“Alpha Child”

The first child born on Alpha ages five years instantly, then morphs into a grown man with diabolical plans for the Alphans.

Writer: Christopher Penfold

Director: Ray Austin

Guest Cast

Julian Glover as Jarak

Cyd Hayman as Sue Crawford/Reena

Wayne Brooks as Jackie Crawford

Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation will recognize this story as the second season premier episode “The Child,” but it was Space: 1999 that first used the concept of a newborn infant aging years in a matter of seconds. The device would also be reused later on V, first to make a baby girl into a character who could figure into the storyline, and later into a grown woman who would be able to get them around child-labor laws. But only on Space: 1999 is the rapidly aging rug-rat depicted as a malevolent being, though at the end the writers seem to waver between making him evil or just misunderstood. The highlight of this episode is little Wayne Brooks, who plays Jackie Crawford as a five-year-old with both precocious innocence and quiet malevolence. The grown man he morphs into is played by Julian Glover, who would go on to star in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. His costume, an aluminum foil mini-skirt and halter top, was one of the worst costumes of the first season.