UFO
- Individual Card from the
Base Set issued
by Unstoppable Cards Ltd in 2016
UFO
is a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien
invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with
Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21
Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.
UFO
was first broadcast in the UK and Canada in 1970 and in US
syndication over the next two years. In all, 26 episodes, including
the pilot, were filmed over the course of more than a year, with a
five-month production break caused by the closure of the MGM-British
Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made.
The
Andersons had previously made a number of very successful children's
science fiction series using marionettes, including Supercar,
Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the
Mysterons and Joe 90. They had also made one live-action science
fiction movie, Doppelgänger, 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 was
intended for 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 Bishop had previously worked
with the Andersons as a voice actor on Captain Scarlet and The
Mysterons.
The show's basic premise is that in 1980 (a
date indicated in the opening credits), Earth is being visited and
attacked by aliens 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 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, while at the
same time keeping the threat of an alien invasion hidden from the
public. UFOs:
The extraterrestrial spacecraft can readily
cross the vast distances between their planet and Earth at many times
the speed of light (abbreviated and pronounced as "SOL";
e.g., "SOL one decimal seven" is 1.7 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 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! (produced
by series composer Barry Gray on an ondes Martenot). The craft is
armed with a laser-type weapon, and conventional explosive warheads
can destroy it. The personal arms of the aliens resemble shiny metal
submachine guns; these have a lower rate of fire than those used by
SHADO. Later episodes such as "The Cat with Ten Lives" show
the aliens using other weapons, such as a small device that paralyses
victims.
Aliens:
Notably for science fiction,
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. 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
show's opening sequence begins by showing the image of one of these
contact lenses being removed from an obviously real eye with a small
suction cup, even though the lens is not shown in contact with the
eye. The entire lens-removal sequence is shown in the pilot episode.
Only two of the alien suits were made, so at no point in
the series are more than two of the aliens seen on screen at any one
time. In the episode "Ordeal", Paul Foster is carried by
two aliens while he is wearing an alien space suit, but one of those
two aliens is always off-screen when Foster is on-screen.
The
alien spacesuit costumes were made of red spandex. At the start of
production the alien spacesuits were ornamented with brass chain
mesh, as seen in the episode "Survival". Later this was
replaced by silvery panels as in the image. In reality, the dark
vertical bands on the sides of the helmets were slits meant to allow
the actors to breathe.
SHADO:
To defend
against the aliens, a secret organisation called SHADO, the Supreme
Headquarters, Alien Defence Organisation, is established. Operating
under the cover (as well as under the premises) of the
Harlington-Straker Studios movie studio in England, SHADO is headed
by Commander Edward Straker (Ed Bishop), a former United States Air
Force colonel and astronaut, who poses as the studio's chief
executive.
Establishing the main character as a studio
executive was a cost-saving move by the producers: the studio was the
actual studio where the series was being filmed, originally the
MGM-British Studios and later Pinewood Studios – although the
Harlington-Straker studio office block seen throughout the series was
actually Neptune House, a building at the former British National
Studios in Borehamwood that was owned by ATV. Pinewood's studio
buildings and streetscapes were used extensively in later episodes,
particularly "Timelash" and "Mindbender", the
latter featuring scenes that 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. In "The Man Who Came Back", the main set for The
Devils, then in production at Pinewood, can be seen in the background
of several scenes.
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 disbelief. 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 create undue interest and could easily be
explained away as sets, props, or extras.
Another
Anderson leitmotif 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 computerised tracking satellite that constantly
scans for UFO incursions. The forward line of defence is Moonbase
from which the three Lunar Interceptor spacecraft, carrying nuclear
missiles, 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 are ground units including the armed, IFV-like
SHADO Mobiles, fitted with caterpillar tracks.
On earth,
SHADO also uses a Shadair supersonic jet (e.g., in episode
"Identified"), a transatlantic Transporter with a
separating Lunar Module (e.g., in episode "Computer Affair"),
a Helicopter (actually, a small VTOL aeroplane with large rotating
propellers, in episode "Ordeal"), and a Radio-controlled
(Space) Dumper (e.g., in episode "The Long Sleep"). Also,
the Moonbase has hovercraft that can be deployed for transportation
or reconnaissance.
Special effects, as in all Anderson's
marionette shows, were supervised by Derek Meddings, while the
vehicles were designed by Meddings and his assistant, Michael Trim.
Stories:
The show's concept was unusually
dark for its time: the basic premise was that Earth had not simply
been visited by extraterrestrial visitors, but indeed was under
brutal alien attack, and that alien invaders were abducting humans to
use as involuntary organ transplant 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 words of
the character 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 of the time, showing the clear influence of
American programmes like The Twilight Zone and Star Trek and British
action series such as Danger Man. One early episode, "Computer
Affair", suggested an interracial romance between two continuing
characters – something that was uncommon in British TV of the
period – 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. "A Question of Priorities" takes this exploration
further, and hinges on Straker having to make the life-or-death
choice of whether to divert a SHADO 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 flashback 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 amnesia drugs. (This was
decades ahead of a similar story device in Men in Black, and it was
one that was 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 run over a scene set in the near future,
showing the woman visiting her husband's grave and then walking away
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 the enduring cult
popularity of UFO 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 Limits 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
him 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.
UFO confused
broadcasters in both Britain and the United States, who could not
decide if it was a programme for adults or for children – In the
UK, the first series was originally shown in the 5.15pm 'tea-time'
slot on Saturdays, and on Saturday mornings during an early repeat,
by both London Weekend and the-then South-East franchisee, Southern
Television, which began broadcasting the first series almost two
months before the London area. The fact that the companies associated
with the Andersons, such as APFilms and Century 21, were primarily
associated with children's programming did not help matters. This
confusion and 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 Protectors and
Space: 1999.
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 Stingray, 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 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: 1999.
Merchandise:
As with many Anderson
productions, the series generated a range of merchandising toys based
on the SHADO vehicles. The classic Dinky 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 Interceptor, though Dinky's version of the
interceptor was released in a lurid metallic green finish unlike the
original's stark white. Like the Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet
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.
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 in Chief
Edward "Ed" Straker, portrayed by Ed Bishop, 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. He might or might not have been involved
with the United States Air Force's Bluebook Project; this is never
made clear in any of the instalments.
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 Madoc.
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. 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 over-ruling
him as to the plane's original mission. The drugs arrived too late at
the hospital, and John died. His ex-wife blamed him for their son's
death, and in the waiting room spat angrily at him, "I never
want to see you again!"
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. The very
first instalment, "Identified", refers to him possessing
the willpower to avoid alcohol, yet in "Confetti Check A-OK",
he drinks champagne at his own wedding, and later to commemorate his
wife's pregnancy. Some fans have suggested he might be a recovering
alcoholic. Interestingly, his friend Alec Freeman remarks in the
episode "Identified", "Sometimes I think drinking
requires more self-control." However, Straker is fond of cigars,
and he can be seen smoking in some episodes. Straker suffers from
claustrophobia, a fact known only to the SHADO doctors and Alec
Freeman. This was a major sub-plot in the episode "Sub Smash".
Col. Paul J. Foster:
Colonel Paul Foster
(portrayed by Michael Billington) 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 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 something 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 the alien from being killed by SHADO
personnel; his overall demeanour became noticeably more cynical after
this event, which the instalment "Survival" chronicled.
Lt. Gay Ellis:
Most often seen as Moonbase
commander during the first half of the series, Lt. Ellis (Gabrielle
Drake) 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:
SHADO's first
officer until about the three-quarter point in the series (when actor
George Sewell left following the change of studios, being later
unavailable when series production resumed at Pinewood studios). In
the French-dubbed version, Freeman is Canadian – Straker sometimes
calls him amicably "The Canadian." However, his nationality
was never mentioned in the English-language show and his original
British accent makes a Canadian origin doubtful. Initially depicted
in the pilot episode, "Identified," as being a cheerful
ladies' man in his early 40s, Freeman is thereafter a much more
strait-laced, more serious character who 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." His pre-SHADO background includes a history as a
combat pilot as well as in air force Intelligence (for which country
was unspecified). Freeman finds standing in for Straker difficult in
"The Responsibility Seat," but in other episodes, such as
"Close Up," he has become confident at handling control in
Straker's absence. He appears to have overseen the training of Paul
Foster following his recruitment to SHADO in the episode "Exposed"
and formed a friendship with the new officer, as they are seen out at
dinner in "The Dalotek Affair". Freeman is a key figure for
scenes with Straker in the MGM Borehamwood episodes, but besides the
episodes "Identified," "Computer Affair," "Flight
Path," "E.S.P.," "Confetti Check A-OK," and
"Court-Martial," he is largely a SHADO control-based senior
figure, unlike Foster and, later, Straker himself, having no further
background character development.
Gen. James L.
Henderson:
Henderson (Grant Taylor), 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 butt heads frequently over the
needs of SHADO and economic realities.
It can be inferred
that Straker and Henderson became somewhat estranged after Henderson
is injured in the car crash following a UFO attack in the pilot
"Identified". Also, Henderson is 'passed over' as first
choice for SHADO commander due to his age. Straker also impressed the
United Nations delegation committee (especially the French
representative, Duvalle) with his presentation as Henderson's deputy
by urging the necessity for SHADO to be set up. Straker is then
chosen as the first commander, though Henderson offers him the
opportunity to decline, as depicted in "Confetti Check A-OK,"
and we are led to believe Henderson effectively rammed the post of
SHADO commander down Straker's throat in "Confetti Check A-OK".
This presumably has the effect of straining their relationship and
causing friction between the two men.
Over time Henderson
appears more and more resentful of Straker. Episodes such as
"Conflict," "Court-Martial," and "Mindbender"
particularly highlight their personality clashes. However, later
episodes such as "Destruction," where they share a working
breakfast in Straker's office, and "Timelash," where
Henderson refers to Straker as "SHADO's most important piece of
manpower..." suggests a remaining bond of friendship.
Col.
Virginia Lake:
Col. Virginia Lake (Wanda Ventham) first
appears in the opening episode of the series ("Identified"),
as a SHADO scientist and a target of Alec Freeman's romantic
attention. A computer specialist, she was a member of the "Eutronics"
tracking device design team. Lake, like Paul Foster, is a
comparatively-recent addition to SHADO: both Col. John Grey (Gary
Raymond) & Col. Craig Collins (guest star Derren Nesbitt) are
shown as being of longer experience and senior within SHADO to both
Lake and Foster. She was romantically involved with Foster for a
time, and later served as Moonbase commander. During the last quarter
of the series, Lake returns to take over the post of SHADO first
officer, replacing Freeman. 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:
During the first third of the series,
Carlin (Peter Gordeno) 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"). Originally intended as a
major regular character, Carlin appears only in "Identified,"
"Computer Affair," "Flight Path," "A
Question of Priorities," "Exposed," and "Conflict".
It is rumoured Peter Gordeno's agent decided to pull the actor out of
the series; a few scripts such as 'Ordeal' were apparently originally
written for Carlin but re-drafted to then feature Paul Foster
instead. The main role of Skydiver commander and Sky One pilot was
passed on to Capt. Lew Waterman thereafter.
Lt. Nina
Barry:
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 (Dolores Mantez) 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. Bishop and
Mantez had a relationship in real life.
Capt. Lew
Waterman:
Initially an Interceptor pilot on the Moon,
Waterman (Gary Myers) is later promoted to captain and replaces Peter
Carlin as commanding officer of Skydiver and pilot of Sky One. He
becomes a close friend of Paul Foster, 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 that of veteran agent
and studio head Lew Wasserman. Despite being described as a 'main
character,' he is involved in very few episodes.
Lt.
Keith Ford:
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.
Lt.
Ayshea Johnson:
A SHADO headquarters officer in most
episodes. Initially seen doing miscellaneous tasks stationed at a
computer console, Johnson (Ayshea Brough) is the woman seen turning
in her seat to smile and wave at an (offscreen) Col. Alec Freeman in
the opening credits, which consisted of stock footage from
"Identified;" 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:
SHADO
psychiatrist and science officer. A somewhat sinister-looking figure
who sometimes appears to have his own agenda, Jackson (Vladek
Sheybal) serves a number of capacities within SHADO, including acting
as prosecution officer during the court-martial of Paul Foster. When
Foster escapes custody after falsely being found guilty, Jackson
successfully convinces General Henderson to have his guards use
tranquiliser 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. In voice overs on the DVD Ed
bishop commented that the actor had a much better pedigree than
anyone else on camera and he must have wondered what his agent had
gotten him into.
Lt. Joan Harrington:
Another
Moonbase Space Tracker, Harrington (Antonia Ellis) was one of the
organisation's earliest recruits, as seen in "Confetti Check
A-OK".
Miss Ealand:
Ealand (Norma
Ronald) is a 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 Maxwell.
Lt.
Mark Bradley
Bradley (Harry Baird) is a 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 female Moonbase operatives,
Joanna, was played by Shakira Baksh, who later married actor Michael
Caine. Producer Gerry Anderson 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 on the nose by him. Steve Minto, one of the interceptor
pilots, was played by the actor Steven Berkoff.
Look of
the show:
It is never explained why female Moonbase
personnel uniformly wore mauve or purple wigs, silver catsuits, and
extensive eye make-up (although it has been suggested in the
novelisation of the show that it was to combat static electricity)
and their unusual apparel 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. But whenever female Moonbase personnel visited
Earth (as Ellis and Barry did from time to time), their lunar
uniforms and wigs 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. 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
conventions and on TV programmes. In the episode "Mindbender",
Stuart Damon is seen wearing the same white wig, although
deliberately ill fitting, in a dream sequence segment. Bishop also
kept a Certina watch that was specially made for his character.
Straker's look was one of the inspirations behind The Fast Show
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, which had the characters reaching 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, was, in fact, based on the chassis of a humble Ford
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 purple car with a larger hood opening. It
appears that at some point in production the brown car was damaged
because in some shots, it can be seen that one of the headlight
openings has been covered in tape, one of the wheels has been
replaced by a mismatched wheel, and the lead characters start using
the purple 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, Timeslip, Doomwatch, The Tomorrow People, The Goodies, The New
Avengers, Star Maidens, and Blake's 7, as well as feature films such
as Diamonds Are Forever, Carry On Loving, and Confessions of a Pop
Performer. An alien spacesuit can also be seen in the Children's Film
Foundation film Kadoyng.
Sylvia Anderson, having had made
a pair of very sheer trousers for actor Patrick Allen to wear in the
episode "Timelash," later regretted not having had the
nerve to ask him to wear a jockstrap 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
(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
mould 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 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 show also made limited use of American models,
which were unfamiliar to British viewers. These supposedly futuristic
vehicles included a 1965 Ford Galaxie station wagon and an Oldsmobile
Toronado. American viewers found these appearances rather amusing.
The episode "Survival" shows that SHADO's
Moonbase 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. To be fair, however, 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, bourbon,
vodka, 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 holder. 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 fog. 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, 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:
Spacecraft launched
from an aircraft, as in the episode "Computer Affair".
Extensive use of computers in day-to-day life, even to
the extent of predicting and analysing human behaviour.
Electronic
fingerprint scanning and identification against a database.
Voice
print identification systems; also, vocal analysis used to identify
individuals in the same way as fingerprints.
Metadata and
a space observatory (called an "electron telescope"), as in
the episode "Close Up".
The episode "Survival"
indicates that racial prejudice will have "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.
Cordless
telephones. (The three telephones on Straker's office desk had no
cords between the handsets and the base.)
Miniature music
players – In "Court Martial," Straker's secretary has one
playing on her desk.
Liposuction – In "Ordeal,"
the doctor threatens, "When all else fails, I'll remove that
blab around your middle surgically!"
Winglets - An
aircraft appears with winglets on the nose, in "A Question of
Priorities".