No Sweet Delight

‘Endless Night’ was adapted from an Agatha Christie novel, and reunites Hayley and Hywel for their third film together (prior to ‘Twisted Nerve’ they’d co-starred in gentle sex comedy ‘The Family Way’).

Mills is the megarich heiress with a delicate constitution, Bennett the upwardly mobile hustler with a disturbed past. When they meet, and marry, it sets off a chain of strange events that culminate in Mills’ death, seemingly as a result of a curse. There’s more to it than that, of course, and Britt Ekland is involved, so there’s bound to be some wrongdoing somewhere down the line.

‘Endless Night’ is a fairly straightforward thriller, but it’s well done, the supernatural elements are a refreshing addition and the tension builds nicely. Of particular interest is the design of ‘Gypsy's Acre’, the house they build and move into, a modernist dream of panoramic windows, open plan rooms and an indoor swimming pool with a radio controlled retractable cover. 

Towards the end of the film, the newly widowed Bennett climbs the hill to Gypsy Acre to take sole possession, only to encounter the ghost of Mills, an awful, fixed, expectant look on her dead face, completely unaware of his presence, standing guard for all eternity over the place she loved. It’s open to interpretation whether the encounter takes place in Bennett’s mind or not, but it’s an image that stays lodged in the viewer’s head long after the film ends.  

The title, by the way, is a quotation from William Blake’s 1803 poem ‘Auguries of Innocence’ which, set to music by the venerable Bernard Herrmann, is mimed by Mills at the harpsichord:  ‘Every night and every morn, some to misery are born. Every morn and every night, some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night.’ Indeed they are, Mr. Blake, indeed they are.

Endless Night

Right Between The Curl

‘Twisted Nerve’ is an effective but occasionally uncomfortable  psychodrama which, as usual, places a pretty girl (Hayley Mills) in peril but, in a slight break from the norm, put her at risk from a pretty boy (Hywel Bennett). 

Bennett’s Martin is a strange young man, however, adopting a mentally retarded alter-ego (‘Georgie’) in order to get off a shop lifting charge, which he keeps up to subsequently get close to Mills and inveigle his way into her family home. This simple, sympathetic persona contrasts with Martin’s true self: self-loathing, sexually confused, prone to sudden outbursts of jealous anger, an avid reader of Krafft-Ebbing and body building magazines, ultimately, a psychotic murderer.

‘Twisted Nerve’ runs into serious problems when it implies that Martin’s insanity could be linked to the fact that he has an older brother with Downes Syndrome, and that this condition could be passed onto seemingly 'healthy' family members in the form of insanity. This is rubbish, of course, and incredibly offensive, and a disclaimer had to be added to the beginning of the film pointing out that there was no proven link between ‘Mongolism’ (their words) and psychotic or criminal behaviour.

Twisted Nerve

As If By Magic...

...another luvverly and timely Piper Gates Design appeared, in a very limited edition.

Derren Nesbitt, Actor

Derren Nesbitt is astronaut Craig Collins in 'The Man Who Came Back', a 1970 'UFO' episode. Poor Craig, they burned out the personality centres of his brain, you know. Bastards.

Know Your Enemy

So, what do these 'UFO' aliens look like? Well, they're humanoid, wear plastic contact lenses to protect their eyes from the liquid based atmosphere they use to travel across the universe (the same liquid based atmosphere that temporarily turns their faces green), oh, and they wear hugely kinky red pvc bondage suits festooned in chains around the nipples, knees and crotch. No-one on Earth is safe.

Production Model

Some nice production photographs from 'UFO', again courtesy of the UFO Series fan page.

UFO: The Psychobombs

'The Psychobombs' is a 'UFO' episode originally broadcast on December 30th, 1970.

In it, a UFO lands, as usual, a few miles from the SHADO base, and begins transmitting hypnotic radio signals. The first three receptive people in the vicinity (Mike Pratt, Silver from 'Sapphire & Steel' and the very pretty Deborah Evans) are given the gift of unlimited energy and power and sent out to destroy key targets. It's rather good, slightly sad, and has a surprisingly high casualty list.

Lunch Time on Moon Base

US 1972 'UFO' lunch box. Image borrowed from the absurdly and wonderfully comprehensive UFO Series fan site which features episode guides, original scripts, music and sound effects, memorabilia and much more.

Leaders Go For Dinky

Despite the series finishing in 1970, 'UFO' remained in syndication for several years, and the toys were still very popular (especially with me), as seen here in the 1974 Dinky Catalogue.

UFO: Identified

'Identified' was the first ever episode of 'UFO', originally broadcast on 16th September, 1970. As you would expect, it introduces most of the characters (at least those that were in place until a six month production break which led to several of the stars finding other work), as well as the basic premise, that Earth is under constant attack from the far reaches of space by a mysterious, advanced alien race and that a hugely expensive organisation, SHADO, has been set up to both combat the threat and to keep the danger a secret from the general population.

This episode also provides us with first glimpses of all the technology invented to battle the extraterrestial menace: Moonbase, the Interceptors, Skydiver, the SHADO Mobiles, all presented in carefully orchestrated sequences with quite brilliant models and effects. If you miss them in this one, however, there's no need to worry, you'll see the same bits again and again and again and again and again...  

Oh, just in case you were wondering why the aliens are crossing millions of space miles to mess us about, the answer is that they are a dying race, sterile and weak, who are only able to survive by constant organ transplants...for them, popping out to Earth, with its compatible, free range life forms, is like a trip to the Co-Op.   

UFO

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.

Tops

My thanks to my pal and Mounds & Circles collaborator, Dolly Dolly, for our tasty new header. Isn't it ooh, isn't it ah, isn't it absolutely...phwoar. Cheers, Dave!

The Secret Service - or - Garry Andersold Falollops Over

‘The Secret Service’ is not the first title that springs to mind when thinking of Gerry Anderson’s oeuvre, but that’s not surprising, really, as only thirteen episodes were made, it was only shown in some TV regions, and it is seldom repeated. Generally considered a failure, it has some intriguing moments and an interesting premise, but, ultimately, it’s rather half baked, an uneasy transition between Supermarionation and the live action shows that Anderson had his eye on making. 

Father Stanley Unwin is a vicar and an agent for B.I.S.H.O.P (British Intelligence Service Headquarters: Operation Priest). He works with Matthew, a fellow agent, who is posing as his gardener. When national security is threatened, they use a ‘Minimiser’ to shrink Matthew to a fraction of his normal size, allowing him to access otherwise inaccessible areas. Father Unwin, who is played by Professor Stanley Unwin AND a Stanley Unwin puppet, uses his patented brand of goobledegook (‘Unwinese’) to confuse and confound anyone who gets too close to their secret.

It’s a really odd show, borne out of Anderson’s desire to work with Unwin, who he found hilarious. Lew Grade was less impressed, cancelling the series after watching the pilot, seeing Unwin do his stuff and shouting ‘the Americans will never understand him!’ When Anderson said, well, that’s sort of the point, Grade clarified by saying ‘the British like to be confused, they think it’s fun; the Americans hate it, they just find it confusing’, and that was that.

An interesting curio, but neither as good as ‘Joe 90’ which preceded it, or ‘UFO’ which followed it, and enjoyment of the show very much depends on just how funny you find Stanley Unwin. If like me, it’s ‘quite – now and again’, this may not be the show for you.