Space: 1999 (TV Series) The Beta Cloud (1976) User Reviews

Cloudy with 100% chance of inexplicability

[Flubber69 · 5/10 · 23 September 2021]

The cloud's voice sounds like the one at Heathrow airport warning you the moving walkway is about to end.

Tony traps the monster in a bank vault then proceeds to let it loose because he didn't check first that he killed it.

The monster was smart enough to fly Eagle 6 back to Alpha but gets befuddled and disoriented by the red alert klaxon?

The monster is about to break through a high voltage barrier. Maya and Tony are mere feet away. Tony tells Maya, "Psychon is my favorite planet". They start making out. I want him as my wing man.

Broken arm and leg? Make a bubble wrap cast. Trust me.

Bottom line: it's still S1999 so I loved every goofy minute of it.

bonkers but more effective than i thought it would be

[marcgreenman · 7/10 · 23 July 2020]

It is very convenient that most of the crew are knocked out by an unexplained virus - how did that come about? No explanation is ever given for this, or for how the cloud might have had some effect on the crew, the entire subject is simply ignored. The monster, I thought, looked fairly good for a man in a suit, not scary but imposing mainly due to the size of the actor inside. The whole story is just one long chase. To their credit, the actors manage to look quite scared by the threat which they are facing, as if their lives really were at stake, which helped quite a lot. Sandra Benes got to help out for once rather than being discarded as background filler. The ending made sense, and worked for me. I thought Tony was pretty stupid in releasing the creature from the vacuum chamber as the door was so thick and it was clearly inescapable, it should have been left in there but no he had to go back in to take one more look.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Deadly Cloud (1967)?

[StuOz · 19 August 2006]

A mysterious cloud appears over Moonbase Alpha, an eagle is sent out to explore the cloud but returns with a hulking monster (David Prowse just before Darth Vader) wanting the Alpha life support system...and he will kill to get it!

The pulse pounding Derek Wadsworth action score steals the show! Great style! Seriously folks, The Beta Cloud has almost nothing to do with Space 1999 as part of the main regular cast spend the hour locked away in a room away from the action. And the cartoon-like action comes in truck loads with a pleasing young actor named John Hug - Bill Fraser - doing battle with the very 1970s looking monster!

Granted, Bill Fraser also appears for short periods in other year two episodes, but this was his big episode and the hour has an identity that is refreshingly unique in the two season run of Space 1999. But back to the style over substance.

David Jackson (the cloud voice) worked on other year two 1999 episodes, but he or the script writer seem to be having more fun in this episode as the cloud's arrogant blunt lines about getting the life support system seem to put a smile on my face as I type this review. It is amazing what remains in the memory and what is not remembered.

Last night I thought back to the year two 1999 episodes I recently watched on DVD, and guess what, The Beta Cloud was the first to be remembered. Granted, the hour is not perfect, the pulse pounding action music seems a bit out of place when used over a simple scene of Fraser setting up a barrier, and the cornball romance is boring to a heartless Aussie male like me, but hey, this comment might go down as not useful to many, but I just can't get enough of Darth Vader In Irwin Allen Land. The Beta Cloud is a gem!

Look out! There's a monster on the loose!

[ShadeGrenade · 1/10 · 19 March 2010]

TONY: Who are you?

BETA CLOUD; Who we are is too complicated for your comprehension.

I like many Year 2 episodes, but this is not one of them. Along with other Fred Freiberger-scripted shows ( such as 'Space Warp' and 'The Rules of Luton' ) it represents the nadir of the series.

A cloud is detecting drifting through space. Alphans begin dropping like flies ( what is this malady is, and why only some and not others are affected is never explained ), including Alan and Koenig. Tony takes charge at Command Center. An Eagle sent to explore the cloud returns with a strange creature aboard. It has bug-eyes, fangs, Mr.Spock ears, and is hostile ( sounds like my mother-in-law! ). It is impervious to lasers, is incredibly strong, and when Tony locks it in an air-tight chamber does not require oxygen. The voice of the Cloud demands the Alphans hand over their life support systems or face destruction. It is only when Maya changes into a bee and flies into its ear does she realise it is a robot...

I have no problem whatever with the stupid monster ( far worse creatures lumbered through 'Dr.Who' and the original 'Outer Limits' ). My main beef is that the basic idea - how do you stop the unstoppable? - was done to better effect in Year 1 - the superb 'End Of Eternity'. As with so many Year 2 episodes, Maya provides the final solution, denying the Alphans a chance to use their brains. Why does the Beta Cloud wants the Alphans' life support systems so badly? And why, when Maya destroys the robot, does the Cloud give up? Sorry, but this is a stinker whichever way you look at it. Landau and Bain used the occasion to take a short holiday, and no wonder.

On the plus side, Zienia Merton is on screen for more time than in any other Year 2 episode, and Tony and Maya manage to carry the action pretty well. The laser turrets shooting the cloud is a nice moment.

A fellow reviewer says this reminded him of 'Deadly Cloud', an instalment of the third season of 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'. I agree. Unfortunately, I did not care for that either.

Dave Prowse, who played 'Darth Vader' in the original 'Star Wars' trilogy, wore the monster costume. For me though, the biggest monster is Freiberger's inane script.

Oh, good....it's a space cloud AND a guy in a dumb rubber suit! Yippee!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 8 July 2010]

My summary is very, very sarcastic, as sci-fi with space clouds are about as much fun as compound-fractures! Already I've seen two "Space: 1999" shows with space clouds as well as the famously disappointing film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"--and the prospect of seeing yet another show with a cloud is underwhelming to say the least. So, with a name like "The Beta Cloud" and a fiery yellow cloud floating towards Alpha filled me with dread when this show started. Would it be another dumb space cloud plot or would it, for once, be something worth seeing? Adding to my feeling underwhelmed was seeing yet another stupid rubber-suited monster (plus LOTS of punk rock hair)--a major problem with season two episodes. It seems that the show's creators were worried about the very cerebral nature of the first season and so season two was filled with the dumbest looking monsters in sci-fi history--and every bit as bad as the worst Dr. Who monsters of the same time period--this coming from what was billed as the 'most expensive show on television'. Well, that MIGHT have been true in season one, but here it just looks cheap and silly.

The show begins with a fiery space cloud nearing the base. Oddly, most crew members are soon effected by it and begin passing out due to fatigue. In the midst of this, a stupid-looking monster attacks and the lasers (what else is new?) are ineffective--as is everything else they seem to try. So it's up to Tony and Maya to try to stop the dumb guy dressed up in a rubber suit! This monster was apparently sent by the cloud. Whether it's an attempt to destroy Alpha or give them a good laugh is unclear! Late in the show, and completely out of the blue, Tony and Maya begin snogging (kissing). Why? Dunno--and sadly, this MIGHT just be the best moment in this really dumb episode. So, what we have is a dumb space cloud AND one of the funniest and least realistic monsters I've seen in ages (it's face is unmoving--almost like a large papier-mâché mask!). Combine this with an unusually annoying soundtracks (it's far more sci-fi disco than usual) and you have a recipe for disaster--and yet one more reason why "Space: 1999" only lasted two seasons! By the way, if you really, really care to know what the monster looks like in this show, look up a picture of a vejigante mask (from Puerto Rico) and imagine it on a guy in a gorilla suit along with a hippie wig worn at the neck!