Victor Bergman

Victor Bergman was a main character during Year One (Season One) of Space: 1999, played by actor Barry Morse, and is seen in all 24 episodes. He is perhaps most prominent in Black Sun and War Games.
Professor Bergman is a father figure for many of the key personnel on the moonbase. He is very much the proverbial professor; he has a brilliant mind and has been responsible for many advances in space science. He is a philosopher and very much a humanist.
Bergman is unusual in that an early illness led to his having a mechanical heart replacement. Because it responds more slowly to nervous stimuli than a normal heart does, it reduces his reactions to most emotional stresses. Whatever the situation, he is physically immune from panic. There is a drawback - a ruthless or desperate person might be able to interfere with his mechanical heart and upset his finely-tuned metabolism.
His best friends on Moonbase Alpha are John Koenig and Helena Russell.
Bergman remains one of the best-loved characters in Space: 1999. Many fans were disappointed when the character did not return to the show in Year Two (Season Two). Actor Barry Morse answered the question so often that he took to joking that "Bergman fell off the back of the moon." Interview with Barry Morse in Conversations at Warp Speed by Anthony Wynn, BearManor Media (2012).
The full story pertaining to the reasons Bergman was not brought back to the show are detailed in the book Destination: Moonbase Alpha by Robert E. Wood. They include a reduction in Morse's salary by 33%, elimination of per diem, and cancellation of transport for Morse from London to Pinewood Studios, and more. Even so, Morse ultimately agreed to return to the series in spite of the changes; however, producers then declined to bring him back for Year Two (Season 2) anyway. "The Disappearance of Victor Bergman" in Destination: Moonbase Alpha by Robert E. Wood, Telus Publishing (2010).
=Fan Reaction=
From the opening paragraph of the premiere issue of ComLoC:
In ComLoC Issue 1, a fan ruminates on the loss of Bergman to the show:
Also in ComLoC, a fan is disappointed with the book <U>The Making of Space: 1999</u>:
In ComLoC Issue 2, a fan asks about the fate of Bergman:
Also from ComLoC Issue 2:
From ComLoC Issue 3:
 
=Fan Film=
The character of Victor Bergman was brought back by fans in 2010. Barry Morse reprised his role of Professor Victor Bergman in a new performance in the short film The Return of Victor Bergman, an eight-minute fan-production scripted by Robert E. Wood and Barry Morse. The film also featured clips (including Morse and various other actors) from the Space:1999 television series. Directed by Robert E. Wood and Produced by Anthony Wynn, it debuted at the Journey to Where convention Austin, Texas in 2010. The film was also screened publicly at the Alpha: 2012 convention in Burbank, California. It has been embraced by fandom and dubbed the "50th episode" by fans of the show.
=Fan Fiction=
Various fan fiction stories devised explanations for the disappearance of Bergman. Some had him reassigned to different (off-camera) sections of Moonbase Alpha, others were even more inventive. The fanzine The Return of Victor Bergman was published in 2010 as a charity zine to accompany the release of the fan film of the same title. It is a gen Space: 1999 short story collection of fan fiction by multiple authors edited and published by Anthony Wynn, with all stories centered around the character of Victor Bergman. It also featured the script of the short film, The Return of Victor Bergman (Space: 1999 film). Other zines that also contain stories including the character of Bergman are Everything Yet To Be, The Alpha Files, and Moonscape.
=Fan Club=
Fan Vivian Stanley created and organized the Morse Code in 1977, dedicated to the character of Victor Bergman and other roles created by actor Barry Morse, such as 'Lt. Philip Gerard' from The Fugitive. The club published a quarterly newsletter of the same name, Morse Code, and was in existence until 1997.
=Fanzine Covers=
File:Comloc18.jpg|Cover of ComLoC Issue 1
File:Alphalog5.jpg|Cover of Alpha Log 5
File:whispersinthegrove1.jpg|Cover of Issue #1, Whispers in the Grove
File:TROVB.jpg|Cover of The Return of Victor Bergman
File:EYTB_cover.jpg|Cover of Everything Yet To Be
=References=
 
Category:Space: 1999 Characters