A Question of Priorities

If there ever was a UFO episode that was eviscerated by
editing on the SciFi channel, it would have to be AQOP. I
was amazed at how many different scenes took place in the
original teaser sequence, and these scenes have much to
do with establishing the bond between Straker and his son.
By contrast, when I last viewed this episode on the SciFi
channel some seven years ago, the teaser seemed rather
jerky and contrived.

AQOP is also an episode that disproves critics of Ed Bishop's
acting skills. The physical features of his face were impressively
distorted at the scene of Johnny's accident, expressing concern
with a look that is not used elsewhere in the series; it struck me as
the deeper emotion of a caring parent. From that point onward,
Bishop masterfully plays a man in silent torture. Even trusty
Alec Freeman never fully realizes the extent of Ed's personal
conflict.

But after watching this episode there are some technical quibbles
that bother me. First of all, the green dye (bad as it was) should
have extended to the Alien's bare hands and not merely his face.
Next, no explanation is ever given to the disappearance of the UFO
escape craft, especially when Carlin performed his overflights
over the Irish coast.  

And speaking of Carlin, he does a little too much in this episode
-- fly Sky1, perform salvage, and lead the Mobiles into position.
Despite the placement in the DVD series, I get the feeling that
this episode was filmed before Exposed. If that is not the case,
then hopefully somebody has a behind-the-scenes explanation
for Billington's absence.

Having witnessed all the effort that SHADO performed in a vain
attempt to capture a UFO on the moon, I was surprised that a
specialized crew was not dispatched to collect and completely
analyze the underwater wreckage. Despite Carlin's statement
about vaporized materials, the photos he took show enough
intact pieces for at least a minimal materials analysis. After
all, if that B142 probe is ever going to chase a departing UFO
at SOL velocities, then SHADO had better start analyzing
spinner wreckage for some Alien FTL how-to secrets.

Does anyone know Suzanne Neve's age at the time of filming?
I have a hard time believing that she was over 30, which would
place her as a 20-year-old bride at SHADO's creation. And
with Amelia and many others atesting to Ed Straker's wow-power,
our erstwhile Commander does not strike me as one to date
teenage girlfriend while starting a top-secret military organization.

Also, are there any Joe90 or Secret Service fans who can attest
that the blind woman's coastal home was a model used in one of
these two supermarionation series?

Finally, after viewing the escape pod departing from the UFO,
I am left with the impression that UFOs are much larger than
our previous list discussions. Rather than simply being a
three-man craft as previously stated, I still think that a spinner
is *at least* as large as Croxley's house in E.S.P.

Despite these minor points, this is an excellent episode overall, with
The fine acting of Ed Bishop, tension-filled scenes, emotive score
by Barry Gray, and tightly-paced directing by David Lane. Along
with Conflict, it resides on my list of episodes to play when I
want to introduce a potential convert to UFO.

Jeff Kuzma

Well, let's start off by saying that this is another excellent entry in the
UFO canon -- actually, I think it's better than Dalotek Affair, my previous
high point for UFO.

This episode is more proof for my theory that UFO is more drama than sci-fi --
again, nothing wrong with that, just a side point. It actually got me to
thinking a bit -- I really like my sci-fi in space or some place other than
Earth. There's just something about Earth-bound sci-fi that doesn't move me
much, but that's just me.

Anyway ... things I liked:

- that mod hospital -- very nice!
- the acting was all around solid - Ed Bishop was particularly good here. I
loved almost all of Ed's scenes - from playing with his child (it was really
weird to see Straker so relaxed!) to the encounter with his wife and her new
husband to the accident and beyond.
- the script (and filming) was strong -- I liked how little sentences ("Yes,
he could be listed under Rutland") or scenes ("I think you should leave now,
Ed") told so much about Ed's personal life and how heavily it has been
impacted by running SHADO. Very well done.

Nits:

- the whole old lady stuff -- I guess she was just there so that SHADO could
find the alien.
- the rather stodgy pace of the entire episode. Just didn't seem there was
that much urgency in parts. Overall it was decent though.
- the experimental antibiotic -- while it was a good idea story-wise, I
thought it was a tad outdated in that we have several (I think) different
antibiotics to cover allergenic and/or bio-resistance. I thought of an idea
here -- John should have gotten a "strange infection" that's only been seen
"in the last ten years or so". This would have tied the infection in with the
alien invasion (making it even MORE powerful for Ed) thus making the
experimental drug from America a little more dramatic.

This episode is really an emotional one-two punch - the tension for the most
part doesn't let up. It's stories like this where UFO shines. I liked how Ed
uses his position for personal gain -- was it appropriate? Why couldn't he
confide in Alex? Was it to protect Alex or to cover his own ass?

[BTW, where *was* Foster in this episode? Was this out of order?]

A solid, solid entry.

Overall: B

Right now, I'm grading this a B -- it might go up after we finish all 26
episodes.

1999 Lives,
Anthony

Phil Merkel quoted:
> The biggest drawback is that the science is weak (fires on the
> moon, sound in space, punctured EVA suits causing suffocation and
> not decompression), and the spaceships sound like jet fighters...
> in space. But the colors are striking, the transfers flawless, and
> the set worth a look.
>

The 'sound in space' criticism is a bit harsh .. nearly all popular
sci-fi does that. And fires on the moon? I'm not sure which
episode(s) are being referred to here, but assuming it's a fire
caused by a UFO, interceptor or whatever crashing, it's entirely
plausible if the fire is caused by ignited fuel containing oxygen.

The USS Enterprise's phaser beams shouldn't be visible in space ..
no-one ever complains about that :)

"Anthony D" wrote:

> I liked how Ed uses his position for personal gain -- was it
> appropriate? Why couldn't he confide in Alex? Was it to protect
> Alex or to cover his own ass?

A good question and one I always raise myself when this episode is
discussed - to me it seems highly inappropriate that Straker
should use SHADO's facilities as a private medical taxi service.
A clear-cut abuse of responsibility, and if Freeman hadn't
diverted the transport, there would have been a definite moral
question mark left hanging over this episode.

Apparently neither one of you guys has ever been a father. If you
had you'd know any good father would move heaven or hell or brake the rules
to save his child. It is one thing to make rules and regulations but it is
something else to live by them. They work fine under ideal circumstances but
when in real life are circumstances ideal. Would Straker allow someone else
to do the same as he did? We will never know because that episode was never
filmed. The episode is trying to make a point, which is Straker, Mister
Perfect being put in a position where he has to break the rules. In other
words a personal and emotional hell!
As to breaking rules and regulations no one complains when its done on
Star Trek. Heck, it they were to Courtmartial every character in that group
of series who has struck a fellow Star Fleet officer it they would have to
change the name of the show to Space Court!

James K.( not a father but who knows a good one when he see one)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>And speaking of Carlin, he does a little too much in this episode
>-- fly Sky1, perform salvage, and lead the Mobiles into position.
>Despite the placement in the DVD series, I get the feeling that
>this episode was filmed before Exposed. If that is not the case,
>then hopefully somebody has a behind-the-scenes explanation
>for Billington's absence.

This episode is in the correct order. Originally Mike Billington
was supposed to be in the Mobiles, but since this was Peter Gordeno's
final episode, they gave that part to him. Kind of silly though,
since he was just in Skydiver a few minutes before...

Marc

Well the way I see it... SHADO owed Straker *something*.
It destroyed his marriage... narrowed his private life... he'd put in megga hours of work... had a mass heaping of stress added to his life.

I don't have a problem with this venture, as long as it *wasn't* going to put any of the population at risk (which it wouldn't have done, had there been no UFO attack).

Jaime
http://jaime.net


--- In SHADO@y..., James Gibbon <james.gibbon@v...> wrote:

The antibiotic wasn't required as it was a strange disease, it was because
John was allergic to the antibiotics required to treat the infection he had.
Grant

-----Original Message-----
From: Anthony D [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: 19 November 2002 02:14
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [SHADO] A Question of Priorities


Well, let's start off by saying that this is another excellent entry in the
UFO canon -- actually, I think it's better than Dalotek Affair, my previous
high point for UFO.

This episode is more proof for my theory that UFO is more drama than sci-fi
--
again, nothing wrong with that, just a side point. It actually got me to
thinking a bit -- I really like my sci-fi in space or some place other than
Earth. There's just something about Earth-bound sci-fi that doesn't move me
much, but that's just me.

Anyway ... things I liked:

- that mod hospital -- very nice!
- the acting was all around solid - Ed Bishop was particularly good here. I
loved almost all of Ed's scenes - from playing with his child (it was really
weird to see Straker so relaxed!) to the encounter with his wife and her new
husband to the accident and beyond.
- the script (and filming) was strong -- I liked how little sentences ("Yes,
he could be listed under Rutland") or scenes ("I think you should leave now,
Ed") told so much about Ed's personal life and how heavily it has been
impacted by running SHADO. Very well done.

Nits:

- the whole old lady stuff -- I guess she was just there so that SHADO could
find the alien.
- the rather stodgy pace of the entire episode. Just didn't seem there was
that much urgency in parts. Overall it was decent though.
- the experimental antibiotic -- while it was a good idea story-wise, I
thought it was a tad outdated in that we have several (I think) different
antibiotics to cover allergenic and/or bio-resistance. I thought of an idea
here -- John should have gotten a "strange infection" that's only been seen
"in the last ten years or so". This would have tied the infection in with
the
alien invasion (making it even MORE powerful for Ed) thus making the
experimental drug from America a little more dramatic.

This episode is really an emotional one-two punch - the tension for the most
part doesn't let up. It's stories like this where UFO shines. I liked how Ed
uses his position for personal gain -- was it appropriate? Why couldn't he
confide in Alex? Was it to protect Alex or to cover his own ass?

[BTW, where *was* Foster in this episode? Was this out of order?]

A solid, solid entry.

Overall: B

Right now, I'm grading this a B -- it might go up after we finish all 26
episodes.

1999 Lives,
Anthony





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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In a message dated 19/11/02 05:30:50 GMT Standard Time, [hidden email]
writes:


> I'm always amazed at Ed's performance in this, it's almost all facial. When
> they remind him his son's name isn't Straker, it's Rutland. The pain, boy
> it
> blows you away. The look on his face when Mary tells him to go. Even the
> body
> language when he brings Johnnie back and he sees Mary, slowly gets out of
> the
> car

I completely agree with this, Ed Bishop certainly conveyed the pain, anguish
and torture of Straker with just a few facial expressions, this sequence can
often move me to tears - it is such a powerful piece of acting and one of the
scenes I always remember.

Claire


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Mon, 18 Nov 2002 "Christian J." <[hidden email]> wrote:

>> Obviously Barnaby Shaw was a good choice for
>> playing Strakers son :-)

Say, does anyone have an current image? It might be interesting
to see if Mr. Shaw has any resemblence to Ed Bishop in
adulthood.

>> The radar screen shows two lines going
>> incessantly from the upper right to the
>> lower left - what's the use of this?

Not much. The set designer probably lacked experience with
an actual radar screen and figured that something in the style
of a medical oscilloscope (SIC) would work just as well.

>> ...Why are there so much lamps switched-on...

Probably an oversight, but you could argue that she had them
on for her house-call by the doctor.

>> The UFO is able to shot a simple person far
>> away from the sky! What a shot!

Yes. But this time their was a very powerful radio transciever
carried by the defector which the spinner could detect and target.

"Anthony D" <[hidden email]> added:

> Anyway ... things I liked:
>
> - that mod hospital -- very nice!

Did you notice how it was one of the few mod sets in UFO
that actually 'work'? By contrast, the colors and items from
Foster's girlfriend's apartment in 'Survival' are an absolute
disaster -- so garish and tiring that nobody could actually
live in such a place. Did anybody else find the hospital
floor pattern somewhat reminiscient of the inner chambers
from 'The Prisoner'?

Marc answered one question with:

>>>> I get the feeling that this episode was
>>>> filmed before Exposed. If that is not
>>>> the case, then hopefully somebody
>>>> has a behind-the-scenes explanation
>>>> for Billington's absence.

>> This episode is in the correct order. Originally
>> Mike Billington was supposed to be in the
>> Mobiles, but since this was Peter Gordeno's
>> final episode, they gave that part to him. Kind
>> of silly though, since he was just in Skydiver a
>> few minutes before...

Thanks for the backstory, Marc. As odd as it was
to have Carlin in the Mobiles, I get the feeling that
Billington's absence helped the somberness of the
episode by concentrating the mood of the Freeman
-Straker scenes. Paul Foster's presence would
probably have diluted the tight dynamic that we last saw
in 'Flight Path' and 'The Computer Affair.'

Ameila <[hidden email]> wrote:

>> But the use of the indifferent word
>> 'boy' like he didn't have any connection to him.    

Indeed. I had the sense that Rutland merely used
Johnny as a chess piece in a game of controlling
Mary.

>> I'm always amazed at Ed's performance in this,
>> it's almost all facial.

Yes, his expressions were powerfully communicative,
and yet Bishop never crossed over the line into
William Shatner-esque theatrics.

>> I don't think anyone, even Henderson, would
>> have said a word against him doing what he
>> did. His son was dying....

Perhaps, but you have to consider the timeline within
the series before making that statment. During the
'Conflict' epsiode, Henderson probably would have
seized upon this incendent to remove Straker from
command. But the 'softer' Henderson from 'Confetti
Check A-OK', 'Closeup', or 'Mindbender' would probably
have behaved exactly along the lines you suggest.

>> Don't know how old Neve was...

What would be a good source of biograhical data on
Ms. Neve? I still think that she looks substantially
younger than Ed Bishop.

Jeff Kuzma

Jeff Kuzma wrote:

> Did you notice how it was one of the few mod sets in UFO
> that actually 'work'? By contrast, the colors and items from
> Foster's girlfriend's apartment in 'Survival' are an absolute
> disaster -- so garish and tiring that nobody could actually
> live in such a place.

A lot of peoples' homes were like that in the 70s .. :)

Jeff,
usually IMDB(Internet Movie Data Base) is a go choice for a limited bio of
actor. However I check for Neve sometime ago and it doesn't have one. The
earliest credit listing I found for her is in the BBC Sherlock Holmes series
of 1961 where she was the governess in The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.
If you take it that she would have been in the area of about 20 then that
would have her born around 1941 give or that a year or 5 which would make her
younger than Ed.

James K.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Wed, 20 Nov 2002 James Gibbon <[hidden email]> wrote:

>> Foster's girlfriend's apartment in 'Survival' are an absolute
>> disaster -- so garish and tiring that nobody could actually
>> live in such a place.
>
> A lot of peoples' homes were like that in the 70s .. :)

Oops! I apologize for offending anybody with my remark!


On the subject of Suzanne Neve, James K. added:

> If you take it that she would have been in the area of
> about 20 then that would have her born around 1941
> give or that a year or 5 which would make her younger
> than Ed.

Which would make her 28-years-old to Bishop's 39, supporting
my observation that she was a decade younger than Ed. Thanks
for the information, James, as it was exactly what I suspected.

So when Denise Felt <[hidden email]> posted:

> I'll just say that I never thought she was the type of
> woman to appeal to his type of guy and leave it at that.

Well, Denise, do you feel any differently knowing that in
1970 Ed Straker was a 29-year-old Colonel marrying an
18-year-old bride?<s>  

In the early days of the FAB-UFO list there were many
comments on Mary's emotionalism and lack of maturity
during the SHADO years. Such actions seem more
plausible when viewed as those of an insecure
teenage bride. It would also explain why Straker never
divulged sufficient secrets to his wife.

Jeff Kuzma

>Jeff Kuzma <[hidden email]>
wrote:
>Oops! I apologize for offending anybody with my remark!

The amazing thing here is that you can now redo your house in retro 70's and
be just as hideous as they were back then! No joke. Although why anyone
would is WAY beyond me!

Actually, Jeff. It's obvious from the episode that she's a lot younger than
he is. So I always knew of the age difference. I got married at barely
twenty and never, thank God, treated my husband (who was far more deserving
of it than Straker ever was!) to Mary's type of "emotionalism." I have
simply felt since I was old enough to consider the matter that a strong man
would prefer a strong partner. And the years have not changed my mind about
that. But I've long since realized that Gerry Anderson and I don't agree on
that point! *grin*
Yours,
Denise

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Dear posters and esp Denise:

I read what Denise said about Mary being considerably younger than Straker
when they were married and it was like alot of jigsaw pieces finally "fit"
right. I was always so annoyed by her increadibly immature behaviour, her
jealousy, her refusal to have any kind of life outside the 4 walls of their
home, etc (i.e. not making her own friends, meeting the neighbours, etc).
NOW it all makes more sense. If Mary really was an 18 yr old, shy, insecure,
with a much older husband like Straker (who may have appealed to her because
she was looking for someone to "protect and nurture" her - do we know much
about Mary's younger days? Her mother seemed like a very domineering
suspicious type and the father seemed hen-pecked - what kind of family life
did Mary come from? We could speculate endlessly - hey Denise - here is a
back-story for you to write for us!!) - she was looking to him to "save" her
from the world. She was too young to understand the kind of work he did and
she was unable, as some younger folk can be, to see his POV because he was
so much more mature than she was. Kind of Princess Diana-Prince Charles
relationship in terms of age difference and maturity levels. I think Denise
may have hit this on the head - why didn't the rest of us see it?

Pam

"MCCAUG" wrote:
> I think Denise may have hit this on the head - why didn't the rest
> of us see it?
>


Because Denise has just made it up. I don't believe there's any
intention to portray Mrs Straker as a teenager at the time she
got married.

CONTENTS DELETED

>Furthermore, strangely enough, in the official bio for Straker, Mary is
>described as Mary Nightingale, a secretary at the ministry of defence.
>Straker is described as being born in 1940. The marriage took place in
>December 1970, (following what's in this bio ) Ed would have been 30. Strict
>canon.

"The official bio for Straker"? You mean the made-up-by-Fanderson
bio? I wouldn't count that as canon, just creative thinking...

Marc

>"MCCAUG" <[hidden email]>
wrote:
>Dear posters and esp Denise:
>
>I read what Denise said about Mary being considerably younger than Straker
>when they were married and it was like alot of jigsaw pieces finally "fit"
>right. >NOW it all makes more sense. do we know much
>about Mary's younger days? Her mother seemed like a very domineering
>suspicious type and the father seemed hen-pecked - what kind of family life
>did Mary come from? We could speculate endlessly - hey Denise - here is a
>back-story for you to write for us!!)

Pam,
I DID use this info for a story. It's called "Full Circle" and it'll be
online as soon as my new site gets UFO stuff on it. It should also be at
the SHADO Library by now. I made her mother domineering and her father
hen-pecked too. Actually, dragon sparked the idea for the story with her
own Mary story, and I went from there. But unlike her story, I had them get
back together in the end. You know me; I like happy endings. But this
story isn't a part of my Ed & Sheila stories. I paint a very different
picture of her in those. Well, okay. Not too different. Just not as
likeable. *grin*
Yours,
Denise

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>James Gibbon <[hidden email]>
wrote:
>Because Denise has just made it up. I don't believe there's any
>intention to portray Mrs Straker as a teenager at the time she
>got married.

Um, James. I didn't make up anything. In fact, I'm not even the one who
brought the age issue up in the first place. I was merely agreeing with
another poster that Mary was a good deal younger than Straker. And just to
be exact, since people are nitpicking, I don't think she was a teenager.
Slightly over twenty was my guess the first time I saw it, and my opinion
hasn't changed much with future viewings. If you're going to throw darts,
at least aim them at the right target.
Yours,
Denise

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