“Breakaway” is the first episode of Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999 television series that ran from 1975 to 1977 (at the time, 1999 was far in the future). The series starred Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, who were veterans of the Mission: Impossible series.
The premise of the series is that people on a Moon Base Alpha are trapped when an accident in Nuclear Disposal Area Two causes a nuclear explosion that knocks the moon out of its orbit and into a series of adventures in each episode. The nuclear explosion that caused this catastrophic event took place on 13th September 1999, and now every 13th September – Space:1999 fans all over the World celebrate Breakaway Day in a variety of ways.
The screenplay was written by George Bellak (with an uncredited rewrite by story consultant Christopher Penfold); the director was Lee H. Katzin. Previous titles include ‘Zero-G’, ‘The Void Ahead’ and ‘Turning Point’. The final shooting script is dated 22 November 1973. Live-action filming took place from Monday 3 December 1973 to Friday 11 January 1974 (with appropriate breaks for the holidays). A three-day re-mount took place Friday 22 February 1974 to Tuesday 26 February 1974.
Don’t have Space:1999 on DVD or Blu-Ray? You can get the complete first series over at Amazon.
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