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Before starting this review, it's worth mentioning that I'm not a Gerry Anderson fan. In fact, UFO is probably the only Anderson series that I'd even consider watching. The series is available in two formats - eight separate volumes, or two boxed sets of 13 episodes each. Like HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR, the "collector's editions" are two more examples of Carlton DVDs that always seem to be reduced to £19.99 in the HMV sale. UFO follows the Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation (SHADO) as it defends Earth from an unnamed green-skinned alien race. Rather handily for a series shot at ATV's Elstree studios, SHADO is based underneath the Harlington-Straker Film Studios, so Commander Ed Straker (Ed Bishop) has to combine the job of running a worldwide defence organisation and being a movie exec. Compared to that, UNIT's Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart had it comparatively easy. As the opening credits tell us, UFO is set in 1980. As with many 1970s sci-fi series, its technology seems dated, but rather cool - computers are all big boxes with flashing lights and whirring tape drives, teleprinters are the norm and monitors tend to be black and white. As you'd expect from a Gerry Anderson series, it also has an huge array of vehicles at its disposal. Okay, they're obviously models, but they still look very impressive. Story-wise, UFO clearly caught many ITV companies on the hop. It was a Gerry Anderson series, so it had to be for kids, right? Well, no. Stories like A QUESTION OF PRIORITIES, where Straker must balance the need's of SHADO with his young son's life clearly mark this out as not just another series targeted at the younger end of the audience. It's also wonderfully sexiest, albeit in a lazy way rather than being overly gratuitous. SHADO's female operatives wear figure hugging outfits and - for some reason or other - purple wigs. Even when a woman is in charge, such as Moonbase's Gay Ellis (Gabrielle Drake), she still wears the standard outfit, and gets a relaxation scene that involves her changing into a mini-skirt for no obvious reason. Straker's no. 2, Alec Freeman (George Sewell) is a bit of a lech, turning to check out the female operatives' arses and attempting to pull Wanda Ventham on a plane flight. For a thirty year old series, Carlton have made a decent effort on the extras front. We get deleted scenes (although many of these are mute), photo galleries and a commentary on IDENTIFIED from Gerry Anderson. Fans will probably find little or nothing new in it, but for the more casual viewer it's pretty informative. There are also character profiles and SHADO dossiers, but to be honest, these would have better if they'd been part of the accompanying booklet, as a TV screen is not the ideal way of reading this sort of information. Picture and sound quality are very good. Having criticised some Carlton releases is in the past, it's great to see a thirty year old series looking this good. The Century 21 frontcap has been left on as well, which is also nice to see. To be honest, at full price, I probably wouldn't have bothered with UFO. Not that it's a bad series - far from it in fact - but at £80 for the whole thing, other series would rated as higher priorities. However, it is a set that scores on both the main content and the extras and which, especially at the reduced price that it often seems to go for, is well worth a place in any UK sci-fi fan's collection. BACK TO THE TOP |
UFO: VOLUMES
1-4 |
