Ed's Prop Problem

As much as I admire Ed Bishop and how he made UFO what it was, he
didn't seem to be very comfortable with props. I was looking at The
Man Who Came Back. When he is telling his secretary that Craig Collins
is dead and she had just better get over it, he is flipping through
his diary. I'm sorry, but he's not convincing and he fumbles it. He
does the same thing in Mindbender when he's looking through the
personal effects of old what's-his-name who went gaga and had to be
put down. He's trying to get into what appears to be a cigarette case
and can't find the catch so gives up. With the other objects in that
scene, he's obviously just filling in time waiting for his line. I
haven't searched through the other episodes to see if this is a
general struggle he has throughout the show, but it is very noticeable
when it happens and is unfortunate with such a central character.
Maybe it was the fault of the filming schedule with insufficient time
for the actors to get comfortable with the props or pressure to accept
a substandard take.

Still, I wouldn't say it to his face. I've seen how he likes to tear
strips off poor old Lt. Ford.


David

Are you sure it was a prop problem. Gerry Anderson says in his commentary how
professional Ed Bishop was as an actor. He thought Ed would be an
international star. I think that he was showing how Straker has problems dealing with
loss. In both situations two people are dead due to the aliens influence. In
our culture and especially the military dealing with emotions is frowned upon.
Straker also lost his child to his job and showed no emotions. Instead of
thinking of flaws of stage craft think on this. Straker cares about all of the
Shado operatives. In most cases they are close friends because they can never
share with the outside world that aliens are here and they want us dead. He
also hand picked most if not all of them. In the military people die and
those who serve our country know they may have to pay the ultimate price. The
ones who are left behind have to deal with any day learning that their loved ones
may not come back. Military men are not allowed to show their emotions about
loss. If Powell showed tears everytime someone died the country would lose
all respect for him. bsl


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