History YMMV / Space1999

** The eponymous "Dragon" of the episode mentioned above is a very static TentacleMonster that appears stuck in a doorway. In some shots it does look rather nightmarish, but the fight between it and the protagonist looks very much like a stage fight, with an actor trying to look like he's fighting obviously plastic tentacles.
*** The monster's static appearance might be justified in-story by its being able to teleport between ships, therefore only needing to move enough to reach its victims. (Plus, it can infiltrate their brains and force them to run toward it.)

** "Dragon's Domain" uses Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor", later made famous by its use in ''Film/{{Gallipoli}}'', to great effect

* WhatTheHellCostumingDepartment: Despite the uniforms being designed by famous fashion designer Rudy Gernreich, they didn't look very cool or interesting even back then. If the intention was to avert the SpaceClothes trope they succeeded only too well.
** Both the Andersons admitted later that Gernreich's involvement was far more for the "marquee value" of his name in the opening credits, making the show look as prestigious as possible, than because they thought he'd be the best person to design the uniforms.

** And "Dragon's Domain" uses Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor", later made famous by its use in ''Film/{{Gallipoli}}'', to great effect

** 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.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: ''Two'' of them in "The Bringers of Wonder." First, part one begins with Koenig flying back in his Eagle, having had his brain made loopy by the aliens. The giggling and chortling, loud whooping, and wildly manic expressions Martin Landau adopts have to be experienced to be believed. Secondly, when one of the MonsterOfTheWeek aliens, disguised as a gorgeous (and notoriously vamp-y) woman from back home, starts putting the moves on Tony, Maya [[GreenEyedMonster immediately glowers]] and turns into a monstrous creature behind her back. Just as she's about to strike, Tony sees her and quickly (but non-verbally) urges her to cut it out; the alien turns to see Maya back in her humanoid appearance, and both her disarming pose and innocently smiling expression are hilarious and ''priceless''.
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming:

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:
** Barry Gray's scores for Season One.
** And the unworldly-sounding sitar score for "The Troubled Spirit".
** The episode "Space Brain" uses Music/GustavHolst's "Mars, God of War" in its climax.
** And "Dragon's Domain" uses Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor", later made famous by its use in ''Film/{{Gallipoli}}'', to great effect.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Alan Carter was originally planned to be written out as part of the cast changes for Season Two. However, when the producers learned how popular he was with viewers, he was kept on and given an expanded role.
** To a degree, Fraser in Series 2.
** Also [[TheProfessor Professor]] [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist Victor]] [[CoolOldGuy Bergman]]. The man was loved enough by fans that three of the official ExpandedUniverse novels ("Survival", "Alpha" and "Omega") showcase his (only briefly alluded on in a deleted scene) BusCrash between seasons ''and'' then go to work on bringing him BackFromTheDead. "Survival" was even liked enough by Bergman's actor (Barry Morse) that he wrote a foreword for it!

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Whatever else you can say about the series as a whole, you can at least admit that the model work is top-notch (as was usual of a Creator/GerryAnderson production).

** Allegedly thanks to the low budget; inevitably, it was nicknamed ''Space: £19.99''. 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 didn't check their facts.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: John and Victor's warm conversation as the moon approaches the Black Sun [[spoiler:and their conversation with the "cosmic intelligence" as they go through]].

* BrokenBase: Among the sci-fi community, it's considered either an underrated classic (or at least the first half of it is) or an example of everything that can go wrong with a show in that genre. There's no middle ground.

* {{Narm}}: Suffice to say, the show did have its moments, especially during the infamous [[SecondSeasonDownfall second half]].
** For just one example, "All That Glisters" features a character named Reilly who, though born and raised an Irishman, affects the persona of an American cowboy due to spending much of his adult life in Texas, complete with a Stetson ten-gallon hat, cowboy boots and frequent use of Western colloquialisms (which contrast rather jarringly with his thick brogue). Then there's the fact that the episode itself centres around the characters being terrorized by an immobile silicon-based entity - essentially an ''intelligent rock''. It's probably no surprise therefore that Martin Landau and the rest of the cast hated the episode so intensely.

* BrokenBase: Either it's an underrated sci-fi classic (or at least the first half of it is) or an example of everything that can go wrong with a show in that genre. There's no middle ground.

* LoveItOrHateIt: Either it's an underrated sci-fi classic (or at least the first half of it is) or an example of everything that can go wrong with a show in that genre. There's no middle ground.

** And "Dragon's Domain" uses Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor", later made famous by its use in ''Film/Gallipoli'', to great effect.

* {{Applicability}}: Similar to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', the series exhibits this trope in spades, especially in the first season. See WizardsFromOuterSpace below for a specific example.

* WizardsFromOuterSpace: The whole series might actually make more sense if viewed as [[RecycledInSpace Fantasy IN SPACE]] rather than ScienceFiction.
** All of the scientific... ahem... ''inaccuracies'' would go away. AWizardDidIt!
** Many of the plots are about inner journeys, mind control, possession -- all classic Fantasy topics. As is fighting against the MonsterOfTheWeek.
** 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.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Anton Zoref is transformed into a heat-craving one in "Force of Life".

* 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.
** 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 [[spoiler: take in the Galosian exile criminals]], but they are also unable to ''permit any more births on the base''.

** The episode "Space Brain" uses {{Music/GustavHolst}}'s "Mars, God of War" in its climax.

** The episode "Space Brain" uses Holtz's "Mars, God of War" on its climax.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: John and Victor's warm conversation as the moon approaches the Black Sun [[spoiler: and their conversation with the "cosmic intelligence" as they go through]].
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Barry Gray's scores for Season One.

** The episode "Space Brain" uses Holtz's "Mars, God Of War" on its climax.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Alan Carter was originally planned to be written out as part of the cast changes for Season Two. However, when the producers learned how popular he was with viewers, he was kept on and given an expanded role.

* 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.

* IdiotPlot: the second season, especially - so much so that even Martin Landau complained (in particular, he hated "All That Glisters"[[note]]as did the rest of the cast[[/note]] so much that he threatened to quit).

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Allegedly thanks to the low budget; inevitably, it was nicknamed ''Space: £19.99''
** 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 didn't check their facts.
*** 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.
** 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.
** There is a certain dissonance between good and bad special effects. Obviously, some viewers remember the good ones and other the bad ones. As an example, in the first-season episode "Dragon's Domain", we see a number of abandonded spaceships -- created as very detailed and realistic-looking models -- orbiting a supposedly Earth-like planet that looks more like a brightly-coloured plasticine ball (perhaps from a third-grader's art project) than any real planet.
** The eponymous "Dragon" of the episode mentioned above is a very static TentacleMonster that appears stuck in a doorway. In some shots it does look rather nightmarish, but the fight between it and the protagonist looks very much like a stage fight, with an actor trying to look like he's fighting obviously platic tentacles.
** Just a couple of years later, the StarWars movies came along and changed everything. Compared to StarWars and later productions, {{Space 1999}} does indeed look a bit on the cheap side.
*** Star Wars made ALL sci-fi on a TV budget - and indeed, an awful lot of SF movies - 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.

* The whole series might actually make more sense if viewed as [[RecycledINSPACE Fantasy IN SPACE]] rather than ScienceFiction.

** Many of the plots are about inner journeys, mind control, possession - all classic Fantasy topics. As is fighting against the MonsterOfTheWeek.
** 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.
* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Whatever else you can say about the series as a whole, you can at least admit that the model work is top-notch (as was usual of a GerryAnderson production).