Ep 16. Another Time, Another Place

In the 16th episode of Space 1999's first season, titled "Another Time, Another Place," the crew of Moonbase Alpha is forced to confront the terrifying possibility that they have slipped into an alternate universe.

As the episode begins, Commander Koenig (Martin Landau) is overseeing repairs to the base's life support systems when a sudden power surge sends him spiraling into another dimension. When he wakes up, he finds himself on a version of Moonbase Alpha that is overrun with plants and jungle wildlife - and inhabited by a very different crew.

After a series of confusing encounters with his doppelganger, Koenig realizes that he has somehow slipped into a parallel universe where everything is similar but just different enough to be unsettling. The people around him are similar to his own colleagues, but they have different personalities, backgrounds, and relationships.

As Koenig tries to find a way back to his own universe, he must evade the dangers of this alternate Moonbase Alpha, which is facing its own set of unique challenges. In this universe, the base is being bombarded by high levels of radiation and is on the brink of being destroyed. The inhabitants of this Moonbase Alpha see Koenig as a newcomer who may offer them a chance at survival, and they are willing to help him return to his own universe in exchange for his assistance in saving their own.

At the same time, Koenig's own colleagues on his native Moonbase Alpha are struggling to come to grips with his disappearance. Acting Commander Helena Russell (Barbara Bain) and the others are forced to consider the possibility that Koenig is dead or lost forever, and must grapple with their own grief as they try to find a way forward without him.

As the episode unfolds, Koenig works alongside his alternate-universe colleagues to try to repair a damaged power source and ward off the radiation wave that threatens to destroy their base. However, he never loses sight of his own mission: to find a way back to his own universe and reconnect with his own crew.

"Another Time, Another Place" is a classic episode of Space 1999 that plays with the themes of parallel universes, explored with exhilaratingly manic mental energy. It offers a unique twist on the show's core concept of a lunar base cut off from Earth, thrusting our familiar characters into a world both like and unlike their own. The episode is notable for its inventive use of special effects and its almost dreamlike atmosphere, which conveys the sense that anything can happen in this strange alternate universe. It is an unforgettable, thought-provoking addition to the show's first season canon.