'The Devil's Planet' is a cheap and fairly pointless episode from the second series of 'Space 1999', originally broadcast on 1st September, 1977.
Commander Koenig is out looking for places to invade, sorry, colonise, when he crash lands on a prison planet run by a gang of foxy ladies in all in one red jumpsuits and high heel boots. Their evil commander knows that their home planet has been afflicted by a mysterious eyeball bursting virus which has wiped everybody out, but keeps this a secret in order to retain control over the dozen or so prisoners she is in charge of.
Unbelievably, she is very attracted to Koening and decides to keep him 'until she grows tired of him', even convincing a Moonbase search party that the commander was killed accidentally when he wandered into an electric security fence and fried (the evidence she presents is a pile of slightly smouldering clothes. Wouldn't they have burned more completely than a human body?). Koening has to a. ward off her fruity advances b.gently break the news to everyone that their home planet is a graveyard and everyone they love is dead and c. get the hell out.
A bit of a waste of time this, the only redeeming factor being the whip wielding guards with the borderline bondage outfits and acrylic pony tails. Even this starts to grow wearisome the third or fourth time they wrap their golden lariats around some poor bloke's neck and he pulls a 'Gawkurrgh, I'm choking' face, and, of course, the idea of Martin Landau as a sexual plaything is simply too awful to contemplate.
Oddly enough, whilst clearing out my dad's house last week I found both my Space 1999 jigsaw and Space 1999 colouring book!
ReplyDeleteAs bad as Space 1999 became, I still loved The Eagle Transporters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this episode was lame, even for space 1999 2nd year. But as for Martin Landau, I think he carried the episode as far as anyone possibly could. I think he did very well. And as for Landau being "too awful to contemplate" as "a sexual plaything", give an example of the kind of guy you "contemplate" as your male sexual plaything?
ReplyDeleteTony Anholt. Even as a married man, I can tell he's a dish. I think Landau did well to snare Barbara Bain - he has many qualities but, for me, sex pot is not one of them.
ReplyDeleteEven at the tender age of 7 I knew the second series of Space 1999 was utter pants.
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