Having now watched all 7 episodes, I have to say I am quite impressed! I guess that it must be compared to its contemporary, Star Trek, the original series. It was made far more cheaply and it shows.
TOS had similar constraints, but the quality of the background paintings and costumes was better. Of course STTOS was shot in color and Raumpatrouille really should have been. Maybe someday a colorized version of the episodes will be released. I don't think the series has a region 1 DVD release as of yet, but more people in America need to see it. It's original air dates make TOS being a major influence unlikely, but like TOS, I think the creators were looking closely at Forbidden Planet.
This show showed *much* more equality of women than STTOS. At least one was a general in command of a starship. On the other hand, there was not a black or brown face to be seen. They never give a year for when the action is taking place, but it is a time in the future when nations no longer exist. The names of the crew members of Orion indicate they are at least from all over Europe. The assigned security officer, Tamara Jagellovsk, seems to be Russian. The Captain, Cliff McLane, is possibly supposed to be American. The Female general is apparently Dutch, but nobody is African, Chinese, Indian, Arab or any other non white, non-European type. I guess all of them are minding the store on Earth. So they have different blind spots from those of Gene Roddenberry.
The series ended after a mere seven episode at least partially because it couldn't sell to international markets like the USA and Japan because it was in black and white, but it did spawn a few dozen spin off novels that have never been translated into English.
I would urge *anyone* who has even a passing interest in SF TV to catch up with this series.
