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frequently asked questions |
by Marc Martin, last updated 14 June 2005
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the 1970 British science fiction television series UFO. I have attempted to answer questions which are introductory in nature or come up frequently in fandom. If you have any comments or corrections that could help improve future versions of this FAQ, please contact me at marc@ufoseries.com.
Permission is granted to freely copy and distribute this FAQ, on the conditions that it not be altered or used for profit.
What's New?
All updates from the previous version are highlighted in red.
Questions
- What is "UFO"?
- What is the basic storyline?
- What is the appeal of UFO?
- Is UFO available on video/DVD?
- What are some other ways I could see UFO?
- Why do the women on Moonbase wear purple wigs?
- What about Straker -- is that a wig or Ed Bishop's real hair?
- Is there more than one Skydiver?
- Why do the Interceptors have only one missile?
- What did the Aliens want?
- What can you tell me about those futuristic automobiles?
- Why does everyone drive on the wrong side of the road?
- Why do several of the regular characters suddenly disappear?
- Are there any bloopers in the series that I should look for?
- How can I get a UFO episode guide?
- What is the correct episode order?
- Why did UFO only last a single season? Was it poorly received?
- Is UFO related to SPACE: 1999 or any other Anderson production?
- What is "INVASION: UFO"?
- Whatever happened to the cast members?
- What kinds of UFO merchandise has been released?
- Where can I get UFO videos, merchandise, and collectibles?
- What fan activity has there been?
- Where are there UFO discussions & files on the Internet?
Questions & Answers
1. What is "UFO"?
UFO is a 1970 British science fiction television series about a secret military
organization which defends the Earth from Alien invaders. The series was created
by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson, who previously created the "Supermarionation"
puppet TV series in the 1960's (THUNDERBIRDS, FIREBALL XL-5, etc.), and would later
create SPACE: 1999. UFO was filmed in 1969-70, and began broadcasting in September
1970 in England and September 1972 in America. The series ran for only a single season,
for a total of 26 one-hour color episodes.
2. What is the basic storyline?
The series is set in what would have been ten years in the future -- the early 1980's. It had been discovered that Aliens are coming to Earth and kidnapping people for unknown reasons. A secret military defense organization named SHADO ("Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation") is set up and is just becoming operational in the first episode.
SHADO's main headquarters is secretly hidden beneath a London film studio, and many SHADO personnel double as film studio employees as a cover. SHADO also has a base on the moon ("Moonbase") and a fleet of submarines ("Skydiver"). Incoming UFO's are detected by an Earth orbiting satellite ("Space Intruder Detector", or "SID"). An initial interception attempt is made in space with three Interceptors launched from Moonbase. A second attempt is made in the Earth's atmosphere with a fighter plane ("Sky One") launched from Skydiver. Landed UFO's are tracked down with ground Mobiles.
SHADO is run by the extremely dedicated Commander Ed Straker. His seconds in command are Col. Alec Freeman, Col. Paul Foster, and Col. Virginia Lake. Moonbase is often commanded by Lt. Gay Ellis or Lt. Nina Barry.
The episodes are typically about SHADO's attempts to thwart the Alien's plans,
and the Alien's various ploys to disable SHADO or kill its commander. Recurring themes
include maintaining SHADO security, keeping SHADO properly funded, and the effect
that the secrecy has on the personal lives of SHADO's operatives.
3. What is the appeal of UFO?
UFO
appeals to different people for different reasons. Some fans love the
hardware designs for SHADO's futuristic ground, air, and space
vehicles. Others love the character of Commander Ed Straker, whose
personal life became an important subject in several episodes. There
are many other good reasons to like the series, including great
special effects, creative stories, appealing lead actors and guest
stars, catchy theme music, mysterious aliens, fun fashions, high
production values, and sexy female operatives everywhere!
4. Is UFO available on video/DVD?
In the past few decades, various episodes of UFO have been released on home video in various countries. However, in 2002-3 UFO was completely remastered and released on DVD in England, America, France, Italy, and Japan! Plus during 2005, there are plans to release UFO on DVD in Germany and Australia!
In England, Carlton Visual Entertainment released UFO on DVD in
two deluxe sets each containing 4 discs, plus these same discs were
released as 8 individual volumes. The remastering job is stunning, and
these episodes look better than ever. These DVDs also include a
nice variety of extras, including animated menus, including a few
short deleted scenes, episode commentary from Gerry Anderson
(IDENTIFIED) and Ed Bishop (SUB-SMASH), lots of never-before-seen
publicity and behind-the-scenes photos, merchandise galleries, and
somewhat speculative information about SHADO and it's main characters.
Although this is being marketed as a Region 2 DVD, the discs are in
fact region-free, so they will play without problem in non-Region 2
countries with the PAL video standard (e.g., Australia).
In America, A&E Home Video released UFO on DVD in two large sets, and then later repackaged these discs in a "UFO Megaset".
These sets use the same superb transfers seen on the British set, and
also include the same Gerry Anderson & Ed Bishop commentary
tracks. In addition, they include commentary from Mike Billington and
director Alan Perry on KILL STRAKER and Sylvia Anderson and Wanda
Ventham on TIMELASH. They also include the few short deleted scenes
from the British set, plus additional goodies -- raw audio from the SID
recording sessions, original set audio from KILL STRAKER, and a
demonstration of day-for-night filming on TIMELASH. However, it
does not include many of the extras found on the British set, like the
behind-the-scenes photos, script excerpts, merchandise galleries, and
character bios. It does include some photo galleries, but unfortunately
these are all just frame captures from the episodes!
In France, TF1 Video released all 26 episodes of UFO in one large box set
containing 7 discs. This set can be viewed in English with French subtitles
or dubbed in French. Unfortunately, the video & audio quality is rather poor
-- only 4 of the episodes are the remastered versions, and the MPEG encoding has
far too many artifacts. This set does not contain any commentary tracks, but it does
feature some unique extras, including short interviews with Ed Bishop & Sylvia
Anderson (both from 1992), a trailer for INVASION: UFO, and merchandise galleries.
In Italy, Cult Media released UFO in two large sets. The episodes are all the high-quality remastered versions, with the audio switchable between English mono, Italian mono, and Italian 5.1 surround. Extras include animated menus, behind-the-scenes photos, commentary from Gerry Anderson and Ed Bishop (subtitled in Italian), merchandise galleries, and trailers for the Italian UFO compilation movies. The first set came in two different versions, a standard and a deluxe version. The deluxe version included an extra disc with the compilation movie INVASION:UFO, a 34 minute interview with Ed Bishop, and 5 minutes of footage from Italian UFO conventions.
In
Japan, Tohokushinsha released UFO in two large sets. The episodes
are all the high-quality remastered versions, with either Japanese or
English audio. This set is unique in that the English audio is a
processed "pseudo-surround" 5.1 (the original mono is not an
option). Each set comes with a small color booklet. Unique
extras include a 30 minute documentary called "SHADO Secret File" (in
Japanese), a 60 minute Fanderson "UFO Documentary" (English with
Japanese subtitles), and the graveyard sequence from THE SQUARE TRIANGLE
without the closing credits overlayed. They also include some of
the deleted audio/video from the other sets, but do not have any
commentary tracks or photo galleries.
Prior
to the DVD releases, episodes of UFO had been released on home video
in England, America, and Japan. In England, many of the episodes were
released in the 1980's and 1990's on VHS tape, and all 26 episodes
were finally released in 2000. In America, only 8 episodes were ever
released onto VHS tape in the 1980's. In Japan, several episodes
were released on VHS tape in the 1980's, and all 26 episodes were
released on laserdisc in the early 1990's.
See FAQ#22 for suggested sources.
5. What are some other ways I could see UFO?
In
the 1990's, there were isolated instances of UFO being broadcast around
the world -- it has shown up on BBC2 in the UK, the Sci-Fi Channel in
America, and also on channels in Australia, Japan, Germany,
Italy, and New Zealand. However, there haven't been reports of
UFO being broadcast in the past few years, so the DVDs appear to be the only option for
seeing the series these days. Besides, with the DVDs the episodes are uncut, and the picture quality can't be beat.
6. Why do the women on Moonbase wear purple wigs?
The purple wigs were simply part of the women's Moonbase uniforms. Wigs were very popular in the late 1960's, and Sylvia Anderson envisioned that wigs might someday become part of a uniform. Sylvia designed the Moonbase outfits and the wigs, and has been quoted as saying that the purple wigs came about simply because she liked them!
There have been attempts to give the wigs some sort of scientific explanation,
like they protect the wearers from electromagnetic fields caused from the Moonbase
command sphere equipment. However, besides being rather farfetched, these explanations
always fail to explain why Col. Foster never needed any protection while he was in
command of Moonbase!
7. What about Straker -- is that a wig or Ed Bishop's real hair?
Ed Bishop has dark hair, so his hair was initially bleached for the first few episodes. However, to prevent damaging his hair with repeated bleachings, he was given a blonde wig, which he wore for the remainder of the series. Ed Bishop owned the Straker wig after the series ended, and sometimes brought it with him to science fiction conventions. To get a better idea of what Ed's real hair looked like at the time UFO was made, watch the 1968 movie DOPPELGANGER, aka JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN.
And Ed Bishop was not the only male wearing a wig on UFO, as George
Sewell (Col. Alec Freeman) and Michael Billington (Col. Paul Foster) also wore wigs.
Several episodes were made before Michael started wearing his wig, so you can spot
his real hair in the early episodes where he has rather large sideburns and a receding
hairline.
8. Is there more than one Skydiver?
Yes. Skydiver 3 and Sky 4 are featured in the THE PSYCHOBOMBS episode. However,
this episode and a statement in CONFETTI CHECK A-OK about a "fleet of submarines"
are practically the only pieces of evidence in the entire series that there is more
than one. Skydiver One is often referred to as simply "Skydiver", implying
that there is only one. Of course, one might suppose that there was only one
Skydiver in SHADO's early days and more were built later, the fourth being operational
by the time frame of THE PSYCHOMBOMBS. However, this was never mentioned in the series.
9. Why do the Interceptors have only one missile?
The one-missile Interceptors have been criticized by many fans as not being very practical, but these criticisms overlook what may have been a primary motivation for their design -- it allows an opportunity for the UFOs to make it past Moonbase, which in turn allows for much more interesting stories!
Incidentally, while the series was in pre-production, the original intent as described
in pre-production memos was that each Interceptor missile would break apart into
ten smaller pieces and then create a blanket detonation which the UFO would hopefully
pass through. However, the special effects in the series do not really support this
description.
10. What did the Aliens want?
The reason the Aliens kept coming to Earth pretty much remained a mystery. In IDENTIFIED, Straker theorized that the Aliens might be a dying humanoid race which had become sterile, and are coming to Earth to extend their own lifespans using human organs for replacements. In ESP, one of the characters who seems to be speaking for the Aliens confirms that their planet is dying, and they mean no harm to the people of Earth.
However, in THE CAT WITH TEN LIVES, some doubt is introduced as to whether the Aliens are humanoid at all, as the remains of an Alien body appears to be 100% human in origin. Dr. Jackson theorizes that the Aliens may not be humanoid at all, but are merely taking over the minds of humans and using the bodies as "vehicles". This theory backed up in this episode as the Aliens appear to have taken over the mind of a cat.
However, the Alien's behavior in some episodes remains confusing. Like when they
planted bombs in THE LONG SLEEP, or tried to wipe out all life on Earth in DESTRUCTION.
This is simply not consistent with their previous statements that they wish no harm
to the people of Earth, nor is it consistent with a race that requires a large supply
of healthy human bodies.
11. What can you tell me about those futuristic automobiles?
Straker's and Foster's futuristic automobiles were originally designed by Derek Meddings for the movie DOPPELGANGER (aka JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN), and were redressed slightly for UFO. Life-sized clay models were built by German auto manufacturer designers, and then racing car driver Alan Mann built the cars for 8500 pounds each. The cars were constructed using beaten aluminum on top of a Mark 4 Ford Zodiac chassis (predecessor to the Granada). The gull-wing doors didn't actually work, so someone always stood off-camera to raise or lower the doors. The actors reported that the cars were very unpleasant to drive in, as there was not enough headroom and the engine exhaust fumes spilled into the interior. Also, the cars could not move very fast, so many scenes were sped up to simulate a fast-moving vehicle.
In the years since UFO was made, the cars have changed hands a number of times. Straker's car was owned by Radio One DJ Dave Lee Travis in the 1970's. In 1980, the car was bought by someone in Birmingham who had it repainted with scenes from UFO, and then let it sit in a warehouse for years. He eventually gave it away to one of his employees, who in turn has let the car rust away in his back yard. To make matters worse, he eventually built a garage next to his house which prevents the car from being removed without a crane, and has no particular interest in ever restoring or selling the car to someone else!
After UFO, Foster's car was originally sold to a film company which removed the
scoops and slats and painted it red for a futuristic porn movie. It was later purchased
in 1982 by film buff who made the car driveable and actually used it as his personal
transportation for 18 months! It was then damaged in the front and ignored
until 1993, when it was purchased by UFO fan Tony Read.
12. Why does everyone drive on the wrong side of the road?
In England, people drive on the left side of the road and steering wheels are
on the right side of the vehicle. However, in UFO's version of 1980s England, both
of these have been reversed. Although I am not aware of an official explanation for
this, it seems likely that UFO's creators were simply going along with what was being
predicted at the time, which was that England would switch their driving system sometime
in the near future. It's interesting to note that other Anderson series like CAPTAIN
SCARLET also show reversed driving in futuristic England, and that UFO's several
flashbacks to 1970 shows normal English driving and cars.
13. Why do several of the regular characters suddenly disappear?
UFO was filmed in two shooting blocks at two studios, due to an unexpected closure of the first studio after 17 episodes had been filmed. There was a 6 month period spent waiting for soundstages to become available at the second studio, and since many of the actors were not contractually obligated to stay with the series, they went and found jobs elsewhere. The episodes in the second shooting block are missing many of the regular characters from the first block, including Col. Alec Freeman, Lt. Gay Ellis, Lt. Keith Ford, Capt. Lew Waterman, and Lt. Joan Harrington. Many of these characters were replaced with new ones -- Col. Virginia Lake was added to replace Col. Freeman, and Lt. Nina Barry was promoted to replace Lt. Ellis.
To determine which episodes were filmed in which shooting block, see the production order listed in FAQ#16 -- the first 17 episodes were filmed at MGM Borehamwood studios from May to December 1969, while the remaining 9 were filmed at Pinewood studios from May to September 1970.
There were a few other significant character/cast changes made while the series
was in production. Capt. Peter Carlin was originally intended to be a main character,
but was dropped early in the production because the actor's agent feared he would
become typecast as a sci-fi television series actor. Col. Paul Foster was added after
a few episodes had been made to give the series a more youthful and appealing male
lead. Dr. Jackson was added because the producers liked the actor, and the actor
playing Dr. Shroeder had become ill. And Interceptor pilot Mark Bradley dissappeared
because the actor was frustrated by the week-to-week contracts for the minor characters.
14. Are there any bloopers in the series that I should look for?
There are a few. Probably the most noticeable is in THE LONG SLEEP, when Straker refers to a "Miss Ross". The original script gave Catherine a last name of "Ross", but this was changed to "Fraser" prior to filming -- unfortunately, one occurance of "Ross" managed to slip by everyone involved in the production!
In REFLECTIONS IN THE WATER, there is a major battle at the end, and 4 Interceptor missiles are shown to be fired, which is somewhat surprising, since there are only 3 Interceptors with 1 missile each!
In CONFETTI CHECK A-OK, there is a shot of Straker's futuristic car pulling up to General Henderson's office. The problem is that this is a flashback scene, and was long before Straker had a futuristic car!
In THE SQUARE TRIANGLE, an Interceptor attack on an incoming UFO is called off, yet when they show the Interceptors about to return to Moonbase, their missiles have already been fired!
In COMPUTER AFFAIR, Astronaut Mark Bradley and Gay Ellis have dinner together and are drinking a 1984 vintage wine. While not technically a blooper, many fans regard this as a mistake, as this episode seems to be early in SHADO's history, which would put it in the 1980-1981 time frame.
Also not technically a blooper, Lt. Ford's voice has obviously been dubbed over
with another actor's voice in the episode THE SQUARE TRIANGLE. Actor Keith Alexander
was often out of the country during UFO's production, and most likely another actor
was brought in to redub his voice due to a problem with the original sound recording
made on the set.
15. How can I get a UFO episode guide?
UFO episode guides have appeared throughout the years in several books and magazines, and now also on the various Internet websites. The "UFO Series Home Page" has two episode guides available online -- a single page, spoiler-free version at: