UFO is a 1970-1971 British
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series about an
alien invasionThe alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial life invades Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under a colonial system, harvest humans for food, steal the planet's resources, or destroy the planet altogether.The...
of Earth, created by
Gerry AndersonGerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
and
Sylvia AndersonSylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
with
Reg HillReginald E. Hill was a British television producer and was most prominently associated with the work of puppet animator Gerry Anderson.-Professional life:...
, and produced by the Andersons and
Lew GradeLew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
's Century 21 Productions for Grade's
ITC EntertainmentThe Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
company.
UFO first aired in the UK and Canada in 1970 and in US syndication over the next two years (the shows were copyrighted in 1969). In all, 26 episodes, including the
pilotA "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, were filmed over the course of more than a year, with a five-month production break caused by the ultimate closure of the
MGM-British StudiosMGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established at Denham Film Studios in 1936. The films produced there were A Yank at Oxford , The Citadel , Goodbye, Mr...
in
Borehamwood-Film industry:Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood"...
, where the show was initially made.
The Andersons had previously made a number of very successful
marionetteA marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
-based children's science fiction series including
SupercarSupercar was a children's TV show produced by Gerry Anderson and Arthur Provis's AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. 39 episodes were produced between 1961 and 1962, and it was Anderson's first half-hour series. In the UK it was seen on ITV and in the US in syndication...
,
Fireball XL5Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol...
,
StingrayStingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
, ThunderbirdsThunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, and
Captain Scarlet and the MysteronsCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
. They had also made one live-action science fiction movie,
DoppelgängerDoppelgänger is a 1969 British science-fiction film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Lynn Loring and Patrick Wymark. Outside Europe, it is known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, which is now the more popular title...
, also known as
Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun, and now felt ready to move into live-action television and aim at a more adult market.
UFO was the Andersons' first totally live-action TV series. Despite the assumption of many TV station executives, the series was not aimed at children but deliberately sought an older audience; many episodes featured adult themes such as adultery, divorce, and drug use. Most of the cast were newcomers to Century 21 although star
Ed BishopEd Bishop was an American film, television, stage and radio actor based in Britain.-Early life:Bishop served in the US Army from 8 October 1952 to 24 September 1954, working as a disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio at St. Johns in Newfoundland...
had previously worked with the Andersons as a voice actor on
Captain Scarlet and The MysteronsCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
.
Plot overview
The show's basic premise is that in the near future – a fictional version of 1980 (a date indicated in the opening credits) – Earth is being visited and attacked by
aliensIn popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
from a dying planet and humans are being covertly harvested for their organs by the aliens. The show's main cast of characters are members of a secret, high-technology-equipped international agency called
SHADO (an acronym for
Supreme
Headquarters,
Alien
Defence
Organisation) established to defend Earth and humanity against the mysterious aliens and learn more about them.
The UFOs
The extraterrestrial spacecraft can readily cross the vast distances between their planet and Earth at many times the speed of light, but they are only large enough for one or two crewmembers. Their time on station is limited: UFOs can only survive for a couple of days in the
Earth's atmosphereThe atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
before they heat up, deteriorate and finally explode. The alien craft can survive for far longer underwater; one episode, "Reflections In The Water," deals with the discovery of a secret undersea alien base, which shows one UFO flying straight out of an extinct volcano, which Straker describes as "a back door to the Atlantic." A special underwater version of the standard UFO design is seen in "Sub Smash." In flight they are surrounded by horizontally spinning vanes and emit a distinctive pulsing electronic whine that sounds like a
Shoooe-Wheeeh! (This was actually produced by series composer
Barry GrayBarry Gray was a British musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson.-Life:...
, on an
Ondes MartenotThe ondes Martenot , also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales, is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot. The original design was similar in sound to the theremin...
.) The craft is armed with a
laserA laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
-type weapon, but can be destroyed by conventional explosive warheads. The personal arms of the aliens resemble shiny assault rifles; these have a lower rate of fire than that used by SHADO. Later episodes such as "The Cat With Ten Lives" show the aliens using other weapons, such as a small device which seemingly paralyses victims. This is presumably for organ and body harvesting purposes, since pilot Jim Regan's wife Jean is taken for her organs in that episode.
The aliens
Notably for science fiction, and uniquely for a television series, the alien race is never given a proper name, either by themselves or by human beings; they are simply referred to as "the aliens." Humanoid in appearance, the autopsy of the first alien captured reveals that they are harvesting organs from the bodies of abducted humans. Their faces are stained by the hue of a
green oxygenated liquidLiquid breathing is a form of respiration in which a normally air-breathing organism breathes an oxygen-rich liquid , rather than breathing air....
, which is believed to cushion their lungs against the extreme
accelerationIn physics, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time. In one dimension, acceleration is the rate at which something speeds up or slows down. However, since velocity is a vector, acceleration describes the rate of change of both the magnitude and the direction of velocity. ...
of interstellar flight; this liquid is contained in their helmets. To protect their eyes the aliens wear opaque
scleraThe sclera , also known as the white or white of the eye, is the opaque , fibrous, protective, outer layer of the eye containing collagen and elastic fiber. In the development of the embryo, the sclera is derived from the neural crest...
contact lensA contact lens, or simply contact, is a lens placed on the eye. They are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons. In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United...
es with small pinholes for vision. The show's opening sequence begins by showing the image, remarkable for its time, of one of these contact lenses being removed from an obviously real eye with a pair of forceps--although the
scleraThe sclera , also known as the white or white of the eye, is the opaque , fibrous, protective, outer layer of the eye containing collagen and elastic fiber. In the development of the embryo, the sclera is derived from the neural crest...
l lens is never shown in contact with the eye.
No more than two of the aliens are seen at any one time. In the episode
Ordeal, when Paul Foster, wearing an alien spacesuit, is carried by two aliens, one of those two aliens is always off-screen if Foster is on-screen.
The prop alien spacesuits were made of red Lycra. At the start of production the alien spacesuits were ornamented with silvery chainlinking. Later this was replaced by silvery areas as in the image. In reality the dark vertical bands on the sides of the helmets are slits to allow the actors to breathe.
SHADO
To defend against the aliens, a secret organisation called
SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) is established. Operating behind the cover of the Harlington-Straker Studios
movie studioA movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
in England, SHADO is headed by Commander Edward Straker (played by
Ed BishopEd Bishop was an American film, television, stage and radio actor based in Britain.-Early life:Bishop served in the US Army from 8 October 1952 to 24 September 1954, working as a disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio at St. Johns in Newfoundland...
), a former
United States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Colonel and
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
who poses as the studio's chief executive.
In reality, this was a clever cost-saving move by the producers – the studio was the actual studio where the series was being filmed, originally the
MGM-British StudiosMGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established at Denham Film Studios in 1936. The films produced there were A Yank at Oxford , The Citadel , Goodbye, Mr...
, later
Pinewood StudiosPinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
, although the Harlington-Straker studio office block seen throughout the series was actually Neptune House – a building at the former
British National StudiosThe former British National Studio is located on Clarendon Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England. It is currently used by the BBC and has been in continuous use since its opening in 1927....
, in
Borehamwood-Film industry:Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood"...
, that were owned by
ATVAssociated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
. Pinewood's studio buildings and streetscapes were used extensively in later episodes, particularly "Timelash" and "Mindbender," the latter featuring scenes that actually showed the behind-the-scenes workings of the
UFO sets when Straker briefly finds himself hallucinating that he is an actor on a TV series and all his SHADO colleagues are likewise actors.
Typical of Anderson productions, the studio-as-cover idea was both practical and cost-effective for the production and provided a ready-made vehicle for the viewer's
suspension of disbeliefSuspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is a formula for justifying the use of fantastic or non-realistic elements in literary works of fiction...
. It removed the need to build an expensive exterior set for the SHADO base and combined the all-important "secret" cover (concealment and secrecy are always central themes in Anderson dramas) with the trademark ring of at least nominal plausibility. A studio was a business where unusual events and routines would not be remarkable or even noticed. Comings and goings at odd times, the movement of vehicles, equipment, people and material would not excite undue interest and could easily be explained away as "sets," "props," or "extras."
Another Anderson
leitmotifA leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
was the concept of the mechanical conveyor, e.g. the automatic boarding tubes of the
Stingray and the Thunderbird craft. In
UFO, this appeared in the guise of Straker's "secret" office, which doubled as a lift (elevator) that takes him down to the SHADO control centre located beneath the studio. The pilots of the space interceptors and the submersible "Sky One" jet interceptor slide down boarding chutes into their craft. The interceptors then rise from their hangar via elevating platforms to a launch pad disguised as a lunar crater. This was a carry-over from the earlier marionette series where it was used due to the difficulty in getting puppets to walk and get them into cockpits.
SHADO equipment
SHADO has a variety of high-tech hardware and vehicles at its disposal to implement a layered defence of Earth. Early warnings of alien attack would come from
SID, the
Space
Intruder
Detector, a
computerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
ised tracking
satelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
that constantly scans for UFO incursions. The forward line of defence is
Moonbase from which the three Lunar
Interceptor spacecraft, carrying
nuclearA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
missileThough a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
s, are launched. The second line of defence includes
SkyDiverSkydiver was a fictional futuristic submarine featured in Gerry Anderson’s TV series UFO, operated by the secretive SHADO organisation as part of Earth's defences against alien aggressors.Like many Anderson vehicles, Skydiver was designed by Derek Meddings...
, a
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
mated with the submersible, undersea-launched
Sky One interceptor aircraftAn interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...
, which attack UFOs in Earth's atmosphere. The last line of defence is ground units including the armed,
IFVAn infantry fighting vehicle , also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle , is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide fire support for them...
-like SHADO
Mobiles, fitted with
caterpillar trackContinuous tracks or caterpillar tracks are a system of vehicle propulsion in which modular metal plates linked into a continuous band are driven by two or more wheels...
s. Special effects, as in all Anderson's marionette shows, were supervised by
Derek MeddingsDerek Meddings was a British television and cinema special effects expert, initially noted for his work on the "Supermarionation" television puppet series produced by Gerry Anderson, and later for the 1970s James Bond films and the Superman film series.-Early years:Both Meddings' parents had...
, while the vehicles were designed by Meddings and his assistant,
Michael TrimMichael Trim is an artist most famous for illustrating the cover of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, which depicts a Martian tripod striking down the heroic Thunder Child...
.
The stories
The show's concept was unusually dark for its time: the basic premise was that alien invaders were abducting humans to use as involuntary
organ transplantOrgan transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
donors. A later episode, "The Cat With Ten Lives," contains a sinister plot point which suggests that the UFO pilots are not humanoid aliens at all, but are in fact human abductees under the control of the alien intelligences, suggesting that, as in
Captain Scarlet, the aliens, in the dialog of Dr. Jackson, "may have no physical being at all and therefore need a container, a vehicle, our bodies."
The show also featured realistic, believable relationships between the human characters to a far greater extent than usual in a typical science fiction series, showing the clear influence of American programmes like
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
and
Star TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
and British action series such as
Danger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
. One early episode, "Computer Affair," strongly hinted at an interracial romance between two continuing characters--something that was uncommon on British TV in those days, while others showed the heroes making mistakes with sometimes fatal consequences. Furthermore, relatively few episodes of the series actually had happy or (for the characters) satisfying endings.
The episode "Confetti Check A-OK" is almost entirely devoted to the breakdown of Straker's marriage under the strain of maintaining the secrecy of the classified nature of his duties. Another, "A Question Of Priorities," takes this exploration further, and hinges on Straker having to make an agonising life-or-death choice: divert an aircraft to deliver life-saving medical supplies to his critically injured son, or allow the aircraft to continue on its mission to attempt a last-chance intercept against an incoming UFO. Two key images from "A Question Of Priorities" – Straker's son being struck down and his ex-wife declaring she never wants to see him again – are repeated in
flashbackFlashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
in two subsequent episodes, "Sub Smash" and "Mindbender," suggesting that Straker remains haunted by these unresolved emotional issues.
Another episode, "The Square Triangle," centres on a woman and her lover who plan to murder her husband. When they accidentally kill an alien from a downed UFO instead, SHADO intervenes and doses the guilty pair with
amnesiaAmnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
drugs (decades ahead of a similar story device in
Men in BlackMen in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
, and one deployed for similar reasons). Straker realises, however, that the drugs will not affect their basic motivation and, worse, he cannot reveal the truth to local legal authorities. The end credits of this episode are run over a scene set in the near future, showing the woman visiting her husband's grave and then walking to meet her lover.
Some critics complained that the emphasis on down-to-earth relationships weakened the show's science fiction premise and were also a means of saving money on special effects. The money-saving argument might have been true to a limited extent, but the Andersons made a virtue of necessity. They had always hoped to direct live action TV drama, and although the marionette shows helped them develop impressive skills in effects and scripting, they had always considered them as essentially being a way of keeping in work and earning money while they tried to break into "real" TV drama. Others countered that the characters were more well rounded than in other science fiction shows and that science fiction concepts and special effects in themselves did not preclude realistic action and interaction and believable, emotionally engaging plots. Ultimately, the mix of dark human drama with traditional science fiction adventure is probably the reason for UFO's enduring cult popularity and what sets it apart from the rest of TV SF series. For example, the time-freeze plot of the episode "Timelash" is similar to
The Outer LimitsThe Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
episode "The Premonition." But
UFO adds a drama twist: Straker repeatedly injects a drug (X 50 stimulant) to remain awake during the time freeze, which results in Straker being hospitalised in SHADO's medical centre. The ending not only shows him lying in bed recovering from the harmful effects of drug use, but has a subtext that the plot of the episode may, in fact, have been a drug-induced delusion. This SF and dark drama mix is why
UFO cuts deeper than most similar series.
UFO confused broadcasters in both Britain and the United States who could not decide if it was a programme for adults or for children--the series was shown on Saturday mornings by London Weekend. (The fact Anderson was primarily associated with children's programming did not help matters.) This confusion – coupled with erratic broadcast schedules – are considered contributing factors in its cancellation, although
UFO is credited with opening the door to moderately successful runs of later live-action, adult-oriented programming by Anderson such as
The ProtectorsThe Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It is Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in the present day...
and
Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
.
Special effects
The special effects, supervised by Derek Meddings, were of the highest quality and outstanding for their day, given the relatively limited resources at the production's disposal.
In a refinement of the underwater effect developed for
StingrayStingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
, Meddings' team devised a disconcerting effect – a double-walled visor for the alien space helmets, which could be gradually filled from the bottom up with green-dyed water. When filmed from the appropriate angle it produced a very convincing illusion of the helmet filling up and submerging the wearer's head.
Second series and Space: 1999
Two years after the 26 episodes were completed, the series was syndicated on American television and the ratings were initially promising enough to prompt ITC to commission a second season of
UFO. As the Moon-based episodes appeared to have proven more popular than the Earth-based stories, ITC insisted that in the new season, the action would take place entirely on the Moon. Gerry Anderson proposed a format in which SHADO Moonbase had been greatly enlarged to become the organisation's main headquarters, and pre-production on
UFO 2 began with extensive research and design for the new Moonbase. These developments were not without precedent in the earlier episodes: a subplot of "Kill Straker!" sees Straker negotiating with SHADO's financial supporters for funding to build more moonbases within 10 years. However, when ratings for the syndicated broadcasts in America dropped towards the end of the run, ITC got cold feet and cancelled the second season plans. Unwilling to let the
UFO 2 pre-production work go to waste, Anderson instead offered ITC a new series idea, unrelated to
UFO, in which the Moon would be blown out of Earth orbit taking the Moonbase survivors with it. This proposal developed into
Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
.
Merchandise
As with many Anderson productions, the series generated a range of merchandising toys based on the SHADO vehicles. The classic
DinkyDinky Toys are die-cast miniature vehicles which were produced by Meccano Ltd at Binns Road, Liverpool, England - makers of Hornby railway sets, named after founder Frank Hornby.- Pre-war history :...
die-cast range of vehicles featured robust yet finely finished products and included Straker's futuristic gull-winged gas turbine car, the SHADO mobile and the missile-bearing Lunar
InterceptorThe Dinky Interceptor was a model spacecraft made by Dinky Toys and based on a fictional spacecraft in UFO . It was manufactured and sold for six years and, during this time, changed appearance several times.-Earliest version:...
(though the Interceptor was released in a lurid metallic green finish unlike the original's white). Like the
Thunderbirds- and
Captain Scarlet-related models, the original Dinky toys are now prized collectors items. All the major vehicles, characters, and more have been produced in model form many times over by a large number of licensee companies; the Anderson shows and their merchandise have always had widespread popularity, but they are especially popular in Japan.
DVD release
The complete series was released on DVD in the UK and in North America in 2002 and in Australia in 2007. Bonus features include a commentary by Gerry Anderson on the pilot episode "Identified," and an actor's commentary by Ed Bishop on the episode "Sub Smash." There are also some deleted scenes and lots of stills and publicity artwork.
Characters
UFO had a large ensemble cast, and many of its members would come and go during the course of the series, with a number of actors--most notably George Sewell and Gabrielle Drake--leaving the series during the production break that occurred when the series had to change studios midway through production. It is established early on that SHADO personnel rotate between positions, so the occasional disappearance of characters--some of whom would later return in other positions--fits in with the concept of the series. Also, due to the scheduling of the series, which did not reflect the production order, some episodes featuring departed cast members were not actually aired until late in the series, giving the impression that no major cast changes occurred. Among the major actors, only Ed Bishop appeared in all episodes. These are the major recurring characters in the series:
Commander Edward Straker
Commander Edward Straker (portrayed by
Ed BishopEd Bishop was an American film, television, stage and radio actor based in Britain.-Early life:Bishop served in the US Army from 8 October 1952 to 24 September 1954, working as a disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio at St. Johns in Newfoundland...
) is a former
American Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
pilot and astronaut originally from
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
who organized SHADO following a series of UFO attacks in 1970. Straker masquerades as the head of Harlington-Straker Film Studios, SHADO Headquarters being located directly below the studio.
He was married to Mary Nightingale in 1970, but they soon divorced after the birth of John, their son. Timeframes are never given for events before the series, but it would be reasonable to presume that their marriage had ended by the end of the flashback presented in "Confetti Check A-OK." As if perhaps to show her opinion of Straker and his cold attitude, Mary registered their son as John Rutland, after his new stepfather, played by
Philip MadocPhilip Madoc is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.One prominent role was the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...
.
In "A Question Of Priorities," John was later seriously injured when he was hit by a car and Straker, against his own rules, used a SHADO aircraft in order to fly in antibiotic drugs from America. But when his second-in-command, Col. Alec E. Freeman, was forced to divert the plane in order to investigate some curious UFO-related events in Ireland, Straker's sense of duty prevented him from informing and overruling him as to the plane's original mission. The drugs arrived too late at the hospital, and John died.
In other sci-fi series, a character must face a challenge and overcome it, though the problem is invariably solved by hour's end after which all is well. In contrast, the UFO series makes it clear that Ed Straker has had to completely sacrifice his personal life for the organisation, and that although he has learned to live with the fact, he has never forgotten the suffering it has caused to him and people he loved most. Moreover, it is repeatedly demonstrated that there is no realistic prospect of Straker's circumstances ever improving, though if circumstances were different he would undoubtedly embrace change. Straker's underlying tension and unhappiness is the foundation of his wounded character, exemplified most powerfully in the "Confetti Check A-OK" episode. The overall effect of Straker's regularly referenced back story is to transform what could have been a stereotypical sci-fi character into one who is three-dimensional, complex and sympathetic.
One relatively consistent element of Straker's character is that he refuses to drink alcohol even though he has a fully stocked bar in his SHADO office. An early episode refers to him possessing the willpower to avoid alcohol, yet he drinks champagne at his wedding, and later to commemorate his wife's pregnancy. Some fans have suggested he might be a recovering alcoholic, but nothing within the series supports this idea. On the contrary, Alec Freeman's comments, as his best friend, would be entirely out of character if that were the case. However, Straker is fond of
cigarA cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
s, and he can be seen smoking in some episodes. Straker suffers from
claustrophobiaClaustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
, a fact known only to the SHADO doctors and Alec Freeman. This was a major sub-plot in the episode "Sub Smash."
His voice in the television episodes sounds somewhat higher-pitched than Ed Bishop's real voice because the episodes were recorded at 24 frames per second but on television were played at 25 frames per second.
Colonel Paul Foster
Colonel Paul Foster (portrayed by
Michael BillingtonMichael Billington was a popular British film and television actor....
) is a former test pilot whose plane was critically damaged when SHADO's Sky One intercepted and destroyed a UFO in close proximity to Foster's jet. His subsequent persistent investigation of the incident threatened to expose SHADO's existence and Straker considered having him killed, but instead was impressed enough with Foster to offer him a position with SHADO. Foster appears to be somewhat of a protégé of Straker's, as he is shown in a number of major positions. He is Moonbase Commander for a time (substituting for Lt. Ellis), is assigned to SkyDiver for several months, and also receives a position of authority at SHADO HQ. He masquerades as one of Straker's film producers in the studio and enjoyed a brief relationship with Col. Virginia Lake. Foster has the unique distinction of having once befriended one of the aliens, though he could not prevent him from being killed by SHADO personnel; his overall demeanour became noticeably more cynical after this event (chronicled in the episode "Survival").
Lt. Gay Ellis (Gabrielle DrakeGabrielle Drake is a British actress who was born in Lahore, British India and lived in several Far Eastern countries .-Career:...
)
Most often seen as Moonbase Commander during the first half of the series, Lt. Ellis is occasionally portrayed as lacking self-confidence, and at other times as a take-charge officer. She is briefly reassigned to SHADO HQ when it is suggested that she may be romantically involved with Interceptor pilot Mark Bradley ("Computer Affair"). She also appears to be attracted to Ed Straker, though nothing comes of this.
Col. Alec E. Freeman (George SewellGeorge Sewell was an English actor.-Early life and early career:The son of a Hoxton printer and a florist; Sewell left school at age 14 and worked briefly in the printing trade before switching to building work, specifically the repair of bomb-damaged houses...
)
SHADO's first officer until about the three-quarter point in the series (when Sewell left following the change of studios). A lady's man in his early 40s, Freeman is Straker's right hand man and, occasionally, his muscle. Everybody's pal at SHADO, Freeman takes a sardonic attitude towards some of the things Straker and SHADO must do to survive, and once submitted his resignation in protest over a decision ("Computer Affair"). Straker's closest friend and best man at his wedding, Freeman was the very first operative recruited into SHADO by Straker (as seen in "Confetti Check A-OK").
Gen. James Henderson (Grant TaylorGrant Taylor , real name Ronald Grant Taylor, was an English-born actor best known as the abrasive General Henderson in the Gerry Anderson science fiction series UFO and for his lead role in Forty Thousand Horsemen ....
)
Straker's superior officer, Henderson heads the International Astrophysical Commission, which is a front for SHADO and is responsible for obtaining funds and equipment from government in order to keep SHADO operational. Straker and Henderson butt heads frequently over the needs of SHADO and economic realities.
The possibility exists that Straker and Henderson, once close friends, became estranged after Henderson effectively rammed the post of SHADO Commander down Straker's throat in "Confetti Check A-OK," which led to Straker's marriage falling apart.
Col. Virginia Lake (Wanda VenthamWanda Ventham is an English actress, mainly on television. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama....
)
Virginia Lake first appears in the opening episode of the series ("Identified"), as a SHADO scientist and prospective romantic conquest for Alec Freeman. During the last quarter of the series, Lake returns to, ironically, take over the post of SHADO first officer, replacing Freeman. A computer specialist, she also served as Moonbase Commander. She was romantically involved with Paul Foster for a time. She initially has a somewhat tense working relationship with Straker, though by the end of the series they appear to have grown close and she is seen comforting him in the final scene of the final episode ("The Long Sleep").
Capt. Peter Carlin (Peter GordenoPeter Gordeno is a British songwriter and producer who in his time has also been a live and session musician, and has, since 1998, toured with Depeche Mode. He plays keyboard parts in lieu of departed Alan Wilder, and occasional backing vocals. He and Andrew Phillpott went as backing musicians...
)
During the first third of the series, Carlin is the commander of the submarine SkyDiver and pilot of its interceptor aircraft, Sky One. In 1970, Carlin and his sister found a UFO and were attacked; he was shot and wounded and his sister vanished. He joined SHADO in hopes of finding out what happened to his sister, and eventually learned that her organs had been harvested ("Identified").
Lt. Nina Barry (Dolores MantezDolores Mantez born c.1938 is a retired British television actress of the 1960s and early 1970s best known for her appearances in the UFO television series...
)
One of Straker's first recruits into SHADO (and in the unenviable position of being mistaken for the "other woman" whom Mary Nightingale blamed for Straker's estrangement from her), Barry works as a Space Tracker at Moonbase and later replaces Lt. Ellis as its commanding officer. She also serves aboard SkyDiver at one point ("Sub Smash"). One of several women attracted to Straker, she is the second most frequently appearing character in the series, appearing in 23 of 26 episodes.
Capt. Lew Waterman (Gary MyersGary Myers is a British Actor, best known as the original "Milk Tray" man in the long running television advertising campaign for the Cadbury-Schweppes chocolates. His other notable role was that of Captain Lew Waterman on Gerry Anderson's cult TV series UFO. at the Internet Movie Database...
)
Initially an Interceptor pilot on the Moon, Waterman is later promoted to captain and replaces Peter Carlin as commanding officer of SkyDiver and pilot of Sky One. He becomes a very close friend of Paul Foster's (as suggested in "Ordeal"). Given Gerry Anderson's business dealings in the 1960s with MCA-owned Universal, his name could well be a parody of veteran agent and studio head
Lew WassermanLewis Robert "Lew" Wasserman was an American talent agent and studio executive, sometimes credited with creating and later taking apart the studio system in a career spanning more than six decades...
.
Lt. Keith Ford (Keith AlexanderKeith Alexander is a British actor and voice actor.Alexander's television credits include Softly, Softly , The New Avengers , Minder and The Day of the Triffids...
)
Former television interviewer who became a founding member of SHADO and its main communications officer. Actor Keith Alexander left the series after the production break, so the character disappears at the 2/3 mark of the series.
Lt. Ayshea Johnson (Ayshea BroughAyshea , is an English actress, singer and TV presenter.-Biography:Born in Highgate, London and educated at Arts Educational School, London, Ayshea was trained in ballet, music, drama and dance. She made her film debut at age 9 as an uncredited extra at in Tom Thumb. At seventeen, she was signed...
)
A SHADO headquarters officer in most episodes. Initially seen doing miscellaneous tasks –stationed at a computer console, she's the woman seen turning in her seat to smile and wave at an (offscreen) Col. Alec Freeman in the opening credits– she later becomes SHADO's communications officer following the departure of Lt. Ford. In her final appearance, she is stationed at Moonbase ("Mindbender"). Highly observant, she provides crucial information in the episode "The Cat with Ten Lives." NB: this character's full name is given in episode scripts but only referred to once on screen (in "The Sound of Silence"). In the credits she is identified only as Ayshea (as is the actress).
Dr. Douglas Jackson (Vladek SheybalVladek Sheybal , born Władysław Sheybal, was a Polish character actor, whose career lasted from the 1950s into the 1980s. He was probably best known for his portrayal of the chess grandmaster Kronsteen in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, a role for which he had been personally...
)
SHADO psychiatrist and science officer. A somewhat sinister-looking figure who sometimes appears to have his own agenda, Jackson serves a number of capacities within SHADO, including acting as prosecution officer during the court martial of Paul Foster. When Foster escapes custody after being found (falsely) guilty, Jackson successfully convinces General Henderson to have his guards use tranquilizer darts in their pursuit, rather than shooting to kill. It is implied that "Douglas Jackson" is not the character's birth name, as he speaks with a strong Eastern European accent. His origins, however, are never explored.
Lt. Joan Harrington (Antonia Ellis)
Another Moonbase Space Tracker, Harrington was one of the organisation's earliest recruits (as seen in "Confetti Check A-OK").
Miss Ealand (Norma RonaldNorma Ronald was a British actress best known for her appearances as "Mildred Murfin" in the 1960s BBC Radio comedy series The Men from the Ministry, as "Miss Ealand" in the Science Fiction television series UFO and as Sir John Wilder's ever-resourceful secretary Kay Lingard in both The Plane...
)
SHADO operative masquerading as Straker's movie studio secretary. She is the first line of defence against anyone entering SHADO HQ via Straker's office/elevator. The character is not seen in most of the post-studio change episodes, being replaced in two episodes by a Miss Holland (played by
Lois MaxwellLois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year for her performance in That Hagen Girl...
).
Lt. Mark Bradley (Harry BairdHarry Baird was a Guyana-born British actor who came to prominence in the 1960s.Baird was born in Georgetown, British Guiana and was educated in Canada and England. He was given his film break in 1954 as a boxer named Jamaica in the Carol Reed film A Kid for Two Farthings...
)
Caribbean-born Interceptor pilot based on the Moon. He becomes romantically involved with Lt. Ellis for a time, leading to a temporary assignment at SHADO HQ on Earth, and later briefly assumes the position of Moonbase Commander. Baird left the series after filming four episodes, but appeared in stock footage in several later episodes.
Minor characters
One of the unnamed female Moonbase operatives was played by
Shakira BakshShakira Caine , is a Guyanese-British former fashion model and actress of Indian descent....
, who later married actor
Michael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
. Producer
Gerry AndersonGerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
later said that he had lost his temper with her so badly on the set of
UFO, that he always feared the idea of running into Michael Caine at some actors' function, and being punched in the nose by him.
Steve Minto, one of the interceptor pilots, was played by the noted British actor
Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
.
Look of the show
- It is never explained why female Moonbase personnel uniformly wore mauve or purple wigs, silver catsuit
A catsuit is a close-fitting one-piece garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as lycra, chiffon, spandex , leather, latex, PVC, or velour, and frequently close using a zipper at the front or back.Catsuits, which...
s, and extensive eye make-up (although it has been suggested it was to combat static electricity) and their unusual livery is never discussed in the series. Gerry Anderson has commented that it made them look more futuristic and that it filmed better under the bright lights, while Sylvia Anderson said she believed wigs would become accepted components of military uniforms by the 1980s. Whenever female Moonbase personnel visited Earth (as Ellis and Barry did from time to time), their lunar uniforms were never worn.
- Ed Bishop, who had dark hair in real life, initially bleached his hair for Straker's unique white-haired look. He later began wearing a white wig when the bleaching began damaging his hair. Straker's unusual look may have been an attempt to make Bishop look like Captain Blue, the character he voiced in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
. Bishop, until not long before his death, possessed one of the wigs he wore on the show and took great delight in displaying it at science fiction conventionScience fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of various forms of speculative fiction including science fiction and fantasy. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies and...
s and on TV programmes. He also kept a CertinaCertina Kurth Frères SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker company founded in Grenchen, 1888, by Adolf and Alfred Kurth, and currently an affiliate company of the Swatch Group.-History:...
watch that was specially made for his character. Straker's look was one of the inspirations behind The Fast ShowThe Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and...
character 'Jazz Club's' Louis Balfour.
- Many other male characters in the series also wore wigs, again because the Andersons felt that they would become fashionable for both sexes by the 1980s. Early episodes in which Michael Billington does not wear a wig can be identified by his receding hairline and long sideburns.
- On both SkyDiver and Moonbase, SHADO pilots enter their interceptor craft by sliding down tubes. This is an allusion to the Andersons' earlier series, Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, which had the characters accessing their craft in similar fashion. This was due to the difficulty in getting a puppet into a cockpit easily and in a natural way.
- Ed Straker's dramatic gas turbine car, resembling somewhat the 1970 Citroën SM
The Citroën SM is a high-performance coupé produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1970 to 1975. The SM placed third in the 1971 European Car of the Year contest, trailing its stablemate Citroën GS, and won the 1972 Motor Trend Car of the Year award in the U.S. in 1972.-History:In 1961,...
, was, in fact, based on the chassis of a humble Ford ZephyrThe Ford Zephyr was a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom. Between 1950 and 1972, it was sold as a more powerful six-cylinder saloon to complement the four-cylinder Ford Consul: from 1962 the Zephyr itself was offered in both four- and six-cylinder versions.The Zephyr...
with a specially built aluminium body shell. There appear to have been only two cars made for the series, a prominently featured brown/gold car and a pink car with a larger hood opening. It appears that at some point in production the brown car was damaged because in some shots you can see one of the headlight openings has been covered in tape, one of the wheels has been replaced by a non-matching wheel, and the lead characters start using the pink car more frequently.
- The SHADO HQ and Moonbase control consoles, computer units, lighting panels and spacesuits make numerous appearances in later TV shows of the 1970s such as Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, TimeslipTimeslip is a British children's science fiction television series made by ATV for the ITV network and broadcast between 1970 and 1971. The series centres around two children, Simon Randall and Liz Skinner who discover the existence of a strange anomaly, known as the “Time Barrier”, that enables...
, DoomwatchDoomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC One between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist , responsible for investigating and combating various...
, The Tomorrow PeopleThe Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
, The GoodiesThe Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
, The New Avengers, Star MaidensStar Maidens is a British science-fiction television series made by Portman Productions for the ITV Network. Produced in 1975, and first screened in 1976, it was filmed at Bray Studios and on location in Windsor, Bracknell and Black Park...
, and Blake's 7Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
, as well as feature films such as Diamonds Are ForeverDiamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
, Carry On LovingCarry On Loving is the twentieth Carry On film, and was released in 1970. It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Terry Scott and Bernard Bresslaw alongside newcomers Richard O'Callaghan and Jacki Piper . Carry On Loving featured...
, and Confessions of a Pop PerformerConfessions of a Pop Performer is a 1975 British sex-farce film. This second instalment continues the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea and is based on the novels written under the name by Christopher Wood. In this case, the original novel was called Confessions from the Pop Scene, but was later...
. An alien spacesuit can also be seen in the Children's Film Foundation film Kadoyng.
- Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
, having had made a pair of very sheer trousers for actor Patrick AllenJohn Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
to wear in the episode "Timelash," later regretted not having had the nerve to ask him to wear a jock strap underneath, and commented on the DVD release of the series that "you should not be able to tell which side anybody's 'packet' is on."
- The futuristic, gull-winged cars driven by the Ed Straker and Paul Foster characters were originally built for the Anderson movie Doppelgänger
Doppelgänger is a 1969 British science-fiction film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Lynn Loring and Patrick Wymark. Outside Europe, it is known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, which is now the more popular title...
(US title: Journey to the Far Side of the Sun). During the shooting of the UFO series, David Lowe and Sydney Carlton raised funds to form a company called "The Explorer Motor Company," dedicated to the mass production of these cars for sale to the public. A plastic mold was made of the Straker car, in preparation for mass production, but the company never got off the ground.
- Both Ed Bishop and Michael Billington commented that the futuristic cars were "impossible to drive" (partly because the steering wheel was designed for looks, rather than functionality). Also, the gull-wing doors did not open automatically. Every shot in which the car door was seen to open automatically had to be arranged so that a prop man could run up to the car, just outside of the frame, open the door, and hold it open while Ed Bishop stepped out. In certain episodes (most notably "Court Martial") the prop man can be seen.
- The episode "Survival" shows that the Moon base is in the Mare Imbrium, or in the northeast part of it, according to a map that Foster and an alien studied while they were stranded on the surface. The map is a real one.
- On the Carlton DVD commentary for the first episode, Gerry Anderson noted that perhaps the programme's most dated aspect was its tobacco and alcohol consumption. (Though to be fair, in the 1980 of real life England and America, there was still plenty of smoking indoors, as well as executives with bars in their offices.) Straker has a futuristic home bar in his office, which dispenses whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
, bourbonBourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
, vodkaVodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
, etc., from which Col. Freeman partakes fairly regularly. While he himself does not drink, Straker is regularly seen smoking in SHADO headquarters, his tobacco of choice being either a cigarette or what appears to be a slim panatela cigar complete with holderA cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite , cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies' fashion from the mid-1910s through the early-1970s, and are still widely popular...
. And despite the high-tech milieu and enclosed environments, smoking is seen throughout the show, as was par for course in 1970s British television drama. As a consequence, some of the sequences in the bunker of SHADO HQ are seen through a slight smoky fogFog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
. Similarly many of the medical staff smoke whilst on duty, and smoking is even permitted on board the closed environment of the SkyDiver, where Capt. Carlin is shown idly flicking through magazines with a cigarette in hand. Most striking of all, Moonbase personnel also light up frequently.
- The Trimphone
The Trimphone is a model of telephone designed in the 1960s in the UK. It was positioned as a more fashionable alternative to the standard telephones available from the GPO, the predecessor to British Telecom...
, a British model of telephone designed in the 1960s, was featured prominently in the series.
- The machine typing out information in the intro is, or is based on, an IBM Selectric electric Typewriter (likely a Mag Card or Mag Tape model) in action, using an Orator element. The first Selectric was released in 1961, eight years before the series was produced.
Predictions
UFO, which was filmed in 1969 and 1970, made a number of predictions about what life in the 1980s would be like, some of which have come true. Among the innovations predicted by the series:
- Car telephones
A car phone is a mobile phone device specifically designed for and fitted into an automobile.In the late 1970s and 1980s, the car phone was more popular than the regular mobile phone...
, a.k.a. cell phones.
- Gull-wing door
Gull-wing door is an automotive industry term describing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by the 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL race car and its road-legal version introduced in 1954....
s on automobiles (Actually, these had been pioneered over a decade earlier in real life, in the Mercedes-Benz 300SLThe Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster...
, but were not widespread in 1969.)
- Spacecraft launched from an aircraft; as in the episode "Computer Affair"
- Extensive use of computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s in day-to-day life, even to the extent of predicting and analyzing human behaviour.
- Electronic fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
scanning and identification against a databaseA database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
.
- Voice print identification systems
Speaker recognition is the computing task of validating a user's claimed identity using characteristics extracted from their voices .There is a difference between speaker recognition and speech recognition . These two terms are frequently confused, as is voice recognition...
; also, vocal analysis used to identify individuals in the same way as fingerprints.
- Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
and a space observatoryA space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects...
(called an "electron telescope") ; as in the episode "Close Up".
- The episode "Survival" indicates that, in the UFO universe, racial prejudice "burned itself out" on Earth in the mid-1970s, a prediction which did not come true.
- That cars would drive on the right-hand side of the road in the UK and be converted to left-hand drive, another prediction which did not come true.
- UFO also featured episodes dealing with issues that would become topical in later years, such as space junk and the disposal of toxic waste
Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.Toxic waste...
.
- Cordless telephone
A cordless telephone or portable telephone is a telephone with a wireless handset that communicates via radio waves with a base station connected to a fixed telephone line, usually within a limited range of its base station...
s. (The three telephones on Straker's office desk had no cords between the handsets and the base.)
- MP3 players - In "Court Martial," Straker's secretary has one playing on her desk.
Episodes
Due to the then highly localised nature of the
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
"network" in the United Kingdom, the 26 episodes of
UFO were shown out of production order, and every broadcaster showed the episodes in different order. As the list below (loosely based on information from the book
The Complete Gerry Anderson) shows, on several occasions during the first run various broadcasters aired different episodes of the series on the same day. Some UK broadcasters did not air some episodes until 1973; as a result, some episode guides may list these episodes in different order. The North American DVD release of the series usually follows the production order, with a few diversions. The website
ufoseries.com offers seven viewing order possibilities. According to
The Complete Gerry Anderson, the episode "Exposed" was intended to be aired second, but it was produced fifth and appears as the fifth episode in the American DVD release.
Episode
# |
Original air date (UK) |
Episode title |
Production order |
Guest cast |
Episode summary |
Episode notes |
| 1-01 |
16 September 1970 |
Identified |
1 |
Shane Rimmer Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
, Michael Mundell |
After 10 years of planning, SHADO officially goes into operation and encounters its first UFO. An alien pilot is captured and discovered to have transplanted human organs. |
none |
| 1-02 |
23 September 1970 |
Exposed |
5 |
Jean Marsh Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh is an English actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott....
, Robin BaileyRobin Bailey was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.Although often chosen for upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Judge Graves in Thames Television's Rumpole Of The Bailey, Bailey is perhaps most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in I Didn't Know...
, Basil MossBasil Moss is a British character actor, who featured regularly on television in the 1960s and on radio in the 1970s.-Early life:He was educated at St Paul's School, which he followed with actor's training.-Acting career:...
, Arthur CoxArthur Cox , is a British actor of television and film.His most regular role was as George, the driver of Jim Hacker in the comedy Yes Minister. His other television credits include The Avengers, Terry and June, and Harbour Lights...
, Matt Zimmerman, Vladek SheybalVladek Sheybal , born Władysław Sheybal, was a Polish character actor, whose career lasted from the 1950s into the 1980s. He was probably best known for his portrayal of the chess grandmaster Kronsteen in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, a role for which he had been personally...
|
When civilian A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
test pilotA test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
Paul Foster inadvertently witnesses a SHADO operation, he is given a choice: join SHADO or die. |
none |
| 1-03 |
30 September 1970 |
Kill Straker! |
16 |
David Sumner, Louise Pajo Louise Pajo is a British actress, who is remembered by fans of Doctor Who for her role as Gia Kelly in the 1969 serial The Seeds of Death....
|
Foster and his lunar module co-pilot are brainwashed by aliens to kill Straker. |
none |
| 1-04 |
30 September 1970 |
The Cat With Ten Lives |
19 |
Alexis KannerAlexis Kanner was a French-born Anglo Canadian actor, most notable for appearing in the ground-breaking TV series The Prisoner....
, Geraldine Moffatt, Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
, Windsor DaviesWindsor Davies is a British actor, well known for playing the part of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the 1970s/1980s British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.-Early life and career:...
, Colin GordonColin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...
, Lois MaxwellLois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year for her performance in That Hagen Girl...
|
A SHADO pilot is placed under a hypnotic spell by an alien-influenced Siamese cat. |
none |
| 1-05 |
7 October 1970 |
Conflict |
6 |
Drewe Henley Drewe Henley is a British actor. He had a variety of roles in film, television and theatre including as Red X-Wing Squadron Leader Garven Dreis in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. He retired from acting due to manic depression, from which he has since recovered...
|
After Lunar Module 32 is mysteriously destroyed, Straker campaigns to have space junk removed from Earth's orbit. |
none |
| 1-06 |
7 October 1970 |
E.S.P. |
15 |
John Stratton, Douglas Wilmer -Early life:Wilmer was born in London and educated at King's School, Canterbury and Stonyhurst College. He trained at RADA but was called up to the Army in World War II. Posted to an antitank battery in the Royal West African Frontier Force, he was invalided out after he acquired tuberculosis. He...
, Deborah Stanford, Stanley McGeagh |
A man with ESP Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
knowledge of SHADO is co-opted by the aliens. |
none |
| 1-07 |
7 October 1970 |
The Sound Of Silence |
18 |
Michael Jayston Michael Jayston is a Nottingham-born English actor.- Early life :He attended the Becket Grammar School in West Bridgford, then worked briefly as a trainee accountant at the offices of the National Coal Board before obtaining a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to train as an...
, Susan JamesonSusan Jameson is an English actress who is best known for her television work.Jameson was born in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, England, UK. She is married to actor James Bolam with whom she has a daughter, Lucy...
, Richard VernonRichard Vernon was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles...
, Gito Santana, Basil MossBasil Moss is a British character actor, who featured regularly on television in the 1960s and on radio in the 1970s.-Early life:He was educated at St Paul's School, which he followed with actor's training.-Acting career:...
, Burnell Tucker, Tom OliverTom Oliver is an English television, film and theatre actor best known today for playing the role of Lou Carpenter in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.-Career:...
, Malcolm Reynolds |
A showjumper is abducted by the aliens. |
none |
| 1-08 |
14 October 1970 |
A Question Of Priorities |
8 |
Suzanne Neve, Philip Madoc Philip Madoc is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.One prominent role was the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...
, Mary MerrallMary Merrall , born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work.-Stage career:...
|
Straker faces a terrible decision: attend to an alien defector or deliver life-saving medicine to his critically injured son. |
none |
| 1-09 |
11 November 1970 |
The Square Triangle |
11 |
Adrienne Corri Adrienne Corri is an actress of Italian parentage.She is probably best known for her role as the rape victim Mrs. Alexander in the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange, and for her appearances as Valerie in Jean Renoir's The River and as Lara's mother in David Lean's Dr. Zhivago...
, Patrick MowerPatrick Mower , whose original name was Patrick Archibald Shaw, is an English actor well known for his many television and occasional film roles, often as a detective or secret agent.-Life:...
, Allan CuthbertsonAllan Cuthbertson was a naturalised Anglo-Australian actor.-Early life:Born Allan Darling Cuthbertson in Perth, Western Australia, son of Ernest and Isobel Ferguson Cuthbertson, he performed on stage and radio from an early age.During World War II, he served as a Flight Lieutenant with the RAAF...
, Anthony ChinnAnthony Chinn , the child of Chinese and Brazilian parents, was a supporting actor who appeared in over fifty films and television shows throughout a career which spanned more than four decades. His first film appearance was in the UK in 1957 when he was 27...
, Godfrey JamesGodfrey James is an English actor.His film appearances include: Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan's Claw, The Oblong Box, The Land That Time Forgot, Séance on a Wet Afternoon and At the Earth's Core....
|
SHADO as well as an alien find themselves in the middle of a murderous romantic triangle. |
none |
| 1-10 |
11 November 1970 |
Sub Smash |
17 |
Anthony Chinn Anthony Chinn , the child of Chinese and Brazilian parents, was a supporting actor who appeared in over fifty films and television shows throughout a career which spanned more than four decades. His first film appearance was in the UK in 1957 when he was 27...
, Paul MaxwellPaul Maxwell was a Canadian actor who worked mostly in British television and films, in which he was usually cast as an American...
, Alan Haywood, Burnell Tucker |
Straker must face his claustrophobia Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
when SkyDiver is damaged and is unable to surface. |
This is the only episode where Sky 1 is launched 10 degrees down. Also, the UFO's shape differs from those shown in all other episodes. |
| 1-11 |
2 December 1970 |
Destruction |
20 |
Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Beacham is a British television, film and theatre actress. Making her film debut in 1971's The Nightcomers opposite Marlon Brando and becoming more well-known on British television in the BBC series Tenko and the ITV series Connie , her worldwide breakthrough came as a result of playing...
, Philip MadocPhilip Madoc is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.One prominent role was the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...
, Edwin RichfieldEdwin Richfield was an English actor.His film credits include: X the Unknown, Quatermass 2, The Camp on Blood Island, The Face of Fu Manchu and Quatermass and the Pit....
, Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
, Jimmy WinstonJimmy Winston was the original Keyboard player with Small Faces who rehearsed in the large function room above the Ruskin Arms, Manor Park, of which Jimmy's father Bill Langwith was the landlord. Steve Marriott and the rest of the band replaced Winston with Ian McLagan...
|
The aliens attempt to destroy a naval ship dumping toxic nerve gas into the ocean. |
The UFOs have direct military battles with the British Royal Navy. |
| 1-12 |
9 December 1970 |
Computer Affair |
2 |
Michael Mundell |
A SHADO investigation reveals that romance may be complicating Moonbase operations. |
none |
| 1-13 |
16 December 1970 |
Close Up |
13 |
Neil Hallett, Peter Burton Peter Burton was an English film and television actor born in Bromley, England. His biggest claim to fame is being the first actor to portray Major Boothroyd, better known as Q, in the first James Bond film, Dr. No...
, John LeveneJohn Levene is an English actor. His most famous role was that of Sergeant Benton of UNIT on the television series Doctor Who.He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England....
, Alan Tucker |
SHADO obtains what may be the first photos of the alien homeworld. |
none |
| 1-14 |
30 December 1970 |
The Psychobombs |
22 |
David Collings David Collings is a British actor. He has played many different roles on various television programmes, including the leading dramatic role in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in 1964....
, Deborah Grant, Mike Pratt, Tom AdamsTom Adams is an English actor with roles in horror and mystery films, and several TV shows.He starred as Charles Vine in Licensed to Kill and the sequels Where the Bullets Fly and Somebody's Stolen Our Russian Spy .His television credits include General...
, Alexander Davion, Christopher TimothyChristopher Timothy is a Welsh actor, television director and writer. Timothy is possibly best known today for his role as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small; more recently he has starred as Dr. Brendan 'Mac' McGuire in the British television drama Doctors...
, Hans De Vries |
The aliens transform three humans into walking bombs. |
This is the only episode that shows one (1) SkyDiver with Sky 3 attached, with mention of a Sky 4 jet--indicating a fleet of submarines. |
| 1-15 |
6 January 1971 |
Survival |
4 |
Suzan Farmer Suzan Farmer is an English actress, mainly on television.She first appeared in an episode of the Patrick McGoohan series Danger Man entitled No Marks for Servility and went on to feature in many other ITC series in the 1960s and 70s including UFO, The Saint, Man in a Suitcase and The Persuaders!...
, Gito Santana, David WestonDavid Weston is an English actor, director and author. Since graduating from RADA in 1961 he has acted in numerous film, television and stage productions, including twenty-seven plays in Shakespeare's canon. With Michael Croft he was a founder member of the National Youth Theatre...
, Ray Armstrong |
Foster is stranded on the Moon, where he befriends a similarly stranded alien. |
In this episode, Straker says that racial prejudice burned itself out "five years ago;" this said on 13 April 1981. In the other Anderson series, Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
, Cmdr. Koenig hints that prejudice was finally ended in a great conflict about 10–12 years prior to 1999. |
| 1-16 |
13 January 1971 |
Mindbender |
25 |
Stuart Damon Stuart Damon is an American actor. He is known for thirty years of portraying the character Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera General Hospital, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1999....
, Charles TingwellIn 1941, aged 18, he volunteered for war service overseas with the Royal Australian Air Force. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, personnel from Commonwealth air forces were part of a joint training and assignment system. Consequently, Tingwell trained as a pilot in Canada during 1942...
, Anouska HempelAnouska Hempel, Lady Weinberg , born Anne Geissler, is a film and television actress turned hotelier and designer. She is also a noted figure in London society.-Personal life:...
, Philip MadocPhilip Madoc is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.One prominent role was the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...
, Steven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
, Peter HallidayPeter Halliday is a Welsh actor.He is probably best known for his role as Dr. John Fleming in A for Andromeda and its sequel,...
, Basil DignamBasil Dignam was an English character actor.Basil Dignam, a native of Sheffield, acted on film and television between 1951 and 1975. He often appeared as an authority figure, such as a police officer, army general or peer....
, Stephan Chase, James MarcusJames Marcus is an English actor.He is best known for his performance as Georgie, one of the droogs in Stanley Kubrick's controversial film A Clockwork Orange . Before becoming an apprentice printer, he spent the majority of his teenage life performing gigs...
, Stanley McGeagh |
An alien device causes Straker and other SHADO operatives to hallucinate. |
Ed Straker hallucinates that he is an actor in a television series about UFOs and aliens. He then steps out of the set and onto the real-world sound stage where UFO is filmed, and we can see all the sets that were used to film the series. Also, in Straker's hallucination, all the actors (except Ed Bishop) are called by their real names: Paul Foster is called "Mike" (as in Mike Billington), General Henderson is called "Grant" (as in Grant Taylor), and so on. |
| 1-17 |
20 January 1971 |
Flight Path |
3 |
George Cole, Sonia Fox, David Daker David Daker is an English actor.His is best known for his role as Harry Crawford in the hit series Boon. He also played PC Owen Culshaw in Z-Cars, Jarvis in Porridge, Captain Nathan Spiker in Dick Turpin....
|
A blackmailed SHADO operative opens the door for a possible alien attack on Moonbase. |
none |
| 1-18 |
20 January 1971 |
Ordeal |
9 |
David Healy David Healy was an American-born actor who starred in many British and American television shows. His credits include voices for the Supermarionation series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and The Secret Service, as well as parts in UFO, The Troubleshooters, Randall and Hopkirk , Space...
, Quinn O'Hara |
The aliens abduct Foster. |
Includes "Get Back "Get Back" is a song by The Beatles, composed by Paul McCartney and frequently attributed to Lennon–McCartney. The song was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969, and credited to "The Beatles with Billy Preston." A different mix of the song later became the closing track of Let It Be ,...
" by The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
at the party in this episode, released in 1969--about the same time this episode was filmed originally. |
| 1-19 |
3 February 1971 |
The Man Who Came Back |
21 |
Derren Nesbitt Derren Nesbitt is an English actor. Possibly his best known role was as SS Major von Hapen in Where Eagles Dare.In 2008 he was writing a book on "biblical myths and falsehoods".-Acting career:...
, Lois MaxwellLois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year for her performance in That Hagen Girl...
, Roland CulverRoland Culver OBE was a British stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:...
, David Savile |
A SHADO pilot believed dead suddenly turns up alive--much to a SHADO operative's suspicion. |
none |
| 1-20 |
10 February 1971 |
The Dalotek Affair |
7 |
Tracy Reed, Philip Latham Philip Latham is a British actor. He was educated at Felsted School.In the late 1960s/early 1970s he was well known to British TV viewers for his portrayal of chief accountant Willy Izard, the "conscience" to hard-nosed oil company industrialist Brian Stead in the BBC series The Troubleshooters...
, Basil MossBasil Moss is a British character actor, who featured regularly on television in the 1960s and on radio in the 1970s.-Early life:He was educated at St Paul's School, which he followed with actor's training.-Acting career:...
, John Breslin, Clinton GreynClinton Greyn is a Welsh-born actor noted for his appearances in British television series of the 1960s and 1970s.He made his film debut in the 1961 short Wings of Death, and went onto appear in such popular British TV series as Z-Cars and Compact...
, Dr. Frank E. Stranges, David WestonDavid Weston is an English actor, director and author. Since graduating from RADA in 1961 he has acted in numerous film, television and stage productions, including twenty-seven plays in Shakespeare's canon. With Michael Croft he was a founder member of the National Youth Theatre...
, Alan Tucker |
Communications problems at Moonbase are traced to a non-SHADO mining operation. |
This episode features additional moonbases not affiliated with SHADO and communication between them. |
| 1-21 |
17 February 1971 |
Timelash |
24 |
Patrick AllenJohn Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
, Ron PemberRon Pember is a British actor, best known for his role as Alain Muny in the 1970s BBC drama series Secret Army.Pember played the part of the psychopathic taxman in the Red Dwarf episode "Better Than Life"...
, John J. CarneyJohn J. Carney was a British actor.Television credits include: Dixon of Dock Green, UFO, Z Cars, Doctor Who , The Sweeney, Blake's 7 and Shoestring....
|
Time stands still at the film studio for everyone but Straker, Col. Lake and a mysterious enemy. |
|
| 1-22 |
3 March 1971 |
The Responsibility Seat |
10 |
Jane Merrow Jane Merrow is a British actress, born in London to an English mother and German refugee, who was active in the 1960s and 1970s in England and the US. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
, Patrick Jordan-Selected filmography:* Companions in Crime * No Smoking * The Battle of the River Plate * Cloak Without Dagger * The Man Upstairs * The Angry Hills * The League of Gentlemen...
|
Straker is attracted to a reporter who poses a possible security leak to SHADO. |
none |
| 1-23 |
1 April 1971 |
The Long Sleep |
26 |
Tessa Wyatt Tessa Wyatt is an English actress who first came to the public spotlight through her marriage to Tony Blackburn. She later starred in the sitcom Robin's Nest.-Early life:...
, Christian RobertsChristian Charles Roberts is an English actor. He was educated at Cranleigh School, Surrey and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art....
, John GarrieJohn Garrie, later known as John Garrie Roshi, was a British actor who later became a respected teacher of Zen Buddhism. Born in 1924, he died in Taunton, Somerset on 22 September 1999 at the age of 75.-Acting career:...
, Christopher RobbieChristopher Robbie is a British actor, television announcer, theatre director and designer, playwright and photographer. He trained as an actor at RADA in London, and has had a distinguished theatrical career, playing the title role in King Lear when a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He...
|
A woman awakening from a decade-long coma sparks a hunt for an alien bomb. |
It is often reported that the references to drug use in this episode led to several regional networks dropping it from the original UK run, but this is a fallacy. |
| 1-24 |
1 May 1971 |
Court Martial |
12 |
Jack Hedley Jack Hedley is an English actor, best known for his performances on television....
, Pippa SteelPippa Steel was a British actress best known for her roles in two Hammer horror films: The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire ....
, Louise PajoLouise Pajo is a British actress, who is remembered by fans of Doctor Who for her role as Gia Kelly in the 1969 serial The Seeds of Death....
, Georgina Cookson Antoinette Georgina Cookson was a British film, stage and television actress. She died in Sydney, aged 92, on 1 October 2011.-Family:...
, Tutte LemkowTutte Lemkow was a Norwegian actor and dancer, who played mostly villainous roles in British television and films. His chief claims to mainstream familiarity were his roles as "the fiddler" in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof and the old man who translates for Indiana Jones in Raiders of...
, Paul Greenhalgh |
Foster is tried and sentenced to death after a security leak is traced to him. |
none |
| 1-25 |
10 July 1971 |
Confetti Check A-O.K. |
14 |
Suzanne Neve, Shane Rimmer Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
, Jeffrey SegalJeffrey Segal is a British actor.He made his first screen appearance, as an extra, in the film Jud Süß .From the early 1960s onwards he appeared in many British TV series, notably Callan, Z-Cars, The Protectors, Terry and June, The Pallisers and Dad's Army.He played the part of 'Arthur Perkins'...
, Tom OliverTom Oliver is an English television, film and theatre actor best known today for playing the role of Lou Carpenter in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.-Career:...
, Donald Pelmear, Geoffrey HinsliffGeoffrey Hinsliff is an English actor best known for his portrayal of Don Brennan in Coronation Street from 16 August 1987 to 8 October 1997. He had previously played other characters in the same programme, in 1963 and 1977....
, Jack MayJack May was an English actor. Born in Henley-on-Thames, he was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow and after war service with the Royal Indian Navy in India was offered a place at RADA, but he instead went to Merton College, Oxford...
, Alan TilvernAlan Tilvern was a British film and television actor. He is best known for his role as R.K. Maroon in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.-Television appearances:* Doctor Who serial, Planet of Giants...
, Gordon Sterne |
A flashback episode focusing on SHADO's formation and how it caused the failure of Straker's marriage. |
This episode continues the creation of SHADO CONTROL (in the episode's past). |
| 1-26 |
24 July 1971 |
Reflections In The Water |
23 |
Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
, James CosmoJames Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting. Cosmo was born in Clydebank, Scotland, the son of actor James Copeland...
, Richard CaldicotRichard Caldicot was a British actor famed for his role of Commander Povey in the BBC radio series The Navy Lark. He also appeared often on television, memorably as the obstetrician delivering Betty Spencer's baby in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.His father was a civil servant and he attended Dulwich...
, David WarbeckDavid Warbeck was a New Zealand actor best known for his film roles in Europe.-Career and move into Italian cinema:...
, Anouska HempelAnouska Hempel, Lady Weinberg , born Anne Geissler, is a film and television actress turned hotelier and designer. She is also a noted figure in London society.-Personal life:...
, Gordon Sterne, Conrad PhillipsConrad Phillips is a British film and television actor, born in London. His real name is Conrad Philip Havord.He is best known for portraying William Tell in the popular ITV television series The Adventures of William Tell which ran for 39 episodes from 1958 to 1959. Philips also played Stefan,...
, Gerald CrossGerald Cross , was an English actor. Among his credits are Doctor Who, Francis Durbridge's The World of Tim Frazer and the Miss Marple films Murder, She Said and Murder Ahoy! .-External links:...
|
Straker and Foster investigate an undersea alien base. |
The massive UFO attack battle scene at the end was almost entirely a compilation of special effects shots from previous episodes. Four interceptor missiles are seen to be launched, implying that a spare craft was launched for the emergency. The terrestrial portion of the battle seemed to suggest that Sky 1 took out 25 UFOs unassisted. |
A number of episodes were edited together in the late 1970s to form the feature-length
Invasion: UFO, which was syndicated to American and European broadcasters. It primarily consists of approximately 30 minutes each from
Identified, Computer Affair, and
Reflections in the Water, with the ending taken from
The Man Who Came Back. Shorter segments from
ESP and
Confetti Check A-OK are used to bridge continuity gaps.
UFO stories in other media
Stories set in the Gerry Anderson UFO series have appeared in various media:
- Two novelizations based upon the series were published in the UK and America.
- In the comics "Countdown
Countdown was a British comic book published weekly by Polystyle Publications - ultimately, under several different titles - between February 1971 and August 1973....
" and "TV Action";
- In 1991 to 1999 Entropy Express in Brighton, South Australia
Brighton is a coastal suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, situated between Seacliff and Glenelg and aside Holdfast Bay. Some notable features of the area are the Brighton-Seacliff Yacht Club, the Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club, the Brighton Jetty, and its excellent beach...
published 7 issues of a periodical called Flightpath, containing 39 text stories set in the UFO scenario. These include a crossoverA fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
with BergeracBergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show...
, and a crossover with PredatorPredator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....
.
- There was a hardback annual for the series featuring text stories. There were also hardback annuals for the Countdown and TV Action comics featuring comic strips.
- Much fan-fiction has been written in this series's scenario.
- An Italian-language board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
of the race gameRace game is a large category of board games, in which the object is to be the first to move all one's pieces to the end of a track. This is both the earliest type of board game known, with implements and representations dating back to at least the 3rd millennium BC in Egypt, Iraq, and Iran; and...
type was published, called Distruggete Base Luna (= "Destroy Moonbase"), with up to 4 players, each representing an alien trying to penetrate Moonbase, and one player representing Straker in charge of Moonbase.
- In video games the retro science fiction "UFO: Enemy Unknown" is heavily inspired by this series. Aliens have attacked planet earth aiming to bio-harvest our organs. You play as the top secret Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, shooting down UFOs sightings using Interceptors and transporting your men using the Skyranger (Skydiver reference) to investigate crash sites. The main poster race of the series the Mutons are bio-engineered humanoids that are controlled telepathically from the Alien homeworld by an unseen race. Later in the game it becomes clear that the Aliens can use telepathy to control your soldiers also as in The Cat With Ten Lives. In the sequel "X-COM: Terror from the Deep
X-COM: Terror from the Deep is a strategy video game released in 1995 for the PC. It is the sequel to UFO: Enemy Unknown, and the second part of the X-COM series.-Gameplay:...
" Aliens have built liveable environments in the sea forcing you to go on "scuba-diving" missions to find and destroy their main control centre as seen in the finale Reflections In The Water. Interestingly much like the series portrays Edward Straker point of view you must play the role of making cold and analytic decisions to deal with the growing Alien threat, often times resulting in permanently losing some of your team mates found in X-COM. In addition Aliens not killed during a crash landing or battle but are captured go under autopsy to further your understanding on the Aliens motives, best example being Computer Affair.
Revivals
Several attempts have been made to either revive or remake the series. The first attempt, as mentioned above, evolved into
Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
. In the 1990s and early 2000s there were scattered reports of production companies around the world investigating the possibility of producing a new TV series or film, most recently in 2003 when Carlton International Media (current rights holders for the series) announced that an American company was planning to produce a new series. But as of 2007, nothing had yet come of this. Australian company Bump Map run by Albert Hastings pitched a revival of UFO to one of Australia's major TV production companies in 1995/6. Also in 1996, Ed Bishop briefly corresponded with independent Australian film maker/UFO fan Adrian Sherlock about an unofficial revival called
Damon DarkDamon Dark is a science fiction series from Australia, created by and featuring Adrian Sherlock.-Origins of the Series:The series began as a semi-professional TV pilot episode called Damon Dark: "Timeslip" and when this was not picked up by TV networks, its creator made a continuation for community...
: Shadofall. The project funding fell through but the script has been made into a fan-made audio production and uploaded to YouTube and continues as an independent series.
Film
In May 2009 it was announced that producer Robert Evans and ITV Global would be teaming up to produce a big screen adaptation of the series. Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek were writing the script, which would be set in the year 2020. On 23 July 2009, it was revealed that the
UFO movie would see visual effects supervisor Matthew Gratzner make his directorial debut. On 23 November 2009, it was confirmed that
Joshua JacksonJoshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles. He is best known for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series, Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Peter Bishop in the television series...
would be playing the role of Paul Foster, and that the spring start of the movie would be in summer 2010.
Ali LarterAlison Elizabeth "Ali" Larter is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing the dual roles of Niki Sanders and Jessica Sanders on the NBC science fiction drama Heroes as well as her guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s.Larter's screen debut came in the 1999 film...
was also linked to the role of Col. Virginia Lake in the movie.
Contrary to initial reports that SHADO HQ would be located underneath a Hollywood studio, director Gratzner confirmed in an interview that the base would be situated in Britain. The degree to which other elements of the TV show (the design of the UFOs, for example) would be replicated in the film was unknown as of early March of 2011, though Gratzner did state that the aliens would be humanoid in form.
Translations
- French: Alerte dans l’espace
- German: Ufo - Weltraumkommando S.H.A.D.O.
- Spanish: OVNI (Although the Spanish 2007 DVD release title remains "UFO")
See also
- Threshold
Threshold was a science fiction drama television series that first aired on CBS in September 2005. Produced by Brannon Braga, David S. Goyer and David Heyman, the series focuses on a secret government project investigating the first contact with an extraterrestrial species.The series was first...
, an American series broadcast in 2005 with noted similarities to UFO.
- The Indestructible Man
The Indestructible Man is a BBC Books original novel written by Simon Messingham and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, a Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
novel with a scenario derived from various Gerry Anderson story scenarios, including UFO.
- X-Com
X-COM is a series of strategy games created by Julian Gollop. In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM. The original game has a cult following.- Original series :...
, a computer game series whose plot and basis were heavily influenced by UFO.
External links