Revisiting UFO....

[Warped9]

"Reflections In The Water" **

Straker and Foster investigate an undersea alien base.

Are the writers getting lazy? I don't think this was very well done even if the idea itself has merit. Firstly was the case of a way too elaborate impersonation of personnel and SHADO Control for the purpose required. And Straker does a Kirk in that he personally goes to investigate the alien base. These were two elements that just seem at odds with what had been previously established. Straker previously trusted competent and trained personnel to execute such tasks.

The battle near the end could have been something exciting, but it was just a collection of previously used footage with no artistry to. Actually it raises other questions. Previously we could be led to believe that Moonbase only has three Interceptors, but for them to intercept and attack a wave of several UFOs they would certainly need more than three. Also we only hear reference to one Skydiver to attack the second wave, but one plane would be hopelessly outmatched. It just doesn't make any sense. In this case all it would have taken would have been one corrected line of dialogue: "All Skydivers launch to attack first wave."

A basically fair idea but clumsily executed.

Thats two disappointing episodes in a row. Bummer. Both "Psychobombs" and "Reflections In The Water" are among the last batch of episodes produced so maybe they were indeed getting sloppy.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Did we ever see Skydiver land in the water and redock with the submarine? It didn't look capable of making a landing on water, and it certainly wasn't a fire-and-forget device. I guess it might be able to land on a conventional airstrip, but then you'd have the logistical problem of having to transport and remate the aircraft at a dock.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I do remember that the later episodes, the ones with Lake instead of Freeman, had a different feel to them. Did they lose some creative personnel in addition to the several actors?

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I do remember that the later episodes, the ones with Lake instead of Freeman, had a different feel to them. Did they lose some creative personnel in addition to the several actors?

The first block mostly used directors who'd worked with Century 21 for years, coming up through the puppet shows, whereas the second block used more experienced live action directors who'd worked on many of the other ITC action shows. Also there were a few new writers coming in from other shows.

 

[Zaku]

Did we ever see Skydiver land in the water and redock with the submarine? It didn't look capable of making a landing on water, and it certainly wasn't a fire-and-forget device. I guess it might be able to land on a conventional airstrip, but then you'd have the logistical problem of having to transport and remate the aircraft at a dock.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyDiver):

"No footage exists of the redocking of Sky and Diver. It can be assumed that the Sky fighter would splash down in the sea and await pickup. The Sky fighters could also touch down on land, though again this was never seen."

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Did we ever see Skydiver land in the water and redock with the submarine? It didn't look capable of making a landing on water, and it certainly wasn't a fire-and-forget device. I guess it might be able to land on a conventional airstrip, but then you'd have the logistical problem of having to transport and remate the aircraft at a dock.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyDiver):

"No footage exists of the redocking of Sky and Diver. It can be assumed that the Sky fighter would splash down in the sea and await pickup. The Sky fighters could also touch down on land, though again this was never seen."

No reference given. I'd bet in actuality no one ever thought it through. Looks very cool although thoroughly impractical and defying real Physics like most Gerry Anderson vehicles.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

Sky One does seem capable of hovering occasionally (such as when it comes in over the burning petrol station in Flight Path), so I've alwasy assumed it had limited VTOL capability. Therefore, it could perhaps hover in front of the sub to achieve the re-docking.

 

[Warped9]

"Timelash" **

Straker combats a traitor while everyone else at SHADO is frozen in time.

This wasn't horrible to watch, but I couldn't figure out what was really going on. Why and how was Turner immune from the time freezing effect? I don't think drugs would have worked sufficiently for Straker and Lake to be immune from the effect even temporarily. And seeing them tool around in those silly go-carts was ridiculous. This was a real on-the-cheap episode. I could forgive some of the inconsistencies if the story as a whole had been more engaging. It certainly didn't start out badly as it was a real WTF moment. And it did dovetail neatly into the same scene again after Straker manages to kill Turner and damage the UFO. He was after all now strung out on a drug while the time dilation effect had stopped. I also liked seeing Virginia Lake in a somewhat more proactive role. I never really cared for Alex Freeman as he seemed rather redundant.

The basic idea of this is really to illustrate the effect of time dilation, but the problem is that how the story was done no one could really know what was going on. I've only seen this idea done twice in television and both were on Stargate SG-1. Suffice to say Stargate did it a lot better.


Of these last three disappointments I still think "Psychobombs" is still the worst. I do, however, have two more to go...

 

[Warped9]

"Mindbender" ***

SHADO personnel begin succumbing to frightening hallucinations.

I expected worse, but this actually wasn't that bad although it certainly wasn't among the better efforts earlier in the season. It was watchable and definitely more engaging than the three preceding episodes.

I would rationalize that there was certainly more than one boobytrap rock left by the exploding UFO on the lunar surface. SHADO got lucky that they had been exposed to only one. If that effect had spread to several people at once it could have been disastrous.

 

[Warped9]

"The Long Sleep" **

A comatose patient wakes up after ten years and may hold the key to a UFO case.

The series ends on a whimper with this weak effort. It's basically boring and doesn't get even mildly interesting until near the end. And then the payoff is just meh.

One thing in this episode is a reference to an incident in Turkey happening supposedly ten years before in 1974 (in context with the show). This supports a sense I've gotten from earlier in the series that the events within twenty-six episodes we've been watching have actually taken place over a few years. If true it's a neat idea and avoids the fictional idea that all these high point incidents have happened closely in succession over the space of a year.


I'm going to take some time to gather my thoughts before wrapping things up on this revisit.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I do remember that the later episodes, the ones with Lake instead of Freeman, had a different feel to them. Did they lose some creative personnel in addition to the several actors?

The first block mostly used directors who'd worked with Century 21 for years, coming up through the puppet shows, whereas the second block used more experienced live action directors who'd worked on many of the other ITC action shows. Also there were a few new writers coming in from other shows.

Interesting that the puppet people did a better job than the more experienced creators.

 

[T'Girl]

Skydiver land in the water and redock with the submarine

In Subsmash, after destroying the underwater craft (in the air), the sky one pilot report debris in the water and that he would be unable to redock.

 

[Maurice]

I do remember that the later episodes, the ones with Lake instead of Freeman, had a different feel to them. Did they lose some creative personnel in addition to the several actors?

The first block mostly used directors who'd worked with Century 21 for years, coming up through the puppet shows, whereas the second block used more experienced live action directors who'd worked on many of the other ITC action shows. Also there were a few new writers coming in from other shows.

Interesting that the puppet people did a better job than the more experienced creators.

That may be true of the writing, but I don't know that I'd say the latter block of episodes is directed worse than those done by the Century 21 people.

 

[Warped9]

***** Excellent (15.3%) - Nothing is ever perfect, but these episodes are an engaging and satisfying watch.
“Survival”
“Sub Smash”
“The Cat With Ten Lives”
“Destruction”

**** Good (34.6%) – Not quite excellent, but these episodes deliver in a sufficiently enjoyable way.
"Identified"
"Flight Path"
“Exposed”
“A Question Of Priorities”
“Close Up”
“E.S.P.”
“Kill Straker”
“The Sound Of Silence”
“The Man Who Came Back”

*** Fair (30.7%) – Quite watchable yet some of these with a little more thought and polish to give them more impact would have resulted in something better.
"Computer Affair"
“Conflict”
“The Dalotek Affair”
“The Square Triangle”
“Court Martial”
“Confetti Check A-O.K.”
“The Responsibility Seat”
“Mindbender”

** Poor (15.3%) – These episodes suffer form feeling cheap and lacking in effort. They come across as somewhat lazy in devlopment and execution. They each still have something in them, but not nearly enough.
“Psychobombs”
“Reflections In The Water”
“Timelash”
“The Long Sleep”


When you break it down half of these episodes are solid entertainment of good or excellent quality. If you mix in the fair rated episodes you have at least eighty percent of the episodes being on the successful side. That’s really not a bad record for an aborted one season series and one that is also more than forty years old. And the episodes that are a disappointment all came within the last batch of episodes produced. Not bad at all.

There’s a lot of good stuff and good thinking in UFO mixed in with a good dose of enthusiasm such that you can easily forgive some of the occasional logic missteps all television SF suffer. Like Star Trek before it and good series that followed the strengths of UFO usually overcame its limitations.

I really enjoyed revisiting this series and I can heartily recommend it. It certainly whets my appetite for a first-rate feature film…if we ever get one.


Next: Space: 1999.

 

[Warped9]

I just realized I overlooked the episode, "Ordeal," in which Paul Foster is abducted by the aliens. I know I watched the episode, but I can't find any review of it throughout the thread. I'll have to go back and take another look and then add it to the overall breakdown.

 

[Warped9]

"Ordeal" ****

Colonel Paul Foster is abducted by the aliens.

This episode sets up a good misdirection because all along you'd swear Foster isn't having the most pleasant of experiences...and then you find out it's all been a hallucination after passing out in the sauna. That said I'm damned if I know what was so strenuous about that health resort that could shake someone up because we really didn't see anything that could play with someone's mind the way we saw what Foster imagined.

I also find it odd that the Captain of Skydiver is also the pilot. In a Red Alert situation shouldn't the sub's commanding officer stay with the ship?


Adding this episode I somehow overlooked changes the overall results slightly. And in this case for the better.

***** Excellent (15.3%) - Nothing is ever perfect, but these episodes are an engaging and satisfying watch.
“Survival”
“Sub Smash”
“The Cat With Ten Lives”
“Destruction”

**** Good (38.4%) – Not quite excellent, but these episodes deliver in a sufficiently enjoyable way.
"Identified"
"Flight Path"
“Exposed”
“A Question Of Priorities”
"Ordeal"
“Close Up”
“E.S.P.”
“Kill Straker”
“The Sound Of Silence”
“The Man Who Came Back”

*** Fair (30.7%) – Quite watchable yet some of these with a little more thought and polish to give them more impact would have resulted in something better.
"Computer Affair"
“Conflict”
“The Dalotek Affair”
“The Square Triangle”
“Court Martial”
“Confetti Check A-O.K.”
“The Responsibility Seat”
“Mindbender”

** Poor (15.3%) – These episodes suffer form feeling cheap and lacking in effort. They come across as somewhat lazy in devlopment and execution. They each still have something in them, but not nearly enough.
“Psychobombs”
“Reflections In The Water”
“Timelash”
“The Long Sleep”

So the average rating per episode is 3.53 out of 5 or 70.6%. When you weigh that along with the 84.6% of the episodes being from Fair to Good to Excellent it argues that this was generally a pretty good series that was usually quite satisfying to watch.

 

[Gov Kodos]

It is a credit to the show that, despite how short a run it had, it has been so long well remembered. The music, effects, costuming all serve to date the show quite heavily. However, the stories it told hold up very well. The basic premise of the show works very well, and the characters were interesting and well played. Overall, it is a well done sci-fi show, which did very good quality work, which is still easy to enjoy.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That said I'm damned if I know what was so strenuous about that health resort that could shake someone up because we really didn't see anything that could play with someone's mind the way we saw what Foster imagined.

Probably more like the accumulated stress of the past year (or whatever) finally getting to him. I haven't seen the episode in years, but wasn't he ordered to the spa because he was getting twitchy?

I also find it odd that the Captain of Skydiver is also the pilot. In a Red Alert situation shouldn't the sub's commanding officer stay with the ship?

Well, Kirk did the same thing. One has to balance one's role as a commanding officer with one's role as a main character.

 

[Warped9]

It is a credit to the show that, despite how short a run it had, it has been so long well remembered. The music, effects, costuming all serve to date the show quite heavily. However, the stories it told hold up very well. The basic premise of the show works very well, and the characters were interesting and well played. Overall, it is a well done sci-fi show, which did very good quality work, which is still easy to enjoy.

Agreed. It made the most of what it had and its strengths mostly overshadow its weaknesses.

A shame UFO's overall goodness doesn't seem to have carried over into Space: 1999. I'm only five episode into watching this series and while somewhat slicker looking than UFO it doesn't impress me as anywhere near as competent.

 

[Gov Kodos]

It is a credit to the show that, despite how short a run it had, it has been so long well remembered. The music, effects, costuming all serve to date the show quite heavily. However, the stories it told hold up very well. The basic premise of the show works very well, and the characters were interesting and well played. Overall, it is a well done sci-fi show, which did very good quality work, which is still easy to enjoy.

Agreed. It made the most of what it had and its strengths mostly overshadow its weaknesses.

A shame UFO's overall goodness doesn't seem to have carried over into Space: 1999. I'm only five episode into watching this series and while somewhat slicker looking than UFO it doesn't impress me as anywhere near as competent.

I think a better comparison for concept and execution is the Captain Scarlet series. The drama is very dark and edgy, which I think is overlooked because it is a puppet show. I don't know how many of those folks came over to the start of UFO, but they certainly knew edgy stories in Captain Scarlet.