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U.F.O. was a British TV series, produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It was filmed in 1969-70 and primarily aired in the UK in 1970-71. Twenty-six episodes were produced. The show documented the adventures of SHADO, the organization founded to defend the Earth against an ongoing alien invasion.
The show can sometimes be found on specialty science fiction cable channels and the entire run is available on DVD.
U.F.O. guide
table of contents
- When I grow up I'm going to be a tracker on Moonbase.....
- The UFO Megaset
- SHADO Personel
- The UFO Series
- Moonbase
- S.H.A.D.O. CONTROL
- Aboard Skydiver
- Lt. Gay Ellis, Commander of Moonbase
- UFO Sightings
- UFO Rarities and Collectibles
- SHADO Interceptors, Mobiles and Skydiver
- See The Interceptors and Sky One In Action
- UFO Toys, Models and Action Figures
When I grow up I'm going to be a tracker on Moonbase.....
I can't recall actually saying that as a little girl, but that's sort of a surprise in itself. The only science fiction show I can remember more clearly than this one from my childhood is Star Trek. I would have been just about 5 years old when UFO ran for the first time in the US, and I don't really think that's when I came across it.I do have vivid flashes of recollections from junior high though. I'm guessing it got rerun somewhere in there. After all, this was pre-home VCR days. Early gull-wing cars, women with purple wigs and silver mesh bodysuits, aliens sealed in suits full of green liquid to breathe, mind control, submarines that launched space fighters and a cool musical theme. Really, I think I was just mesmerized by the women in the purple wigs like everyone else. But the idea of aliens coming to Earth to harvest organs was just the right combo of fascinating and creepy for my young mind. And, I'll confess, I had one of those childhood crushes on the character of Paul Foster. Don't know why, but there's a little personal share for ya....
I had cable tv in my little studio apartment in graduate school, and I watched the whole thing run again on the SciFi cable channel. Even though my taste in visual effects had matured considerably, I still really enjoyed it. I got the psychological angles a lot more with those viewings.
The UFO Megaset
The Complete UFO Megaset
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This is how I have the UFO series and it's been a delight for repeated viewings! Focus on favorite storylines, watch whichever broadcast order is your favorite or just take a look at the best episodes.
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SHADO Personel
The show was set in the 1980s, and is about S.H.A.D.O (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), which protects Earth against alien invasion. The Earth defenses were threefold. There was the Moonbase with a detection satellite, a mobile air/sea unit called Skydiver (a sub that a launched an air fighter) and the main control base, SHADO HQ, located 80 ft underground below a film studio in England.Here's a who's who, organized by where each character was primarily based.
SHADO HQ
Cmdr. Ed Straker - head of SHADO
Col. Alex Freeman - Chief of Staff
Col. Paul Foster - Command Operative/Pilot
Col. Virginia Lake - computer expert
Dr. Doug Jackson - psychiatrist & interrogator
Lt. Keith Ford - Radio communications operator
Lt. Ayshea Johnson - Radio communications operator
SKYDIVER ONE
Capt. Peter Carlin - captain and Sky One pilot
Capt. Lew Waterman - Skydiver captain and pilot
Lt. Mark Bradley - Interceptor pilot
Lt. John Masters - Skydiver operative
MOONBASE
Lt. Gay Ellis - command of Moonbase
Nina Barry - space tracker and command
Joan Harrington - space tracker
SHADO had a policy of having personel cross-trained and you saw characters work all of the different posts across the course of the series. This also covered for the fact that in real-life, the episodes were shot in a very different order from the broadcast order. Some actors appeared in just a few episodes, but spread out in broadcast order, their characters appeared across the entire two year show span.
The UFO Series
The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO
This is the only guide written specifically about this tv series.
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Neil Norman - Greatest Science Fiction Hits, Vol. 3
This collection of themes from science fiction shows and movies includes a delicious and faithful rendition of the UFO theme song.
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Gerry Anderson's UFO: The Technical Manual
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The Complete UFO Megaset
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Moonbase
The first line of defense against the aliens is the Moonbase and the orbiting satellite SID (Space Intruder Detector), designed by Colonel Virginia Lake. There are a handful of Interceptor fighters pilots (all men) based on the Moon, along with the station commander and space trackers (all women), plus a few security personnel and medics. In what was a very forward move for the time, the commanding officer at the Moonbase was female.The pilots on Moonbase got to wear jumpsuits all the time, silver and shiny when doing station duty or off-duty, and bright blue quilty ones when they were doing Interceptor duty. They got to their ships by jumping down these tubes/chutes, an element carried over from Thunderbirds, another Anderson production. There were only ever three Moonbase Interceptors and their fighters had these missiles mounted on the noses (see below). They weren't always that accurate, so UFOs pretty regularly got past the space defense. All telemetry and weapons calculations were done at Moonbase and radioed to the Interceptors.
The women of Moonbase had silver sparkle catsuits with silver leather body harnesses, hot pink sparkle false eyelashes and bright purple wigs. These were their regulation uniforms and if they went down to Earth to SHADO Control, they'd wear their own hair and uniforms like those normally worn by Earth-based technicians.
S.H.A.D.O. CONTROL
Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation
- UFO Series Home Page
- Welcome to the UFO Series Home Page, devoted to the 1970 British science fiction television series UFO, created by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson and starring Ed Bishop as Commander Straker.
- Scifilm -- TV Files, UFO
- Reviews - All episode reviews written by Jason Warren except where noted otherwise.
- UFO EPISODE GUIDE
- Episodes listed in production order with production number
- The SHADO Library and Archives, A UFO series site
- Harlington-Straker NW is a site dedicated to the science fiction Television series U.F.O., produced by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson
- U.F.O. Image Library
- A library of images captured from videotapes of U.F.O..
- Gerry Anderson 'Dimensions' - U.F.O. Series
- Featuring many of the cast of the feature film 'Doppelganger' aka 'Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun', the basic premise of this part model, part live action series is defence of the Earth against aliens. Beings from a dying planet are raiding Earth, abducting humans to use for organ transplants. The operatives of the top secret S.H.A.D.O. organisation based below the Harlington-Straker film studios and on a secret moonbase defend the planet with futuristic technology.
- Hypnosis in Media: "UFO" (Television)
- This web page discusses all the instances where characters were hypnotized or mesmerized by aliens on the tv show.
- Lt. Gay Ellis
- Everyone's favorite Moonbase girl
- UFO (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- UFO was a British television science fiction series created by Gerry Anderson and produced by Anderson's and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.
- "UFO" (1970) - from IMDb
- In the year 1980 the Earth is threatened by an alien race who kidnap and kill humans and use them for body parts. A highly secret military organization is set up in the hope of defending the Earth from this alien threat. This organization is named SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organization) and operates from a secret location beneath a film studio.
- UFO & SPACE 1999 Timeline
- This timeline attempts to integrate the events depicted in Gerry Anderson's two classic live action series, UFO and Space:1999. (Lensmaster's note: I watched both of these shows and this is a very interesting piece of crossover.)
- we make money not art: Retro-futuristic '80s
- UFO was a British SF series set in the near future: 1980.
- UFO - Italian fan site
- UFO fu la seconda produzione di Gerry Anderson interamente con attori in carne ed ossa, alla quale seguirono "The Protectors" e "Space: 1999"; l'eclettico "burattinaio" aveva già incantato il mondo con le sue precedenti creazioni in "Supermarionation" (Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Secret Service) e veniva dal suo primo lavoro con protagonisti viventi, l'originalissimo e sconvolgente "Doppelganger", un'opera cinematografica commercialmente fallimentare ma dalle cui ceneri nacque la serie con la S.H.A.D.O.
- FANDERSON
- Welcome to the Official Website of the Authorised Appreciation Society for the film and television productions of Gerry Anderson.
Aboard Skydiver
The SHADO HQ was in the UK, hidden underground 80 feet beneath a film studio and the Moonbase and attendant satellite was the Earth's outer defense. Roaming the rest of the Earth's surface was Skydiver One, a submarine that also could launch a sea-to-air attack fighter (SkyOne). They were responsible for all ocean patrols and a good number of air interception attempts.The uniforms of Skydiver were cream and brown, with skin tight trousers and tops made of mesh. The submarine crew was co-ed. The men's shirts had mesh torsos that were open to their bare chests. The women's tops had flesh-colored underpinnings that taunted the viewer with the "is she, or isn't she?" question.
Lt. Gay Ellis, Commander of Moonbase
The icon of futuristic space command
The character of Lt. Gay Ellis, as played by actress Gabrielle Drake, has been almost a fetish icon when it comes to the image of the sexy space commander. Clad in a skintight silver mesh bodysuit, silver body harness, knee-high boots and purple bobbed wig. Fandom really couldn't ask for more than that.
Famously, Lt. Ellis and another Moonbase tracker change in a co-ed locker room on the Moonbase. You get a bikini-clad woman talking with an Interceptor pilot through a piece of one-way glass. He sees a mirror and she sees the man to whom she is talking. You also get to see the changeover from catsuit to mini-skirt option on the Moonbase uniform.
For those of you into extreme trivia, the bikini-clad Moonbase operative "Joanna" is played by the future Mrs. Michael Caine.
UFO - Lt.Ellis gets dressed!
from rad 60's TV series UFO - thank you Gerry Anderson & co.
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UFO Sightings
The women of UFO were certainly groundbreaking. They held command positions and were some of the top operatives for SHADO. Sylvia Anderson, who was a co-producer on the show, was also in charge of the costumes. She decided that by the 1980s, purple wigs would be part of military spacewear, along with blue and purple eyeshadow, silver metallic uniforms, and hot pink false eyelashes and lip gloss.
The look has been emulated by fans at sci-fi conventions ever since.
Col. Virginia Lake, designer of SHADO tracking
Lt. Gay Ellis, Moonbase commander
Space tracker Joan Harrington
a fan dressed as a moonbase tracker
Anime Moonbase Operative
Moonbase Control
UFO Rarities and Collectibles
The fandom for this series is going to be primarily found in the UK, where the series was produced. Cast photos are hot items, and Gabrielle Drake, who played Moonbase commander Lt. Gay Ellis, can also be collected in large-size action figure form. You can also find Interceptor and SHADO vehicle models.
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SHADO Interceptors, Mobiles and Skydiver
Once a UFO penetrated the Earth's atmosphere, the Interceptors wouldn't work anymore and tracking and interception fell to Skydiver (sub), Sky One (water-launched jet) and the Mobiles (ground teams).
Sky Diver with Detachable SKY 1 by Product Enterprise
The Skydiver is highly detailed and made of die cast metal and plastic, this model is approximately 12 inches long (including detachable Sky 1!) Great box art!
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Shado Mobile Standard Reconnaissance by Product Enterprise
This is the reconnaissance mobile. Each mobile measures approximately 7 inches long and features rolling wheels and tank tracks.
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See The Interceptors and Sky One In Action
UFO Toys, Models and Action Figures
- Lt. Ellis (UFO) action figure - Another Pop Culture Review by Michael Crawford, Captain Toy
- Review of the Lt. Ellis (UFO) from Product Enterprise.
- TV Collectibles, Action Figures, from Monsters in Motion
- TV Collectibles, Models, Action Figures From Gerry Anderson series UFO.
- UFO Merchandise at FAB Gear!
- S.H.A.D.O. Headquarters! UFO Fans, this is the place for you!
- Ellis action figure - HobbyLink Japan
- From the 1970 British science fiction show UFO we have S.H.A.D.O. Moonbase operative Lieutenant Gay Ellis, in her cool Moonbase uniform complete with purple wig! This articulated action figure talks, too (in English). The sculpt is a fair likeness of actress Gabrielle Drake, and the voice his hers sampled from the show. Includes a base (the voice actually comes from here), Moonbase clipboard, and Moonbase pen. "This is a Red Alert...Interceptors immediate launch!"
