# UFO (1970)

> A secret international agency called SHADO fights a hidden alien invasion of Earth from a base on the Moon.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2433

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 26
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, action, drama
- Created by: Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson
- Network: Associated Television
- Cast: Ed Bishop, Harry Baird, George Sewell, Dolores Mantez, Norma Ronald, Vladek Sheybal, Michael Billington, Gabrielle Drake
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: earnest, atmospheric, tense, retro

## What critics say

Audiences rate UFO positively, valuing its ambitious 1970s science fiction premise, miniature effects and suspenseful alien-war storytelling.

## Synopsis

UFO (1970-1973) is a British science fiction series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson for Associated Television. Ed Straker (Ed Bishop) commands SHADO, a secret high-technology international agency that defends Earth from alien invaders, working in secrecy from a base on the Moon and in hidden installations across the world. The engine of the series is the constant tension between the agency's need to hide its existence from the public and the threat of covert alien incursions. Each episode is built around a single alien encounter, a sabotage attempt, or an interception mission, with Mark Bradley (Harry Baird), Alec Freeman (George Sewell) and Nina Barry (Dolores Mantez) carrying much of the field work. The single season of twenty-six fifty-minute episodes is standalone rather than serialized, and the series is staged with the scale-model craft and puppet-era spectacle that defined Anderson productions. The tone is earnest and atmospheric, with a paranoid, cold war flavoured dread running beneath its espionage-style operations. Fans of Thunderbirds, Doctor Who and Fringe will find resonance in its blend of retro production craft, secret government agency premise and alien threat.

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