The Immunity Syndrome (8 Sep. 1977)

The arrival of the Alphans on another planet seems to cause a change in its atmosphere, setting off pollution and poisoning of the water. They meet Zoran, the sole survivor of the last ... See full summary »

Director:

Bob Brooks

Writers:

Johnny Byrne, Gerry Anderson (creator),

Stars:

Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Martin Landau	...	Commander John Koenig
Barbara Bain	...	Dr. Helena Russell
Catherine Schell	...	Maya
Tony Anholt	...	Tony Verdeschi
Nick Tate	...	Alan Carter
Nadim Sawalha	...	Zoran
Karl Held	...	Jerry Travis
Sam Dastor	...	Dr. Ed Spencer
John Hug	...	Bill Fraser
Hal Galili	...	Voice
Alibe Parsons	...	Alibe
Walter McMonagle	...	Les Johnson
Roy Boyd	...	Joe Lustig

Storyline

The arrival of the Alphans on another planet seems to cause a change in its atmosphere, setting off pollution and poisoning of the water. They meet Zoran, the sole survivor of the last exploratory force, who tells them that the planet is controlled by an immortal being - with whom Koenig must parley if he and his crew are to leave the planet alive.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1977 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Slightly better than the typical season two episode.

To say that this episode of "Space: 1999" was slightly better than the typical episode of that season is faint praise indeed. After a very cerebral yet competently made first season, the show essentially 'jumped the shark'--making wholesale and mostly unwelcome changes in the shows. It's pretty obvious when you see a show in which season it appeared--not just because of cast changes but because the style, tempo and budget had changed so drastically. For the most part, season two was a dud and the show was summarily canceled. While I love sci-fi, it was an end well deserved.

This show finds some of the crew on the surface of what seems like an ideal planet for colonization. The water and air are clean and the place seems swell. However, inexplicably a couple crew members go crazy AND the once-clean water now has become toxic. And, next, the air becomes so corrosive that the metal on the Eagle is compromised. It looks like they are stuck on the planet until they eventually die or go crazy.

So far in the plot, I was hooked. The idea of a planet with an intelligence that begins an attack on them is pretty cool. Unfortunately, what happens next was just dumb. While they NEVER adequately explained in any way why the planet became so toxic, the going crazy part was inadvertently caused by an invisible being--quite unintentionally. This, combined with the 'we just want to be your pals' ending, made this particular episode that ended on a whimper after such a promising start sort of a metaphor for the series, actually.