very thought provoking show of the 70`s - Space 1999. A lot of people disregard this show or despise it as a minor one, but it was the predecessor of series like Babylon 5, Alien, Star Trek - The Next Generation and others. Muir showed his knowledge not only in the Space 1999 series, but all the SCIFI universe. The only thing missing in this book is more interviews with the stars Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and others. I recommend and it is one of my favorites!
Rating:
Summary: Explore this Book!
Review: This book is absolutely wonderful, from page to page, filled with insightful information and detailed reviews of each episode. The author, obviously shows reverence for the show. My only qualms are that there is no dust jacket and the illustrations are minimal for this terrific reference book, probably due to expected low appeal in selling. Sometimes, I can't find anyone who even remembers the show, but it is a childhood favorite. If you love the show, get the book!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading about Space:1999!
Review: Two thumbs up and three cheers for Muir's Exploring Space:1999. This is the reprint of the 1997 book by the author of Terror Television (which also has a chapter on Space:1999)and The Films of John Carpenter. This is a sturdy, utilitarian volume with some good photographs of Catherine Schell, two original illustrations, and a great text. Today, everybody from the New York Times to TV Guide is hailing Space:1999 as a lost masterpiece but in 1997 Muir's was the only voice in print supporting the series, - and we can be thankful for it. The book stands the test of time because Muir writes so well about the series' strength, and destroys many of the old arguments against the show through logic, reason,and with empirical evidence. He writes about how 1) the series is high-quality and 2)how it picks up on interesting film techniques to tell its stories and advance its themes. I don't agree with every episode review in the book, but Muir is consistent - preferring those with "film style" rather than solid, traditional stories. This is great, innovative reading, and well worth the price.
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