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Ordeal

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Neil May

Ordeal

Hi Everyone

In 1999 I attended a Writing A Short Story class at
the local Adult Education College. One of the things I
remember the teacher telling me was that you never,
ever end a story with the line "Suddenly he woke up &
realised it had all been a dream!".

Ordeal is a good episode but it's spoilt by the
ending. The Captain Scarlet episode is better because
the characters act differently & Cloudbase is
destroyed. I remember watching Ordeal as a kid & not
remebering the ending at all. For a first-time viewer,
the scenes where Foster is abducted & the green liquid
fills up the helmet make for enthralling viewing but
the writer treats the audience with no respect by not
taking this brilliant conceit further & opting for a
cop-out ending. Maybe the writer couldn't think of an
ending?

The scenes of Foster's abduction & the sight of him
spewing up the green liquid are some of UFO's defining
images. A lot of non-UFO fans I talk to always
remember theis episode for these things! What was
great about UFO was the atmosphere of prevailing
menace, the fact that you knew that if the Aliens were
chasing you through the woods there was no hiding
place, they couldn't be reasoned with & there was that
omnipresent threat of impending doom. Foster's
near-nakedness in the sauna could be seen as a
representation of his vulnerability to an alien
attack.

Hope all you UFO fans have a very Merry Christmas & a
very Happy New Year too. Look forward to talking to
you all again in 2003 if not sooner!

Neil

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Mark Davies-3

Re: Ordeal

Wholeheartedly agree wth your comments about a dream ending.It is a kind of
deception.Leading the audience up a garden path.In the end they know the,ve
been cheated.What the writer is really saying,is well I,ve got these people
in such I mess I really do,nt know what to do,to get them out of it.As far
as I,m concerned thats
not good enough.Having said that it may not be the writers fault because
Gerry Anderson liked the dream ending and he is on record as supporting it.
Of course the dream ending opens up all sorts of areas for exploration,but
they should be realised in a much more
imaginative and intelligent manner.

Mark UK

----- Original Message -----
From: "Neil May" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2002 9:26 PM
Subject: [SHADO] Ordeal

> Hi Everyone
>
> In 1999 I attended a Writing A Short Story class at
> the local Adult Education College. One of the things I
> remember the teacher telling me was that you never,
> ever end a story with the line "Suddenly he woke up &
> realised it had all been a dream!".
>
> Ordeal is a good episode but it's spoilt by the
> ending. The Captain Scarlet episode is better because
> the characters act differently & Cloudbase is
> destroyed. I remember watching Ordeal as a kid & not
> remebering the ending at all. For a first-time viewer,
> the scenes where Foster is abducted & the green liquid
> fills up the helmet make for enthralling viewing but
> the writer treats the audience with no respect by not
> taking this brilliant conceit further & opting for a
> cop-out ending. Maybe the writer couldn't think of an
> ending?
>
> The scenes of Foster's abduction & the sight of him
> spewing up the green liquid are some of UFO's defining
> images. A lot of non-UFO fans I talk to always
> remember theis episode for these things! What was
> great about UFO was the atmosphere of prevailing
> menace, the fact that you knew that if the Aliens were
> chasing you through the woods there was no hiding
> place, they couldn't be reasoned with & there was that
> omnipresent threat of impending doom. Foster's
> near-nakedness in the sauna could be seen as a
> representation of his vulnerability to an alien
> attack.
>
> Hope all you UFO fans have a very Merry Christmas & a
> very Happy New Year too. Look forward to talking to
> you all again in 2003 if not sooner!
>
> Neil
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Everything you'll ever need on one web page
> from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
> http://uk.my.yahoo.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

anthonyappleyard <MCLSSAA2@fs2.mt.umist.ac.uk>

Re: Ordeal

--- In [hidden email], "Mark Davies" <aonq79@d...> wrote:
> ... a dream ending. It is a kind of deception. Leading the audience
> up a garden path. In the end they know they've been cheated. ...

To me, "... and it was all a dream." belongs in young children's
magic-stories.

Anthony D

Re: Ordeal

Ummmmmmmm......and the series UFO is based on reality?

----- Original Message -----
From: <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2002 1:55 AM
Subject: [SHADO] Re: Ordeal

> --- In [hidden email], "Mark Davies" <aonq79@d...> wrote:
> > ... a dream ending. It is a kind of deception. Leading the audience
> > up a garden path. In the end they know they've been cheated. ...
>
> To me, "... and it was all a dream." belongs in young children's
> magic-stories.

SumitonJD

Re: Ordeal

In reply to this post by Neil May

>.....and the series UFO is based on reality?

Yes, the reality that excists in any TV series or film. You suspend
disbelieve when the enter the world of fiction, particularly the worlds of
Science-Fiction and Fantasy and Horror. That is why some people never learn
to like the genres. They would have to suspend their believe in reality and
that would destory their well ordered little world.

Every series has its own reality. That which is normal in UFO would be
something weird to the one in Star Trek or X-Files except in a fanfiction
crossover story.

James K.

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

screwedmorethenonce

Re: Ordeal

I don't know. I can think of a number of things that Mullder wouldn't blink at from UFO, or even Star Trek. He is very broad minded, after all.
I have read a number of Fanfics that used cross-overs. Some were very good, others weren't worth the effort to throw them away. That is the nature of the beast, after all. A good writer can make anything beliveable, while a bad one can can make the most easily varified facts sound like garbage. As we have seen over the years, all shows have their "Spocks Brain", that deserved to be burned at the stake.
Anyone have any good cross overs to recomend?
[hidden email] wrote:>.....and the series UFO is based on reality?

Yes, the reality that excists in any TV series or film. You suspend
disbelieve when the enter the world of fiction, particularly the worlds of
Science-Fiction and Fantasy and Horror. That is why some people never learn
to like the genres. They would have to suspend their believe in reality and
that would destory their well ordered little world.

Every series has its own reality. That which is normal in UFO would be
something weird to the one in Star Trek or X-Files except in a fanfiction
crossover story.

James K.

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

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

sigourneysslave

Re: Ordeal

> Anyone have any good cross overs to recomend?

I can thoroughly recommend Deborah Rorabaugh's excellent UFO/Star Trek
(TOS) crossover, Harvest of the Planters.

Dave.

screwedmorethenonce

Re: Ordeal

Where I might I find a copy of this? Is it on line any where? How much, etc, etc.
[hidden email] wrote:> Anyone have any good cross overs to recomend?

I can thoroughly recommend Deborah Rorabaugh's excellent UFO/Star Trek
(TOS) crossover, Harvest of the Planters.

Dave.

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

sigourneysslave

Re: Ordeal

> Where I might I find a copy of this? Is it on line any where? How much, etc, etc.

Deboragh's SHADO library can be found at

http://shadolibrary.org/library/

These stories are fan fiction and are freely available for downloading.

Dave.