UFO - Destruction

Stalwart TV fantasist Dennis Spooner (Doctor Who, the Avengers, various Anderson productions) pens his one and only UFO teleplay. It's crackling entertainment that intrigues, moves at a steady pace, and presents us with a real danger. It could be a series high point but for that bit about flying in the face of the series premise. Seems no one bothered to brief Spooner.

A British naval vessel sights and promptly shoots down what they claim is a UFO. The thing went down in one of the oceans deeper trenches and will never be found. Henderson is satisfied that the story is a dead end and no security risk, and probably wasn't an actual UFO anyway, and happy enough to let it go. Straker's not so sure and wants to press the matter. Have the aliens found a way past SHADO screening? Why would the Navy be so hot to fire on an unidentified vessel that had not attacked? Why the rush to conclude the matter with no investigation?

Straker and Henderson take a shot at official channels while Foster is assigned to try a more sneaky approach, wooing and spying on the secretary of the Admiral directly involved. Col. Lake, meanwhile, takes command of Skydiver to surveil the ship as it heads back to deep waters.

The secretary turns out to be the daughter of one of the men who built Moonbase – in fact, one who disappeared off the moon and was never heard from again, suspected to have been taken by the aliens. She has an expensive telescope with astral co-ordinates marked off. Parking an interceptor along that path incapacitates the pilot when an intense signal passes through the craft. Someone's passing information to the aliens, but what exactly is the information and what is the interest?

Straker and Henderson open up to the Admiral in hopes he will realize the danger Earth is in (and noting their trusty amnesia drug anyway). They are told that the navy has been tasked with the dispensing of a WMD so volatile that if released would wipe out all life on Earth. Imagine if you will a UFO attack on the vessel with that gas on board!

That is exactly what happens. Skydiver is on the scene and blasts the UFO out of the sky. Earth is saved. From the aliens. Who need us for their survival. Wait, what?

Okay, okay...so...reaching back to 'A Question of Priorities'... In that episode, a lone alien attempted to defect from his people. We know so little about the aliens that we may assume that they are not of one mind on the subject of Earth's exploitation or perhaps other matters. Might we accept that this attempt to exterminate Earth's resources is being carried out by another faction?

Given the work that went into conditioning the secretary, furnishing her with high-beam communications equipment, and posting multiple UFOs along the trajectory of that equipment (remember, one was shot down and there's at least one more that appears), plus the presence of an agent to periodically put the woman under remote mind control...there is organization behind this assault, and long-term effort. This is no lone wolf acting against alien interests as we've understood them thus far. Remember, that was always an assumption on SHADO's part. It's never been confirmed by an alien.

Whatever the explanation, it's part of the show now and we have to take it on board. It certainly underlines the absolute threat they pose. I've always had a problem suspending disbelief for stories in which the plot hinges on contradicting common sense, and Destruction comes perilously close. Only our lack of understanding of the aliens gives it an out.

I've said that the script is a top suspenser. There's not a lot in the way of character work and no exploration on those lines, but a few small character moments keep it lively. For example, Henderson and Straker...it's nice to see their professional capacity for working together for once instead of the constant pissing match. Straker is quick to have his defenses up when they meet and bristles for a fight, and Henderson is quick to calm his fears. They make a good team. One can see how firm the grounding of SHADO must have been in their hands. Pity about the falling out.

Another is a round of golf which Foster has been (ahem) invited to play with Straker. It's not Foster's thing, but you don't say no to the boss. Is the molding of the protege now to include his pastimes as well? This is where Foster is told he's to spy on the woman. We're left to wonder what he thinks of the assignment. We've seen him becoming a bit of a player already after having one relationship ended by his involvement in SHADO, so this could be considered a darker turn for him.

There's also Col. Lake. For the era, it's refreshing to see a woman in full command of a military force, even more to see that UFO has no need of elaborating on the fact but expects us to accept it as a given. In that role Wanda Ventham proves more than capable: confident, steady and attentive, decisive, ready to push but mindful of the risks. I dare say she has better command skills than Straker, though we've yet to see if she has his superhuman intuition. There's a good chemistry between Ventham and Ed Bishop, though character-wise I miss the yin-yang on ethical matters that Freeman provided.

How to rate...hell, I've never been good with reducing a work of entertainment to numbers. It'd be a smart story for some other show with a different premise, and Spooner is a legend. Straker's cover is blown again, in a brand new way, this time he's not only forgotten for his media-worthy military background but also as the head of a film studio as well when Henderson tries to pass him off as an official to do with aviation safety. For all his charisma, Straker must be a profoundly unmemorable guy.

7 shock-fuschia carpets, just as you'd expect to find in a high military office. Honestly, I'm leaning toward 6 or 6.5, but the plot really does provide a fun guessing game as well as upping the stakes.


Asides...

David Warbeck plays one of the Skydiver personnel. I know him best from a couple of horror films by Lucio Fulci.

A young Steven Berkoff plays the Interceptor pilot. I almost didn't recognize him. Berkoff played the bad guy General Orlov in Octopussy and has had a long career that includes a couple of Kubrick's films as well as extensive TV work.

Talk about stretching suspense, why did Skydiver wait so long in the finale before launching Sky 1?

Funny that the British military would go to the press with a tabloid headline like 'We shot down a UFO!” Not many world governments are in the habit of publicly crediting the existence of UFOs.

If Straker is itchy to use forget-me-drops on the Admiral, what's he going to do with a fairly huge ship full of witnesses? Will he be willing to settle for the Offical Secrets Act? Are those administered with the drug ever programmed with a false memory or story to cover missing time?

I finally figured out how the fx guys make those UFOs spin. It's the top clear dome that is attached to wires and remains stationary, while the interior and clear base spin. I could never see them that clearly before.