User Reviews

Often dismissed quite erroneously as "cheesy" - simply because of its dated but eye catching look - UFO represents some of the most original and ground-breaking work of Gerry Anderson and his team.

The series is at times very adult in nature, with some dark and disturbing episodes. Throughout there is a running theme of body snatching and enforced organ donation, as aliens from another world visit to harvest the human race in order to prolong their own existence. Individual episodes tackle extra sensory perception, drug abuse and adult topics such as rape.

Throughout the series the aliens remain an enigma; their plans alter from abduction of individuals to the destruction of whole countries, perhaps in response to the presence and actions of SHADO.

Patchy at times, there is no individual episode that is less than watchable. Many of the special effects are a testament to the skills of those involved and often exceed the work of the film industry at the time and since.

The presence of directors such as David Tomblin are clear in the production.

UFO is another of those great childhood memories of mine of 1970s TV sci-fi & horror films, and television programs. I believe the series had a delayed showing in the Sates, as it seems to have been around 1972, or 1973 when I recall first watching it. Something of a surprise it ran at all in my area, really. I was too young to appreciate Gabrielle Drake's stunning beauty at the time(it's a shame she wasn't in all of the episodes), but the various spacecraft stuck in my mind, of course, as did the moon base. It seemed reasonable in those days we would have a real-life moonbase fairly-soon, after all.

Upon watching the series through as an adult, some problems become obvious; i.e., how a moonbase could remain hidden on the Earth side face of the moon from even small telescopes, how SHADO technology was pretty much equal to the alien's craft, and how remarkably poor shots the aliens generally were. That said, it's a classic series which deserved better when it was originally produced, and deserves to be better known yet today. No doubt the various vehicles will elicit laughter as models from today's young CGI-jaded fans, but are still quite cool, anyway. Some of them stuck in my memory for years, like the one where the alien tried to defect to our side, and the installment where a SHADO probe follows a saucer back to their home planet.

Yes, a darker series than most in the genre, as matters didn't always turn out for the best for everyone, but this perhaps made it a bit more realistic in the end. Highly recommended.

Note To T.V. Producers - when making a sci-fi series, it is never a good idea to specify the year in which it is set. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's 'U.F.O.' was made in 1970, but set ten years in the future, meaning it now looks bizarre compared to the reality. No Margaret Thatcher, for instance ( unless she slipped in unnoticed as one of the Moonbase girls! ). My first encounter with 'U.F.O.' came in the pages of the fondly remembered 'Countdown' comic in early 1971. When the series made it to my part of the world a few months later, I was already acquainted with its format and characters.

The premise is this; Earth is fighting a secret war against mysterious green-skinned aliens from an unknown planet, who travel in flying saucers that make a distinctive whirring sound. The aliens are not here to take over, but to kidnap people to use their internal organs as replacements for their own, as an unspecified catastrophe is causing them to gradually die out. Set up to defend us is S.H.A.D.O. ( Secret Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation ), headed by Commander Ed Straker ( Ed Bishop ). Its headquarters, concealed behind the facade of a film studio, is a male chauvinist's dream as its operatives are mostly female and shapely. Whenever a U.F.O. is detected entering our part of the Solar System, S.H.A.D.O. launches Interceptors from a base on the Moon. Should the pesky critters elude the Interceptors' missiles ( which was at least once a week ), the next line of defence were the Skydiver submarines ( though we only ever saw one ). Captain Peter Carlin ( Peter Gordeno ) would enter a hatch, gain access to the cockpit of 'Sky One' ( nothing to do with Rupert Murdoch, so don't worry ), the submarine tilted, and its entire front section detached itself and shot into the sky like a bullet. Should Carlin's aim be off, the U.F.O. next had to contend with Mobiles - huge, land-based vehicles not unlike tanks. The aliens knew of S.H.A.D.O.'s existence ( thanks to a number of people under their control ) and did their best to destroy it. In one episode, two of Straker's men are brainwashed and given orders to kill him. In another, a strange crystal found on the Moon drives insane anyone unlucky enough to touch it.

All this was tremendously exciting to my eight-year old eyes back in 1971. A war between planets, spaceships, submarines, underground offices, ray guns, cars whose doors opened vertically ( how we all wanted to own one! ), explosions, and Gabrielle Drake looking devastatingly sexy in a purple wig ( her dallying with aliens served her in good stead when she appeared in 'Crossroads' a decade later! ). Derek Meddings once more provided the S.F.X., making this one of the few British sci-fi shows of that period to stand comparison with the better funded American ones. Dinky brought out toy Interceptors and Mobiles ( and before you ask, yes, I had both these! )

Of the cast, Ed Bishop was superb as 'Straker', with George Sewell as lecherous 'Colonel Alec Freeman', and Michael Billington providing interest for the ladies as 'Colonel Paul Foster'. The guest-stars included Robin Bailey, George Cole, Adrienne Corri, Michael Jayston, Jane Merrow, Stuart Damon, and Patrick Mower.

I.T.V. did not know what to do with the show; many regions dumped it in late-night slots ( including my own - H.T.V. ). The few critics who bothered to review it predictably likened it to Anderson's 'Thunderbirds'. Very unfair, but what you would expect coming from the uninformed.

The last few episodes were made after a production break, and experienced film directors such as Cyril Frankel and Jeremy Summers came aboard, resulting in a superb run of stories including 'Timelash' in which Patrick Allen played a malevolent time-jumper, and 'The Long Sleep' with Tessa Wyatt. The latter episode was unusually strong for 1970 television, featuring a drug sequence and an attempted rape. Wanda Wentham replaced George Sewell as Straker's second-in-command.

A few years after it ended, 'U.F.O' became a surprise hit on U.S. television, and for a while a second series looked a certainty. But it never happened, and I'm glad it did not because I think the proposed changes in format ( making the Moonbase the focal point of the plots ) would quickly have palled.

As I write this, 'U.F.O.' is being screened on I.T.V.-4, and the series came out on D.V.D. some years ago. It may seem strange to young viewers ( I hope they do not think that the 1980 depicted in the show was anything like the real one! ), but I think it stands up well.

UFO is undoubtedly a slick and glossy show, ahead of it's time maybe - and unfortunately cancelled before it's time...

OK so some of the episodes had flimsy plots - and some had plot holes large enough to swim Skydiver through - but I enjoyed it none-the-less.

SHADO hides under the Harlington-Straker film studios. Ed Straker appears to head the studio - but it's all a cover. Passing the efficient Miss Ealand, Straker enters his office only for it to sink into the ground to SHADO proper. Personnel in incredibly tight jump suits patrol the corridors and control room. All to track and destroy invaders from outer space who are coming here to kidnap people for organ transplant (a nice plot device which seems to get lost along the way).

Aided by submarines that have jet planes attached to the front, the Space Intruder Detector satellite, mobiles, lunar modules and the wonderfully-designed moonbase with it's interceptors and proper sci-fi-silver-suited personnel, the series is set up for some dramatic battles and intriguing story lines.

Oh and the moonbase ladies have purple wigs on...

Ed Bishop excels as Straker, ably supported by all the cast. Can I put in a vote here for Keith Alexander (playing Lt Ford)? He was used well in more than one story. And another vote for Delores Mantez (playing Nina Barry). The episode when she is stuck underwater with Straker is a real classic and gives one of the ladies (sans purple wig) more to do.

My favourite episode has to be the one where Staker and Virginia Lake (Wanda Ventham looking superb!) find themselves stuck in time. I loved all the frozen things around the studio - and people. Cleverly filmed. Perhaps someone will explain what it was all about to me one day - but I love it.

As a child I had a corgi or dinky or whatever die-cast moonbase interceptor that actually fired it's plastic missile at the touch of a button. Don't tell health and safety! Oh and I loved the UFO's themselves.

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's visions of the future were often stunning and beautifully realised through props (Straker's car with it's gull-wing doors), models (moonbase, interceptors, SID, Skydiver etc), fashion (purple wigs again!) and plausible story lines. This was another credit to them.

Interceptors - immediate launch!!!

REALLY bad special effects - it's a couple of years after Space Odyssey, and its special effects look straight out of 1930's Flash Gordon. There are only 3 spacecraft to protect the lunar base, and each carries...one missile!!! Ufos are hanging by a thread- the way they are spinning makes it quite obvious. Ridiculous costumes, cars and vehicles of all sorts - this was supposed to be just 11 years into the future, there was no need to imagine that things would be so different.No need for the women on the lunar base to have magenta hair, or for the guys in the submarine to have fishnet shirts. On the other hand, when it comes to technology,, everything seems to be still in the 1960s: computers have no screens, the (rare) screens are small and black and white, everyone uses printouts....Also, it seems they needed a Physics adviser. At some point, an alien sets up a radio transiter (a small plastic contraption) and this dialogue takes place at the command center: Estimated signal strength 1500 MW" "-That's as powerful as a medium sized commercial transmitter"! Multiple facepalms..... No real acting to speak of - but it's not the actors' fault of course. As I said, fun to watch, but cheap and silly.