U.F.O

[craig]

I love U.F.O it was a great series done by Gerry,

I wish he had done more episodes tho. 26 episodes were made but hopefully he might revive U.F.O

Regards
Craig

[yorkie]

If CGI Scarlet is a success then maybe he'll revisit UFO too. Thunderbirds is the big one though.

[Elentari]

I can't imagine UFO without Ed Bishop as CMDR Straker though. My personal feeling about a possible remake is; as any new version (whether CGI or real actors) could not have him in the role , truthfully I don't think I'd want to see it.

Elentari

[Marion]

Oh, I second that! A Commander Straker that wasn't Ed Bishop would be just awful!
However, I doubt that will stop any remake plans that are in the offing; but with luck that series would be 're-imagined' into something far slicker and less 'parochial' than UFO. Whilst for me that would spoil it even more, it would, at least, make it so different I wouldn't have the problem I do with the new CGI, where most of the characters/situations etc are supposed to be the same - and aren't.

[Clya Brown]

I have a feeling that a re-vamped UFO series, even with all the original cast or near-equivalents - would be a bit of a disappointment, on the grounds that the concept is actually rather dated. Would-be nasty alien invaders try to conquer the Earth, and are repelled by heroic top-secret organisation. Hmmmm...... there isn't really a lot of scope for imaginative plotlines there, it seems to me, unless you empower the aliens to do incredible things against which the humans have to pit their wits - and that's essentially the format of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, which means it's already been done.

Personally, I felt that the original UFO series suffered from just that problem. Once you'd introduced all the out-of-this-world technology and wolf-whistled at the moon maidens, you had the problem of just what it was that the aliens were going to be able to come up with this week to keep the audience on tenterhooks - and the result was a succession of amazing but unrelated new capabilities: the ability to slow down time one week, replicate humans in a secret underwater base in another, transfer alien minds into Siamese cats in another one etc etc. But these are the same aliens - apply all those capabilities in a co-ordinated manner and we'd never be able to beat them!

I felt the best scripts were the ones revolving around human dilemmas in which the aliens took something of a back-seat - and that's what I'm personally hoping we'll see in the Scarlet CGI episodes still to come. Not that I'm holding my breath: it's ultimately a kids' show, and the kids want to see the aliens, the technology and a lot of explosions, not a bunch of adults agonising over interpersonal relationships in which they've no particular interest. Oh well - that's what the fan-fic is for....

[chrisbishop]

Once you'd introduced all the out-of-this-world technology and wolf-whistled at the moon maidens, you had the problem of just what it was that the aliens were going to be able to come up with this week to keep the audience on tenterhooks - and the result was a succession of amazing but unrelated new capabilities [...] But these are the same aliens - apply all those capabilities in a co-ordinated manner and we'd never be able to beat them!

Change a few words... and maybe we could apply this to the New Captain Scarlet series?

It seems the Mysterons also have a diverse array of extraordinary capabilities this time around...

[Clya Brown]

Oh, I'm very conscious of it, Chris, which is partly why I don't feel it would work: with Scarlet already tackled in CGI, I think another series as similar in format to it as UFO would be simply viewed as a clone, with all the inevitable comparisons that that would generate. As Yorkie says a few postings above, Thunderbirds is the big one, though I can't help but feel that the disappointing live-action (if that isn't too strong a term) movie will have put paid to that possibility for the foreseeable future.

One that I really could see working would be Stingray. The potentially spectacular underwater settings would be a first-rate challenge to a CGI production team, you'd pick up a new young female audience from the romance of the Marina saga, and the young male audience would still be there on account of the action and technology. You've also got the potential for video games: pilot your own futuristic submarine; blow up enormous ugly mechanical fish; rescue the beautiful mermaid from the clutches of a vicious underwater tyrant... I know I'd buy it!

[Carrie]

I certainly enjoyed the UFO series...but reading the interesting posts here..I have to agree that it would seem very samey..both Scarlet and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica explore the humans vs aliens concept and it would take a really superb team of writers to come up with original and new ideas if they were to re-imagine UFO..
However..I DO concur with Doc Brown re Stingray..that would be FAB...and I'd sure watch that too...I'll put my casting vote for Troy Tempest....Joe Flanigan from Stargate Atlantis...

[Captain Burgundy]

U.F.O is a awesome Series, i remember watching an Episode of it when it was on sky digital, on the Sci-fi Channel, i think it was called Time Lash or something like that.

but i do so lvoe the series so much

[Daveyblue]

UFO, what a great series.

I loved the human story lines that nearly always left a sadness but get on with life sort of attitude by the end of the episode.

Of course being "live" it suffers from the 70's techno look, that has not even happened today so far, ie silver suits. If it had been marionettes I think it would not have been noticed so much.

I think the story lines changed by the end of the series and seem even more 60's influnced than the first half of the series, not sure what happened, i havent looked into this either so please exuse if there was a reason.

Ed Bishop, what can I say.. without him this series may not have worked as well, He is in the same league for me as William shatner/Kirk. An updated or CGI version while interesting and i would watch it would not be as satisfying without this man at the helm, So thats another problem with live over marionettes, you do get attached to live actors more I suppose.

Ohh, and as usual that 70's organ/synth style music is brilliant in the show

dave

[Ryan 4]

I love UFO. Everything about it is great: the cast, the stories, the music... everything!

The guest stars are fantastic and really give the episodes that extra boost.

Without Alexis Kanner and Derren Nesbitt, 'The Cat With Ten Lives' and 'The Man Who Came Back' would not have been my favorite episodes.

UFO, Captain Scarlet and New Captain Scarlet have to be not just Anderson's finest shows, but three of thr finest TV shows ever to be broadcast.

[Kambei]

I agree with everybody that UFO without certain people, i.e, Ed Bishop, Michael Billington, Vladek Shaybel, would just not be the same.
I would love to see a CGI version done, as long as it followed on from the end of the 26 episodes.
Quite personally, I am quite relieved that it did not go to a second season. Have any of you read the UFO/Space: 1999 book that came out a while back? According to that, they were planning to replace the Interceptors (Only one shot each! ) with the Eagles and have the moon break away from the Earth. Because.....
they felt that the moon based stories were the most popular. This would have totally ruined the format, IMO. The whole point of the series was that it was a war to defend Earth against the aliens.

[James. C]

I just bought 2 UFO videos off eBay (for Xmas) with the episodes:

The Long Sleep
Timelash
Mindbender
The Physcobombs
Destruction


Are these episodes good UFO episodes? Are there much better episodes?

Have any of you read the UFO/Space: 1999 book that came out a while back?

Wasn't that a DVD documentry by Fanderson?

[Kambei]

Nope, a book.

[shaqui]

Have any of you read the UFO/Space: 1999 book that came out a while back?

Wasn't that a DVD documentry by Fanderson?

And here's the cover:



- Very basic text wise, as it's attempting to cover two series in one go.