UFO - A Question Of Priorities (1969)
Gerry Anderson was Britain's answer to Walt Disney (better be careful there, WD lawyers!). He was famous for doing puppet cartoons the most famous obviously being Thunderbirds. But here, was his first live action series & this show was sheer grown up in all it's adult-content glory, & this episode is as dark & grown up as you can get! Amongst defending Earth from UFOs, there would be gritty soap-opera style sub-plot stories everything from Drugs, racism, to murder! This episode is no less grim in content.
This one begins innocently enough complete with Disney-sque music as Commander Straker takes his son on a whirlwind tour of his movie studio (actual disguise for the underground SHADO headquarters. Very economic, Gerry). Graphic, 'fake' violence of movie shot aside, lol!
A mere twist of fate involving his sons model boat, a domestic with the mother, his ex, yep, & the nasty step-father causes his son John to get hit by a car, see? At the hospital the doctor informs them that they need a new, special drug to save the boys life but it's in America. Straker decides to abuse SHADO resources, in spite of the step-dad who already decided to get the drugs himself! All's well that ends well, right? Yeah, right!
Back to Sci-Fi! SHADO Moonbase intercepts two UFO's on an irregularly fast course probably because one is firing on the other! A confused Colonel Foster notes the strange trajectory as the pursuing UFO veers off whilst the other smashes into the coast off of West Ireland. A cool UFO pod hovers over to a blind grandma's (& her parrots) cottage where an alien who wishes to defect, setting up temporary residence & a powerful transmitter so the SHADO guys can pick him up. Maybe Grandma can make him a cup of tea whilst he waits? Yes, Foster, Straker must be psychic, there's a plane already on it's way to America, well that's convenient it could detour to Ireland. Nipped that problem in the...butt. D'OH!
Straker? YOUR NAME VILL ALSO GO ON ZE LIST! Off to Grandma's for tea.
In case you hadn't noticed, Philip Madoc is the step-dad in one of two guest slots in this show, in another episode he's an RN Captain whose destroyer shoots a UFO down! He plays the rivalry between himself & Straker to the point where you almost hate him with such vitriol. He goes out of his way to put a wedge between Straker & Mary!
What a complete bastard to be booed at pantomine! A testament to Philip Madoc's brilliant acting prowess! We also get a picture of why Straker & Mary divorced. As Straker speeds off to this alien defector emergency, Mary cries out, "You always had to leave!" Another UFO (or the same one as before?) also avoids getting whacked by interceptors & heads to Earth to settle unfinished business.
The defector is tracked down & zapped by the other UFO before it's shot down by the Skystriker & because the plane was redirected & the much needed drugs not acquired on time (hey, I'm no Dr Kildare!) the poor kid dies. So, yet another dark episode, true fork in the road stuff. If Straker had swallowed his pride & let Madoc's character deal with it in the first place things would be radically different. & to rub salt in the ever gapping wound nothing is gained!
The defector & his much needed info is dead, the boy is dead so in the grand scheme of things this really takes the smeg! It's not all dark, there's groovy cars, even groovier chicks, & James Bond style clichés which was predominantly obsessive of the era, I dig that fab intro theme! But back on a sombre note. A grief-stricken, bereaved Mary yells at Straker that she never wants to see him again, que her echoing cries, que the creepier slow end theme complete with alien planet watching Earth menacingly, WOW! Think I need a kleenex, erm..some meteor hit me between the eyes. Still, in Dickensian terms, one kids life or six billion on Earth. Oh, woe!
Pride commeth before a fall. Byee.
Borgduck aka Stewart,