Court Martial

I've just watched Court Martial this afternoon & I
must say, I still regard it as a very good episode.
This is one of the episodes I originally saw as a kid
in the early 70s. I remember playing UFO in the
playground with my friends, in particular the scene
where Foster escapes from Straker's office! I'm sure I
still have an old book somewhere in which I wrote
about what happened in this episode the first time I
saw it - glorious results of a misspent youth!

This, of course, is the episode where Jackson is
established as 'the bad guy', isn't it? Am I right in
thinking that it's the first time we see him as
Henderson's right-hand man as opposed to a member of
SHADO? Whilst I'm on the subject of Jackson, does
anyone ever get the idea there were redundancies at
SHADO which meant that surviving SHADO personnel had
to do the jobs of those who'd lost their jobs? The
reason I say this, is because if you watch the series
closely, Jackson seems to do EVERYTHING! In this
episode, he's the prosecution & we also learn that he
was one of Foster's examining officers when Foster was
recruited to SHADO. In addition to this, he's a
doctor, a scientist, a surgeon, an interrorgator, an
employee of SHADO AND a member of the IAC! Why don't
they stick a broom up his backside & ask him to sweep
up at the same time?

I found the military trial a bit ridiculous, to be
honest, it's a kangaroo court really, isn't it? To me,
it's too biased having Jackson as the prosecution &
Foster's defence, Webb, is pretty ineffective, isn't
he? Also, all of a sudden Henderson is in charge &
Straker's authority is undermined! Having said this,
later on when Foster escapes, Henderson tells Straker
that he has his orders, obviously from high above ...
who is this person & if he's more powerful than
Straker AND Henderson, how come we've never seen him?

We also learn that my old mate Ford is a senior
operative ... well, if I was a junior operative, I
wouldn't see the incentive to be promoted, seeing how
Ford is treated by Straker in most episodes! Later on
in this episode, we see senior operative Keith Ford
doing a basic SHADO guard's job with the woman in
Straker's office. Not only does he wear his uniform,
he exits the office INTO Miss Ealand's office, thus
making himself appear suspicious-looking in his
uniform to any potential Carl Mason-type who may be
bedded down in Miss Ealand's office hoping for a
confrontation with Ed Straker! I hope the woman in
Straker's office is given a shot of the amnesia drug
too!

There's a strange bit that happens when Foster
visualises the screen in Straker's office - Straker's
chair seems to move on it's own! Quick! Call Security!
The Mysterons are in SHADO HQ! Also, what's Sonny Bono
doing playing the part of Singleton?

My next point concerns the pen that Straker produces
in Henderson's office in the end, the pen that has a
recorder in & has recorded what Henderson has said -
where does this come from? Was it up Straker's sleeve
or did he pick it up in Henderson's office? I thought
it'd be a nice touch if we actually saw Straker subtly
plant this in Henderson's office at the beginning of
the episode, when he & Alec first go to Henderson's
office, maybe it's in there somewhere & I've never
seen it!

Although I have my criticisms, which really just go to
highlight the many inconsistencies in the series
sometimes brought about by different writers on the
show who didn't perhaps, didn't pay enough attention
to continuity (or, more probably, not advised to do
so), this is a very good episode. Every time I watch
it, I really believe that Foster has been killed & Ed
Bishop really plays it as if he thinks Foster is dead,
as if he's not read the whole script & knows that
Foster survives, the same way you really believe,
thanks to his acting ability, that Straker's not going
to survive Sub-Smash. Ed Bishop always, always,
always, plays it like he doesn't know the ending &
that's great!

Although I like the character of Foster, I think it
would've been a GREAT idea for Foster to be killed and
then for it to be discovered that he wasn't a traitor
but that he inadevertantly passed on SHADO secrets
whilst he was bugged by a rival studio - it would've
been a classic, if not the definitive, UFO downbeat
ending, perhaps even surpassing A Question Of
Priotities!

Neil

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Great post Neil.

I still haven't re-watched the episode so all the reviews are
interesting for my next viewing.

On the last point of killing Foster off, it's a shame they didn't
write this episode around Cpt Carlin so that they could have killed
off a high profile member of Shado who was leaving the series anyway.
That would have created many more opportunities in the script for
what if's / soul searching / recriminations etc. Excellent stuff.
Hey, maybe Ford could have been a pall bearer at the funeral and
drops the coffin, or his gun mis-fires on the 21 gun salute fatally
injuring ... the possibilities are endless !

Thomas



--- In [hidden email], Neil May <neilmay2000@y...> wrote:
> I've just watched Court Martial this afternoon & I
> must say, I still regard it as a very good episode.
> This is one of the episodes I originally saw as a kid
> in the early 70s. I remember playing UFO in the
> playground with my friends, in particular the scene
> where Foster escapes from Straker's office! I'm sure I
> still have an old book somewhere in which I wrote
> about what happened in this episode the first time I
> saw it - glorious results of a misspent youth!

"teee_peee <[hidden email]>" wrote:

>
> On the last point of killing Foster off, it's a shame they didn't
> write this episode around Cpt Carlin so that they could have killed
> off a high profile member of Shado who was leaving the series anyway.
> That would have created many more opportunities in the script for
> what if's / soul searching / recriminations etc. Excellent stuff.

I agree - it would have been very much in the spirit of UFO to
do this - watching UFO as a child, it often seemed rather
disturbing and sinister and to have one of the main characters
actually die would have emphasised the 'dark' side.

Although as a practical matter I believe Peter Gordeno hadn't
actually decided to leave while they were still shooting.

James