Misc. Thoughts on Survival

Just wanted to get a few minor points in on Survival.

First, did it bother anyone that all of the loose debris was not sucked out
of the recreation sphere when the pressure leak occurred? I am referring
specifically to the SHADO patch that lay on the ground next to the
operative after he died in the vaccum.

Second, what was the standard SHADO leave time for Interceptor pilots? It
hardly seems worthwhile to send the guy home for 24 hours when the trips to
Moonbase should take something in the order of 2-3 days to complete.
Foster obviously had a reason to return in 24 hours, as the sole reason for
his visit to SHADO HQ was to bring along the shattered window.

Also, is it ever mentioned anywhere in the series that the astronaut suits
recycle existing air? The size of the life support systems boxes do seem
rather small, especially considering the amount of physical activity being
performed.  

Lest everybody think that I am Monday-Morning-Quarterbacking with the
advantage of 30 years, I was quite impressed with the bulging effect of the
spacesuit legs; this resembles the results of pressurization. Very few
science fiction series seem to appreciate the latter process -- witness the
spacewalk sequences from "Lost in Space" television series.

Finally, did anybody else find it hillarious when Billington's fall moved
the papermachie (SIC) rock?

Jeff Kuzma

>Second, what was the standard SHADO leave time for Interceptor pilots? It
>hardly seems worthwhile to send the guy home for 24 hours when the trips to
>Moonbase should take something in the order of 2-3 days to complete.

> >Second, what was the standard SHADO leave time for Interceptor pilots?
It
> >hardly seems worthwhile to send the guy home for 24 hours when the trips
to
> >Moonbase should take something in the order of 2-3 days to complete.
>
> From the series, it seemed that the trips to Moonbase were relatively
> short -- perhaps 8 hours maximum?
>
> Marc
>

My impression from the series was the tips to moonbase were a few hours. The
episode "Conflict" in particular give me this impression.

Marc Martin wrote:
> >Second, what was the standard SHADO leave time for Interceptor pilots? It
> >hardly seems worthwhile to send the guy home for 24 hours when the trips to
> >Moonbase should take something in the order of 2-3 days to complete.
>
> From the series, it seemed that the trips to Moonbase were relatively
> short -- perhaps 8 hours maximum?
>

Yes, I agree, but even so - a round trip to Earth for 24 hrs
leave? It does seem a bit extravagant.

On 04 Nov 2002 James Gibbon <[hidden email]> posted:

>> >Second, what was the standard SHADO leave time for Interceptor pilots?
It
>> >hardly seems worthwhile to send the guy home for 24 hours when the
trips to
>> >Moonbase should take something in the order of 2-3 days to complete.
>>
>> From the series, it seemed that the trips to Moonbase were relatively
>> short -- perhaps 8 hours maximum?
>>
> Yes, I agree, but even so - a round trip to Earth for 24 hrs
> leave? It does seem a bit extravagant.  

Which is exactly my point. But I admit that Marc and Ron DeMedeiros
might be correct in their assumptions when you consider how few
interceptor pilots there were during the series.  

Am I correct in assuming that we do not see a completely different set of
pilots until at least midway through the series? If so, then the folks at
Century 21 were operating on the short turn-around theory. But then
again, perhaps the storyboard writer never even got that far....

Jeff Kuzma

> Am I correct in assuming that we do not see a completely different set of
> pilots until at least midway through the series? If so, then the folks at
> Century 21 were operating on the short turn-around theory. But then
> again, perhaps the storyboard writer never even got that far....

Or maybe it was just cheaper for Gerry to block-film the same
actors, re-use footage etc.

Dave.

On Fri, 8 Nov 2002, Dave < [hidden email]> posted:

>> Am I correct in assuming that we do not see a completely different set
of
>> pilots until at least midway through the series? If so, then the folks
at
>> Century 21 were operating on the short turn-around theory. But then
>> again, perhaps the storyboard writer never even got that far....

> Or maybe it was just cheaper for Gerry to block-film the same
> actors, re-use footage etc.

Excellent point, and one that I overlooked by reading too much into series
continuity. I suspect that the folks at Century21 would have been
flabergasted
at the thought of several hundred viewers examining the series in great
detail
thirty years after filming. Back in those days, most television shows
always
seemed to disappear after the initial syndication run was completed.


(XCom)

> Third iteration? Gosh! Is it currently marketed? If so, under what
> name?

I believe the 'XCom' might be somewhere on the box. According to the
article that I read (might have been in Computer Shopper) the format of
the game has changed somewhat from the original version, with more
first-person action options.

Jeff Kuzma

--- In SHADO@y..., Jeff Kuzma <105416.1170@c...> wrote:

> Excellent point, and one that I overlooked by reading too much into
series
> continuity. I suspect that the folks at Century21 would have been
> flabergasted
> at the thought of several hundred viewers examining the series in
great
> detail
> thirty years after filming.

Last Spring, I watched all of the UFO episodes on my LDs, before
selling them. It was interesting to note that the same special
effects shots were used in almost all episodes, although there were
some notable exceptions. One of the most blatant is the 3
Interceptors taking off, where a string or something pulls lose from
an Interceptor just as it reaches the right side of the shot. The
other blatant reuse is of the multiple UFOs flying towards the moon.
In fact, I believe this ties into the Dalotek Affair. The Alien
Probe
can be seen in these shots as a bright dot that the UFOs fly past.
It
doesn't mean anything in the other episodes, but it comes into play
when the probe flys to the Moon in the Dalotek Affair. After seeing
that, you recognize the shot for what it was - heavily reused.

Anyway, with respect to Survival, the shot of the bubble popping on
the spacesuit was one of my early memories from the first run of UFO
in the US. The other being Straker shooting at a UFO from Studio
with
the launcher.

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<<<The other being Straker shooting at a UFO from
Studio
with
the launcher. >>

Me, too!!! I also remember the frozen chair in mid-air
and Straker sweating in the close up before he shot
down the UFO!

JF

=====


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Gerry & his team were great ones for re-using footage. Perhaps
the most blatant were in other series, in which episodes used the
idea of characters 'recalling' past adventures. Really quite a clever
way of squeezing another episode into a series at minimal cost.
Captain Scarlet did it. Joe 90 did it. Other series prolly did too,
but my memory isn't too good these days lol. Thankfully, UFO
avoided the trap.

Dave.

Rob
What was the 3D software doing, could you enlighten us please?

>Before my IBM 60GB 'deathstar' died a few months ago, I'd
>recreated ALL of the 'stock' UFO footage using Don Showalters
>excellent 3D meshes. OT: I wouldn't have minded, but it died
>whilst I was installing new backup software that could talk
>to my DVD rewriter.. *Thousands* of hours of CPU rendering
>time gone, not to mention my own.. Grrr!

--- In SHADO@y..., "Hemmings, R.K." <rkh@l...> wrote:
> Before my IBM 60GB 'deathstar' died a few months ago, I'd
> recreated ALL of the 'stock' UFO footage using Don Showalters
> excellent 3D meshes. OT: I wouldn't have minded, but it died
> whilst I was installing new backup software that could talk
> to my DVD rewriter.. *Thousands* of hours of CPU rendering
> time gone, not to mention my own.. Grrr!

How long did you have that computer before it died? I am very sorry
to hear about your loss. Which reminds me: I better start backing up
the contents of my PC: I have had a stack of blank rewritable CD's
waiting on a dressing table for a long time.
Was that all the matter in all the 26 canon UFO episodes?
I have Don Showalter meshes for: Mobile, Interceptor, UFO, Sky 1,
Skydiver, SID. What other meshes of his are there are? How did you
make models of the SHADO characters? Which software did you use?
How far have you got with re-making this matter? If you use Poser, if
you want to use my posable UFO series alien model, you can.

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