Revisiting UFO....
- Thread starter Warped9
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"Confetti Check, A-O.K." ***
Colonel Straker gets married and a surprise promotion.
This gives us some background, some prehistory into how SHADO got started and how Ed Straker came to be where and what he is. In that sense it's interesting although we don't get to hear much about the details of SHADO being put together. We hear some vague references and see something of SHADO headquarters being constructed, But this is really about the disintegration of Straker's marriage and sacrifice of a normal life. And it seems he found it simpler to just let his wife believe he was unfaithful rather than trying to explain even a little of what he is involved in.
There's some good stuff in this, but it's also predictable and somewhat paint-by-number. It's basically filling in inferences made in earlier episodes with already half expected instances. There's nothing really surprising here and what we do see doesn't come across as sufficiently compelling. We can already see how this is all going to end. In a way it's like many prequels we get today (Star Wars being a prime example) of telling us what we already know but with just a little more detail. There's just not enough of interest happening in this. I feel there's a bigger and better story lurking in this, but it's glossed over and simplified just to tell us something we could catch on just about any soap opera.
That said, though, this is much more an adult oriented story than one normally assumed to be part of an action-adventure series. In that sense UFO was bucking expected convention just as Star Trek had done only a few years earlier.
"The Responsibility Seat" ***
Straker checks out a woman who may be a security risk and leaves Freeman in command.
I didn't mind this, but it wasn't anything special. Straker finds himself attracted to a woman of dubious character posing as a freelance journalist. Throughout it all you can see him waffling between wanting to give in to his feelings and trying to stay detached enough to find out the truth about her. I can say I can empathize with him because she is a looker. Meanwhile Alex Freeman is left in command and finds himself faced with decisions he's not accustomed with.
At least they don't go the route of Straker being in love. He's just attracted and interested in the woman and I think it's obvious that her somewhat roguish manner is part of the appeal, particular for someone whose life requires him to be squared away 24/7. Freeman looked a bit out of his depth and almost constantly second guessing himself, but then who is to say Straker doesn't so the same only he's better at hiding it and making it look easy.
Basically there isn't a lot happening in this episode, but some of it is interesting nonetheless. That Russian mining rig was cool looking and it also reaffirms that SHADO and the Americans don't have the Moon all to themselves.
Colonel Straker gets married and a surprise promotion.
This gives us some background, some prehistory into how SHADO got started and how Ed Straker came to be where and what he is. In that sense it's interesting although we don't get to hear much about the details of SHADO being put together. We hear some vague references and see something of SHADO headquarters being constructed, But this is really about the disintegration of Straker's marriage and sacrifice of a normal life. And it seems he found it simpler to just let his wife believe he was unfaithful rather than trying to explain even a little of what he is involved in.
There's some good stuff in this, but it's also predictable and somewhat paint-by-number. It's basically filling in inferences made in earlier episodes with already half expected instances. There's nothing really surprising here and what we do see doesn't come across as sufficiently compelling. We can already see how this is all going to end. In a way it's like many prequels we get today (Star Wars being a prime example) of telling us what we already know but with just a little more detail. There's just not enough of interest happening in this. I feel there's a bigger and better story lurking in this, but it's glossed over and simplified just to tell us something we could catch on just about any soap opera.
That said, though, this is much more an adult oriented story than one normally assumed to be part of an action-adventure series. In that sense UFO was bucking expected convention just as Star Trek had done only a few years earlier.
"The Responsibility Seat" ***
Straker checks out a woman who may be a security risk and leaves Freeman in command.
I didn't mind this, but it wasn't anything special. Straker finds himself attracted to a woman of dubious character posing as a freelance journalist. Throughout it all you can see him waffling between wanting to give in to his feelings and trying to stay detached enough to find out the truth about her. I can say I can empathize with him because she is a looker. Meanwhile Alex Freeman is left in command and finds himself faced with decisions he's not accustomed with.
At least they don't go the route of Straker being in love. He's just attracted and interested in the woman and I think it's obvious that her somewhat roguish manner is part of the appeal, particular for someone whose life requires him to be squared away 24/7. Freeman looked a bit out of his depth and almost constantly second guessing himself, but then who is to say Straker doesn't so the same only he's better at hiding it and making it look easy.
Basically there isn't a lot happening in this episode, but some of it is interesting nonetheless. That Russian mining rig was cool looking and it also reaffirms that SHADO and the Americans don't have the Moon all to themselves.
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"Close Up" was the episode I was talking about earlier. I do remember it as being a malfunction rather than a design flaw. Either way, though, it's ridiculous to think that the data was totally useless. Pictures of the alien planet or alien artifacts, whether in orbit or on the surface, would be recognizable or interpretable. And in many, if not most, instances, scale would be relatively unimportant.
"Confetti Check A-OK" and "Responsibility Seat," however, were two of my favorite episodes. UFO did character studies very well for the most part.
"Confetti Check A-OK" and "Responsibility Seat," however, were two of my favorite episodes. UFO did character studies very well for the most part.
I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately the way the characters were talking they were making it seem like it was all a total write off whereas there could still be a great deal to be learned from it.
"E.S.P." ****
A man with telepathic ability is manipulated by the aliens to kill Straker and Freeman.
There was something genuinely X-Files like about this one. What we don't know is whether the aliens manipulated Croxley since birth or manipulated what had originally been a latent or modest ability. Whatever the case we seem to have gotten more direct ideas about the aliens' situation and intentions: their world is depleted and dying and they're grasping at straws to survive, or so it seems. They also could have just been feeding Croxley false information.
Nonetheless this episode has something of an eerie feel to it.
"Kill Straker!" ****
Paul Foster and a shuttle copilot are brainwashed into trying to kill Commander Straker.
I liked most of how this story was told although I think some sort of red flag about Foster's behaviour should have been raised from the moment he starts exhibiting open hostility from out of nowhere. Nonetheless I like Straker following his intuition rather than simply going by the psychiatrist's recommendation.
UFO was much like Star Trek in the way rarely seen yet familiar faces would show up every now and then. It really gave the organization a sense of continuity much like seeing familiar crew members in the background of the Enterprise corridors.
I still can't get over the sight of them actually smoking on the moon.
And while i can shrug off most of the costuming some of the colours and styles were just a bit too much.
But it has to be said that after fifteen episodes there really isn't a stinker in the bunch so far. They all have their highs and lows, but overall it's more than just watchable. It's generally good with occasional flashes of excellence.
"Sub-Smash" *****
An alien device seriously damages one of the Skydiver subs and traps Straker and the sub crew underwater.
I don't recall ever seeing this episode before and I really liked it. It was also interesting to see that Straker could be vulnerable in terms of having to deal with claustrophobia and then possible hallucinations when he was near the end of his rope.
The Skydivers actually aren't very large vessels and they have small crews. It actually seems odd that easily a third of the craft is an aircraft. And not even a hint as to what the alien device was.
Regarding Lt. Nina Barry... Awesome!
"The Sound Of Silence" ****
A UFO follows a space capsule back to Earth then sets about abducting someone.
This is basically SHADO's meat-and-potato kind of work: if a UFO gets through then they try to find it before it starts abducting people.
This is pretty good and yet another story with an X-Files feel to it. The key difference is we already know whats spooking the horse and other animals, It does seem, however, to be a rather labour intensive and problematic way to harvest humans and human organs by picking up only one or two at a time. And it also seems more likely that the aliens would alternately land in all parts of the world rather than always seeming to show up in England, but we never hear references to that effect.
As soon as I saw the signal from the object they'd retrieved from the UFO wreckage I knew what and who it was, so it was kind of funny watching the characters trying to figure this things out when it was already so obvious to the viewer: it was so obviously a human heartbeat albeit really slowed down.
I really like some of the space shots in this series as we get a nice mixture of starfields and planet shots with some wisps of dust and nebula thrown in. It really is a step up from the kind of space shots we'd gotten in previous films and television shows.
A man with telepathic ability is manipulated by the aliens to kill Straker and Freeman.
There was something genuinely X-Files like about this one. What we don't know is whether the aliens manipulated Croxley since birth or manipulated what had originally been a latent or modest ability. Whatever the case we seem to have gotten more direct ideas about the aliens' situation and intentions: their world is depleted and dying and they're grasping at straws to survive, or so it seems. They also could have just been feeding Croxley false information.
Nonetheless this episode has something of an eerie feel to it.
"Kill Straker!" ****
Paul Foster and a shuttle copilot are brainwashed into trying to kill Commander Straker.
I liked most of how this story was told although I think some sort of red flag about Foster's behaviour should have been raised from the moment he starts exhibiting open hostility from out of nowhere. Nonetheless I like Straker following his intuition rather than simply going by the psychiatrist's recommendation.
UFO was much like Star Trek in the way rarely seen yet familiar faces would show up every now and then. It really gave the organization a sense of continuity much like seeing familiar crew members in the background of the Enterprise corridors.
I still can't get over the sight of them actually smoking on the moon.
And while i can shrug off most of the costuming some of the colours and styles were just a bit too much. But it has to be said that after fifteen episodes there really isn't a stinker in the bunch so far. They all have their highs and lows, but overall it's more than just watchable. It's generally good with occasional flashes of excellence.
"Sub-Smash" *****
An alien device seriously damages one of the Skydiver subs and traps Straker and the sub crew underwater.
I don't recall ever seeing this episode before and I really liked it. It was also interesting to see that Straker could be vulnerable in terms of having to deal with claustrophobia and then possible hallucinations when he was near the end of his rope.
The Skydivers actually aren't very large vessels and they have small crews. It actually seems odd that easily a third of the craft is an aircraft. And not even a hint as to what the alien device was.
Regarding Lt. Nina Barry... Awesome!
"The Sound Of Silence" ****
A UFO follows a space capsule back to Earth then sets about abducting someone.
This is basically SHADO's meat-and-potato kind of work: if a UFO gets through then they try to find it before it starts abducting people.
This is pretty good and yet another story with an X-Files feel to it. The key difference is we already know whats spooking the horse and other animals, It does seem, however, to be a rather labour intensive and problematic way to harvest humans and human organs by picking up only one or two at a time. And it also seems more likely that the aliens would alternately land in all parts of the world rather than always seeming to show up in England, but we never hear references to that effect.
As soon as I saw the signal from the object they'd retrieved from the UFO wreckage I knew what and who it was, so it was kind of funny watching the characters trying to figure this things out when it was already so obvious to the viewer: it was so obviously a human heartbeat albeit really slowed down.
I really like some of the space shots in this series as we get a nice mixture of starfields and planet shots with some wisps of dust and nebula thrown in. It really is a step up from the kind of space shots we'd gotten in previous films and television shows.
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"The Cat With Ten Lives" *****
A new theory is developed about the aliens even while a SHADO Interceptor pilot is being manipulated by them.
What little is known about the aliens gets a new twist when Dr. Jackson speculates the real aliens might not be humanoid at all and that humans could be being used as remotely controlled bodies so to speak. If true this would make the humanoid aliens' behaviour perhaps a bit more credible since they wouldn't be following human ways of reasoning.
If it wasn't clear before then it should be now that the writers and producers are certainly intent on making a show distinctly more adult oriented. There's just to much of an edge and measure of creepiness to these episodes for them to have been considered kids' fare. It's hard to credit that American networks and sponsors could be so puzzled by this. It's just so obvious this show was intended for an older audience. It also reaffirms why back in the day this was the only other "sci-fi" series I thought could be on par with Star Trek.
We get some new Interceptor shots in this with three of them escorting a returning Venus space probe. And then there's the shots of the Interceptor making its kamikaze run at Moonbase. There's also the inside shot of the Interceptor's cockpit as seen looking forward and out.
A new theory is developed about the aliens even while a SHADO Interceptor pilot is being manipulated by them.
What little is known about the aliens gets a new twist when Dr. Jackson speculates the real aliens might not be humanoid at all and that humans could be being used as remotely controlled bodies so to speak. If true this would make the humanoid aliens' behaviour perhaps a bit more credible since they wouldn't be following human ways of reasoning.
If it wasn't clear before then it should be now that the writers and producers are certainly intent on making a show distinctly more adult oriented. There's just to much of an edge and measure of creepiness to these episodes for them to have been considered kids' fare. It's hard to credit that American networks and sponsors could be so puzzled by this. It's just so obvious this show was intended for an older audience. It also reaffirms why back in the day this was the only other "sci-fi" series I thought could be on par with Star Trek.
We get some new Interceptor shots in this with three of them escorting a returning Venus space probe. And then there's the shots of the Interceptor making its kamikaze run at Moonbase. There's also the inside shot of the Interceptor's cockpit as seen looking forward and out.
She does look a bit like an anime character who somehow made it into the real world (especially with the purple wig). I wonder if her character was popular in Japan.Another still from Closeup, a rare appearence of Gabrielle without her wig and makeup:
I don't know about the character, but they made a manga sequel of UFO
http://translate.google.it/translat...es.jp/mysterons_workshop/ufo1988.html&act=url
Edit: I found this "hommage" to the Lt.Gay Ellis...(ALERT NSFW!!!):
http://pub.ne.jp/SleepingBeauty/?entry_id=4149409
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I don't remember "The Cat With Ten Lives." I'll have to dig that out and take a look.
Well, given certain stills that are available from Au Pair Girls, the artist probably didn't have to tax his imagination too much. Certainly, NSFW.
I particularly remembered Sub Smash as a memorable episode from DVD watch. Maybe it was the title, but I think it was also the claustrophobia, and the scenes with the black officer (sorry, forgot name) working her way through the tube. Good stuff. And doesn't Ellis disappear halfway through run? I seem to remember there was less of her onscreen.
There appears to have been some retooling at this point in the Series. Doctor Igor...er...Franklin seems to now be a regular, and inside Shado HQ, and Col Freeman seems to have disappeared and been replaced by Col Lake. Definitely a good batch of episodes, I especially liked The Cat With Ten Lives, but, this whole batch was really good.
I'm watching the episodes in the order they're on the disc and, yes, I know they're not in production order. The continuity in UFO doesn't appear to be so tight that it really matters and presently it's simpler than popping discs in-and-out to watch them in production order. At some point down the road I'll rewatch them again and then I'll do it in production order. Presently I'm just enjoying revisiting a series that is still good after all these years and after being exposed to all sorts of stuff during those intervening decades.
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There's something about this episode that has stuck with me / bothered me for over a decade.
One of the methods of escaping the submarine was through it's escape trunk. However the pumps to remove the water after the first person used it were damaged. It would take a protract time period to empty out the water prior to opening the inner door.
Okay, once the upper/outer door was closed, why not over-ride any safeties and simply open the inner door? Sure you would have gotten a couple of thousand gallons of salt water dumped into the control room, but so what? Maybe only several inches on the deck.
You could then use the trunk for addition personnel to escape.
Or did I miss something?
I had some questions about this as well. I was wondering if two people could have gone out the emergency escape together. It did say it took about ninety minutes for the damaged pumps to clear the escape trunk again, but, yeah, you could have opened the hatch and let some water back in to lessen the time. After all at that point they thought the sub was a write-off anyway.There's something about this episode that has stuck with me / bothered me for over a decade.
One of the methods of escaping the submarine was through it's escape trunk. However the pumps to remove the water after the first person used it were damaged. It would take a protract time period to empty out the water prior to opening the inner door.
Okay, once the upper/outer door was closed, why not over-ride any safeties and simply open the inner door? Sure you would have gotten a couple of thousand gallons of salt water dumped into the control room, but so what? Maybe only several inches on the deck.
You could then use the trunk for addition personnel to escape.
Or did I miss something?
I'll have to watch it again sometime.
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"Destruction" *****
The Royal Navy has its own secret operations going and SHADO needs to know what they are.
A UFO does battle with a Royal Navy destroyer. Cool! Well, it's actually pretty one sided until Sky One finally shows up. We get another case of alien manipulation in some form or other as a young woman who is secretary to a Navy Admiral is feeding the aliens information.
Interesting to see Straker and Henderson on speaking terms since it often seemed all they did was butt heads. But of course they would have to have some sort of manageable working relationship. Gay Ellis seems to have disappeared and we're seeing Colonel Virginia Lake instead of Alex Freeman now.
One aspect that I find interesting (in a good way) about the aliens is that not only do they not of ray guns of any sort in terms of hand weapons but their ships also don't appear to have any of the usual science fiction forcefields or shields. Hit them with a missile, a shell, a mortar or some other projectile and they go boom. Nice. It's a little thing that serves to make them somewhat more credible and less possessing magical like technology.
"The Man Who Came Back" ****
A UFO seriously damages SID and an astronaut presumed dead is found alive.
A recurring element is people being manipulated by the aliens. This time it's yet again another SHADO member programmed to kill Ed Straker. There is some creepy stuff in this story, but it's getting a little old that almost everyone who is manipulated is out to kill Ed Straker, or so it seems. I was bummed out seeing SID take a hit, but realistically I'm surprised it took this long for the aliens to take a run on him.
One thing has to be said about the show: it made the most of what it had and rarely did anything look cheap (for its time). Even today there's some nice looking production work to be seen.
Again we're getting some nice space shots.
The ending shot of Craig drifting away into space is eerie.
"Psychobombs" **
Average people are manipulated by the aliens to be instruments of destruction with superhuman ability.
After so many good episodes this one finally stumbles. I just didn't care for the idea and I thought it was clumsily executed. One thing that really bugged me was how Paul Foster got so easily distracted by a pretty face (and, yeah, she was very pretty). The whole episode just struck me as lazy. You could see everything that was coming.
The one good thing I liked was the semi-recurring character of Dr. Jackson. This guy is wierd in a mad scientist way and yet he's one of the good guys.
The Royal Navy has its own secret operations going and SHADO needs to know what they are.
A UFO does battle with a Royal Navy destroyer. Cool! Well, it's actually pretty one sided until Sky One finally shows up. We get another case of alien manipulation in some form or other as a young woman who is secretary to a Navy Admiral is feeding the aliens information.
Interesting to see Straker and Henderson on speaking terms since it often seemed all they did was butt heads. But of course they would have to have some sort of manageable working relationship. Gay Ellis seems to have disappeared and we're seeing Colonel Virginia Lake instead of Alex Freeman now.
One aspect that I find interesting (in a good way) about the aliens is that not only do they not of ray guns of any sort in terms of hand weapons but their ships also don't appear to have any of the usual science fiction forcefields or shields. Hit them with a missile, a shell, a mortar or some other projectile and they go boom. Nice. It's a little thing that serves to make them somewhat more credible and less possessing magical like technology.
"The Man Who Came Back" ****
A UFO seriously damages SID and an astronaut presumed dead is found alive.
A recurring element is people being manipulated by the aliens. This time it's yet again another SHADO member programmed to kill Ed Straker. There is some creepy stuff in this story, but it's getting a little old that almost everyone who is manipulated is out to kill Ed Straker, or so it seems. I was bummed out seeing SID take a hit, but realistically I'm surprised it took this long for the aliens to take a run on him.
One thing has to be said about the show: it made the most of what it had and rarely did anything look cheap (for its time). Even today there's some nice looking production work to be seen.
Again we're getting some nice space shots.
The ending shot of Craig drifting away into space is eerie.
"Psychobombs" **
Average people are manipulated by the aliens to be instruments of destruction with superhuman ability.
After so many good episodes this one finally stumbles. I just didn't care for the idea and I thought it was clumsily executed. One thing that really bugged me was how Paul Foster got so easily distracted by a pretty face (and, yeah, she was very pretty). The whole episode just struck me as lazy. You could see everything that was coming.
The one good thing I liked was the semi-recurring character of Dr. Jackson. This guy is wierd in a mad scientist way and yet he's one of the good guys.
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That's something UFO was very good at. 
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