The Sci-Fi Cast

The universe of science fiction often dreams of technology decades before it becomes part of our every day lives. What seems one day like small screen fantasy, eventually gives way and becomes technological reality. So it was with Space: 1999’s iconic Commlock, which strangely foreshadowed Apple’s modern handheld device, the iPhone.

Now considered a sci-fi cult hit, Space: 1999 was produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson in the UK, ran from ‘75 to ‘77 and was heavily influenced by the visual designs of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Space: 1999’s production designer, Keith Wilson, looked to 2001 for inspiration and created spacecraft and devices which have since become fan favorites. Little did Wilson and Anderson know that one of their creations, the humble commlock, would so accurately represent today’s handheld devices, particularly Apple’s iPhone.

The concept behind the device was simple – commlocks were a sort of “electronic swiss army knife” that no member of Moonbase Alpha could be without. Like the familiar communicators of Star Trek, the commlock’s primary function was that of a communications device. But where communicators were limited to mere voice messages, commlocks featured a tiny CRT that allowed video calls with other crew members. Indeed the original prop was designed around what was then the world’s smallest TV screen (the 1971 “Integrated Circuit” Panasonic TR-001, 1.5″). Today video conferencing is common place, but in 1975 few could conceive of it, let alone on a mobile, hand-held platform like that shown in Space: 1999.

Commlocks also acted as electronic, one-touch “keys” which allowed authorized personnel access to their designated sections. Like the modern iPhone, the devices could be password protected with a personal code to prevent unwarranted use, could be “blanked” remotely for security purposes, and had the ability to download and run programs from the base’s main computer for specialized analysis. Programs that ran on the devices included one to automatically trigger condition red at the touch of a single button, and another that allowed the commlock to emit a high-pitched frequency.

Another fascinating iPhone parallel was the ability of an individual’s commlock to be “docked” at any of the hundreds of workstations around Alpha. This allowed the units not only to recharge, but to also send and receive information directly to the main computer core for faster data retrieval and upload.

Looking back at the series 34 years later, it’s fun to spot the parallels between what the writers of Space: 1999 thought our future held and what actually became reality. While the dream of a permanent, manned base on the surface of the moon has yet to materialize, smaller, more down-to-earth predictions such as the commlock have found their way into today’s technology. Who knows what fantastical aspects of modern sci-fi shows will be common place 30+ years from now? If all goes well, we won’t have to have our moon blasted out of earth orbit to find out.