I was indoctrinated at an early age into thinking 'UFO', was the most exciting television programme ever made. The first time I saw it I was seduced by the action and the energy and, most importantly, the toys and merchandise: I was utterly sold.
Forty years later (and thirty years after the events shown in 'UFO' were supposed to have happened) I can see quite clearly that it's an uneven, illogical show full of pacing problems, dodgy performances, stick on acrylic hair, ridiculous clothes, outmoded attitudes, repetitive stories and major continuity issues. That said, I still get excited when I hear the theme music, so I think it's incurable.
Here's that thrilling title sequence. I love the urgency of it, the promise of an action packed, five hundred miles an hour show full of sexy girls, silver clothes, aliens, emergencies and massive explosions. Music is by Barry Gray, of course, and I'd like it played at my funeral.
There'll be more 'UFO' very soon. Watch the skies.
I have to rise to the challenge here and admit that yes, the first series of UFO was sometimes clunky, with odd plot holes and the occasional non-sequitur ending, but it really picked up in it's second season. There's no Anderson show like it for pace, action and intrigue. It veered away from it's comfortable repetitive plot devices and entered a whole new dimension when Virginia Lake replaced Alec 'Where's the Whisky?' Freeman. I only wish there had been a third series so we could see where the transitional storylines of the second might have taken us. And Anoushka Hempel was in it. Wearing a string vest.
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