UFO (TV series)

:This article is about the television show. For other uses, see UFO (disambiguation).

Plot overview

The premise of the show is that in the near future (a fictional version of 1980) the Earth is under attack from aliens. Their spacecraft can cross the vast distance between their planet and ours, but are only large enough to carry three or four people, and can only survive for a few hours in Earth's atmosphere before disintegrating or exploding. In flight they are surrounded by horizontally-spinning vanes and emit a distinctive pulsing electronic whine (actually produced by series composer Barry Gray on an Ondes Martenot). They defend themselves with laser-type weapons, but can be destroyed by conventional explosives. The alien ships can, however, survive underwater, and one episode deals with the discovery of a secret undersea alien base. The alien astronauts themselves are armed with machine gun-like weaponry that appear to shoot bullet-like projectiles.

Related Topics:
1980 - Earth - Aliens - Earth's atmosphere - Barry Gray - Ondes Martenot - Laser

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Captured aliens are almost human in appearance but breathe a green oxygenated liquid, which is believed to cushion their bodies against the extreme acceleration of interstellar flight. To protect their eyes from the liquid the aliens wear opaque contact lenses with small pinholes for vision. The show's opening sequence begins by showing the (remarkable for the time) image of the removal of one of these lenses from an obviously real eye with a pair of forceps – a sight which upset some squeamish viewers.

Related Topics:
Breathe a green oxygenated liquid - Acceleration - Contact lens

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To defend against the UFOs, a secret organisation called SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) is established. Operating behind the cover of the Harlington-Straker Studios movie studio in England, SHADO is headed by Commander Ed Straker (played by Ed Bishop), a former United States Air Force Colonel who poses as the studio's chief executive. In reality, this was a clever cost-saving move by the producers -- the studio was the actual studio where the series was being filmed, originally the MGM British Studios, later Pinewood Studios.

Related Topics:
Movie studio - Ed Bishop - United States Air Force - MGM - Pinewood Studios

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Typical of Anderson productions, the studio idea was both practical and cost-effective for the production and a neat plot device. It removed the need to build an expensive exterior set for the SHADO base, while providing that all-important "secret" cover (concealment and secrecy are always central themes in Anderson dramas) with the trademark ring of plausibility. A studio was a business where unusual events and routines would not be noticed, and where comings and goings at odd times, the movement of vehicles, equipment, people and materiel would not excite undue interest and could easily be explained away as "sets", "props", or "extras".

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A regular Anderson leitmotif was the concept of the mechanical conveyor - e.g., the automatic boarding tubes of Stingray and the Thunderbird craft. In UFO, this appeared in the guise of Straker's "secret" office, which doubled as a lift that takes him down to the SHADO control centre located beneath the studio.

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SHADO has a variety of high-tech hardware and vehicles at its disposal to implement a layered defense of Earth. Early warning of alien attack would come from SID (Space Intruder Detector), a computerized tracking satellite that constantly scans for UFO incursions into the solar system. The forward line of defence is MoonBase from which the three Lunar Interceptor spacecraft with nuclear missiles are launched. The second line of defense includes SkyDiver, a submarine mated with the submersible, undersea-launched Sky One interceptor aircraft which would attack UFOs in earth atmosphere. The last line of defense are ground units including the armed, tank-like SHADO Mobiles, fitted with caterpillar tracks. Special effects, as in all Anderson's marionette shows, were supervised by Derek Meddings.

Related Topics:
Computer - Satellite - Nuclear - Missile - SkyDiver - Submarine - Interceptor aircraft - Caterpillar track - Derek Meddings

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The show's concept was very dark for its time - the basic premise was that the alien invaders are coming to collect human bodies to use as involuntary organ transplant donors. A later episode, "The Cat with Ten Lives", contains a particularly sinister plot point suggesting that the UFO pilots are not humanoid aliens at all, but are in fact human abductees under the control of the alien intelligences.

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The show also featured realistic, believable relationships between the human characters to a far greater extent than usual in a typical science fiction series, showing the clear influence of American programs like The Twilight Zone and Star Trek and British action series such as Danger Man. One early episode clearly established an interracial romance between two continuing characters (something that was uncommon on British TV in those days), while others showed the heroes making mistakes with sometimes fatal consequences. And relatively few episodes of the series actually had happy or (for the characters) satisfying endings.

Related Topics:
The Twilight Zone - Star Trek - Danger Man

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One especially dramatic episode is almost entirely devoted to the breakdown of Straker's marriage under the strain of maintaining his secret identity. Another hinges on Straker having to make an agonising life-or-death choice -- to rescue his critically-injured son by diverting an aircraft carrying SHADO mobiles to deliver life-saving medical supplies, or to attempt a last-chance intercept against an incoming UFO.

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Another episode concerns a plot by a woman and her lover to murder her husband. When they accidentally kill a UFO pilot instead, SHADO intervenes and doses the guilty pair with amnesia drugs. But Straker realises the drugs will not affect their motivation, which means they will go ahead with their murder plot - and SHADO cannot interfere without blowing its cover.

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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 may have been true to a limited extent, but Anderson had always hoped to direct live action TV drama and although the marionette shows helped him develop impressive skills in effects and scripting, he had always considered them as essentially being a way of keeping in work and earning money while he tried to break into "real" TV. Others counter that the characters are more rounded than in other science fiction shows and that sci-fi concepts and special effects did not preclude realistic action and interaction and believable, emotionally engaging plots.

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UFO confused broadcasters in both Britain and the United States who could not decide if it was a program for adults, or for children (the fact Anderson was primarily associated with children's programming did not help matters). This confusion - coupled with erratic broadcasts - are considered as 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 '.

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As with all the later Anderson series, the special effects, supervised by Derek Meddings, were of the highest quality and outstanding for their day, given the relatively limited resources at the team's disposal. The space sequences involving the Interceptors and UFOs are very well shot (showing the technical improvements that had come along since Kubrick's 2001), with tight editing, fast action, and spectacular explosions.

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In a clever 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 blue-dyed water. When filmed from the appropriate angle it produced a very convincing illusion of the helmet filling up and covering the astronaut's face.

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After the 26 episodes were completed plans were drawn up for a sequel to be called UFO: 1999 which would have been set in a much bigger Moonbase. A subplot of the episode "Kill Straker!" sees Straker negotiating with SHADO's financial supporters for funding to build more moonbases within 10 years, which could be seen as a prologue to the UFO: 1999 concept. When American broadcasters dropped their support for a second season of UFO, the idea was dropped, but a couple of years later the concept was revised into an even more far-fetched story about the moon being blown out of orbit and Moonbase along with it - '. Some of the uniforms worn by SHADO personnel would be recycled for the later series, and the Eagle spacecraft used in Space: 1999 were originally designed for UFO Year 2.

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As with many Anderson productions, the series generated a range of desirable and well-executed merchandising toys based on the SHADO vehicles. The classic Dinky die-cast range of vehicles - quite large by the standards of the day - featured robust yet finely-finished products and included Straker's futuristic gull-wing gold car, the tracked SHADO mobile and the missile-bearing Lunar Interceptor. Like the Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet ranges, 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 licencee companies; the Anderson shows and their merchandise have always had widespread popularity, but they are especially popular in Japan.

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The complete series has been released on DVD in the UK and in North America. Bonus features include a commentary by Anderson on the pilot episode "Identified", and an actor's commentary by Bishop on the episode "Sub-smash". There are also some deleted scenes and lots of stills and publicity artwork.

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