Earth’s Moon has been ripped from its orbit by a catastrophic nuclear explosion, casting over 300 surviving personnel of Moonbase Alpha adrift in the uncharted depths of space. As the wandering lunar body finds itself on an inevitable collision course with the giant planet Astheria—and subsequently pulled into the terrifying heart of a black hole—only the mysterious intervention of a higher power saves the Alphans from total destruction.
Journey Through the Black Sun was stitched together for US syndication from two distinct Space: 1999 (1975) episodes, “Collision Course” and “The Black Sun,” as part of the Super Space Theatre package released on videotape. The theatricalized television movie heavily trimmed the source material, cutting “Collision Course” by 6 minutes and “The Black Sun” by 7 minutes, while incorporating new crude computer animation of a sun turning black into the titles.
Even better — or worse — the audio landscape is a wild collage of odd electronic scratches, bleeps and recycled genius. It supplements Barry Gray’s iconic Space: 1999 compositions with music originally written for Thunderbirds, UFO, Secret Service, and Joe 90, alongside sound effects crafted by Gray for the Peter Cushing Amicus Doctor Who feature films (Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.).
As a kid, I loved Space 1999, but it seemed slow next to Star Trek (imagine how blown my mind was when Star Wars came out and things actually happened). Watching this again, nearly fifty years later, I wonder how I handled it. Nothing seems to happen. It’s like the worst parts of Trek, like the endless talking, were increased in this show, one that promised real science and had a nuke go off on the moon without impacting Earth.
At least this had Sybil Danning in a space outfit in the open and close.
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