Ahh the 1970s.... one of the most important decades for Sci-fi and therefore for it's babes. Here we see the continuation of the Planet of the Apes films, meet Star Wars and Close Encounters for the first time, not to mention the incredible icons of Alien, Superman and Star Trek. The decade started slowly, but by the time we reached the 1980s, sci-fi was back in business as one of the major genres in film and that continues up to today.

Cave women

Lets start the 1970s with, strangely, a series of sparsely-clad babes of a primitive nature.

We already met Linda Harrison, as Nova in Planet of the Apes, but she also starred in the sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes(1970). I see no valid reason why we shouldn't have another picture of her, so here's a publicity still from my favourite film from the original series...

Missing from the wiki list of sci-fi films of the 1970s, Creatures the World Forgot (1971) featured stone-age scantily-clad woman (mainly). It starred Penthouse and Norwegian beauty, Julie Ege as Nala, the chiefs daughter. That's basically the plot covered, let's see the babe in question...

Now a little-known Italian film, which again isn't on the wiki list, When Women Lost Their Tails (1972), starred Senta Berger as Filli. It's listed as sc-fi, but I'm not entirely sure why, but until I watch it all, I will include it for now. I had never heard of the Austrian actress, but glad I came across her in my research. She was an absolute beauty! Senta is incredibly sexy in this and more than makes up for not having Raquel Welch in a similar role on these pages. The film is a sequel to When women had tails!

Now as a young man, there is one babe I can recall more than others from the 1970s. This was Caroline Munro, in the Golden Voyage of Sinbad, but technically it doesn't qualify as sci-fi so I can't include it here. Oh how I wish I could, but then I would never get this site finished if I didn't stick to the rules. No matter, because there is always At the Earth's Core (1976), where this voluptuous babe played Princess Dia. The film was truly awful, with people dressed up in rubber suits pretending to be dinosaurs (one even explodes when it falls down a chasm - now why is that?), although there is a good working model of a mechanical mole reminiscent of Thunderbirds fame. I digress - take a look at this publicity still from the film...

Finally, if I really need to explain why certain actresses were needed in certain roles, we have Dana Gillespie as Ajor!

Moonraker

Not many bond films make it to sci-fi status and its a pity because they are unashamedly littered with some of the best babes of the day (although in a very sexist way). Moonraker is such a a film. To start with, we have The very beautiful Lois Chiles as as Dr. Holly Goodhead (how did they get away with those character names I will never know!), a space scientist who accompanies Bond to the space station. Lois lost her brother, to whom she was very close, and ceased her acting career for 3 years to look after him, but it never took off again and she continues to campaign for the disease. In my view she is wrongly dubbed as one of the most wooden Bond girls, and I for one am delighted to include her in the list.
Other actresses played very minor parts, some without a character name also - but lets not worry too much about the detail!!

Moonraker - 2

But why stop there? Here's a couple more to add to the three above

Outer Space

Of course outer space is a common sci-fi feature and the 1970s brought more films set in space.

In a galaxy far, far away...

Surprisingly, although this was a smash hit at the cinema, it doesn't really feature strongly in terms of babes - Princess Leia being the obvious one. However, an American actress, Koo Stark, was considered for the role of Leia, but instead played her friend, Camie. Sadly the scenes with her never made the final cut.

Young Girls

I'm not sure if Jenny Agutter as Jessica 6 is a babe or not. The character is from Logan's Run (1976), which is a classic sci-fi scenario. Jessica lives in a world where people are vapourised at the age of 30 and in the story, she and others are looking for a place called Sanctuary. Here's Jessica 6 in her sexy robe - see what you think.

For me, at least, Farah Fawcett-Majors, as Holly 13 was much more of a babe.

Not Quite Human

The Stepford Wives (1975) was a good opportunity to feast the eye on a number of babes in a sci-fi film. The film was remade in 2004 but this is a much better, darker version. The lovely Katherine Ross plays the probing Joanna Eberhart, who finally succumbs to life as a robot at the end of the film.

The subject of Bond girls came up earlier and one of them, Barbara Bach, appeared in a little-known sci-fi flick called Island of Mutations (sometimes known as Island of the Fishmen). In it she played Amanda Marvin, the captive daughter of a famous biologist who learned how to turn men into - well fishy things! The film has been remade by adding different openings and other scenes, but still a pretty awful film, with a very pretty actress, as I am sure you will agree.

In the same year, she played Lady Agatha in The Humanoid (1979). I haven't seen the film, but she does look great in her space costume.

On to the small screen...

The birth of the home computer, the first test-tube baby, video recorders, watches with liquid crystal displays and the first space shuttle flight took the 1970s one step further scientifically. At a similarly prolific rate, we find that the number of sci-fi TV series almost doubled in number over this decade. Here the babes started to build on their independence from the 60s and took on more serious roles, equalling the roles of their male counterparts, and in some cases surpassing them.

UFO (1970-1971)

One of my favourite TV series. It was created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, of Thunderbirds fame, as a live action TV series following on from a film titled "Journey to the far side of the sun" (see 1960s) and went on to make Space 1999 as a follow up series. The series caught my eye for the various ladies at different operation levels, Starting with SHADO headquarters on Earth.

Meanwhile, on moonbase.....

Lt. Gay Ellis ran moonbase and she's worth more than one image...

I can only ever remember one female on Skydiver, and that was Lt. Sylvia Howell...

Wonder Woman (1975-1979)

Strangely, the IMDb lists Wonder Woman as Fantasy rather than Sci-fi, but the New Adventures does make it under sub-genres. I think with an invisible spaceship, it qualifies as sci-fi anyway. Lucky for us, too, because we can feast on the curvy Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, as played by Lynda Carter.

Logan's Run (1976)

Hoping to follow on from the success of the earlier film, this TV series featured Heather Menzies-Urich as Jessica. Weird that we should be fantasizing over someone from the von Trapp family (Yes you got it - she played Louisa in The Sound of Music). Personally I didn't really enjoy the TV series, but then it's up to you at the end of the day...

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-1981)

We first met Buck in the 1930s, and the only caandidate then was Wilma Deering. I'm glad to say that there is more than one offering from the film/TV series in the 1970s and 1980s.

Dear Wilma..

Of course, everyone's favourite (well, mine, anyway) was Col. Wilma Deering. The character was played by Erin Gray in the pilot Movie and returned to co-star in the TV series, even though she wasn't originally cast for it. Described as "Wonder Woman with brains", she was sexy, spunky and often came to Buck's rescue rather than the other way round.

The Bionic Woman (1976-1978)

The original Jaimie Sommers was played by the beautiful Lindsay Wagner. Half woman-half cyborg, she worked for the US government after they paid to fix her body following an horrific accident. She has always had that girl-next-door look that I find so charming. Because of that she only just makes it as a "babe", but boy could she kick ass! An offshoot from the six million dollar man, her value was never mentioned, though in the German version, she was said to be worth seven million dollars - a whole million more!

Mork and Mindy (1978-1982)

It's not often we get a successful sci-fi comedy TV series, but this certainly was. I liked Mindy McConnell, played by Pam Dawber in this show, and found her character to be full of fun. Sure, Robin Williams was the star, and he didn't let you forget that at any time, but Mindy was just sweet.

The programme does give us an opportunity to see the lovely Raquel Welch again. Here she is as Captain Nirvana.

Quark (1978)

Now I never saw this series, but after researching it, found out that it starred the famous Barnstable twins, Patricia and Cyb. They played Betty and her clone. There are plenty of clips available on the WWW if you want to see more, but I think this picture is pretty sexy anyway  (sorry don't know which is which).

Battlestar Galactica (1978)

The original series was such a Star Wars rip-off that it led to many battles in court. The makers counterclaimed that Star Wars had ripped off ideas from them as early as Buck Rogers in the 1930s and the two companies spent many years (and much money) in court. There has been a cult following ever since, and a much bigger section on babes since the reimagined 2003 series was created.

Serina, played by English rose Jane Seymour, was a news reporter-turned pilot. She only appeared in 4 episodes and unfortunately didn't reappear as a character in the later series.

Lt. Athena, played by Maren Jensen, was the only daughter of Commander Adama and sister to Apollo. Her character was both as a bridge officer and pilot. She had few appearances elsewhere and is best known for Battlestar.

Two more characters worthy of mention are Lt. Sheba, played by Anne Lockhart (daughter of June Lockhart of Lost in Space fame) and Cassiopeia, played by Laurette Spang. Sheba was the daughter of the commander of the Pegasus, and following its destruction, she transferred to Galactica as a viper pilot. Cassie, as she was often called, was originally a prostitute who turned into a medtech later in the series and was the romantic link with Starbuck. Since Starbuck became female in the reimagined series, the character didn't survive. I'm sure you will agree that they both look hot in this picture.

Blake's Seven (1978 - 1981)

Probably better known for her role in Dempsey and Makepeace, Glynnis Barber played Soolin, later in the series. She grew up on a lawless planet and killed her parents' murderers at the age of 17. A mix of beauty and ruthlessness, and a sharpshooter trained by the best guns in the galaxy. The only other babe I can think of from the series was Jenna Stannis played by Sally Knyvette, but if you disagree, please let me know.

Saaphire and Steel (1979 - 1982)

This was a classic English TV series with the typically English Joanna Lumley starring as Sapphire, a non-human being with the ability to manipulate time. I remember it being quite radical at the time, but the very gorgeous Joanna, with her English public school accent blew me away. Probably better known for her comedy role or even her support for the Ghurkas, she played this character with confidence and style. Sapphire was an "element" from a different dimension who travelled through corridors of time to ensure that time remains intact. There is something incredibly sexy about her voice that makes her a particular  favourite of mine.

Jason of Star Command (1978 - 1979)

Gosh - I can just about remember this TV series, but recall James Doohan (aka Scotty from Star Trek) being in it and that's about it. After some research I rediscovered the lovely Captain Nicole Davidoff, played by Susan Pratt. For all those like me who can only just remember it, feast on this clip from the first episode...

Ark II (1976 - 1979)

Along similar lines, this is a distant memory, but the starring chimpanzee did ring a bell. A group of scientists travelling to the planet after a terrible eco-disaster due to excessive pollution, oh and of course, nuclear war, aimed to seek out pockets of survivors and help them out. One of these scientists was Ruth, played by Jean Marie Hon.