ITV 4 episode ‘Sound of Silence’

Hi all,

`Sound of Silence' – not an especially good episode of UFO, even
more so appearing this late in the series running order, imho.  
There were only two edits –

The entire scene of the Stone family's evening meal

Most of the scene of Pa Stone finding Culley's mutilated dog


I tend to contrast the opening of this episode to `Exposed'. The
interceptors are not allowed to attack the UFO due to its close
proximity to the GSP4 capsule, yet the XV104 had no such privilege
from Sky 1! Has Straker gone soft? Or would this be down to the
unwanted publicity that might arise over the loss of a NASA space
vehicle? Well, *of course* - it's because the episode would be over
before it barely started! ;-D

The plot revolves around the unhindered alien's activity on the
unfortunate Stone family, with a subplot about their problems with
unwelcome `hippy' down-and-out Culley. I've wondered whether Russ's
overt hostility towards him and his unfortunate demise might have
meant to imply the missing Russ may have been suspected of murdering
him, but nothing is made of it. Perhaps some scenes had been
deleted that might have clarified this, but in the absence of an
original script it's hard to say. If not, it all seems rather
pointless :-/

BTW, Culley has obviously been thrown out of SHADO – perhaps in
disgrace for failing to prevent the destruction of Skydiver 4 at the
hands of Mason (`Psychobombs'). Anyway, he met a `fitting' end at
the hands of an alien, although I wonder why his body was not
treated similarly to Russell Stone – perhaps too many drugs had
ruined his organs… ;-)  

The title relates to the `fact' that the presence of the UFO and
alien affects the behaviour of animals. Certainly, they have been
proven to have an unexplained `sixth sense' in all kinds of
dangerous situations, in which case SHADO ought to consider
recruiting some four-legged operatives! On the other hand, thinking
of `TCWTL' - maybe it's not such a good idea after all… ;-D

SHADO's involvement is much sidelined, until the capsule recovered
from the UFO wreckage is brought back. There's no Freeman, Col.
Lake or Dr. Jackson for Straker to bounce dialogue around with.
Imho, the outcome is predictable; what else could it be but Russell
Stone? The idea it's a bomb seems stupid, if this were the case,
it would be madness to bring it back to SHADO. And cutting that
exploratory hole – I'm no engineer but - no way! This ep does have
a rare happy ending, although whether Foster goes back to establish
the effectiveness of the amnesia drug or is actually chasing Anne
Stone, is possibly a matter for debate ;-)

For an episode from the second production block, all of which were
supposedly faster and more imaginative it is actually surprisingly
retrograde; a weak, slow moving story, although to their credit, the
guest stars make a very good effort. Our friend Gito makes several
appropriately eerie appearances; together with Barry's atmospheric
incidental music, the sense of malevolence is wonderfully
portrayed. Apart from this, the *only* scene in this entire episode
that makes it truly worth watching again is the superb SFX of the
shootout between the mobiles and the UFO –absolutely brilliant! And
for me to be saying this – well, either it really *is* an
exceptionally good sequence, or, it is the fact that there is little
else to recommend personally to this episode.


Thanks for reading :-)


Sarah

On Mon, 01 May 2006 12:22:27 -0000
"moonbasegirl" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I tend to contrast the opening of this episode to `Exposed'. The
> interceptors are not allowed to attack the UFO due to its close
> proximity to the GSP4 capsule, yet the XV104 had no such privilege
> from Sky 1! Has Straker gone soft?

Foster was given every opportunity to leave the area. Since he didn't,
Carlin should have been ordered to take him out as well, as a security
precaution.

It's often forgotten, actually, that Foster's curiosity got his
co-pilot killed.

James

--
Dig It : a forum for Beatles fans - http://beatles.dyndns.org/

> For an episode from the second production block, all of which were
> supposedly faster and more imaginative it is actually surprisingly
> retrograde; a weak, slow moving story

THE SOUND OF SILENCE was the first episode of the second production
block, and I suppose that it could have been written during the
first production block. Although if MGM hadn't shut down, they
would have then been filming it in the winter (December/January 1969)
instead of the summer (June 1970).

Personally, I like this episode. I find the guest characters
interesting enough that the slowness of the story doesn't matter
to me that much. Although these days I'd probably fast-forward
through the part where they're drilling a hole into the alien
cylinder. :-)

As for the script to that episode, many years ago someone
advertised in the classifieds section of Fanderson's FAB magazine
that they were selling an original script for this. I wrote them
a letter asking them about it, but they wrote me back saying that
they'd already sold it, but they would inform the buyer of my
interest in getting a photocopy of it. Unfortunately, I never heard
from anyone about that again... :-(

Speaking of scripts, the text transcriptions for COURT MARTIAL,
ESP, and CONFLICT are close to being finished, although I've
been lacking time to do the final proofread because I'm in the
midst of house buying/selling/moving/fixing up. However, since
I've got jury duty this week, *maybe* I'll have plenty of time
for proofing... :-)

Marc

--- In [hidden email], James Gibbon <jg@...> wrote:
 
>Foster was given every opportunity to leave the area. Since he didn't,
>Carlin should have been ordered to take him out as well, as a security
>precaution.

This is true, although that would have made 'Exposed' a very short
episode as well ;-)

 
> It's often forgotten, actually, that Foster's curiosity got his
> co-pilot killed.

But wasn't the co-pilot just as curious? When Foster gets the order
to alter course, he looks at the co-pilot, who shakes his head :-)


Sarah

--- In [hidden email], "moonbasegirl" <shaded2cinders@...>
wrote:
Yeah, The Lake Battle sequence made the whole episode work for me as
wewell. It's one of my favourite bits of modelwork from the entire
series.
It may also be the fav of someone who worked for the BBC (maybe a
Researcher) about 11-13 years ago, as it was featured on the TV trivia
quiz show Telly Addicts. I think it ended just as the UFO exploded and
the studio audience spontaneously applauded (just as they should
do ;) ), but The Bearded One, AKA Noel Edmonds, who was on presenting
duties kinda spoilt the mood when he asked them what they were
clapping for!! Grrr...the fool! (Although the paranoid pessimist in me
can't help but point out the audience may have clapped their hands
together only because the Floor Manager held up a board
saying "Applaud" just as the film ended. *sigh*)