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The second half of Carlton's UFO release concludes the series, with thirteen episodes once again spread over four discs. Like many ITC series, UFO was subject to regional variations on its initial ITV broadcast. ATV, for example, took over two and a half years to show the 26 episodes, and with episodes from the two production blocks intermingled, there isn't the sort of ongoing story arc that you'd get these days. Carlton's DVD releases have stuck to the production order, so there isn't the constant swapping of SHADO personnel that viewers watching it on TV will often have experienced. This set features the final four episodes from the first block, and all nine from the second, which sees Wanda Ventham's Colonel Lake replacing George Sewell's Colonel Freeman, and Moonbase under the control of Paul Foster rather than Gabrielle Drake's foxy Lt. Ellis. UFO is more than just a straightforward action-based sci-fi series. There are plenty of those type of episodes, but the series' format also allowed it to do a lot more. Episodes such as Confetti Check A-O.K. are almost soap-like, while the likes of The Psychbombs are much more psychological. As I said in the review of the first set, UFO confused many ITV companies, with the final three episodes causing the most problems. However, by today's standards all three seem pretty tame. Timelash has Straker and Lake taking drugs to overcome the aliens' attempt to slow down time while Mindbender sees Straker suffering hallucinations from touching an alien rock and finding that he isn't the head of an alien defence organisation but an actor in a film studio! The final episode, The Long Sleep, was the most controversial, a flashback episode with drug tripping and an implied rape. Once again, the episodes look great, and Carlton have included extras on every disc, even if these are only text-based articles or small photo galleries. This set's commentary is by Ed Bishop on Sub-smash, and to be honest, it's a bit disappointing. It's expecting a lot for someone to be able to talk unaccompanied for fifty minutes about something from thirty years ago, and there's a lot of silence as Bishop merely watches the episode rather than talking about it. Even when he does, he often falls back on saying how hard Dolores Mantez found the recording. But as I've said on several previous DVD reviews, it's the episodes that really matter, and even for those of us who aren't normally interested in Gerry Anderson's work, UFO is well worth a look, especially at the discounted price that it can often be fond. back to the top |
UFO: VOLUMES
5-8 |