In episode 14, Christopher Lee made a guest appearance. Now in episode 19, it's up to another Hammer Films veteran (Peter Cushing) to do a guest shot on "Space: 1999".
The show begins with the Eagle coming back from a reconnaissance mission to a nearby planet. Inexplicably, the ship goes out of control and crashed on the Moon's surface. While most are just a bit shaken up, Koenig appears to be near death. However, at the same time, you see Koenig walking about an empty Moonbase! Which is the real Koenig and what in the world is happening?! Eventually, Koenig is told by Raan (Cushing) that he is actually NOT on Moonbase but on his planet. Using their advanced mental powers, he is able to project whatever image the Commander wants. And why was he brought there? Well, according to Raan, he is an anthropologist and wants to study a primitive humanoid--a 'missing link' from planet Earth. Not surprisingly, Koenig is NOT happy about the prospect of living out the rest of his life on this planet as a sort of animal in a gilded cage and he desperately wants to escape. However, over time, the way he is treated and the sort of experiments they do showed that they saw him as much more than some lab animal--and he is eventually returned to his people unharmed.
Overall, this is a hugely disappointing episode for several reasons. First, like Christopher Lee episode, Cushing is given an amazingly dull role. Since they both were famous for monster films, I was hoping they'd behave a bit monstrous! Second, the episode was extremely talky and cerebral--and was very slow and dull as a result. It lacked action and suspense and left me very, very cold.