Space:1999 was perhaps the ultimate expression of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s screen ambitions: a lavish live-action series produced on a massive scale. Featuring star power in the form of Mission:Impossible actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, the visual tone of this new production would echo the cinematic flare of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
For composer Barry Gray, Space:1999 would draw to a close a nearly 20 year association with Gerry Anderson which began in the faraway world of naïve black and white puppetry of 1957’s The Adventures Of Twizzle. In a fitting finale, Barry would be called upon to compose the most grandiose and epic compositions of his career to match Space:1999’s equally sweeping premise.
With a greater emphasis placed upon action and adventure for the second series accomplished Yorkshire born composer Derek Wadsworth was tasked with meeting the brief. As both a jazz musician and arranger he had worked for many years as a session musician playing on dozens of hit records. With his appointment to the series, Wadsworth effortlessly conveyed tension and peril as well as navigating many lighter moments which the new series created.