The Making and Unmaking of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's UFO (BEHIND THE SCENES)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2023
- In this documentary, Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet) discusses the production and cancellation of UFO, the live-action television series successor to his popular Supermarionation series. Featuring purple wigs, flying saucers, groovy guitars, and more - this short-lived show remains a cult favourite to this day.
The complete Stand By For Action documentary is now available to order on DVD from: www.century21films.co.uk
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I`m 59 and I`m STILL devastated that there was not a 2nd series of UFO. I LIVED for UFO as a youngster. It
would have been fascinating to see how another series would have developed.
I'm 62 and loved the show. Yes,to bad it didn't continue.
When was this show on TV?
@@chikkipop very early 70's 1970,71 I think.
@@chikkipop It was continually repeated throughout the 1970`s.
@@skybot9998 I was probably dimly aware of it then, but I have no memory of it now. I was too old for it I guess.
DEEP RESPECT to this GREAT MAN. He deserved a knighthood for his work in TV and film. RIP Gerry in my world SIR GERALD ANDERSON! Deeply missed.
..and Sylvia!
@@miger1824 The whole team Barry Gray Reg Hill and Derek Meddings esp.
@@martinda7446 i agree👍
Shame he cut Silvia out of the credits and money. Not such a gentleman then!
@@mollyfilmsSomehow I don't think Silvia was left penniless and in the gutter.
Totally here for the behind the scenes information.
Not for the thumbnail of Gabrielle Drake putting on her miniskirt.
Oh no.
As a kid, this was my favourite watch on the telly. Brilliant stuff!
Remember it so well. I have the whole series on DVD now
I vividly remember sitting on Santas knee in Fenwicks toy store in Newcastle telling him I want an Interceptor toy for Christmas, I watched Santa then say to my Mam, did you hear that, she nodded and on Christmas morning I opened up this box and reached new realms of happiness :)
UFO was a far superior show in every way, I remember back then how disappointed I was with space 1999 and the news no more UFO episodes, 😩😩😩
And just because of the opinion of one person.
Totally agree! ... I too thought UFO was much better than Space1999!
UFO was way better.
@@MirlitronOne The monsters and aliens in Space 1899 weren't very good! ... Me and my schoolmates used to joke that a "typical" Space 1899 alien wore a headdress of apples, oranges, and bananas! 👎🤣
@@MirlitronOne it certainly was, I thought the best thing Gerry Anderson had done to date!!
Someone NEEDS to make that season 2 of UFO. I'm a big fan of Space: 1999, but "UFO Plus" sounds fascinating.
It would be very sucessful indeed!
Loved UFO hated Space 1999; not sure why
We'd need Hollywood diversity quotas in the cast if the series was made today though. Queen Latifah as Ed Straker, and the moon base purple haired cuties would be replaced by blue haired 350 pound non binary, body positivity blimps stretching that silver foil to the limits of credibility and giving new meaning to the term Trans-Lunar-Injection. The toxic masculinity and blatant objectification of female skimpy outfit eye candy within SHADO HQ would be problematic of course. As would the portrayal of the aliens as baddies. Instead of simply killing illegal aliens we'd welcome them and endorse the cultural enrichment they'd offer as they took over the earth.
@@Seminal_Ideas 🤣 You speak the truth, my friend.
No need to cast aliens for the new show. They're already here apparently.
Mr. Anderson created my childhood shows!
In America I watched in the '70's, growing up.❤❤🤗😁🌟🌟🤘
I'm still a kid at 54 and enjoying these classics, online!
Genius, man. ❤🤗😁🤘
1:09 - Gabrielle Drake in a miniskirt: what l lovely sight. She was one of the reasons I watched this show.
Then along came Space 1999 with one dimensional Barbara Bain playing Doctor Dreary.
@@secondchance6603 Oh I don't know. I think she was quite an interesting character. What caused the decline for me and many others according to comments on other Space 1999 videos was the departure of Barry Morse's character Victor Bergman. That and the more outlandish plots and effects that were clearly intended to appeal to US networks.
@@secondchance6603 Yep. Doug Jackson was a so much more interesting doctor character in UFO. Helena was usually either shrieking at some horror or being taken hostage by some aliens.
As a kid watching Gabrielle Drake on UFO, I soon knew what bus I was on.
Oh yeah! She was hot!@@jimbodimbo981
Those STRINGS at the beginning to introduce the production company is striking! Also, that series' intro music is JAMMING! 💥💥💥💥
Don't mention strings! This is supermarionation. And yes the music is always top class.
My childhood in a box; loved it.
When i was ten, i had a sticker book of this show and i was fascinated by the girls and their fantastic hair color. This really looked like the future 🤓
For me UFO was Gerry's greatest series. While there is a part of me that would have loved to see more episodes I'd also be worried they'd go in the wrong direction and not be as good as the first series. Maybe it's better we just have the 26 and we're not talking about it going downhill. With those superb later Pinewood episodes it really went out on a high.
Yes sometimes it’s best to quit early and not take the series down. I also wouldn’t want to see a remake as those actors made it what it was, just as there can be no replacement for James T Kirk really.
@@oo0Spyder0oo Cast changes can certainly transform a show, occasionally for the better but often for the worse. The same goes for format changes and you can end up with a show barely recognisable from earlier. Maybe a second series of UFO might have ended up like the second series of Space: 1999 which almost all see as inferior to the first. Of course changes are sometimes for the better but I'm not sure the superb second block of episodes in particular could have improved upon.
@@gmlpc7132 For sure. 👍
So true. Some brilliant ideas with episodes like "Mindbender" and "Timelash". (My personal faves).
UFO was far more superior than Space 1999 in every way. Space 1999's storylines got more and more bizarre as it went on. It was pretty much a children's show which I guess says more about the American market who didn't get the storylines from UFO.
Season two was like that, certainly. Season one less so. But yeah, science-fiction was thought of at the time as stuff for kids, especially in America. Even a later show like Battlestar Galactica, which was a quite ambitious show for the late 70s, had to pander to that attitude by including the kid and the robot dog.
We didn't really care for 1999
Just noticed. Gabrielle Drake in a miniskirt is in the thumbnail. Obviously the uploader thinks the same as I do !
I was a UFO addict when it was first on TV. Set in 1980! So far into the future!
1980 was 43 years ago.
Damn......
One of my favourite programmes ever, never sure if for kids or adults. Apart from B&W screens it still holds up, as for Space 1999 couldn't stand it- Mr Anderson thank you for so many happy memories God bless
My favorite show as a kid, I was in love with Alan!!!!!
Nice interview.
I had a Dinky brand UFO interceptor toy as a child.
Same here couldn't understand though why it was green when the ones on the tele were white.
@@keithparkinson6170 You were clearly a far more sophisticated consumer than I was! 😉
UFO is my favourite tv show of all time, I can only hope that karma caught up with that american who denied us a 2nd series. Utter utter b'stard.
I thought UFO was made from two series. Because I watched an interview back in 1988 with ed bishop and he said the second series was made at Pinewood, whereas the first was at elstree.
@@Jack_Warner It wasn't two series. Shooting began at MGM Borhamwood (near Elstree) Studios. The studios were closed down part way into shooting, otherwise the whole series would have been shot continuously. It took several months to resume shooting at Pinewood Studios, during which time some of the actors had become unavailable, hence people like George Sewell disappearing. To make the change less obvious some of the later episodes were shown earlier, mixed in with the MGM-shot episodes.
It's most accurate to say that the one series was filmed in two blocks.
I watched space 1999, but ufo was my favourite Anderson program
@@johnnhoj6749 Ah righto, thanks for the info.
@@johnnhoj6749 Poor George Sewell was removed at the behest of the Americans. They didn’t like his face.
G.A. has such a relaxing ASMR Voice. His narrations on the DVD set is wonderful.
So, Lew Grade killed off both UFO & Thunderbirds and his nephew Michael Grade killed off Dr. Who, what a family epitaph...
Or put another way, without Lew Grade there would never have been Thunderbirds or UFO.
Lovely to see you Gerry you are a true artist i even got a boxed set of Captain Scarlet took me ages to find .Deep respect for this man "Wow "
I barely remember UFO, and if not for the internet, I would almost believe I dreamed it. But I was a big fan of Space:1999, and I had some of the toys. Both shows looked so cool for the time.
Excellent show. I watched it religiously as a kid.
I highly recommend getting the UFO Megaset on DVD. I was just watching the first episode (Identified) the other night.
The theme song is my Ringtone.
Yeah, you could say I'm a Fan.
😁👍🛸
Space 1999 was my favourite show growing up
A brilliant man, I watched all these back in the day, joyful to watch again
At nearly 60 years old, I am STILL enjoying UFO as much, if not more than I did when watching it in syndication in the early 70s in Portland, Oregon, on KPTV Channel 12...and I have to agree that, IMHO, Space 1999 (although interesting) was no UFO. So thankful it can still be enjoyed today!
Such an important and well done show. A lot of love went into the models.
Let's be real we watched it for the purple hair and short skirts
Absolutely. And also for the cool flying saucers and excellent stories.
Well Bless you Gerry for the UFO Interceptor and the Eagle Transporter....models I still love and collect today
This just shows that Powerful people can help or hinder a production because they dont understand ART. I saw UFO at 10 years old in 1970 and can still remember the Cool Cars, and the Purple haired ladies on moonbase. Absolutely Stunning. Star trek original series should have go on longer or the spinoff with the alien and black cat, would have been really cool. The guy was a Genius
That US guy wants hanging up by his crown jewels ! UFO was a really great programme and a second series would have been amazing, same for Thunderbirds. Oh well something else to blames the yanks for :)
Thunderbirds was 6 episodes into a second series when Sir Lew Grade cancelled it in anger over all 3 major U.S. networks backing out of buying the series. First-run syndication wasn't good enough for Grade especially with the amount of money Grade spent on each episode of Thunderbirds. But one network pulled their bid and, figuring that network knew something about Thunderbirds they didn't, pulled their bids.
Stop trashing us "Yanks". We don't all agree with that one producer...
@@guyjackson132 but that is your raison d'etre :) how else do we get our own back for all your English speaking villains being portrayed by British actors :) and I did correct that in my other reply...
I loved this show. Never missed an episode. We had these slides at school and we would pretend we were bording the ships.
My favourite programme ever
Glad I have the series on DVD.. loved it as a teen!
My family in Massachusetts loved the show. We would act out episodes, and even tried to speak the Queen’s English. Good times.
Loved the programme
great 5mins on ufo and what turn into space 1999 (late 1973)
My favourite tv show by far when I was young
I'm 60 now, That was my favorite show since the moon landings. I was 7 at the time and every Sunday evening I look forward to a new episode then I was heart broken when I learned it wasn't airing any more. I really liked that car and wish I could have one like it.
you might like the citroen sm coupe 1970's 80's ish
The thought of a second series of a 'super' UFO being canned is the most disturbing thing I've ever heard! I lived UFO when I was a kid. I remember once I was prevented from watching an episode. I still have nightmares about that...😸😸😸
Seriously though, it has to rate among the most beautiful audio and visual feasts of any television production ever, along with Thunderbirds of course. Hard to choose between them, but I guess Thunderbirds has to win. Captain Scarlett was next fave with possibly the best theme, (and the 3 best road vehicles). Barry Gray was an utter genius with the music for those three. The Joe90 theme was amazing too, but not such a favourite to watch.
I wish I could tell Gerry how much he added to a lads life. I guess he knew.
Edit: Ha, ha. Not about me of course but his young viewers in general, doh!
I agree. Weren’t they all such good programmes? How less would our lives as children have been if those programmes were never made. I wasn’t so keen on space 1999 but I still watched it.
@@jamesheath7596 Yeah, Space 1999 was a big disappointment. (I'll maybe look again), but it was just a bit boring - and only one percent of the extraordinary look of UFO.
@@jamesheath7596 PS Yes we were lucky I think. I just can't imagine if they weren't there?? We would be different. I am sure Gerry Anderson had quite an effect on a whole generation. Along with Apollo and the music and all the amazing things from the sixties and seventies! It was the peak of western civilisation, we walked on the moon, peak creativity. The West has been on the decline since,
@@martinda7446 yes you’re right. Just had a thought about captain scarlet, they travelled backwards in the spv. That just amazed me when I was a kid lol !!
@@jamesheath7596 Ha, ha yes. Those were amazing vehicles.
This show was my JAM
The ladies were fiiiiiine!
Such a good show
The episode about Straker's son, holds up as good story telling and production even now.
Just rewatching UFO on ITV+. Interesting to see the 1970s vision of the future and it’s still great fun.
A perfect Sunday afternoon.
Mr Anderson (ohh wait on...) Mr Gerry Anderson was a magnificent creator and visionary. I loved everything that I saw of his. Loved Thunderbirds, UFO and these shows were amazing... they set off imaginings and ideas... And I didn't realize UFO turned into Space: 1999... another show I loved.
I'll have to try to find them on DVD or stream if they are available still.
Really liked most of the 1st series of Space 1999, the less said about the awful 2nd series though the better. UFO was far superior, and it is a real shame that Straker and his crew were not given a 2nd series, I think it would have been brilliant. One of life's missed opportunities there.
I'm 65 years old...UFO . ... Big nostalgia.
Grazie mille Mr Anderson
I loved both UFO and Space 1999 . Sad to think the talent for making these programmes has gone ...but not forgotten !
I loved this show.....I was a young teen when it was on...Martin Landau was so handsome
A great series, look great even now. Quality from the golden age of TV.
Oddly enough, Gerry never felt his career was a success, but he was wrong.I, like millions of children of the time found his shows fascinating and now,as a 63 year old man, I own all his shows and still think they are FAB.He was a genius, as well as all those who worked on these shows,especially Derek Meddings,for his special effects.
As a fellow sixtythreeyearold I can suggest that Gerry and Silvia made we kids happier on a day to day basis than Father Christmas. The gift was our imaginations.
Film industry can be so cruel!
Very true! The "SUITS"--EXECUTIVES within their CORPORATE OFFICES--are the ones who show themselves to be "The Movers And Shakers" in the industry. These folks have dictated--in several cases unfortunately--to producers, directors, writers, actors, and other film crew employees how to bring these person's creations and visionary ideas to life. Some of these higher-ups don't really appreciate the hard-working creative people who do all they can to entertain the masses.
Gabrielle Drake - enough said!
UFO was far better in many respects than Space: 1999 (I still love season 1). UFO had plausible, excellent stories delivered by brilliant actors who were truly passionate about the series.
Those two were stars in so many things together and apart.
I loved the show as a kid.
Too bad because UFO was great and Space 1999 not so much (for me at least). It's a shame how some arrogant US producer would dictate terms and end any possibility of a second season of UFO.
Same reason the American version of Red Dwarf didn't work either, all the way up to the lousy new Star Trek shows that are so bad. The powers that be have no real idea what the fans of the shows want. Their thoughts on producing a show is "it's my way or the highway!" and that's why most of the franchises are dying.
These Anderson projects were absolutely fantastic entertainment when I watched them in the 1960’s. Nothing else like them on TV and far superior to the remakes in animation form
1:08 drool. Loved this show.
I love both deeply. I honestly prefer Space: 1999 to UFO, but both are something very very special to me ❤
Hands up who would have told that Yank to Foxtrot Oscar.
@ Yank. Really.
@@DunedinMultimedia2 Where's the problem ?
Blimey!!! 😉🇬🇧
1:08 - 1:15 The always gorgeous Gabby Drake as Lt Gay Ellis on Moonbase for SHADO.
Amazed Gerry got this all done even with shackles on his feet.
good and cool
Great
UFO was so, so much better than Space 1999. Better writing, premise, atmosphere, style
CBS wants Gerry Anderson's UFO 🛸 series on Prime Time shows instead of syndicated.
When are all the UFO episodes going to be condensed into one epic blockbuster movie?????!!!!!
It could kickstart a new tv series, if done right.
With 26 hours to condense, I would imagine that’s pretty unlikely.
They already did edit a bunch of episode scenes into a movie a long time ago. It wasn't the same.
Thought there was a link between the two shows
Wow never knew about this before. IMO the best bits of UFO were the earth based episodes such as the one mentioned and the time Foster was court marshlled.
I only saw a couple episodes of UFO, but watched 1999 a lot!
As someone who still loves and watches UFO to this day, I am so disappointed series 2 of UFO was turned into Space 1999 (which I loathe - sorry). I personally prefer the more "realistic", darker and mysterious approach of UFO than 1999.
The 1st season of Space 1999 was Great. And the music score was Excellent. But the 2nd season when they changed the Producers it became less Mysterious. They lost the Chemistry of the people who were in the 1st season like Barry Morse , Kano , Paul , and Sandra Benes. And when the studios starts to mess with the Chemistry of a Show and they start to insult the intelligence of the viewer that is when the show starts to fail. And maintaining Chemistry and having Good story lines is the key. But egos get in the way of Progress everything. When you want to make something cheap then cheap is what you are going to get ? You know what they say ? The Cheaper the crook how Gaudy is the Padder ? UFO was a Great Series too. They should have kept the Actor that played Alex Freeman in it. Because The Chemisty between him and Commander Stryker worked. I heard the reason why he was let go was because get this , they say that he a porked mark face that us American's would not like ? Meaning he wasn't a Handsome man. Like that should've mattered ? He was a Good Actor and he had Chemistry with Commander Stryker Character that all should have mattered. And they also took out some other Characters on the show that they should have kept too. I liked when they brought in Paul's Character he had a Good Chemistry with Commander Stryker too. All of them wore their Nehru Jacket suits well. But what with the purple wigs ? Was they trying to make a Fashion statement or Something ?
This short video will explain the mysterious cast absences and what happened to Alex Freeman. th-cam.com/video/PcTPJt3N3Nc/w-d-xo.html
Yep, season 2 was flashier, more cheerful and cheaper.
I found Barbara Bain's character to be the most insufferable characters on the show.
Thanks Gerry. While we're chatting I must say that the theme-tune change for S02 of Space 1999 was a crazy decision. Why did you dump Barry Gray dude.?
In my opinion, UFO was the most stylish Sci-Fi series EVER! ...... Certainly much better than Space 1899! 👎🤣
UFO was great but its a reworking of Captain Scarlet and is less significant than Space 1999 series 1
I was very disappointed with Space 1999 , I would have preferred another season of UFO !
@@stevenclarke5606 @borusa32 doesn't agree with you, but I do! 👍
One of the reasons I detest Star Trek (UK) aka Space:1999 so is because it cancelled UFO.
I remember this series first shown on UK TV at 10:30 immediatly after the test transmission for service engineers on BBC2. Brilliant series, and a bit close to the knuckle as I discovered later in life as a serviceman!
Shame it never went beyond series 2.
In the 90s I had the pleasure to work with a gentleman who did his film editing apprenticeship on UFO.
Always thought of Space 1999 as almost a future UFO.
What about a series based between the two? But God help anyone who tries to update / sex-up the Eagles!
As a kid in the 60s I lived in Norfolk and Anglia TV never carried UFO at that time. Very annoying to see it in the TV newspaper listing in London only but very late - maybe in some other regions as well?
Never watched UFO!...but Space 1999 was the dogs cahunas as far as I was concerned back in the 70's...🤩...the 'Eagle' and their equivalent to Star Treks phaser the refashioned staple gun!!...every schoolboys favourite must have's!!...😳
A lot of the stuff (space suits etc.) for UFO were also used in a movie called Journey To The Far Side Of the Sun.
Also, several of the UFO actors appeared in that movie.
Check out our channel for a video about that very film!
I liked UFO so much. I had one of the Dinky green SHADO mobile vehicles when I was a kid.
Still got mine!
@@AtheistOrphan That's so cool!
I have watched the whole series on Britbox. Fantastic show! Growing up in Montréal though, Space : 1999 ( or Cosmos : 1999, as it was called in French was way more popular than UFO. But not for me.
Back then, I totally wanted the girl with the purple hair 1:15.
The premise of Space 1999 is so bizarre really (if you think about it) that there always had to be something odd in the backstory. UFO and Space 1999 can almost (almost) be made to inhabit the same universe. I came across an illustration in a book recently of Alphans exploring old "military installations" in the catacombs of the moon and coming across abandoned UFO Interceptors. That's fun!
It wasn't so much the premise. Someone with imagination could have made that work. Hey, if Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1 could blow up a star, they could have found alien tech on the Moon that could warp it away. What was absolutely terrible was the writing. Illogical and puerile. Not to mention Landau and Bain's painful acting.
@@amightysailingman Landau ultimately won an Oscar. There is certainly a clash of acting styles on S1999. Someone like Leo McKern is very much part of a British tradition where the beauty of the sound of the text was very much emphasised. Landau and Bain are Method trained. I won't convince you, but I suggest you consider for a moment how Barbara Bain makes Dr Helena Russell saunter insouciantly through the automatic doors on Alpha (nicely caught in the S2 credits). The other actors sometimes stand and wait for Bob and Nobby, the set hands, to pull the prop doors apart. Bain the actor understands how the prop works, of course, but understands too that her character, the future world inhabiting, Dr Russell, would just have complete faith in the technology to not think about it at all. Her performance is full of things like that.
@@simonjones7727 Oscars are meaningless. Halle Berry won one, so tell me how brilliant Catwoman was. Dustin Hoffman won two and was nominated for a bunch more. Ishtar still stunk to high heaven. Your door assumption is stupid. Go take a look at blooper reels from the original Star Trek years earlier and you'll see actors having "complete faith" as you say walking right into sliding doors that didn't open on time. Google "space 1999 wooden acting" and you'll see plenty of critics who said Landau and Bain were terrible.
@@amightysailingman Just have to beg to differ. Martin Landau is a sinister presence in North by Northwest, and good in lots of other things (Mission Impossible, Columbo etc).Like Ben Gazzara, John Cassavetes, Peter Falk to a certain extent: acquired tastes. I don't think he was a poor actor. I agree that some of the scripts were weak, but many were excellent. I will always feel the the totality of S1999 is impressive.
The studios have a history of being brutal to scifi even from the very beginning huh. What could his real reason for such a bizarre request even be?
I'll never forgive british tv to took away from us Gabrielle Drake with her miniskirts and purple wigs
@1:08 He fixes the cable?
The mystery element of UFO really set it apart from Space 1999, Star Trek and the other scifi genre series of the era.
That UFO end titles sequence was classic.
Classic TV 📺 😅
On my birthday, my wife wears the purple wig.
Give that wife a big kiss.
Anyone who is interested in doing so, you can visit the final resting place of Ed bishop at the parish church of saint Lawrence, in napton in Warwickshire. He is buried next to his son who died tragically in a car accident in 1988.
Was a shame my favourite character was not in the show very long.
I loved ufo. Still hum the theme!
I love UFO
Genius