"Identified" is the first episode of UFO, a 1970 British science fiction television series about an alien invasion of Earth. It was written by Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson and Tony Barwick, and directed by Gerry Anderson. Filmed between 28 April and 12 May 1969, it was first broadcast on 16 September 1970 on Associated Television.[1][2]
In 1970,[4] two women and a man come across a UFO that has landed in a wood. The man, Peter Carlin (Peter Gordeno), starts filming the craft, but the trio are fired upon by the alien occupants. One of the women is killed, Carlin is shot and injured while the third, Carlin's sister, is abducted.
Imagine a dying planet in some distant corner of the universe. Its natural resources exhausted. Its inhabitants sterile. Doomed to extinction. A situation we may one day find ourselves in, gentlemen. So they discover Earth. Abundant, fertile. Able to satisfy their needs. They look upon us not with animosity, but callousness. As we look upon our animals that we depend on for food. Yes, it appears they are driven by circumstance across a billion miles of space, driven on by the greatest force in the universe– survival.
Increasing UFO activity brings (as shown in the later episode "Confetti Check A-O.K.") the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France and West Germany together to combat the perceived threat. While en route to a secret meeting with the British Prime Minister, Colonel Ed Straker and General Henderson's (Ed Bishop and Grant Taylor) car and its police motorcycle escorts are attacked by a UFO. Straker is thrown clear but Henderson is seriously wounded.
By 1980, the international community has established a secret organisation– SHADO (the Supreme Headquarters, Alien Defence Organisation)– in Britain to track and deal with incoming UFO threats. Straker is now in command of this organisation. SHADO is hidden beneath Harlington-Straker, a working film studio used as cover for the underground base. Straker's cover involves being a film producer.
Following a fire at Westbrook Electronics, Colonel Freeman (George Sewell) is piloting a transporter aircraft from Los Angeles carrying top-secret equipment to track UFOs in deep space, as well as its creator Colonel Virginia Lake (Wanda Ventham). SID, the Space Intruder Detector – a tracking satellite that detects incoming UFOs– reports a spacecraft heading for the North Atlantic.
SHADO Moonbase launches three interceptors which fire on the UFO. However, it manages to escape destruction. SHADO control authorise Skydiver submarine to launch the Sky 1 interceptor aircraft piloted by Captain Peter Carlin. The UFO enters the atmosphere and fires at the transporter, but is shot down by Sky 1 and disintegrates in the ocean.
An injured alien occupant survives the crash and is taken to SHADO's medical laboratory for analysis. The effects of Earth's atmosphere cause the alien to revert to his true age and die. Following an autopsy, SHADO discover that the alien has numerous organ transplants harvested from humans. It transpires that the alien's heart comes from Carlin's sister, who disappeared in the incident shown at the beginning.[6]
Looking at the pilot of UFO, it does have a much slower pace than films that are made today, but equally it still has a lot going for it. It was really quite a complicated show to make. It has a lot of production value.
During late 1968, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson collaborated with producer Reg Hill and writers Donald James and Tony Barwick to develop the format for the series and the first episode, "Identified". Initially, Earth's defence organisation was to be called UFoeDO– Unidentified Foe Defence Organisation– which was not a secret operation like SHADO was to become.
The commander of UFoeDO was to be a Commander Straeker— later shortened to Straker— with Ed Bishop cast in the role. Second in command was to be Alex (later renamed Alec) Freeman, played by George Sewell. Both Bishop and Sewell had appeared in the Andersons' film Doppelgänger.
Initially the Moonbase Commander, named Franco Desica, was to be played by Italian actor Franco De Rosa. De Rosa was later fired after three days of filming for causing considerable delays. De Rosa's character was dropped entirely from the show. Some of Desica's dialogue was repurposed for a new Moonbase commander, Lieutenant Gay Ellis (played by Gabrielle Drake) (this character was initially called Lieutenant Paula Harris). The captain of the Skydiver craft, cast as Jon Karlin, was to be Jon Kelley, but before filming commenced the part was restructured and offered to dancer Peter Gordeno, and the character renamed Peter Carlin. Kelley was re-cast as Skydiver navigator John Masters.
Towards the end of April 1969, after five months of pre-production, principal photography for the pilot episode began with Gerry Anderson directing at MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood. Second unit filming took place at Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire; this included the UFO attack on Straker and Henderson's Rolls-Royce. This unit also filmed the scene with Carlinand his sister Leila (Edwina Carroll) when they discover a UFO landed in a wood; this was filmed at Black Park at Iver Heath, close to Pinewood Studios.
Additional location shooting included Neptune House at ATV Elstree Studios. This building was used as the administration block for Harlington-Straker Studios. Various SHADO members were filmed arriving at this building. Other locations used for the filming included Handley Page Ltd, Radlett Aerodrome, Hertfordshire. In the episode, Colonel Lake holds a newspaper with the date of 24 August 1980; this details the exact date that SHADO became operational.
Broadcast
When the episode was first broadcast on 16 September 1970, it was seen by ATV's tenth-largest audience for that week, achieving 36 ratings points.[8]
Reception
John Kenneth Muir called the episode "a fascinating entrance to the world of UFO" for its introduction of Straker, the alien enemy, and the "many diverse facets" of SHADO. He commented that "[w]e get a strong sense of [Straker's] mettle, right out the gate", and described Straker's theorising about the aliens as "riveting" and "well acted". Although he considered the Moonbase's majority-female command crew "a great move for gender equality", he noted that these characters are made to wear "form-fitting breakaway spacesuits", and at one point Lieutenant Gay Ellis (Gabrielle Drake) is shown "stripping down" to her undergarments.[4]
Rating it the tenth-best episode of UFO, review website anorakzone.com describes "Identified" as "not a particularly striking introduction to the [series'] concept". It criticises certain scenes, finding them sexist in their writing or direction. It argues that the episode "can be appreciated on repeat viewings".[9]
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