The Complete UFO Megaset

UFO - A lavish live action science fiction television series set in the distant future of the 1980's. The show was developed in Britain in 1969,1970 and then released (syndicated) to American audiences in 1970, the show ran for 2 seasons before it was canceled. Synopsis:I'm going to try and keep this simple, (which is not gonna happen) there are a lot more and better show summaries out there. The show was about a super secret base located on the Moon (Moonbase) known as S.H.A.DO.W. (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization). Lead by Commander Ed Straker, who is a former United States Air Force Colonel, His job! To defend Earth (Mostly Great Britain though) against the horde of; Evil, Bad, Angry, Invading Aliens (pick one). The Aliens who were in humanoid form (Mostly seen in a space suit) were here to harvest human organs to prolong and restore their dieing race (This was explained in a later episode of the series) the only sad point to this was that the aliens were never really exploited to their full potential in the series run. To help defend The Earth and Moon there were plenty of high-tech vehicles to save the day. First off, Moonbase had it's own defenses, three UFO Interceptor spacecraft (each carrying one nuclear missile per spacecraft - try doing that today). Second line of defense was S.I.D. (Space Intruder Detector) An orbiting computerized satelite around the moon to warn against oh I don't know, UFO's maybe! Number three was an earth based Submarine known as SkyDiver, part submarine and part flying submersible which a detachable undersea-launched vehicle known as the Sky One, it's job was to attack UFO's in Earth orbit. Last line of defense were the ground units on Earth called SHADO Mobiles, (A bus fitted with caterpillar tracks, only cooler looking). Oh and and in a couple of futuristic cars and some gadgets and there you go. Now how did this organization stay hidden from the public? Well, it was under the disguise of Harlington-Straker Studios, A movie studio in England that was located directly above S.H.A.D.O.W. Headquarters How convenient, Kill 2 birds with 1 stone). The action of the show was pretty well split between the Earth and Moon, There was the Moonbase interior and exterior scenes, A lot of British locations, scenic as well as SHADOW and the Harlington-Straker Studios sets. Then there were plenty of Space shots, underwater and atmospheric shots, Flying Space ships and UFO' all via special effects. Plot point:The premise of the show was fairly simple, find and stop the the Aliens at all costs. On the other hand the characters on the were fairly complex and it had it's share of complicated episodes at times (especially in the second season) plot twists and of course a lot of special effects. The thing to know here is that this show was developed for the mature audience market and not really a kids show, but it had it's share of spaceships, UFO's and secrete hi-tech military type bases to draw in the younger audience. But by todays standards (2010) the show falls a little on the campy side, but it still had it's share of complex scripts, (with a few psychedelic ones) characters and special effects. Character effects:Female Moonbase personnel in uniforms and had purple hair (wigs maybe?) and extensive eye make-up (maybe to make them look futuristic)Ed Bishop, who had dark hair in real life, bleached his hair white, later began wearing a white wig.Other male characters in the series also wore wigs, it was thought they would become fashionable by the 1980s.Oh lets not forget the sheer trousers and jump tops for the guys piloting skydiver.The use of tobacco and alcohol consumption. Straker futuristic home bar in his office, though Straker does not drink Col. Freeman partakes fairly regularly. Straker is also seen smoking in SHADO headquarters, and many of the Moonbase personnel also light up frequently. Here is a basic (and I mean basic) rundown of some of the characters on the show.Ed Straker (Ed Bishop) Former U.S. Air Force pilot and astronaut originally from Boston who organized SHADO following a series of UFO attacks in 1970.Col. Paul Foster (Michael Billington) He masquerades as one of Straker's film producers in the studio.Lt. Gay Ellis (Gabrielle Drake) Often seen as Moonbase Commander during the first half of the series.Col. Alec Freeman (George Sewell) SHADO's first officer, Straker's right hand man at times.Gen. James Henderson (Grant Taylor) Straker's superior officer, He heads the International Astrophysical Commission, a front for SHADO at times a not so likable guy, which helped add contention to the series.Capt. Peter Carlin (Peter Gordeno) commander of the submarine SkyDiver and pilot of its interceptor aircraft, Sky One.Lt. Nina Barry (Dolores Mantez) Space Tracker at Moonbase, later replacing Lt. Ellis as its commanding officer.Capt. Lew Waterman (Gary Myers) An Interceptor pilot on the Moon, later promoted to captain, replacing Peter Carlin as commanding officer of Skydiver and pilot of Sky One.Lt. Keith Ford (Keith Alexander) SHADOWs main communications officer.Lt. Ayshea Johnson (Ayshea Brough) SHADO headquarters officer, also seen waving at an (offscreen) Col. Alec Freeman in the opening credits. There were obviously more characters that appeared on the show, but I figured these were worth mentioning. Special effects:This is what the show is all about here, no not todays SFX, CGI, motion control model space ships. In those days the show was about model space ships, UFO's (Held up with wires), underwater submarines, flying subs, transporters on treads, on and on. The overall effects were quite good noting the Moonbase model, the Moonbase interior sets, S.I.D. space station, UFO Interceptors, The actors in spacesuits weren't bad, the physical sets were very well done as well all the flashing lights and futuristic cars. Special effects were supervised by Derek Meddings, which were of the highest quality of there time, considering how the limited resources of the special effects shop. Skydiver and Moonbase, SHADO pilots enter their interceptor craft by sliding down tubes. Kudos to the Andersons' earlier Thunderbirds to series. SHADO HQ and Moonbase control consoles, computers, lighting panels make later appearances in Doctor Who, Blake's 7, also in 007's Diamonds Are Forever. How can we forget the Trimphone, a British model of telephone designed in the 1960s. The down side would be the UFO's that looked like shinny spinning tops, some of the model underwater scenes that sometimes looked like it was filmed in a fish tank, the astronaut space walks that end up looking like small dolls on wires (the dolls or figures were static, this tended to make them look like little tiny flying dolls). The computers in the show used magnetic tape drives that just kept spinning and spinning and spinning, the green computer screens. This is what dates the the show, well the white and purple wigs, fish net attire is what really gives it that 70's charactor. Milestones:The shows creator; Gary anderson who brought us (only some of his titles listed here) TV Series: Supercar (1961-1962) - first Supermarionation production.Fireball XL5 (1962-1963), Stingray (1964-1965), Thunderbirds (1965-1966), Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967-1968), UFO (1970-1971),Space: 1999 (1975-1977), Gary Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (2005). Feature films: Crossroads to Crime (1960), Thunderbirds Are Go (1966), Thunderbird 6 (1968), Doppelgänger (1969) Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. The special effects director Derek Meddings went on to work with George Lucas ala Industrial Light & Magic on what else STAR TREK! (Nooooooo it was Star Wars, but I'm sure He could remake Trek if He really wonted to, but thats another story). The show brought in a lot of new concepts for the 1980's, most of them didn't catch on for one reason or another. It's the look of the show with all it's cool SFX of it's time, the outfits worn by the actors, the over all feeling of this is the Future and we've got flying spaceships, astronauts living on the moon and aliens amongst us that give the show it's look and it's attitude. This shows not for everyone but if you like science fiction and action movies then it's worth looking into. Space: 1999:The series was syndicated on American television and the ratings were initially promising to prompt ITC to commission a new season of UFO a.k.a. UFO2.ITC considered creating the new season with the action to take place entirely on the Moon where SHADO Moonbase becomes the main headquarters.Pre-production on UFO 2 began with extensive research and design, however ratings for the syndicated broadcasts in America dropped, ITC canceled the plans for UFO2. Gary Anderson offered ITC a new series idea, Moonbase located on the Moon would be blown out of Earth orbit, this proposal developed into Space: 1999 leaving no trace of UFO in its plot of the show.quigon87 - End of line.

UFO and me go back to the 70's. I was too young to see it when it first aired; I was part of the 70's growing up on Star Trek as my main Sci Fi diet after school along with UFO at weird times on the weekends. Because the show only lasted one season it couldn't be shown like Trek everyday, so when you were lucky enough to catch it, you watched it to see the humans defend earth from the aliens. There were awesome special effects in UFO, and as big a Trekkie as I am UFO's effects blew it away. Even in that limited context in the 70's when I could catch it it stayed with me as one of my favorite shows EVER. Flash forward to around the year 2000, I'm selling high end home entertainment electronics and in the satellite TV area I am flipping through the menus and see that my favorite show UFO is now being shown regularly on the Sci Fi channel, awesome but how does it hold up? After all I was a kid when I first watched it and technology and things have changed. Well, UFO was not only still awesome to watch in the 21st century but I found out it had a coherent story line and character development as well, who would have known? I could go on and on about UFO but if you are into Sci Fi, the 1960's-70's era, Gerry Anderson stuff, or all of the above you must see UFO. It's the most serious and best show he put together in my opinion other than The Thunderbirds (I haven't seen everything he's done but I've seen most). I guess it was ahead of it's time or something, maybe the budget was too big, but it's a real shame that it was not picked up for a second season, in the audio commentary with Gerry Anderson he says it was because it didn't get picked up in America, shame on us! Still, being the optimist I am, I'm happy I have one season of UFO to enjoy. Straker is my favorite character,if you watch the show you learn how flawed he is. He's divorced because he's a workaholic and has been entrusted with knowledge that only few know. His Son is tragically killed by him in an auto accident, the man is a wreck who plunges himself into his work, saving earth from an alien invasion. This show made me an Ed Bishop fan but I havn't found much to cheer about in his other appearences (he was in Battle Beneath The Earth, thats about all thats memorable, the rest are small roles, he was briefly in 2001 ASO, and Diamonds Are Forever). The supporting characters are all great and even though the show only lasted one season we get into their lives as well. Another great part of the show is the Aliens and the mysteries that surround them. What are their motivations? Why don't they talk to us humans? What are they up to (no good for sure!)? It made the show interesting for me as a kid and the character development kept it going for me as an adult. Throw in the very cool ships and weapons from the years of experience Gerry Anderson had and it stands up as one of the best sci fi alien shows ever made. You have got to love the touch that Anderson made when he gave the humans guns and atomic bomb space missiles and he gave the aliens lasers, showing their superior knowledge. It's little touches like that that give it plausibility and make it a serious sci fi show. If you haven't seen UFO please do but try to catch it from the beginning, it does have a storyline. My favorite episode "The Physco-bombs" , one could easily put it into a 9-11 suicide bomber reality today, this show was so ahead of it's time. As for A&E's "Megaset" madness, one season shows do not a mega set make. I wish this was 1/3rd the price but as so many love this show it's price for sale remains high, that's strong proof of the shows quality. Highly recommended if you can afford it, or if you're looking for an extra cool gift for a Sci Fi fan, this is a sure gift they will appreciate. My Amazon rating is 5/5 even with the high price. Bump bump bump bump bumpbumpbump , dada dadaaaaa, da da dada, dadadadaaaaa, da da dada.......

I have to admit, before Gerry Anderson recently died, I didn't know this Sci-Fi tv-series, as it was never aired on Dutch televison. Thanks Google I noticed this series also, and I now know that UFO is very popular in neighbouring country Germany, the UK, Japan and especially Italy. When the German 2nd TV-channel (ZDF) broadcasted UFO, I was in the army by the way.As I was convinced UFO would be an excellent tv-series and in my family there are 4 region-free multi-players (OPPO, DENON, Pioneer), and the recent Japanese Blu-ray release including shipping, is too expensive, I ordered this 8 disc DVD 'megaset'. Better late than never.A lot is already told about UFO, but I like to add: UFO had all the elements in the making that a Sci-Fi show was all about, it even digressed in certain areas, to add variety, but the real main strength of UFO was the character dynamics and interactions, the actors and actresses were perfectly cast in their roles. It's a shame UFO went only 1 season.As far as I know almost everyone involved with the making of UFO has died, fortunately some women are among us (like Sylvia Anderson, Gabrielle Drake, Wanda Ventham, Jane Merrow), and today some futuristic cars from UFO are being restored.The video and audio are great, although the video is less when there are 4 episodes on a disc instead of 3 (disc 4 and 8). And I like the audio comments from Sylvia and Gerry Anderson, Ed Bishop and Wanda Ventham on some episodes.On YouTube I saw some clips of a Blu-ray UFO, a Japanese, restored release, looks excellent.This series deserves a decent Blu-ray release, outside Japan too: 'the next step'.Be aware, the German Blu-ray release -with 9 episodes on 1 disc- is in DVD quality (SD).Summary, I recommend this 'megaset': like in Germany and Australia, all the 26 episodes on 8 discs in 1 DVD box set. Excellent Sci-Fi tv-series on a great DVD transfer.I now feel obliged to promote UFO and this box set in my country (Holland).The delivery took 2 weeks.My ratings: tv-series UFO (1970): 4.5/5. DVD transfer: 5/5.

Fab fab fab! Loved it first time around on TV in 1970 and now enjoy going through all the episodes again (34 years on!) every bit as much! Though I do chuckle at how much they thought we would be doing by 1980 lol!

Good 70, s sci fi , still remember the white hair , pity not more episodes, could be nice for a young person to see how good programmes were made, without violence

Brought back so many memories. Although the technology is so outdated, the story lines are excellent and if only modern writers would take a lesson in story telling from these people - programmes like Dr Who would become a bit more enjoyable again

great