UFO
1980. To us, now, it's a quarter-century ago- but ten years before, to a kid barely ten years old himself it was The Future. A future of orbiting computers, fighter-interceptors launched from submarines, a moonbase staffed by purple-wigged babes defending us from evil alien hordes... in short, a future worth fighting for.
In UFO, we were indeed fighting the Secret War against hostile invading aliens. SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), ably commanded by Cmdr. Ed Straker (Ed Bishop) had a layered defense around the homeworld: Moonbase launched interceptors carrying big-ass missiles to catch the invaders on approach; those that got through were targeted by the SkyDiver submarine, who's front end detached and flew up for the attack. Sometimes one managed to make it all the way down- and Mobile Units were dispatched to dispatch the hostiles.
It wasn't all fun and games, though the special effects by Derek Meddings (You saw his name a lot in the credits for the early James Bond flicks) were astounding even before I found out he had to make do on a shoestring budget. There were real efforts to make the characters real, like Straker's regret over how his dedication to his duty cost him his marriage, and eventually his only son. The secret side of SHADO was less glamorous secret-agenty, more pain-in-the-ass how do I explain to my loved ones what I can't even mention, let alone explain?
UFO was the first live-action production from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who had made their name doing puppet shows with detailed models and effects (e.g. Thunderbirds). UFO was even slated for a second season, but as time and development meetings went on the second season eventually morphed into the first season of Space: 1999.
It was a different era, when not only could a government keep a secret but it wasn't a given assumption that the secrecy was bad for us. No doubt today the backstory would have some nefarious hidden agenda for SHADO, but at the time just seeing our heroes valiantly saving us from the unknown enemy was enough. Today, of course, we're too adult and grown-up to admit we need heroes.
But not too adult and grown-up to cherish them anyway.
In UFO, we were indeed fighting the Secret War against hostile invading aliens. SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), ably commanded by Cmdr. Ed Straker (Ed Bishop) had a layered defense around the homeworld: Moonbase launched interceptors carrying big-ass missiles to catch the invaders on approach; those that got through were targeted by the SkyDiver submarine, who's front end detached and flew up for the attack. Sometimes one managed to make it all the way down- and Mobile Units were dispatched to dispatch the hostiles.
It wasn't all fun and games, though the special effects by Derek Meddings (You saw his name a lot in the credits for the early James Bond flicks) were astounding even before I found out he had to make do on a shoestring budget. There were real efforts to make the characters real, like Straker's regret over how his dedication to his duty cost him his marriage, and eventually his only son. The secret side of SHADO was less glamorous secret-agenty, more pain-in-the-ass how do I explain to my loved ones what I can't even mention, let alone explain?
UFO was the first live-action production from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who had made their name doing puppet shows with detailed models and effects (e.g. Thunderbirds). UFO was even slated for a second season, but as time and development meetings went on the second season eventually morphed into the first season of Space: 1999.
It was a different era, when not only could a government keep a secret but it wasn't a given assumption that the secrecy was bad for us. No doubt today the backstory would have some nefarious hidden agenda for SHADO, but at the time just seeing our heroes valiantly saving us from the unknown enemy was enough. Today, of course, we're too adult and grown-up to admit we need heroes.
But not too adult and grown-up to cherish them anyway.
