Re: THE MAN WHO CAME BACK

I'm glad the eleventh-hour request for comments on this episode drew
so many comments. I just finished watching it and while it is not my
favorite, it made me realize that even a "bad" UFO episode is so much
better than the vast majority of what is being made today.

To get back on topic, while some wondered about who this Colonel
Gray was (was his name an homage to Barry?) I kind of liked his
character. It reminded me of getting a glimpse into the off-shift
of SHADO. Go to a hospital, fire department, military base or any
place else that runs 24/7 and you'll find a totally different world
apart from the brass and the 9 to 5 bunch. Sometimes the twain do
meet (or collide) and this episode seemed to hint at that. As to why
Foster wasn't in charge, he was in command of moonbase and training
for the SID-2 mission...but if he was too injured to do that, how'd
he wind up back in command on Earth---unless he was called to duty
when Gray was missing in action.

On a different note, did anyone notice the SHADO operative standing
up in the background when Gray and Lake were talking about Collins?
I've heard women complainging about skirts "riding up" and now I
know what the fuss is about. If she was wearing underpants, then
the costume designer deserves credit for inventing the thong. Sorry
to digress, but some images you just can't forget.

Someone said the next episode to be discussed will be MINDBENDER. Is
the discussion based on production order or is there a list of
"canon" episode sequence and if so where might I find it and how does
it compare to the DVD sequence of events?

>Someone said the next episode to be discussed will be MINDBENDER. Is
>the discussion based on production order or is there a list of
>"canon" episode sequence and if so where might I find it and how does
>it compare to the DVD sequence of events?

I'm just using the order on my UFO Series Home Page's episode guide:

http://ufoseries.com/eps-short.html

Which means the next episode after THE MAN WHO CAME BACK is
PSYCHOBOMBS. This order is pretty close to the DVD order, but neither
is "canon", as there is no official order. Certainly as of the last
few years the episode order on the DVDs is becoming more and more
the "default" order, but this order is really the result of
Fanderson's research into the production order, and only deviating
from it by moving EXPOSED before SURVIVAL. It's my personal feelings
that one shouldn't have Foster being introduced to SHADO in one
episode (EXPOSED) and then have him be an established, irreplaceable
Moonbase commander in the next (SURVIVAL), so my order puts CONFLICT between
the two. However, I think a perfectly valid way of doing it is to
make EXPOSED episode #2, which was actually the intent back
in 1970, but seems to be ignored by everyone today.

Marc

Regarding this episode... Derren Nesbitt, who of course played Craig
Collins in 'The Man Who Came Back', is still a working actor. I note
he is appearing in the Oscar Wilde play 'The Picture of Dorian Gray',
starring Robert Powell, at my local theatre (in Aberdeen Scotland) in
the first week of September, and presumably the play tours elsewhere
also.

Andy