One of the aggravating things about '1999' Year 2 was how it began promisingly then went rapidly downhill. The opener - 'The Metamorph' - was by Johnny Byrne, one of the show's key writers, and directed by the reliable Charles Crichton.
Set some years after the events of 'The Testament of Arkadia', it begins with an Eagle scouting a volcano-infested planet in search of titanium. Having found it, the Alphans are elated, but then a crisis develops. A ball of light pursues and envelops the Eagle, spiriting it off to goodness knows where. Annette Torens ( Anouska Hempel ), wife of one of the pilots, faints ( makes a nice change from Sandra ).
Down on the planet, in his underground lair, is Mentor ( Brian Blessed giving his usual understated performance ), creator of the biological computer 'Psyche'. To bring the dead world back to life, Mentor is kidnapping alien pilots and draining them of intelligence. He has such a fate in mind for the Alphans. But his vivacious daughter Maya ( Catherine Schell ) is not about to let him to do this.
I like this episode as it does what it says on the tin. It is action-packed, colourful and entertaining. The absence of Barry Morse's 'Professor Bergman' is noticeable ( it would have been like Leonard Nimoy quitting 'Star Trek' after Season 1 ) though, along with Paul Morrow ( Prentis Hancock ), and David Kano ( Clifton James ). Instead of Morrow, we get the late Tony Anholt as 'Tony Verdeschi'. Where was he during Year 1?
The script originally mentioned Bergman as having died because of a faulty space-suit, but this was deleted. However, Michael Butterworth's novelisation retains the reference. Brian Ball's Powys Media novel 'Survival' gives a different explanation for Bergman's disappearance - benign aliens took him ( though the Alphans think he is dead! ).
As 'Maya', Catherine Schell is sexy and charming, even though the arrival of the character effectively moved the show away from science fiction and into the realm of comic-strip fantasy. How nice it would have been if they could have had her and yet retained Bergman.
Barry Gray's lush orchestral sounds were replaced by Derek Wadsworth's more contemporary music, resulting in the show often sounding like 'The Protectors'.
So a thumbs-up from me for 'The Metamorph', but what a pity the show did not live up to this standard ( especially when Fred Freiberger - the Ronald D.Moore of his day - got his hands on a typewriter! ).
Incidentally, this was later combined with 'Space Warp' to make a 'movie' entitled 'Cosmic Princess'.
Set some years after the events of 'The Testament of Arkadia', it begins with an Eagle scouting a volcano-infested planet in search of titanium. Having found it, the Alphans are elated, but then a crisis develops. A ball of light pursues and envelops the Eagle, spiriting it off to goodness knows where. Annette Torens ( Anouska Hempel ), wife of one of the pilots, faints ( makes a nice change from Sandra ).
Down on the planet, in his underground lair, is Mentor ( Brian Blessed giving his usual understated performance ), creator of the biological computer 'Psyche'. To bring the dead world back to life, Mentor is kidnapping alien pilots and draining them of intelligence. He has such a fate in mind for the Alphans. But his vivacious daughter Maya ( Catherine Schell ) is not about to let him to do this.
I like this episode as it does what it says on the tin. It is action-packed, colourful and entertaining. The absence of Barry Morse's 'Professor Bergman' is noticeable ( it would have been like Leonard Nimoy quitting 'Star Trek' after Season 1 ) though, along with Paul Morrow ( Prentis Hancock ), and David Kano ( Clifton James ). Instead of Morrow, we get the late Tony Anholt as 'Tony Verdeschi'. Where was he during Year 1?
The script originally mentioned Bergman as having died because of a faulty space-suit, but this was deleted. However, Michael Butterworth's novelisation retains the reference. Brian Ball's Powys Media novel 'Survival' gives a different explanation for Bergman's disappearance - benign aliens took him ( though the Alphans think he is dead! ).
As 'Maya', Catherine Schell is sexy and charming, even though the arrival of the character effectively moved the show away from science fiction and into the realm of comic-strip fantasy. How nice it would have been if they could have had her and yet retained Bergman.
Barry Gray's lush orchestral sounds were replaced by Derek Wadsworth's more contemporary music, resulting in the show often sounding like 'The Protectors'.
So a thumbs-up from me for 'The Metamorph', but what a pity the show did not live up to this standard ( especially when Fred Freiberger - the Ronald D.Moore of his day - got his hands on a typewriter! ).
Incidentally, this was later combined with 'Space Warp' to make a 'movie' entitled 'Cosmic Princess'.