Captain Tony Cellini is being plagued by intense vivid nightmares , so much so that Dr Helena Russell is concerned by his mental state . Is Cellini succumbing to insanity caused by the guilt of a failed space mission several years earlier or are his delusions of a space monster based in reality ?
This is a slightly atypical episode of SPACE 1999 . Instead of the usual pretentious esoteric nonsense that'll have you shaking your head asking WTF was that episode about ? We have a very simple episode featuring a giant rubber octopus . Okay it's all very low brow and could have been a slightly modified episode of DOCTOR WHO but if anyone has vague memories of SPACE 1999 this may well be the episode they remember
The narrative storytelling is again slightly atypical from the rest of the show where Helena recounts Cellini's tale through use of flashback and how he commanded a space mission in 1996 that came across a spaceship graveyard and the scouting party are attacked by an alien . These scenes have a very effective impact and you can feel the genuine sense of wonder as the humans venture beyond the realms of Earth . The episode also features some of the most impressive model work and appears truly cinematic
If there's a downside it's that you can never make a giant rubber octopus appear all that convincing on screen and director Charles Chrichton doesn't entirely succeed in making the monster 100 per cent convincing but its initial appearance where it appears as a light emanating from a derelict spaceship along with the noise and wind effects and the way it kills its victims has an unearthly eldritch punch on the audience
In summary along with Earthbound and possibly Force Of Life this is the highlight of season one of SPACE 1999 , a show that quickly shot itself in the foot due to its pretensions . One wonders if the show might have been a much bigger success if it had kept its deadpan serious nature but had a monster of the week type gimmick ? This might have limited the storytelling but would have made for a much entertaining programme