UFO Series Home Page - A Short Episode Guide

Compiled by Marc Martin

PREMISE

In the year 1980, a secret military organization named "SHADO" (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) becomes operational. Its purpose is to defend the Earth from Aliens who've been kidnapping humans for body parts.

SHADO's main headquarters is hidden beneath a London film studio. It also has a base on the moon (Moonbase) and a fleet of submarines (Skydiver). Incoming UFO's are initially detected by an Earth orbiting satellite named "SID" (Space Intruder Detector). 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.

EPISODE SYNOPSES

IDENTIFIED: Ten years after the first confirmed UFO incident, SHADO is about to become fully operational. A UFO attacks an SST delivering vital SHADO tracking equipment, but it is shot down by Sky One. An Alien is captured and brought back to SHADO HQ, but what secrets does it reveal?

COMPUTER AFFAIR: After a UFO collides with an Interceptor, computer tests indicate that Lt. Ellis' judgment was affected by an emotional attachment with one of the Interceptor pilots. Col. Freeman doesn't buy this, and makes them both part of a team to battle the landed UFO in the Mobiles. However, will Lt. Ellis' judgment be affected again?

FLIGHT PATH: SHADO operative Paul Roper is being blackmailed by the Aliens for flight plan data which will allow them to attack Moonbase undetected. After being discovered, Roper volunteers to defend Moonbase himself. But what are his chances -- alone on the lunar surface and armed only with a handheld rocket launcher?

EXPOSED: During a UFO interception by Sky One, an experimental test plane is shot down. The test pilot is convinced he saw a UFO, but when he tries to prove it he is discredited and harassed. His persistence leads him to SHADO's commander, but will he now be killed for knowing too much?

CONFLICT: A SHADO lunar module is mysteriously destroyed during Earth reentry, and a second reentry attempt by Col. Foster nearly fails. Straker thinks the cause might be an Alien device hidden in some space junk, and sends in the Interceptors. However, while the Earth is left undefended, a UFO is sighted and its target is SHADO headquarters!

SURVIVAL: An Alien bullet blows out a window on Moonbase, and an operative is killed. A UFO is discovered in a nearby crater, and a battle leaves Col. Foster missing and presumed dead. However, Foster is still alive, as is an Alien. After initial mistrust, the two join together to try and survive the walk back to Moonbase. But will they?

THE DALOTEK AFFAIR: A series of unexplained communication blackouts on Moonbase eventually destroys a lunar module during a landing attempt. Col. Foster believes the interference is coming from the nearby Dalotek base. However, after removing the suspected source, another blackout occurs -- just as a UFO is coming in for an attack!

A QUESTION OF PRIORITIES: Commander Straker's son is hit by a car, and Straker orders a SHADO transport jet to deliver desperately needed medication. However, the jet is diverted to investigate what might be a defecting Alien trying to contact SHADO. Will SHADO reach the defecting Alien before its own kind does, and will Straker's son die because the Alien takes priority?

ORDEAL: Following a late night party, Col. Foster reports to the SHADO health farm. While in the sauna, Aliens attack the building, kidnap Foster, and adapt him to liquid breathing inside an Alien spacesuit. The UFO escapes the Earth's atmosphere, as Sky One's pilot is unable to shoot down his friend. How will Foster's nightmarish ordeal end?

THE RESPONSIBILITY SEAT: SHADO may have a security leak due to an interview Straker gave to a female reporter. Leaving Freeman in charge, Straker tracks down the reporter, only to start becoming emotionally involved. Meanwhile, Freeman is having some troubles at SHADO, the latest being a Russian Moon vehicle on a collision course with Moonbase!

THE SQUARE TRIANGLE: A woman and her lover conspire to kill her husband. However, instead of shooting the husband, the woman accidentally shoots an Alien entering the house. Col. Foster brings the couple back to SHADO HQ to erase their memory of the incident, but what else should SHADO do about the couple, who will obviously try to kill the husband again?

COURT MARTIAL: Col. Foster is tried and sentenced to death after a security leak points to him as being a traitor. Straker and Freeman are not convinced however, and start their own investigation. They finally prove Foster's innocence, but it may be too late, as Foster has escaped and security has orders to shoot on sight!

CLOSE UP: SHADO begins a project to follow a UFO back to its home planet and photograph the surface using a new telescopic camera. The probe is launched and readied, a UFO is successfully diverted back home, and after many months, SHADO finally receives photos of the Alien world. What does SHADO learn from these photos?

CONFETTI CHECK A-OK: After a SHADO operative has a baby, Straker recalls his own marriage of ten years ago. His marriage starts out happily enough, but becomes strained as he spends all of his time away from home working on the creation of SHADO. How can he make his wife understand that he's being faithful without compromising SHADO's security?

E.S.P. A UFO crash lands into a house, killing the woman inside. The woman's husband has amazing powers of E.S.P., and after repeated scannings of Foster in the hospital, he sends Straker a detailed document full of secret information about SHADO. Straker and Freeman meet with him, but only then do they realize that he's been taken over by the Aliens and plans to kill them!

KILL STRAKER! After a UFO encounter during a lunar module reentry, Foster becomes unusually hostile towards Straker. Both he and the lunar module co-pilot try to kill Straker, with the co-pilot dying in his attempt. Foster's medical exam reveals that an Alien-implanted urge to "Kill Straker" may reappear at any moment. Will Foster have to be eliminated?

SUB-SMASH: A UFO destroys a ship in the Atlantic, so Straker and Foster investigate in Skydiver. The UFO attacks the sub, leaving it heavily damaged and stranded on an undersea ledge. A rescue plane is on the way, but the escape hatches are all blocked or damaged and the air is running out. Will Straker and the crew make it out alive?

THE SOUND OF SILENCE: While searching for a landed UFO, Col. Foster investigates a missing persons report at a nearby horse ranch. After discovering the bodies of a local hippie and his dog, Foster thinks the UFO is hiding at the bottom of a nearby lake. The UFO is destroyed in a battle with the Mobiles, but an object remains intact - is it a bomb that will detonate when taken back to SHADO HQ?

THE CAT WITH TEN LIVES: While driving home, Interceptor pilot James Regan and his wife stop for a cat in the road and are abducted by the Aliens. Regan is left behind, and is now being controlled by an Alien mind in the cat. In his Interceptor, Regan is controlled to let a UFO escape and finally places his vehicle on a collision course with Moonbase!

DESTRUCTION: Straker investigates a UFO incident with a naval ship. He discovers that the ship is planning to dump a highly toxic nerve gas into a deep trench in the Atlantic. However, the Aliens are being fed information about the ship's schedule, and if they succeed in destroying the ship, all life on Earth will be destroyed!

THE MAN WHO CAME BACK: SID is knocked out in an Alien attack, and Craig Collins, the man chosen to pilot the repair mission, has been acting strangely since a UFO incident. Collins injures co-pilot Foster at the last minute, forcing Straker to replace him. However, once in space, Straker realizes that the Aliens have programmed Collins to kill him!

THE PSYCHOBOMBS: Straker receives an ultimatum for SHADO's surrender, and three people who have been transformed by the Aliens into human bombs carry out the ultimatum's threats. First a SHADO tracking station is destroyed and then a Skydiver. The third person is found and brought to SHADO HQ - the next target for destruction!

REFLECTIONS IN THE WATER: Skydiver's crew discovers an underwater Alien dome in the Atlantic. Straker and Foster get inside the dome and find an exact duplication of SHADO HQ and its personnel. Straker realizes it's a plan to fool the other SHADO bases into letting through a massive UFO attack, but does he have enough time to stop it?

TIMELASH: Straker and Col. Lake arrive at SHADO HQ only to find everything frozen in time -- everything except a traitorous SHADO operative who helped the Aliens create the time-freeze. While being taunted on the studio grounds, they try to catch him but cannot because he is able to manipulate time. Can Straker find a way to unfreeze time and stop the Aliens from taking over?

MINDBENDER: Two SHADO operatives go on killing sprees when they start hallucinating, the first seeing cowboys on Moonbase, and the second Aliens in SHADO HQ. Since both operatives had to be killed, Straker is mystified about what's happening. But then Straker starts hallucinating -- and he's now an actor in a TV series about SHADO!

THE LONG SLEEP: A young woman awakens from a coma and tells Straker that a decade ago while on LSD, she stole a piece of an Alien bomb in a farmhouse. Her companion, previously thought to be dead but revived by the Aliens, appears and forces her to reveal the location of the missing piece. Now Straker and Foster must find the farmhouse and deactivate the bomb, or all of London will be destroyed!

CAST

Cmdr. Ed Straker: Ed Bishop
Col. Paul Foster: Michael Billington
Col. Alec Freeman: George Sewell
Col. Virginia Lake: Wanda Ventham
Gen. James Henderson: Grant Taylor
Dr. Doug Jackson: Vladek Sheybal
Lt. Gay Ellis: Gabrielle Drake

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Producers: Gerry Anderson & Reg Hill
Format: Gerry & Sylvia Anderson, Reg Hill
Century 21 Fashions: Sylvia Anderson
Special Effects: Derek Meddings
Music: Barry Gray
Script Editor: Tony Barwick

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