Space: 1999 (TV Series) Alpha Child (1975) User Reviews

The Alien With the Child In His Eyes!

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 17 February 2009]

'Alpha Child' opens with one of the most shocking scenes ( well, it was back in 1975 ) ever broadcast on television. Cynthia Crawford ( Cyd Hayman ) gives birth, the first child ever born on Moonbase Alpha. The Alphans are naturally thrilled. Then she starts screaming. In mere seconds, the newly-born baby has suddenly matured into a five-year old boy. What is going on here?

Tests prove the boy is physically normal, other than being a deaf mute. He becomes the darling of the base, but Commander Koenig is concerned. Just how normal is little Jackie Crawford?

Alien ships appear from nowhere and put Carter's Eagle out of action. Jackie undergoes a further growth stage, becoming 'Jarak', the leader of a race of beings fleeing from some unknown adversary. Killing Cynthia, Jarak reincarnates her as 'Rena', his wife. He wishes his people to take over the bodies of all on Alpha...

This was by Christopher Penfold who, along with Johnny Byrne, was the best writer on the first series of 'Space:1999'. Like I said earlier, it opens with a startling teaser, gets a bit syrupy thereafter with the likes of Alan Carter giving the mute boy piggyback rides around Main Mission. Things get moving again when Jackie evolves into Jarak, the latter played by the superb Julian Glover, a man who could play villains in his sleep. The sight of Jarak kissing Rena has slight Oediepal connotations, after all, the woman is supposed to be his mother ( or rather, her body was ). Exactly why Jarak and his people are being pursued is not revealed. The lovely Cyd Hayman does not get to do much, her role as 'Madame Cocotte' in 'The Two Ronnies' serial 'Death Can Be Fatal' gave her more lines! When Cynthia becomes Rena, she not only acquires a new personality but also a new hair-do with matching lip-gloss!

Still, I like this. Its better than the rubbish Mr.Freiberger foisted on us in Year 2. Even so, I wish more had been made of the 'evil child' situation. This could have been 'Space:1999''s answer to 'The Omen'!

While I didn't love the second half of the show as much, it still was wildly creative...

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 25 April 2010]

While few Trekkies would ever want to admit it, this episode of "Space: 1999" was actually recycled as an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"--though the second half of the show was quite different.

The show begins with a VERY freaky occurrence! The first child is born on Moon Base and you assume things might be a bit different here--after all, they are all traveling in a different star system on a rogue moon! But, what happens next is REEEAAALLLY weird! In a matter of seconds, the child goes from being a baby to looking like a five year-old! Naturally, the mom is freaked out but the rest of the station seems to accept this odd kid rather quickly--even when he appears to be deaf. Koenig, however, is the voice of reason. He thinks this is very freaky and isn't about to just accept the kid with open arms. Later, when the kid transforms into an entirely different adult person (oddly, in all-new alien clothes that fit him perfectly), Koenig's fears are justified. The 'kid' turns out to be an evil guy who is the prelude to a full-scale invasion!! All in all, you certainly have to give this show credit for being original and cool. Having a kid change so quickly as the result of alien intervention is a cool idea--even if I wasn't quite so thrilled when the kid turned out to be evil. I do think having the kid come in human form to learn about the humans and pave the way for first contact was a great idea. Well worth seeing and not as bland and sterile as many of the other episodes.

Clumsy episode

[Rrrobert · 6/10 · 4 April 2019]

Clumsy episode. There are some good ideas but in the end they don't mesh well.

This one seems to be picking up after the Force of Life episode, apparently implying the mother-to-be is the widow left by that episode - except the character has a new name and is played by a different actress.

It also has the deus ex machina / smiles all round ending common in this series.

Episode Summary and plot.

[rslegion · 26 April 2006]

The first child is born on Moonbase Alpha but soon begins to grow at a fast rate, but appears to be a deaf mute 5 years old. The crew of Moonbase Alpha accept this new 5 years old child and start to show him and teach him new things. Soon several large ships arrive and Jacky the 5 year old child becomes a fully grown adult who is an alien and on Moonbase alpha to take over the body's of the crew with his own people, the crew is powerless against these aliens and start to be killed off when another ship arrives from the alien race and destroys the first renegade ships then removes the aliens from the base and returning every body to the way they were. This story reminds me in part to a Star Trek The Next Generation story called "THE CHILD" season 2.

outdated

[trashgang · 6/10 · 20 August 2014]

This episode doesn't have that much to offer. There aren't really any effects to spot, the mystery itself lays in the fact that a new born turns really fast into a 5 year old boy who's deaf. But the people on the base accept the child without any concern what is really wrong with him. After a few days the child is a full grown man and starts to take over the base by controlling the insiders.

Soon the base is taken over by spaceships and it do looks like a big story but sadly it turns into something strange when another spaceship arrives and destroys the ships from the other race.

The acting itself wasn't really convincing due the effects being done by the actors themselves. This one didn't stand the time and can be skipped.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

Adam Warlock Menaces Moonbase Alpha!

[GaryPeterson67 · 9/10 · 3 December 2022]

Compelling show first frame to last. And how nicely those frames create and resolve this suspenseful situation that was moments away from being Alpha's last adventure

Julian Glover guest stars as Adam Warlock. That's right, the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby-created Marvel Comics character who Jarak was almost certainly modeled on, right down to the blond ringlets and shimmery short-shorts. Even Helena's pulling back the blanket evoked in the mind of this comic fan Alicia Masters' role in releasing from his cocoon the alien lifeform "Him" way back in Fantastic Four #67 (Oct. 1967). Warlock was, however, a good guy (messianic complex aside) and not a malevolent, homicidal, telepathic carpetbagger bringing four spaceships full of friends for dinner.

I knew this one would be a winner when the guest cast was headlined by Julian Glover, a longtime favorite actor who can boast of appearances in the James Bond, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars franchises, as well as in cult TV favorites THE AVENGERS, DOCTOR WHO, BLAKE'S 7, and the series under discussion here: SPACE: 1999. He distinguished himself with this memorable performance playing the unbeatable foe. Sadistic, ungrateful, unremorseful, and wholly lacking in any of the nonphysical qualities that make us human, he nonetheless claimed to be just that when the tables turned. Kudos to Koenig for not succumbing to Jarak's pitiful pleas for mercy (although John wavered a moment; compassion and mercy being integral to our humanity).

Yeah, the fearsome possibility of one's body being taken over and occupied by an alien invader was drawn from INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. I loved the scene where Koenig learns of the sinister plan, saying there's no room to bring Jarak's people into Alpha and Jarak assuring him the population won't increase--we'll just occupy the bodies of the people already there. And they could very well have done it!

Okay, it was a little ridiculous that costume changes accompanied the accelerated cell growth, but sci-fi fans are used to winking at such things. I wondered who had the time to sew little Jackie a mini-Alpha uniform with everyone so endlessly busy pushing buttons and scribbling on yellow legal pads.

And it was a lot ridiculous that Koenig would bring Computer whiz Kano out on a dangerous ground mission. Alan and Paul, yes, but Kano? But as someone noted, we STAR TREK fans have no stones to cast.

Speaking of TREK, didn't you know those two bushy-haired "red shirts" in beige accompanying Koenig were gonna buy it before the end credits rolled? Okay, only one did, making a grandstand gesture to save his commander and getting blasted in return. I hope he earned a posthumous citation for that once the smoke cleared. Would Jarak have let Koenig blast himself? No, they needed the bodies! That's why instead of zapping into space dust the Eagles the aliens simply set them down gently.

Query: Shooting the underbellies of those massive spacecrafts would result in what? Their crashing down onto Alpha! I thought Koenig really needed to think through that hasty and ill-conceived plan. When the intergalactic cavalry came over the horizon it was a good thing those spaceships rocketed away from Alpha before they were blasted from the sky.

I missed Victor, who would have brought welcome gravitas to the scenes discussing the flummoxing phenomena of Jackie and Jarak (or at least offering a good "I can't explain it, John..."). Victor would have also called out Koenig's crackpot idea to shoot down those hovering spacecraft with Buck Rogers BB guns! ("Let me remind you, John, of Newton's Law....").

MVP award to Wayne Brooks as Jackie! The cute little guy did an impressive job and expressed volumes through his eyes alone (even if he ultimately lost the staredown with Koenig). Quite the contortionist too, squeezing into that incubator! I smiled seeing Alan tap into his paternal potential and proving he'd be a fun father. Sandra though, pouting with jealousy and unable to rejoice in the baby's birth, was heartbreaking. I remember in the alternate reality of "Another Time, Another Place" she was a mother. Maybe if she lightened up, laughed a little more, and lost that Spock haircut Paul would take notice?

Another snooze fest.

[Maddy-the-Weinerdog · 3/10 · 28 February 2022]

Didn't anyone know how to direct or edit? Stretching out a 10 minute episode with long ...dramatic...pauses...after...every...sentence, is just boring.

The idea for the episode was good, but the pacing just killed it. I even remember as a kid how boring these episodes were.

Body snatchers

[oopboys · 13 September 2011]

This episode showed some promise..don't know how the Alien Jarad was a child in Alphan clothing, but A merge with silver booty shorts and top as a man..anyway there was a intense scene when Jared allowed or made John take the laser from his hand and Had John turn the Laser on himself..I think it would have been better if Helena was made to shoot John and John last breath was made to shoot Helena then they would immediately be taken over by the king and queen of their race..they soon realize they are wrong they stopped their children from taking over alpha and with one last kiss they return John and Helena bodies alive and well or if the aliens who was chasing them returned John and Helena back alive as they did the mother and return the Baby back as the new born.....The death scenes: it appear Victor was already gone and should have been taken over by one awaiting alien... as everyone was dying ..Jared was just talking about what will happen to them what he's gonna do etc. etc. If I was the dying ones I would wanted to die even quicker, because his talking was agonizing to hear.....John seemed to be the last one to fall while the others were already on the floor..I guess he is the captain of his ship and would be the last hold out