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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Re: Episode Review; Identified (Read 10059 times)
dragon
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Jun 4th, 2010 at 3:50pm
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Only issue here is, I don't have them on DVD and my tape player is dead, dead, dead. Hmmm, i wonder if it's on hulu ... d
  
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Matt
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #1 - Jun 4th, 2010 at 8:42pm
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Not Hulu but I have found a few episodes online. It requires the Veoh plugin but you can get quite a few of the episodes. Also try YouTube, a few are hiding there as well.

Matt  Smiley
  

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dragon
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #2 - Jun 4th, 2010 at 10:24pm
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I shall have to go looking Sunday morning when no one else is up. I been playing hookey today, while at work ... odd of me, I know.

d
  
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Lightcudder
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #3 - Jun 5th, 2010 at 8:14pm
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Identified... My views!

The opening credits

I think these have stood the test of time really well. Yes the typewriter is dated now, but the overall effect is really good adn the music is brilliant. The first shot of the aliens eye under the plastic cover is creepy.
However, showing the opening credits at the beginning of the first episode in some way ruins the tension later on.

1) 1970 Peter Carlin , sister and friend find UFO in the woods. Carlin films it, they come under attack,  Lelia captured by aliens
Loathsome 'music'. silence might have been better! I never understood why the aliens shoot people.. surely that would damage organs? and Gerry gives the blokes a flash of Lelia Carlin's lace knickers before she is taken.. Typical!

2) Straker and Henderson arrive in UK for meeting with P.M. Rolls Royce comes under attack
Okay, set in 1970, jet lands, all fine with this,, the Rolls, the crash, the great shot of the UFO picture going up in flames.. all well done. Although the drive to Chequers  is a bit padded out.

3)1980 Ayshea's rear view! Straker arrives for work, followed by Alec.

Pink behind! Gerry again... just how many female 'bums' does he manage to get into this programme? Too many really.
but its a nice intro to the change of year, and the studio.
Straker arrives... nice car, but I always think he looks pissed off whern he gets out of the car, almost as if he can't be bothered. In fact throughouit this episode he doesn't seem to have a coherent consistent 'take' on how he is supposed to be played. Almost as if the Andersons hadn't come to a decision about what sort of character he was going to be. It made for inconsistencies and didn't help develop the story.

4) Straker's office; Fire at Westbrook.. ALec to take responsibility for transportig equipment
What was that all about with the bloweing of ash onto Alec? HuH? ANd Straker calling him Freeman? Again, inconsistent. and another thing that always bugged me. Straker goes into his office, and seemingly a couple of minutes later Alec appears, but it appears that Straker has been in his own office for much longer, when Alec gets down there. a little bit of poor direction.. or perhaps it's just me. ALthough it was clever to have Alec showing us SHADO HQ  instead of Ed. Although... the dumb blonde raises her head (and shows us her rear) when she escorts Alec to the COntrol room..COme on Gerry. Yet another rear view?? How many is that so far?

5)Alec flies Seagull X-ray . meets Col.Lake.   Moonbase  and Skydiver on alert

No problems with the flight. Anderson at his best. although Alec's overtures to Ginny are , should we say, a little overdone!
Again .. Gerry at his best?/Worst?
I liked the way Ed blows a smoke ring and then the view changes to the Moon ( would have been better without the sign for HS studios in between) Shades of the famous scene in 2001 where the bone morphs into the space station.
Moonbase looks great. as good today as it did on first viewing it. Still vialble, still fabulous landscape. First rate.
And the girls.. good costumes.. although boots? Nah. and Gerry gets in on the act with a couple of strip teases. Typical. I'm getting a little bored with this by now Gerry.
Poor old Ed still doesn't know how he is meant to be played. Stern Commander when he berates Ford.... slushy lines.. poor script and too slow. and Gerry... handwritten reports?.... if we have bases on the moon, surely we'd have computerised reports. Another inconsistency.
But Ed has nice blue eyes!
The line. 'it gets pretty close to home'. is about the only indication that someone might have thought about the character of Straker. Apart form that, the whole Straker/Ford scene is slow and rather painful.

SID...I think it would have worked so much better, and  given an added dimension if they had manned SID. It wouldn't have been that difficult really!

That's me done for now. I'll watch the rest later! Actually, reading through the above, makes it sound like I hate the episode. But I don't.
I just wish it had been done better. Sad
  

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MkIXHawk
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #4 - Jun 5th, 2010 at 8:47pm
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Well, the costumes , particularly the wigs, were down to Sylvia. Don't forget, Lew Grade had to sell the series to TV Executives, so a few shapely female bottoms would probably not have hurt the sales pitch... Wink
  
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #5 - Jun 5th, 2010 at 9:00pm
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WE should ahve a 'rear-ometer' for the episodes
Identified

Rear-ometer showing 6 so far!

and not a pec in sight... how sexist!
  

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dragon
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #6 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 2:22am
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Actually, it's a teletype machine, not a typewriter.
  
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Neesierie
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #7 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 4:21am
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Okay.  It's just us, right?  Fanfic writers and not fanatical Gerry Anderson fans.  Right?  Because this is the worst episode of the series.  And it was the only one directed by, well, Gerry himself.  That's why you have the bum shots, Louise.  He's a perv.   Wink 
I love good directing, as you may have noticed if you've read any of my UFO essays.  But I purposely did not comment on this episode in any of them, because the articles were written for a UFO fan magazine, after all, and there's no sense getting people's knickers in a twist.
But just between us fanfic writers, the episode sucked!  All that potential -- the action of the night scene, the car chased by the UFO -- and the rest of the episode did not live up to the hype of those first edge-of-the-seat beginnings. It was all tease and no please.  Many of the ensuing episodes made up for it, but if the success of the series were to be judged by that pilot episode, it would  fail.
  
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #8 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 7:42am
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Thank heavens it's not just me then! Glad to know I'm not the only one who dislikes this episode. And Gerry was  a perv. it could have been such a great episode, but it wasn't. It seemed as if they were simply [playing at the idea of doing a live action programme. Little thought had gone into some aspects ..and Sylvias costumes, in somoe cases, were absolutely dreadful. They hadn't even decided on make-up or  hair styles. Poor planning really.
Damn. we could have had years of UFO if the had done it right.  Angry
  

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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #9 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 7:45am
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Oh  and I might, just might, have to argue with Dragon over the typewriter thingy.. I thought it was one of the new (new then) ball typewriters speeded up... but I may well be wrong.. and I certainly don't want an angry Dragon after me... she could do nasty things !! Cheesy
  

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MkIXHawk
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #10 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 9:09am
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It was an IBM Golfball, mostlikely the same one seen in the opening credits of 'Doppelganger', filmed, then speeded up
  
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Matt
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #11 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 10:07am
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Identified had so much more potential as an episode than was shown. Could have done without the sexist scenes as well. It cheapened the whole series. Come on Gerry, don't you know less is more!!!   :Smiley
  

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Lightcudder
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #12 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 11:07am
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So... everyone.. how would you have done it?

I wouldn't have had the opening credits.. until the end of the episode. I'd have swapped the credits round so the programmes started with the end credits.
The first scene... I think I  might have just gone for creepier.. les of a chase through teh woods, more of a scary abduction.. perhaps a couple kissing and being disturbed by... and then the discovery of a mutilated body.
Peter Carlin's girlfriend/fiancee instead of his sister.
Didn't mind the Rolls journey, but it could have been shorter.

Loved Straker in his studio office.. one thing I think they got right, but not sure about Alec and his flirtatious side.. they never carried that idea forward did they.. and it could have worked!
I'd have worked out in advance how I wanted the charactrers portrayed. Would have solved a heck of a lot of inconsistencies..
Oh yes.. no smoking. I didn't smoke then and a lot of people didn't., and it seems as if Gerry was being sponsored by cigarette companies!
And no bums! or dumb blondes!
  

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Neesierie
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #13 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 11:27am
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Works for me!  Did you ever finish your time machine so that we can use it to go back and do your idea as the pilot instead?  'Cause yours sounds better!  Cheesy
  
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Matt
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Re: Episode Review; Identified
Reply #14 - Jun 7th, 2010 at 11:53am
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The one thing I did like was the way Ginny shut Alec down on the plane!  Smiley

"Shouldn't you be getting back to your little seat up front?" Wink

Way to go Ginny! Smiley

I agree with the girlfriend bit as well.

Louise I sent you the diagrham for the space-time discontinuity curcuit, much needed for time travel! Did you get it Wink chuckle chuckle
  

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