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UFO
Genre	Science fiction
Created by	Gerry & Sylvia Anderson Reg Hill
Starring	Keith Alexander Harry Baird Michael Billington Ed Bishop Ayshea Brough Gabrielle Drake Antonia Ellis Peter Gordeno Dolores Mantez Gary Myers Norma Ronald George Sewell Vladek Sheybal Grant Taylor Wanda Ventham[1]
Music by	Barry Gray
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producer	Gerry Anderson
Producers	Reg Hill Gerry Anderson
Cinematography	Brendan J. Stafford
Editors	Alan Killick Harry MacDonald Len Walter Lee Doig Mike Campbell
Running time	50 minutes
Production company	Century 21 Television Productions
Budget	£2.6 million[2]
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	16 September 1970 (1970-09-16) – 7 August 1971 (1971-08-07) (ATV Midlands)

UFO is a 1970 British science fiction television series about the covert efforts of an international defence organisation (under the auspices of the United Nations) to prevent an alien invasion of Earth. It was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.

A single series of 26 episodes (including the pilot) was filmed over the course of more than a year; a five-month production break was caused by the closure of MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made. Production then moved to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. UFO was first broadcast in the UK and Canada from 1970, and in the United States from 1972.^[3]

The Andersons' live-action science fiction movie Doppelgänger (also known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) is considered an immediate precursor to UFO, which was their first entirely live-action TV series. (Their previous shows had used marionettes.)^[4] The series featured actors, costumes, props, locations and music that had appeared in the film, and 11 cast members of the film appeared in at least one episode of UFO.^[1]

Following syndication in the US and initial favourable ratings, a possible second series was planned; initially entitled UFO 1999, this eventually became Space: 1999, but with a totally different cast from UFO.^[1]

Premise

The series' premise is that in 1980, Earth is being visited by aliens from a dying planet, who are abducting humans and harvesting their organs for their own bodies. The alien incursions may also be a prelude to a possible full-scale invasion. The series' main cast of characters are the staff of a secret, high-technology international military agency called SHADO (an acronym for Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) established by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Germany (believed to be West Germany as the city of Bonn is mentioned along with Washington, Paris and Moscow) to defend Earth and humanity against the mysterious aliens and learn more about them, while at the same time keeping the threat of an alien invasion hidden from the public.^[1]

Operating under the cover (as well as literally beneath the premises) of the Harlington-Straker Studios movie studio in England, SHADO is headed by Commander Edward Straker (Ed Bishop), a former United States Air Force colonel and astronaut, whose "cover" is his role as the studio's chief executive.^[5]

SHADO has a variety of high-tech hardware and vehicles at its disposal to implement a layered defence of Earth. Early warnings of alien attack came from SID, the Space Intruder Detector, an unmanned computerised tracking satellite that constantly scans for UFO incursions. The forward line of defence is Moonbase from which the three lunar Interceptor spacecraft, that fire a single explosive warhead, are launched.^[6] The second line of defence includes Skydiver, a submarine mated with the submersible, undersea-launched Sky One interceptor aircraft, which attacks UFOs in Earth's atmosphere.^[7] The last line of defence is ground units including the armed, IFV-like SHADO Mobiles, fitted with caterpillar tracks.^[8]

On Earth, SHADO also uses two SHADAIR aircraft, a Seagull X-ray supersonic jet (e.g. in the episode "Identified") and a transport plane (e.g. in "A Question of Priorities"); a transatlantic Lunar Carrier with a separating Lunar Module (e.g. in "Computer Affair"); a helicopter (actually, a small VTOL aeroplane with large rotating propellers, e.g. in the episode "Ordeal"); and a radio-controlled Space Dumper (e.g. in "The Long Sleep"). The Moonbase has hovercraft-like Moon Hoppers/Moonmobiles that can be deployed for transportation or reconnaissance.

Notably for science fiction, the alien race is never given a proper name, either by themselves or by human beings; they are simply referred to as "the aliens". They are humanoid in appearance, and the post-mortem examination of the first alien captured reveals that they are harvesting organs from the bodies of abducted humans to prolong their lifespans. However, the later episode "The Cat with Ten Lives" suggests that these "humanoids" are actually beings subject to alien mind control, and one "alien" body recovered was suspected of being completely Homo sapiens, "possessed" by one of the alien minds – a concept central to the Andersons' previous Supermarionation series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Their faces are stained green by the hue of a green oxygenated liquid, which is believed to cushion their lungs against the extreme acceleration of interstellar flight; this liquid is contained in their helmets. To protect their eyes, the aliens wear opaque sclera contact lenses with small pinholes for vision. (The show's opening titles begin with a shot of one of these contact lenses being removed from an alien's eye.) The personal arms of the aliens resemble shiny metal submachine guns; these have a lower rate of fire than those used by SHADO.

The aliens' spacecraft can readily cross the vast distances between their planet and Earth at many times the speed of light (abbreviated and pronounced as "SOL"; e.g., "SOL one decimal seven" is 1.7 times the speed of light), but are too small to carry more than a few crew members. Their time on station is limited: UFOs can only survive for a couple of days in Earth's atmosphere before they deteriorate and finally explode. The UFOs can survive for far longer underwater; one episode, "Reflections in the Water", deals with the discovery of a secret undersea alien base and shows one UFO flying straight out of an extinct volcano. A special underwater version of the standard UFO design is seen in "Sub-Smash". In flight they are surrounded by horizontally spinning vanes, and emit a distinctive pulsing electronic whine that sounds like a Shoooe-Wheeeh! (produced by series composer Barry Gray on an ondes Martenot).^[9] The craft is armed with a laser-type weapon, and conventional explosive warheads can destroy it.

Cast and characters

UFO had a large ensemble cast; many of its members came and went during the course of the series, with some actors – such as George Sewell and Gabrielle Drake – leaving midway through the series, during the production break necessitated by the change of studio facilities. It is established early on that SHADO personnel rotate between positions, so the occasional disappearance of characters – some of whom later returned in other positions – fits the concept of the series. Also, owing to the scheduling of the series not reflecting the production order, some episodes featuring departed cast members were not broadcast until late in the series, which can give the impression that no major cast changes occurred. Only Ed Bishop appeared in every episode.^[1]

Main characters

Actor	Character	Role	No. of episodes
Ed Bishop	Col. Straker	Commander-in-chief of SHADO	26
Michael Billington	Col. Foster	SHADO operative	21
Gabrielle Drake	Lieut. Ellis	Moonbase operative	10
George Sewell	Col. Freeman	Second-in-command of SHADO	17
Grant Taylor	Gen. Henderson	President of IAC	9
Wanda Ventham	Col. Lake	SHADO operative	9
Peter Gordeno	Capt. Carlin	First commander of Skydiver	6
Dolores Mantez	Lieut. Barry	Moonbase operative	23
Gary Myers	Capt. Waterman	Second commander of Skydiver	13
Keith Alexander	Lieut. Ford	Communications officer	16
Ayshea Brough (credited as Ayshea)	Lieut. Johnson	SHADO headquarters officer	17
Vladek Sheybal	Dr Jackson	SHADO medical officer	14
Antonia Ellis	Lieut. Harrington	Moonbase operative	14
Norma Ronald	Miss Ealand	Straker's secretary	11
Harry Baird	Lieut. Bradley	Interceptor pilot	6

• Colonel Edward "Ed" Straker (Ed Bishop), Commander-in-chief of SHADO, is a former American Air Force colonel, pilot and astronaut originally from Boston, Massachusetts, who organised SHADO following a series of UFO attacks in 1970. Straker masquerades as the head of Harlington-Straker Film Studios, SHADO Headquarters being located directly below the studio.
• Colonel Paul Foster (Michael Billington) is introduced in the second episode "Exposed". A former test pilot, his plane was critically damaged when SHADO's Sky One intercepted and destroyed a UFO flying near Foster's jet. His persistent investigation of the incident threatened to expose SHADO's existence, so Straker offered him a position with SHADO.
• Lieutenant Gay Ellis (Gabrielle Drake), seen as Moonbase commander during the first half of the series. Ellis is occasionally portrayed as lacking self-confidence, and at other times as a take-charge officer. She is briefly reassigned to SHADO HQ when it is suggested that she may be romantically involved with interceptor pilot Mark Bradley ("Computer Affair").
• Colonel Alec Freeman (George Sewell), Second-in-command of SHADO, a former pilot and intelligence officer, is SHADO's first officer (and very first operative recruited into SHADO by Straker) for 17 episodes in the series (Sewell left following the change of studios, being later unavailable when series production resumed at Pinewood Studios). Freeman is Straker's closest friend and right-hand man and, occasionally, his muscle.
• General James Henderson (Grant Taylor), Straker's superior officer, serves as the president of the International Astrophysical Commission, which is a front for SHADO and is responsible for obtaining funds and equipment from various governments to keep SHADO operational. Straker and Henderson clash frequently over the needs of SHADO and economic realities.
• Colonel Virginia Lake (Wanda Ventham) first appears in the opening episode ("Identified"), as the chief designer for Westbrook Electronics, the contractor for the SHADO's Utronics faster-than-light tracking system. During the last eight episodes, Lake returned to take over the post of SHADO first officer, replacing Alec Freeman.
• Captain Peter Carlin (Peter Gordeno), during the first third of the series, Carlin is the commander of the submarine Skydiver and pilot of its interceptor aircraft, Sky One. In 1970, Carlin and his sister found a UFO and were attacked; he was shot and wounded and his sister vanished. He joined SHADO in the hope of finding out what happened to his sister, and eventually learned that her organs had been harvested in "Identified". Gordeno left the show after six episodes because he wanted to avoid typecasting.
• Lieutenant Nina Barry (Dolores Mantez) is one of Straker's first recruits into SHADO. Barry works as a space tracker at Moonbase and later replaces Lieutenant Ellis as its commanding officer. She also serves aboard Skydiver in "Sub-Smash".
• Captain Lew Waterman (Gary Myers) is initially an interceptor pilot on the Moon; he is later promoted to captain, and replaces Peter Carlin as commanding officer of Skydiver and pilot of Sky One.
• Lieutenant Keith Ford (Keith Alexander) is a former television interviewer who became a founding member of SHADO and its main communications officer. Actor Keith Alexander left the series after the production break, so the character disappears at the two-thirds mark of the series.
• Lieutenant Ayshea Johnson (Ayshea Brough) is a SHADO headquarters officer in 14 episodes, and later becomes SHADO's communications officer following the departure of Lieutenant Ford.
• Doctor Douglas Jackson (Vladek Sheybal) is the SHADO psychiatrist and science officer. He serves a number of capacities within SHADO, including acting as prosecution officer during the court-martial of Paul Foster. It is implied that "Douglas Jackson" is not the character's birth name, as he speaks with a strong Eastern European accent.
• Lieutenant Joan Harrington (Antonia Ellis) another Moonbase operative, was one of the organisation's earliest recruits, as seen in "Confetti Check A-O.K."
• Miss Ealand (Norma Ronald) is a SHADO operative who masquerades as Straker's movie studio secretary. She is the first line of defence against anyone entering SHADO HQ via Straker's office/elevator. The character is not seen in most of the post-studio change episodes, being replaced in two episodes by Miss Holland, played by Lois Maxwell.
• Lieutenant Mark Bradley (Harry Baird) is a Caribbean-born interceptor pilot based on the Moon. He becomes romantically involved with Lieutenant Ellis for a time, leading to a temporary assignment at SHADO HQ on Earth, and later briefly assumes the position of Moonbase commander. Baird left the series after filming four episodes, but appeared in stock footage in two later episodes.

Minor characters

One of the female Moonbase operatives, Joanna, was played by Shakira Baksh, who later married Michael Caine. Producer Gerry Anderson later said that he had lost his temper with her so badly on the set of UFO that he always feared the idea of running into Michael Caine at some actors' function, and being punched on the nose by him.^[10]

Interceptor pilot Steve Minto was played by Steven Berkoff. Lieutenant Sylvia Howell, a Skydiver technician, was played by Georgina Moon.

Episodes

Owing to the fragmented nature of the ITV network in the UK at the time, the 26 episodes of UFO were broadcast out of production order, and every broadcaster showed the episodes in a different sequence. The list below, drawn from Chris Bentley's The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO,^[11] details the running order shown on ATV (in the Midlands).

List of episodes

No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	Viewers (millions)
1	"Identified"	Gerry Anderson	Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and Tony Barwick	16 September 1970 (1970-09-16)	1	N/A
SHADO officially goes into operation and encounters its first UFO. An alien pilot is captured and discovered to have transplanted human organs within him.
2	"Exposed"	David Lane	Tony Barwick	23 September 1970 (1970-09-23)	5	N/A
After civilian test pilot Paul Foster is caught in a UFO incident, he persistently strives to expose the truth.
3	"The Cat with Ten Lives"	David Tomblin	David Tomblin	30 September 1970 (1970-09-30)	19	N/A
A SHADO interceptor pilot is placed under a hypnotic spell by an alien-influenced cat.
4	"Conflict"	Ken Turner	Ruric Powell	7 October 1970 (1970-10-07)	6	N/A
After a moon shuttle is mysteriously destroyed, Straker campaigns to have space junk removed from Earth's orbit.
5	"A Question of Priorities"	David Lane	Tony Barwick	14 October 1970 (1970-10-14)	8	N/A
Straker faces a terrible decision: attend to an alien defector or deliver life-saving medicine to his critically injured son.
6	"E.S.P."	Ken Turner	Alan Fennell	21 October 1970 (1970-10-21)	15	N/A
A man with ESP knowledge of SHADO is co-opted by the aliens.
7	"Kill Straker!"	Alan Perry	Donald James	4 November 1970 (1970-11-04)	16	N/A
Foster and his lunar module co-pilot, Captain Frank Craig, are brainwashed by aliens to kill Straker.
8	"Sub-Smash"	David Lane	Alan Fennell	11 November 1970 (1970-11-11)	17	N/A
Straker must face his claustrophobia when the Skydiver submarine is damaged and unable to surface.
9	"Destruction"	Ken Turner	Dennis Spooner	2 December 1970 (1970-12-02)	20	N/A
The aliens attack a Royal Navy destroyer that is dumping sealed containers of highly toxic nerve gas in the sea.
10	"The Square Triangle"	David Lane	Alan Pattillo	9 December 1970 (1970-12-09)	11	N/A
SHADO and an alien find themselves in the midst of a murderous romantic triangle.
11	"Close Up"	Alan Perry	Tony Barwick	16 December 1970 (1970-12-16)	13	N/A
SHADO obtains what may be the first photos of the alien home world.
12	"The Psychobombs"	Jeremy Summers	Tony Barwick	30 December 1970 (1970-12-30)	22	N/A
The aliens transform three humans into walking bombs.
13	"Survival"	Alan Perry	Tony Barwick	6 January 1971 (1971-01-06)	4	N/A
Foster is stranded on the Moon's surface, where he befriends a similarly stranded alien.
14	"Mindbender"	Ken Turner	Tony Barwick	13 January 1971 (1971-01-13)	25	N/A
An alien crystal causes Lieutenant Andy Conroy, Straker and other SHADO operatives to hallucinate.
15	"Flight Path"	Ken Turner	Ian Scott Stewart	20 January 1971 (1971-01-20)	3	N/A
A blackmailed SHADO operative opens the door for a possible alien attack on Moonbase.
16	"The Man Who Came Back"	David Lane	Terence Feely	3 February 1971 (1971-02-03)	21	N/A
A SHADO pilot believed dead suddenly turns up alive, much to a SHADO operative's suspicion.
17	"The Dalotek Affair"	Alan Perry	Ruric Powell	10 February 1971 (1971-02-10)	7	N/A
Communications problems at Moonbase are traced to a non-SHADO mining operation.
18	"Timelash"	Cyril Frankel	Terence Feely	17 February 1971 (1971-02-17)	24	N/A
A UFO freezes time at the studio for everyone but Straker, Colonel Lake and a mysterious enemy.
19	"Ordeal"	Ken Turner	Tony Barwick	24 April 1971 (1971-04-24)	9	N/A
SHADO races to rescue Foster after he is abducted from a medical facility.
20	"Court Martial"	Ron Appleton	Tony Barwick	1 May 1971 (1971-05-01)	12	N/A
Colonel Foster is tried and sentenced to death after a security leak is traced to him.
21	"Computer Affair"	David Lane	Tony Barwick	15 May 1971 (1971-05-15)	2	N/A
A SHADO investigation reveals that romance may be complicating Moonbase operations.
22	"Confetti Check A-O.K."	David Lane	Tony Barwick	10 July 1971 (1971-07-10)	14	N/A
A flashback episode focusing on SHADO's formation and how it caused the failure of Straker's marriage.
23	"The Sound of Silence"	David Lane	David Lane and Bob Bell	17 July 1971 (1971-07-17)	18	N/A
A show jumper is abducted by the aliens.
24	"Reflections in the Water"	David Tomblin	David Tomblin	24 July 1971 (1971-07-24)	23	N/A
Straker and Foster investigate an undersea alien base where SHADO and its personnel have been duplicated.
25	"The Responsibility Seat"	Alan Perry	Tony Barwick	31 July 1971 (1971-07-31)	10	N/A
Straker is attracted to a reporter who poses a possible security leak for SHADO.
26	"The Long Sleep"	Cyril Frankel	David Tomblin	7 August 1971 (1971-08-07)	26	N/A
A woman awakening from a decade-long coma sparks a hunt for an alien bomb.

Alternative viewing orders

• Prod: The studio production order.^[12]
• ATV: "Official" ITC sequence. This is the sequence in which the episodes were originally scheduled to be broadcast in the UK by ATV Midlands.
• UFO Series: Recommended order by Marc Martin of http://www.ufoseries.com.
• Fanderson: Recommended by Fanderson and used on British DVDs.
• ITC: Order used for VHS release in the UK.

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=UFO_(British_TV_series)
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Title	Original UK airdate	Prod	ATV	UFOS	Fanderson	ITC
"Identified"	16 September 1970	1	1	1	1	1
"Computer Affair"	15 May 1971	2	21	2	2	16
"Flight Path"	20 January 1971	3	15	3	3	15
"Survival"	6 January 1971	4	13	6	5	3
"Exposed"	23 September 1970	5	2	4	4	2
"Conflict"	7 October 1970	6	4	5	6	4
"The Dalotek Affair"	10 February 1971	7	17	7	7	14
"A Question of Priorities"	14 October 1970	8	5	8	8	5
"Ordeal"	24 April 1971	9	19	9	9	7
"The Responsibility Seat"	31 July 1971	10	25	10	10	17
"The Square Triangle"	9 December 1970	11	10	11	11	6
"Court Martial"	1 May 1971	12	20	12	12	10
"Close Up"	16 December 1970	13	11	13	13	9
"Confetti Check A-O.K."	10 July 1971	14	22	14	14	11
"E.S.P."	21 October 1970	15	6	15	15	8
"Kill Straker!"	4 November 1970	16	7	16	16	12
"Sub-Smash"	11 November 1970	17	8	17	17	13
"The Sound of Silence"	17 July 1971	18	23	18	18	19
"The Cat with Ten Lives"	30 September 1970	19	3	19	19	18
"Destruction"	2 December 1970	20	9	20	20	20
"The Man Who Came Back"	3 February 1971	21	16	21	21	21
"The Psychobombs"	30 December 1970	22	12	22	22	22
"Reflections in the Water"	24 July 1971	23