History YMMV / Space1999

** And Professor Bergman would fit better as a wise old wizard than as a scientist - he's almost never shown doing any actual science, or rational reasoning, but rather seems to have some mystical knowledge of what's going on.

*** Star Wars made ALL sci-fi on a TV budget look cheap. That does not alter the fact that Space:1999 was, at the time, the most expensive TV series ever made and many of the effects do still stand up far better than would be expected for a mid-70s TV SF show.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Largely thanks to the low budget; inevitably, it was nicknamed ''Space: £19.99''

* IdiotPlot: the second season, especially - so much so that even series star, Martin Landau, complained.

** Many of the plots are about inner journeys, mind control, possession - classical Fantasy topics.

**** As has been said, the overall production value was very high, approaching feature film quality in many areas. The fly in the ointment is the writing; many cast members have made the point that the producers seemed more interested in the special effects than the scripts. That said, some of the actors rose above the material and there are some excellent character scenes, mainly those involving Barry Morse as Professor Victor Bergman.

**** As has been said, the overall production value was very high, approaching feature film quality in many areas. The fly in the ointment is the writing; many cast members have made the point that the producers seemed more interested in the props and sets than the scripts. That said, there are some excellent character scenes, mainly those involving Barry Morse as Professor Victor Bergman.

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* CompleteMonster: Balor, the near-indestructible sadist in "End of Eternity".

** Gets even worse when you think of episodes like "The Exiles", where a key plot element involves the fact that the Alpha life support system cannot support the 300 or so people on the base by that time. As a result, they are not only unable to take [[spoiler: the Galosian exile criminals]], but they are also unable to ''permit any more births on the base''.

* NightmareFuel: The first season featured several examples:
** The tentacled monster in "Dragon's Domain"
** The fate of [[spoiler: Commissioner Simmonds]] in "Earthbound".
** The fate of [[spoiler: Dr. Rowland]] in "Death's Other Dominion".
** The titular "Troubled Spirit": [[spoiler: Dan Matteo's "ghost"]].

*** The spaceship fx are extremely high quality, and usually achieved using double-exposure rather than blue screen. This means the images are captured on the original negative and don't suffer from extra grain, although this does limit the angles that can be used. On the other hand the show does have some extremely poor matte paintings.

** At the time, it was the most expensive TV series ever made and the effects still stand up today, so this is probably an indication that critics DidNotDoTheResearch.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The first season featured several examples:

* IdiotPlot: the second season, especially - so much so that even series star, Martin Landau, complained.

** The fate of [[spoiler: Commissioner Simmonds]] in "Earthbound"

* FridgeHorror: With every death of any of the irreplaceable 311 people on Moonbase Alpha, even RedShirt characters, and to a lesser extent the loss of equipment, the bleaker the isolated crew's chances of survival become through the series even as they helplessly drift out of control through space.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The monster in the episode "Dragon's Domain".
** Also the fate of [[spoiler: Commisioner Simmonds]] in "Earthbound". [[spoiler: Think "The Premature Burial:1999".]]
** And the titular menace in "The Troubled Spirit".

* FridgeHorror: With every death of any of irreplaceable 311 people on Moonbase Alpha, even RedShirt characters, and to a lesser extent the loss of equipment, the bleaker the isolated crew's chances of survival become through the series even as they helplessly drift out of control through space.

* FridgeHorror: With every death of any of irreplaceable 311 people on Moonbase Alpha, even RedShirt characters, and to a lesser extent the loss of equipment, the bleaker the crew's chances of survival become through the series.

* FridgeHorror: With every death of any of irreplaceable 311 people on Moonbase Alpha, even RedShirt characters, the bleaker the crew's chances of survival become through the series.

* NightmareFuel: The monster in the episode "Dragon's Domain".