UFO

In the imagined future of 1980, aliens visit Earth to abduct human beings and obtain organs for transplantation. SHADO — the Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation — works in secret to stop them. Its commander, Ed Straker, operates beneath the cover of a film studio, concealing the scale and cost of the organisation’s work from the public.

UFO turns an invasion story into a drama about responsibility, secrecy and uncertainty. The machines may be extraordinary, but the decisions are human: who to trust, what to sacrifice and how far a defence organisation should go when it cannot explain itself.

After years of puppet adventure, UFO became Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s first live-action television series. Produced in 1969–70 and first broadcast in 1970, its 26 episodes combined human performances with the miniature craft, intricate sets and effects expertise developed through the Supermarionation years.

Ed Bishop leads the cast as Straker, with George Sewell, Michael Billington, Gabrielle Drake, Wanda Ventham and many other performers contributing to SHADO’s changing personnel. Production moved from the MGM studios at Borehamwood to Pinewood after a substantial interruption, which helps explain why some familiar characters appear less often later in the production run.

Read how the production break affected the cast.

S.I.D., the Space Intruder Detector, provides warning from orbit. The Moonbase Interceptors form a forward defence, each carrying one principal missile. Closer to Earth, Skydiver combines a submarine with the detachable Sky One aircraft, while tracked Mobiles carry teams into the field.

These are not simply vehicles waiting for a chase sequence. Their different roles make SHADO feel like a system, with detection, command and interception linked across several environments. The SHADO technical manual interview explores how the on-screen organisation can be examined in greater detail.

Straker’s official cover suggests a powerful film producer, but his real work isolates him. A Question of Priorities and Confetti Check A-OK reveal the painful overlap between his duty and his family life. Ed Bishop’s performance gives the series a central character whose apparent coldness has a history.

Paul Foster brings an active field perspective; Alec Freeman is a trusted senior colleague; Virginia Lake becomes a vital partner in the later-produced episodes. On the Moon, Gay Ellis and the base personnel face an environment in which isolation can be as unsettling as the alien threat.

Explore Ed Straker’s character arc — a detailed feature containing story spoilers.

Identified establishes the threat and the organisation. Exposed introduces Foster’s route into SHADO. From there the series ranges across investigation, psychological drama and more overt science fiction; Sub-Smash is a particularly tense example of its confined, character-led stories.

Regional broadcasts used different episode orders, so a perceived change in the team can depend on the order you watch. The plans for a second series ultimately developed into Space: 1999. That is a production connection, rather than a statement that every story in both programmes belongs to a single continuous fictional history.

Explore the series’ adventures in Countdown through our UFO Comic Anthology Volume One guide, with interior previews, an archived creator discussion and a route to the digital edition.

Century 21 / ITC. Produced 1969–70; 26 episodes of approximately 50 minutes. First broadcast in 1970.

Executive Producer: Gerry Anderson
Producer: Reg Hill
Production Supervisor: Norman Foster
Directors: Gerry Anderson, David Lane, Ken Turner, Alan Perry, Ron Appleton,
David Tomblin, Jeremy Summers & Cyril Frankel
Century 21 Fashions by Sylvia Anderson
Director of Photography: Brendan J. Stafford BSC
Art Director: Bob Bell
Script Editor: Tony Barwick
Special Effects Supervisor: Derek Meddings
Senior Special Effects Director: Jim Elliott
Special Effects Directors: Bill Camp, Shaun Whittacker-Cook & Derek Meddings
Music Composed and Directed by Barry Gray

Cast:
Ed Bishop, Dolores Mantez, Norma Ronald, Maxwell Shaw, George Sewell, Antonia Ellis, Harry Baird, Basil Moss, Michael Billington, Keith Alexander, Jon Kelley, Steven Berkoff, Wanda Ventham, Gary Myers, Jeremy Wilkin, Anouska Hempel, Peter Gordeno, Grant Taylor, Ayshea Brough, David Warbeck, Gabrielle Drake, Vladek Sheybal, Georgina Moon, Mel Oxley