Where do I start on this episode. The ridiculous looking alien (looking and sounding uncannily like a bald Benedict Cumberbatch actually), the stupidity of the character of Shermeen (played by the late Lynne Frederick - widow of Peter Sellers) or the fact that yet again the Buckinghamshire countryside stands in unconvincingly for another planet or the dreadfully obvious 'man in a suit' looking alien protecting the temple. And of all the creatures Maya could have turned into to escape the Alien (a bird, a bee) a fox does seem a bit of an odd choice.
Whilst both series of Space 1999 had some duff episodes, series two had more. At least when Fred Freiburger produced the generally (but not entirely) lame third series of Star Trek, he could point to the budget cuts he had to work against for the compromises he had to make. Here however the intelligence of the series was starting to plummet downwards and budget had nothing to do with it. The jokes about Tony's beer making are getting a bit thin and obvious and no Alan Carter to inject some gravitas and passion into the episode (apparently Martin Landau was conscious that Nick Tate was becoming popular on the back of this show and getting concerned that it may be at his expense).
At the heart of this episode is actually quite a good idea but it is let down by a poor script and feels very rushed (which it might have been as sometimes two episodes were filmed at the same time hence the inconsistency of screentime for series regulars between episodes). The directors were also given very short shooting schedules, 14 days was the average for a 48 minute episode so if the scriptwriters were also working to such a deadline it is no surprise that there were misfires like this. Still, the visual effects were still way above what was average for television at the time but otherwise the series was starting to groan and creak at this point.
Whilst both series of Space 1999 had some duff episodes, series two had more. At least when Fred Freiburger produced the generally (but not entirely) lame third series of Star Trek, he could point to the budget cuts he had to work against for the compromises he had to make. Here however the intelligence of the series was starting to plummet downwards and budget had nothing to do with it. The jokes about Tony's beer making are getting a bit thin and obvious and no Alan Carter to inject some gravitas and passion into the episode (apparently Martin Landau was conscious that Nick Tate was becoming popular on the back of this show and getting concerned that it may be at his expense).
At the heart of this episode is actually quite a good idea but it is let down by a poor script and feels very rushed (which it might have been as sometimes two episodes were filmed at the same time hence the inconsistency of screentime for series regulars between episodes). The directors were also given very short shooting schedules, 14 days was the average for a 48 minute episode so if the scriptwriters were also working to such a deadline it is no surprise that there were misfires like this. Still, the visual effects were still way above what was average for television at the time but otherwise the series was starting to groan and creak at this point.