User Reviews

It was recently announced that Gerry Anderson's 'U.F.O.' is to to be made into a film. As a big fan of the original, I am slightly alarmed at the prospect. Let's hope the producers learn from the mistakes of the live-action 'Thunderbirds' ( 2004 ) movie, which had no involvement from Anderson whatever. I'd hate to see Straker re-imagined as some angst-ridden teenager.

At least they won't need to make it 'dark' and 'edgy' as the original was like that to start with. It opens with a young man and two women filming a U.F.O. only to then be attacked by the pilot. We do not see him ( it? ) throughout the sequence, just the barrel of his gun. Rather than a laser gun, the alien's weapon appears no different from an ordinary rifle, apart from its colour, which is silver. The alien captures one of the girls. Her scream rings out high and clear.

We next see a limousine carrying a Cabinet Minister ( Basil Dignam ) and two American officers ( Ed Bishop and Grant Taylor ) through the English countryside. Proof that aliens beings have visited Earth is now beyond question. Suddenly the car is attacked by a flying object. It crashes, killing the Minister though the officers survive. A burning photograph of a U.F.O. suddenly turns into the show's title. ( fellow reviewer Theo Robertson asks how the aliens knew of the meeting. In the episode 'Destruction', it is revealed that the aliens have agents on Earth, people allied to the enemy cause. Presumably one such agent is working at the Ministry of Defence ).

A close-up of Ayshea Borough's sexy bottom takes us to the Harlington-Straker film studios, the headquarters of SHADO ( Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation ). The year is 1980. Commander Ed Straker ( Ed Bishop ) tells Colonel Alec Freeman ( George Sewell ) that SHADO needs 'utronic' equipment in order to be fully operational. Freeman is given the assignment of bringing said equipment over from America.

But the aliens know of this too, and a U.F.O. penetrates SHADO's defences in order to put the organisation out of business before it can begin...

This was the first live action series produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. One hates to say this but at times you think you are watching the puppets. Bishop, in particular, is wooden, but would grow into the role over time. Sewell's 'Freeman' is a would-be James Bond, smoking, knocking back whisky and flirting with secretaries. It does not suit him, and he too would be toned down over time. As an introductory episode, however, it is effective, with the threat of the aliens established and the SHADO hardware on view, plus the sight of Gabrielle Drake stripping down to her underwear! What gives the episode - and indeed the series - its dark tone is the fact that the aliens are not here to conquer us, but want our internal organs. The alien that is taken to SHADO H.Q. turns out to have the innards of Leila Carlin, sister of 'Sky One' pilot Peter ( Peter Gordeno ). This ghoulish premise immediately separated this from other similar shows such as 'The Invaders' and resulted in it being mostly screened in late-night slots.

So, a fair opener, but the best was yet to come.

This the first episode of Gerry Anderson's UFO , a series I used to love watching as a child . Unfortunately after seeing the show as an adult I'm afraid the memory has cheated and is nowhere as good as I remembered which is a great pity since the show comes close to being a television classic if only a little bit more time and care had been taken

The audience are treated to a great opening hook as three people come across a stranded UFO . It would have been even greater if Anderson had employed an actor who could act but instead cast Peter Gordeno whose resume on this site seems to suggest he's a dance choreographer . I certainly would't suggest dancing with him either since there's a very real danger of splinters . We then cut to a different scene where a government minister greets two American air force officers who show him proof that UFOs do exist and talk of the devil a UFO attacks their escort . It's an exciting enough sequence if you don't think about it but when you do you realise there's a plot hole of how did the aliens know about this meeting ?

Since it's an introductory episode much of the episode sets up the premise of the show . Aliens are coming to Earth to abduct people for their organs . A scary thought but one that is undermined when you watch the next 25 episodes only to realise that the aliens agenda usually consists of them trying to destroy mankind . They need our bodies so try and destroy the human race ? There's also an alien autopsy which is fine until it ties in with the disappearance of one character's sister which involves so much unlikely coincidence that credibility goes out of the window

For those of you who have seen the later episodes you'll notice a couple of characters are conspicuous by their absence , namely Paul Foster and Dr Jackson . One can't help thinking that Foster and Jackson are superfluous characters since respectively Freeman and Dr Harris are totally interchangeable , though Alec Freeman doesn't really work because the sight of a middle aged man trying to get a leg over every woman he comes across becomes laughable very quickly . Interesting to note once Paul Foster becomes a regular character Freeman becomes marginalized by the scripts

All in all it's fairly indicative introductory episode . Good in some places but quite bad in many more . It does however remain watchable as does most of the series but it's such a pity the show settled for being merely watchable

This is the first episode of the British series "UFO". All in all, the show did a good job of creating interest, as this premier show had a LOT jammed into it--a prequel, some exciting plot elements and a look at what the aliens looked like. Although the show was about 50 minutes in length, it sure felt like more--with so much to it.

The show begins with an attack on humans by a UFO. Then, a short time later, an American military officer (Ed Bishop as Commander Straker) and his car are then attacked as well. Then, jumping into the near future, we see Striker as an executive working at a movie studio. What gives? Well, the studio is a cover for SHADO--an international organization created to combat these UFOs and you assume Striker's earlier near-death experience with the UFOs led to his being given command. But this is no ordinary organization--they have bases on the moon, under the sea and on the Earth's surface. While some of these special effects are pretty cheesy when seen today, for 1970, they were pretty good and I liked the kitschy style and 70s music.

The first order of business for SHADO is to protect one of their airliners from an attack from three UFOs. The first two are taken out, but the third manages to get pretty close. In the process, the third one is shot down AND the pilot is captured. What comes as a HUGE surprise is that these aliens look pretty human AND bits and pieces of them ARE! In other words, the aliens appear to be harvesting human organs for their own personal use! All in all, with so much to this episode, it's hard not to get hooked--particularly if you love sci-fi AND you are an old fogey like me and enjoy the nostalgia. For younger folks, this might be pretty silly stuff--especially when you see the pretty girls on the moon base with their purple hair!!

The first jam packed episode of UFO has had a lot of money spent on it. Unfortunately Gerry Anderson had little to spare for the script. He seems to have forgotten that a live action series needed a bit more shade in their characters and a bit more lively acting.

UFO has big fantastic set of SHADO headquarters built beneath a film studio. There is a lunar base, a submarine, a fighter aircraft. Some day glo costumes and women with purple hair.

As ever Gerry Anderson could utilise his expertise in model work which he horned in his puppet shows.

The initial pre credit scenes actually had some video game style battle scenes that would not look out of place today.

Set in the future 1980. Commander Ed Straker (Ed Bishop) is taking the fight to the UFOs. Here they discover an alien with human parts. It looks like that the reason why the aliens are interested in Earth is for body parts.

There is a lot of setting up of the series done here. It is a shame that some of the characters are rather two dimensional. Women are dolly birds with short silver skirts. Who one earth could take George Sewell seriously as a ladies man? Those string vest type costumes in the submarine are camp as hell.

The first episode has all the hallmarks that plague Anderson's live action shows. It is good to look at, expensive, futuristic. Let down by story and characterisation.