Seven writers were responsible for 75 out of the 83 episodes of Lost in Space. The remaining eight episodes were penned by five other writers (including one team). Norman Lessing’s only contribution was a co-writer with Shimon Wincelberg on “Island in the Sky” in season one.
William Welch wrote “One of Our Dogs Is Missing,” “The Lost Civilization” (both season one), and “The Space Creature” (season three). He also co-wrote “The Hungry Sea” with Shimon Wincelberg. Welch’s scripts are noteworthy in that the two first season entries are very true to the original look and feel of the series, and “The Space Creature,” written two years later, offers a very good character development of Will Robinson—he may not be quite the goody two shoes he is often dismissed as.
The writing team of Allan Balter and William Read Woodfield wrote “Attack of the Monster Plants” in season one, and “Wild Adventure” in season two. The former episode was dark and full of menace, a good fit with the first season’s overall atmosphere, and the episode was one of Marta Kristen’s favourites. “Wild Adventure” might be considered a psychological drama where we see everyone, including Dr. Smith himself, believe that he is coming apart at the seams. It would be too facile to describe the episode as mere farce.
Michael Fessier wrote the excellent season two “West of Mars” which featured Jonathan Harris in dual rôles, playing Dr. Smith and the outlaw Zeno (a refreshing change from Harris playing Smith and a duplicate of Smith who is better than the original).
Margaret Brookman is the only woman writer to contribute on her own to Lost in Space. Wanda Duncan’s work was all done with her husband, Bob. Brookman’s “The Space Vikings” is nothing more than a funny, rollicking farce—even more so if you have sat through much of Der Ring der Niebelungen, which Brookman obviously had done. One wonders why Wagner didn’t earn a music credit considering that Brynhilda’s leitmotif was used throughout the episode.
Jack Turley wrote the season three episode “Hunter’s Moon.” This is a rather disappointing episode, I have always thought, because it never lived up to its promise. As a vehicle for Guy Williams, it fell short; he was an action oriented actor, but the episode has him either talking or fleeing for most of the time. As a family oriented episode featuring John Robinson and Will, Will might just as well have not been there for all he contributed to the plot, and there is no touching scene at the end between father and son (nor was there much reason for there to be).