- Directed by Larry Stewart
- Written by Kathleen Barnes and David Wise
- January 3, 1980
- NBC
- Developed for television by Glen A. Larson and Leslie Stevens and based on characters created by Philip Francis Nowlan in 1928
Episode Cast
- Narrator-William Conrad
- Capt. William ‘Buck’ Rogers-Gil Gerard
- Colonel Wilma Deering-Erin Gray
- Dr. Elias Huer-Tim O’Connor
- Dr. Theopolis(voice)-Eric Server
- Commander Royko-Christopher Stone
- Vorvon-Nicholas Hormann
- Dr. Ecbar-Lincoln Kilpatrick
- Twiki-Patty Maloney
- Twiki(voice)-Mel Blanc
- Technician-David Moses
- Helson-Phil Hoover
- Freighter Captain-Jeannie Fitzsimmons
Buck and Wilma arrive at Theta Station to have Twiki serviced but when a freighter crashes into the outpost they face an otherworldly threat.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century may not stand as a great among science-fiction shows but it does stand tall among sci-fi Cult Classic series. I remember it fondly from my youth possibly because it was aimed more at kids than adults though there was enough that adults could enjoy viewing it.
One of the episodes that stands out fans is the one creatively titled Space Vampire. And that is largely among the male fans who recall Erin Gray’s outfit in this. For an officer in a military org who was often shown as on duty in the show she had quite the wide ranging wardrobe.
The plot is essentially Dracula in Space. Perhaps the cheesiest episode of a cheesy series, it contains numerous references or allusions to the classic book. The freighter that crashes is called ‘Demeter.’ There is a character called ‘Helson’ (Phil Hoover) rather than ‘Van Helsing.’ The captain of the ship even dies at the helm much like in Dracula. Barnes and Wise did not try to dress things up too much. They even give this vampire its own cross equivalent that looks like a bad broach from the 70s.
The threat of this is an alien or supernatural (never sure which) creature called a Vorvon (Nicholas Hormann) that sucks the life energy out of its victims turning them into something akin to a zombie that takes its cue from the slow-moving undead which in theory could be avoided by a briskly paced walk. The Vorvon looks a great deal like Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu the Vampyre which was released not long before this came out. I guess a little cashing in on something popular is forgivable. To avoid legal issues they made enough changes, but the similarities are there.
The make up for the young dead when they rise is a bit old-school zombie. Then again, their performance is old-school zombie. For this episode, the show overall engages in some real creep. It mixes the usual action elements with some better than expected elements of horror for the time.
For a piece of episodic television this references a few previous bits like Twiki’s girlfriend Tina (Patty Maloney) and Hieronymous Fox (Gary Coleman). Neither appears yet both get namedropped as Buck (Gil Gerard) and Wilma (Erin Gray) dock for Twiki to get some poorly defined work done.
In the part of a former love interest for Wilma is Christopher Stone as station head Commander Royko. Stone was one of the three most macho moustaches of the era. Never a huge name but always good. What should be a character used to romance Wilma or cause sexual tension between her and Buck by upsetting their occasionally flirtatious relationship amounts to nothing making Stone criminally wasted. When you bring in a supporting character as an old flame and do nothing with them then what was the point?
There’s a bit of a subplot with Dr. Huer (Tim O’Connor) who because of the nature of his character is always in an office on Earth. O’Connor was great in the part as always here. I really wish you could’ve been in more of the series from start to finish. I have no idea why he never got on the Searcher in Season Two but anyway…
Here Huer is attempting to tend to a plant that was given to him by Buck. He’s failing miserably at it and it’s quite funny. It was always an element in the show that the supposedly primitive Buck was equal to and sometimes better than these more advanced people. This clearly was added material to extend the runtime but it was also masterfully blended in set-up for a joke just before the credits.
The solution to the space vampire issue is Wilma flying a ship they steal (she is under his control) into the local sun with the natural light killing it. Fine but in the presented mythology there is no indication that sunlight is a problem. Since this occurs on a space station there’s no natural light for it to experience so how does this happen? Then again you’re caught up in the goofy fun and it’s not something you really think too much about.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was almost never serious making Space Vampire just one more of many fun episodes. It gets weird and maybe even at times a little creepy. For the era it’s pretty good and just a flat out entertaining 40 something or so minutes of TV.
Warren Watched A Movie 