Buck Rogers In The 25th Century (1979-81)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series developed by Glen A Larson and Leslie Stevens and produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons on NBC, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film before the series aired.

The series began airing on ITV on August 30, 1980, five months after the first season aired in the US and just over a year after the pilot film opened in UK cinemas. The film did not air on British television until September 1982.

Pilot film

Main cast

Pilot film

Main cast

Capt William "Buck" Rogers
Gil Gerard

Princess Ardala
Pamela Hensley

Col Wilma Deering
Erin Gray

Kane
Henry Silva

Draco
Joseph Wiseman

Supporting cast

Dr Elias Huer
Tim O'Connor

Dr Theopolis
Howard F Flynn (voice)

Twiki
Felix Silla
Mel Blanc (voice)

Tigerman
Duke Butler

Season 1

Main cast

Supporting cast

Capt William "Buck" Rogers
Gil Gerard

Col Wilma Deering
Erin Gray

Dr Elias Huer
Tim O'Connor

Twiki
Felix Silla (not ep 12)
Patty Maloney (Eps 12 & 14)
Mel Blanc (voice)

Dr Theopolis
Eric Server (voice)

Recurring guest cast

Princess Ardala
Pamela Hensley
(Eps 1, 10, 15 & 21)

Kane
Michael Ansara
(Ep 10, 15 & 21)

Tigerman
Hard Boiled Haggerty
(Ep 10 & 15)

Kane
Henry Silva
(Ep 1)

All three were also in ep 14, which was a clip-show

Episodes

In original US broadcast order. See Season 1 for UK broadcast order. The series was broadcast on LWT between August 1980 and April 1981, followed immediately by Season 2.

1: Awakening

2: Planet Of The Slave Girls

3: Vegas In Space

4: The Plot To Kill A City Part I

5: The Plot To Kill A City Part II

6: Return Of The Fighting 69th

Despite being the first episode explaining how Buck finds himself in the future, "Awakening" was not shown in British TV until 1988. The pilot film version was broadcast in September 1982, about four months after the series run. Instead, ITV began the series run with "Planet Of The Slave Girls".

ITV chose to show the two-part story "The Plot To Kill A City" as a feature-length episode.

7: Unchained Woman

8: Planet Of The Amazon Women

9: Cosmic Whiz Kid

10: Escape From Wedded Bliss

11: Cruise Ship To The Stars

12: Space Vampire

13: Happy Birthday, Buck

14: A Blast For Buck

15: Ardala Returns

16: Twiki Is Missing

17: Olympiad

18: A Dream Of Jennifer

Clip-show featuring scenes from episodes 2-11.

ITV chose to show "Ardala Returns" immediately after "Escape From Wedded Bliss".

19: Space Rockers

20: Buck's Duel To The Death

21: Flight Of the War Witch

Season 2

Main cast

Capt William "Buck" Rogers
Gil Gerard

Col Wilma Deering
Erin Gray

Hawk
Thom Christopher

Admiral Efram Asimov
Jay Garner

Dr Goodfellow
Wilfred Hyde-White

Supporting cast

Crichton
Jeff David (voice)

Twiki
Felix Silla
Bob Elyea (voice, Eps 1-5)
Mel Blanc (voice, Eps 6-11)

Lt Devlin
Paul Carr
(Eps 2-5)

Episodes

In original US broadcast order. See Season 2 for UK broadcast order. The series was broadcast on LWT between April 1981 and June 1982, immediately following Season 1.