UFO (British TV series)


UFO is a 1970 British science fiction television series about the covert efforts of an international defence organisation to prevent an alien invasion of Earth. It was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.
A single series of 26 episodes was filmed over the course of more than a year; a five-month production break was caused by the closure of MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made. Production then moved to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. UFO was first broadcast in the UK and Canada from 1970, and in the United States from 1972.
The Andersons' live-action science fiction film Doppelgänger is considered an immediate precursor to UFO, which was their first entirely live-action TV series. The series featured actors, costumes, props, locations and music that had appeared in the film, and 11 cast members of the film appeared in at least one episode of UFO.
Following syndication in the US and initial favourable ratings, a possible second series was planned; initially entitled UFO 1999, this eventually became Space: 1999, but with a different cast from UFO.

Premise

The series' premise is that in 1980, Earth is being visited by aliens from a dying planet, who are abducting humans and harvesting their organs for their own bodies. The alien incursions may also be a prelude to a possible full-scale invasion. The series' main cast of characters are the staff of a secret, high-technology international military agency called SHADO established by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and Germany to defend Earth and humanity against the mysterious aliens and learn more about them, while at the same time keeping the threat of an alien invasion hidden from the public.
Operating under the cover of the Harlington-Straker Studios movie studio in England, SHADO is headed by Commander Edward Straker, a former United States Air Force colonel and astronaut, whose "cover" is his role as the studio's chief executive.
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 came from SID, the Space Intruder Detector, an unmanned computerised tracking satellite that constantly scans for UFO incursions. The forward line of defence is Moonbase from which the three lunar Interceptor spacecraft, that fire a single explosive warhead, are launched. The second line of defence includes Skydiver, a submarine mated with the submersible, undersea-launched Sky One interceptor aircraft, which attacks UFOs in Earth's atmosphere. The last line of defence is ground units including the armed, IFV-like SHADO Mobiles, fitted with caterpillar tracks.
On Earth, SHADO also uses two SHADAIR aircraft, a Seagull X-ray supersonic jet and a transport plane ; a transatlantic Lunar Carrier with a separating Lunar Module ; a helicopter ; and a radio-controlled Space Dumper. The Moonbase has hovercraft-like Moon Hoppers/Moonmobiles that can be deployed for transportation or reconnaissance.
The alien race is never given a proper name, either by themselves or by human beings; they are simply referred to as "the aliens". They are humanoid in appearance, and the autopsy of the first alien captured reveals that they are harvesting organs from the bodies of abducted humans to prolong their lifespans. However, the later episode "The Cat with Ten Lives" suggests that these "humanoids" are actually beings subject to alien mind control, and one "alien" body recovered was suspected of being completely Homo sapiens, "possessed" by one of the alien minds—a concept central to the Andersons' previous Supermarionation series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Their faces are stained green by the hue of a green oxygenated liquid, which is believed to cushion their lungs against the extreme acceleration of interstellar flight; this liquid is contained in their helmets. To protect their eyes, the aliens wear opaque sclera contact lenses with small pinholes for vision. The personal arms of the aliens resemble shiny metal submachine guns; these have a lower rate of fire than those used by SHADO.
The aliens' spacecraft can readily cross the vast distances between their planet and Earth at many times the speed of light, but are too small to carry more than a few crew members. Their time on station is limited: UFOs can only survive for a couple of days in Earth's atmosphere before they deteriorate and finally explode. The UFOs can survive far longer underwater; one episode, "Reflections in the Water", deals with the discovery of a secret undersea alien base and shows one UFO flying straight out of an extinct volcano. 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!. The craft is armed with a laser-type weapon, and conventional explosive warheads can destroy it.

Cast and characters

UFO had a large ensemble cast; many of its members came and went during the course of the series, with some actors—such as George Sewell and Gabrielle Drake—leaving midway through the series, during the production break necessitated by the change of studio facilities. It is established early on that SHADO personnel rotate between positions, so the occasional disappearance of characters—some of whom later returned in other positions—fits the concept of the series. Also, owing to the scheduling of the series not reflecting the production order, some episodes featuring departed cast members were not broadcast until late in the series, which can give the impression that no major cast changes occurred. Only Ed Bishop appeared in every episode.

Main characters

  • Colonel Edward "Ed" Straker, Commander-in-chief of SHADO, is a former American Air Force colonel, pilot and astronaut originally from Boston, Massachusetts, who organised 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.
  • Colonel Paul Foster is introduced in the second episode "Exposed". A former test pilot, his plane was critically damaged when SHADO's Sky One intercepted and destroyed a UFO flying near Foster's jet. His persistent investigation of the incident threatened to expose SHADO's existence, so Straker offered him a position with SHADO.
  • Lieutenant Gay Ellis, seen as Moonbase commander during the first half of the series. 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.
  • Colonel Alec Freeman, Second-in-command of SHADO, a former pilot and intelligence officer, is SHADO's first officer for 17 episodes in the series. Freeman is Straker's closest friend and right-hand man and, occasionally, his muscle.
  • General James Henderson, Straker's superior officer, serves as the president of the International Astrophysical Commission, which is a front for SHADO and is responsible for obtaining funds and equipment from various governments to keep SHADO operational. Straker and Henderson clash frequently over the needs of SHADO and economic realities.
Ironically Straker had at the start recommended Henderson to head SHADO.
  • Colonel Virginia Lake first appears in the opening episode, as the chief designer for Westbrook Electronics, the contractor for the SHADO's Utronics faster-than-light tracking system. During the last eight episodes, Lake returned to take over the post of SHADO first officer, replacing Alec Freeman.
  • Captain Peter Carlin, 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 the hope of finding out what happened to his sister, and eventually learned that her organs had been harvested in "Identified". Gordeno left the show after six episodes because he wanted to avoid typecasting.
  • Lieutenant Nina Barry is one of Straker's first recruits into SHADO. Barry works as a space tracker at Moonbase and later replaces Lieutenant Ellis as its commanding officer. She also serves aboard Skydiver in "Sub-Smash".
  • Captain Lew Waterman is initially an interceptor pilot on the Moon; he is later promoted to captain, and replaces Peter Carlin as commanding officer of Skydiver and pilot of Sky One.
  • Lieutenant Keith Ford is a 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 two-thirds mark of the series.
  • Lieutenant Ayshea Johnson is a SHADO headquarters officer in 14 episodes, and later becomes SHADO's communications officer following the departure of Lieutenant Ford.
  • Doctor Douglas Jackson is the SHADO psychiatrist and science officer. He serves a number of capacities within SHADO, including acting as prosecution officer during the court-martial of Paul Foster. It is implied that "Douglas Jackson" is not the character's birth name, as he speaks with a strong Eastern European accent.
  • Lieutenant Joan Harrington another Moonbase operative, was one of the organisation's earliest recruits, as seen in "Confetti Check A-O.K."
  • Miss Ealand is a SHADO operative who masquerades 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 Miss Holland, played by Lois Maxwell.
  • Lieutenant Mark Bradley is a Caribbean-born interceptor pilot based on the Moon. He becomes romantically involved with Lieutenant 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 two later episodes.