Visit the official Doctor Who website

Visit the official Doctor Who website
Look to the future

Asylum seekers...

Asylum seekers...
Refuge of the Daleks

Doctor Who picture resource

Doctor Who picture resource
Roam the space lanes!

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website
Step back in time

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
Armed and extremely dangerous

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures
Fearless in the face of adversity

Call on Dani’s House

Call on Dani’s House
Harmer’s a charmer

Intercept the UFO fabsite

Intercept the UFO fabsite
Defending the Earth against alien invaders!

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse
Programmable agent Echo exposed!

Hell’s belles

Hell’s belles
Naughty but nice

Love Exposure

Love Exposure
Flash photography!

Primeval portal

Primeval portal
Dressed to kill or damsels in distress?

Charmed, to be sure!

Charmed, to be sure!
The witches of San Francisco

Take on t.A.T.u.

Take on t.A.T.u.
All the way from Moscow

Proceed to the Luther website

Proceed to the Luther website
John and Jenny discuss their next move

DCI Banks is on the case

DCI Banks is on the case
You can bet on it!

On The Grid with Spooks

On The Grid with Spooks
Secret agents of Section D

Bridge to Hustle

Bridge to Hustle
Shady characters

Life on Ashes To Ashes

Life on Ashes To Ashes
Coppers with a chequered past

Claire’s no Exile

Claire’s no Exile
Goose steps

Vexed is back on the beat!

Vexed is back on the beat!
Mismatched DI Armstrong and bright fast-tracker Georgina Dixon

Medium, both super and natural

Medium, both super and natural
Open the door to your dreams

Who’s that girl? (350-picture Slideshow)

Monday 11 February 2008

also starring Barry Morse


I was saddened to hear of the death of actor Barry Morse this week. He passed away on the morning of February 2nd, aged 89. Although, perhaps, equally well known for roles in “The Fugitive”, “The Adventurer” and “The Zoo Gang”, in which he worked alongside John Mills, Barry will forever remain etched in my mind as Professor Victor Bergman in the first and best series of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s “Space: 1999”. He was, himself, highly critical of the series, particularly the writing, and rightly so. It does leave a lot to be desired, as much as I love the series. But, he did bring rationality to many of the plots and his character helped ground the series in science, however implausible that science was! If he found his season often ludicrous, Lord knows what he would’ve made of the second and final year…

When Barry Morse left “Space: 1999”, to be replaced by the female metamorph Maya played by Catherine Schell, a cure-all serving the same function as K-9 in “Doctor Who”, the series went downhill as logic departed with him. Even when the crew of Moonbase Alpha ostensibly meet “God” during Barry’s time on the show, in an episode entitled “Black Sun”, there is a feeling of gentle but assured scepticism emanating from the good Professor. He was a solver of problems, rather than a quick fixer, in much the same way as earlier incarnations of the Doctor, when compared to those of the present day, and remains an approach to storytelling much to be admired. Series Two of “Space: 1999” might be fun but it is poor science fiction just as present day “Doctor Who” languishes in mediocrity. I continue to miss the kind of television Barry’s character represents.

3 comments:

Old Cheeser said...

Odd that you and I were talking about Space:1999 recently Tim! That's sad news and I'm sorry to hear about Barry Morse's passing away. Then again it seems like he had a good innings. I agree that he was one of the best things about the first season of the sci-fi series. Whilst the general feel of the first series has sometimes struck me as being very po-faced, and some of the acting less than impressive (the robotic Barbara Bain for instance) Professor Bergman injected some much-needed warmth and humanity into proceedings. Barry Morse gave a very good naturalistic performance I felt.

Andrew Glazebrook said...

Oh this is a real shame ! :(

TimeWarden said...

Well, I regard "Space: 1999" as my fourth favourite series of all-time, despite its flaws, so it's very sad news indeed.