"UFO" (1970) TV series 1970-1971

Creators:

Gerry Anderson
Sylvia Anderson

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

16 September 1970 (UK)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

In the year 1980 the Earth is threatened by an alien race who kidnap and kill humans and use them for body parts...

Plot Keywords:

Alien Attack | Acronym In Title

Cast

Ed Bishop	...	Cmdr. Ed Straker (26 episodes, 1970-1973)
Mel Oxley	...	Space Intruder Detector SID (25 episodes, 1970-1973)
Dolores Mantez	...	Nina Barry (23 episodes, 1970-1973)
Michael Billington	...	Col. Paul Foster (21 episodes, 1970-1973)
George Sewell	...	Col. Alec Freeman (17 episodes, 1970-1973)
Ayshea Brough	...	SHADO Operative (16 episodes, 1970-1973)
Keith Alexander	...	Lt. Keith Ford (15 episodes, 1970-1973)
Antonia Ellis	...	Joan Harrington (14 episodes, 1970-1973)
Gabrielle Drake	...	Lt. Gay Ellis / ... (12 episodes, 1970-1973)

Also Known As:

Gerry Anderson's UFO (Australia)

Runtime:

45 min (26 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Century 21 Television

Trivia:

Female moonbase personnel wore purple, pink and blue wigs because Gerry Anderson thought the color looked the best under the set's lights.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Although set (and filmed) in England, all the futuristic cars are left-hand drive, and everyone drives on the right-hand side of the road. Several other series by the Andersons featured the same driving system, presumably because England was predicted to switch over sometime before the future events depicted. Flashback scenes showed the "normal" English driving arrangement.

Quotes:

[ep: The Square Triangle]
Ed Straker: It's just lucky for her that an alien came through that door instead of her husband.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Comedy Connections: The Fast Show (#4.1)" (2006)

Wonderfully entertaining Brit retro-futurism!

Gerry Anderson was the creator of 'The Thunderbirds' and several other hugely successful children's SF/adventure puppet shows that enthralled generations of British and Australian kids and kept them glued to their TV sets. Anderson eventually grew tired of the format and wanted to branch out into live action drama. He made the hugely underrated movie 'Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun' in 1969, and used several members of the supporting cast in his next project 'UFO', most notably the super cool Ed Bishop. Bishop had a small role in Anderson's movie, and had previously had a bit part in '2001', but he became the central character of 'UFO', playing Com. Ed Straker leader of SHADO a secret organisation fighting a group of mysterious and hostile aliens. Anderson believed the series would lead on to bigger and better things for Bishop and make a major star, but sadly this was not to be. Watching 'UFO' now is a very strange experience because it combines lots of hilarious kitschy moments with some quite serious dramatic touches e.g. characters actually die, even children, and many episodes have very downbeat endings, something not all that common in say, the usually optimistic (original) 'Star Trek'. Despite being continually told we are watching events set in 1980, there are many bits of 1960s fashions, hair style and attitudes on display. This is particularly amusing in one episode where Col. Foster (Paul Billington) is on leave and goes to a party where everybody is frugging and grooving to The Beatles 'Get Back', or another great episode where two hippies take acid and meet a couple of spacemen. The whole series mixes and matches styles from the time it was made with ideas of what it was going to be like ten years in the future , which of course, is now over twenty years ago... This means that 'UFO's 1980 is very unlike OUR 1980! So the show has a unique retro-futuristic feel, quite unlike anything else before or since. Another odd thing about the show was that the supporting cast changed back and forth without a word of explanation. Early on the extremely foxy Gabrielle Drake (sister of doomed cult singer Nick Drake!) is in charge of the moonbase, then it's Foster, then someone else. And Straker (Bishop)'s second in command changes from the craggy faced George Sewell (Col. Freeman) to the more aesthetically pleasing Wanda Ventham (Col. Lake), and nothing is mentioned about it. Fans of British TV and movies from the 1960s will see several familiar faces as semi-regulars or guest stars, including David Warbeck, Steven Berkoff, Anoushka Hempel, Lois Maxwell, Shane Rimmer, and others. Also keep an eye out for 60s cult babe Ayshea, who is in just about every episode but hardly says half a page of dialogue throughout the whole series. She mainly wanders around holding a clip board and looking beautiful. The real sex symbol of the show however was the utterly gorgeous Gabrielle Drake, complete with silver jumpsuit and purple wig. Hundreds of middle aged men around the world are still in love with her I'm sure. I know I am! The early episodes of the series are sometimes a bit uneven, but the quality improved as the series went on. Unfortunately the series didn't continue, but Anderson went on to make 'Space 1999', a more commercially successful series, but not necessarily a better program. 'UFO' is highly recommended to all SF fans, especially those that dig the 1960s. It is by no means as mind-blowing and innovative as 'The Prisoner', or as consistently enjoyable as 'The Avengers', but personally I still prefer it to original Trek.