The Dalotek Affair

“The Dalotek Affair” is an interesting episode with
lots going on. It’s also one of the episodes I’m most
inclined to nitpick, but I’ll try to refrain from
doing it.

The episode starts with unique touches – the interview
with Dr. Stranges that sets up some of Straker’s part
of the episode and it’s the first where the episode is
spent recalling a past incident. There are two major
themes that go through the show, one is the presence
of civilians on the moon and the other is the aliens
with an interesting attempt to interrupt communication
with Moonbase.

One of the things that I think threw me about this
episode for a while is that the it is told from Paul’s
viewpoint. I noticed near the first that things seem
a little off. It’s sort of a preview of the way
things look in “Ordeal”.

The whole thing starts with multiple sightings of UFOs
inbound. Straker seems more demanding and
unreasonable than usual and even inconsistent while
Paul is too heroic. Not that Paul isn’t brave and all
that, it just seems a bit off to me.

“We seemed to be faced with a UFO attack in force on
an area of bare lava rock.” LOL. That mare basalt
can be pretty ferocious, you know. Straker tells Paul
not to try to figure them out, just launch the
interceptors.

And then, strangely, the UFOs veer off and the
interceptors are ordered home.
What happened? Paul, nonchalantly, “Anybody’s guess.”
Straker goes ballistic about guessing and rages on
about using all of that computing power. Paul
gallantly states that sometimes guessing is a part of
the job. And even though Straker had recently told
Foster not to figure on the aliens, now it’s his job
to figure out whether the mock attack was a failed
decoy or red herring that already succeeded. We soon
learn that it was a red herring that is going to work.
It’s like the maxim Star Trek’s Scotty quoted once.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on
me. Only they should be ashamed, because they fell
for it hook, line, and sinker. After they’ve scrambled
interceptors for 3 UFOs for no reason, they don’t look
too carefully at that innocent old meteor.

But Paul does dutifully notify Straker about the
meteor. “You videoed to tell me that?” Ah, but there
is your red herring. But the meteor’s probable impact
site is near the Dalotek base, giving us a link to the
presence of civilians on the moon.

There’s the scene in Straker’s office between Straker
and Freeman. I’ve seen speculation that the smile
from Alec Freeman was in response to a dialog slip up
on Ed Bishop’s part. I don’t think so, I think it is
Alec Freeman ribbing Straker about Dalotek’s oepration
on the moon because he’s heard Straker’s thoughts on
the matter too many times.

What I did notice was a rare accent slip-up by Ed
Bishop. When he starts his dialog he sounds almost
“Joisey” instead of the barely noticeable New York I
usually heard from him. And, look, it’s rather
obvious in this scene that Ed Bishop wore a t-shirt
under his wardrobe. There are a few other spots I’ve
seen one. It’s less on display, but I noticed in
episode that George Sewell wore one, too. Michael
Billington? Not that I noticed and it’d interfere
with showing off the hair on his chest, anyway.

Straker has a point that having civilians on the moon
is a bad idea. He’s fighting a war against aliens who
try upon occasion to attack Moonbase. Having
civilians there where they might see something and
blow SHADO’s cover is a serious risk. The animosity
on both sides only makes the conflict between Moonbase
and Dalotek more inevitable. Foster immediately
assumes that Dalotek is causing the communications
problems Moonbase is having. And it’s wonderful cover
for the aliens trying to hide that they are the
culprits.

One of the more amusing scenes is Joan Harrington’s
reaction to Paul’s flirting on the phone. The man is
a shameless womanizer. And then he realizes he’s been
overheard and he immediate demands to know if the
shuttle is on positive track.

Then for a while we are treated to a dual search for
the reason for the communications blackout. Paul
continues his quest on the Moon and determines that
Dalotek isn’t to blame, but only after a moon shuttle
is lost. Meanwhile, Straker starts thinking about the
problem and is plagued by an idea lurking at the back
of his mind. Ford gets probably his nicest “Come to
my office” he ever got. Straker figures it out but
can’t tell Foster. And, fittingly, Dalotek finds the
alien installation that is causing all the problems so
Moonbase can destroy it just in time. SHADO wins
again.

Is it just me or did they not give the Dalotek boss
Tanner an amnesia shot? He tells Paul that their
secrets are safe with him, then Paul asks about the
amnesia shots are ready for the team. Tanner doesn’t
seem surprised by the shots, it’s as if it doesn’t
apply to him.

The fantasia with Jane dreaming about Paul as the
amnesia takes effect is nauseating.

Finally, we’re back at THE RESTAURANT frequented by
SHADO personnel. Paul goes and hits on Jane. His
line was really lame.

THE END

Diorite

 
In a message dated 10/21/2007 10:43:17 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
[hidden email] writes:

What I did notice was a rare accent slip-up by Ed
Bishop. When he starts his dialog he sounds almost
“Joisey” instead of the barely noticeable New York  



He was just pronouncing it like the natives do! :-) (And yes Diorite, this  
is my attempt to let bygones be bygones)
 
Wendy, from Central Joisey



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


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

--- [hidden email] wrote:

>
> In a message dated 10/21/2007 10:43:17 P.M. Eastern
> He was just pronouncing it like the natives do! :-)
> (And yes Diorite, this
> is my attempt to let bygones be bygones)

That's cool.
>
> Wendy, from Central Joisey
>

Diorite

I don't mind The Dalotek Affair, an efficiently made episode, even if it strikes me as perhaps the most pedestrian UFO episode, adhering close to formula with little that is ever challenging. What I do note is that as always,SHADO only survives and there's always losses before the Aliens' plot is thwarted, this time the crew of the lunar module whose fiery crash is very dramatic and a highlight of the episode. The scene where the scortched photoof a dead astronaut's wife and children is found among the wreckage is powerful visual film making.
   
The UFO attack must be the longest in the entire series, 12 minutes between the UFO's first appearance and its eventual interception. (Exposed comesclose where it's around 10 minutes before the third UFO is destroyed, though it at least gets past the interceptors and into Earth's atmosphere so Sky 1 has to take it down.)
   
But nonetheless, this 12 minutes is the best thing about the episode, as the search for answers is made very suspenseful as the UFO homes in on Moonbase and the interceptors and SID cannot communicate. I like the irony thatStraker can solve the puzzle but is unable to tell Paul the answer becauseof the communication blackout.
   
All in all, a solid episode, even if Jane Carson's not that charming, andPaul's "romance" with her indicates the script department had not yet found UFO's true direction.
   
(I believe this one was scripted for Franco Desica and Paul Foster inherited the script after Billington was cast, along with Ordeal which was written for Karlin. The original Paul Foster scripts like Exposed and Court Martial were far superior I reckon.)
Z.


“The Dalotek Affair” is an interesting episode with
lots going on. It’s also one of the episodes I’m most
inclined to nitpick, but I’ll try to refrain from
doing it.

The episode starts with unique touches – the interview
with Dr. Stranges that sets up some of Straker’s part
of the episode and it’s the first where the episode is
spent recalling a past incident. There are two major
themes that go through the show, one is the presence
of civilians on the moon and the other is the aliens
with an interesting attempt to interrupt communication
with Moonbase.

One of the things that I think threw me about this
episode for a while is that the it is told from Paul’s
viewpoint. I noticed near the first that things seem
a little off. It’s sort of a preview of the way
things look in “Ordeal”.

The whole thing starts with multiple sightings of UFOs
inbound. Straker seems more demanding and
unreasonable than usual and even inconsistent while
Paul is too heroic. Not that Paul isn’t brave and all
that, it just seems a bit off to me.

“We seemed to be faced with a UFO attack in force on
an area of bare lava rock.” LOL. That mare basalt
can be pretty ferocious, you know. Straker tells Paul
not to try to figure them out, just launch the
interceptors.

And then, strangely, the UFOs veer off and the
interceptors are ordered home.
What happened? Paul, nonchalantly, “Anybody’s guess.”
Straker goes ballistic about guessing and rages on
about using all of that computing power. Paul
gallantly states that sometimes guessing is a part of
the job. And even though Straker had recently told
Foster not to figure on the aliens, now it’s his job
to figure out whether the mock attack was a failed
decoy or red herring that already succeeded. We soon
learn that it was a red herring that is going to work.
It’s like the maxim Star Trek’s Scotty quoted once.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on
me. Only they should be ashamed, because they fell
for it hook, line, and sinker. After they’ve scrambled
interceptors for 3 UFOs for no reason, they don’t look
too carefully at that innocent old meteor.

But Paul does dutifully notify Straker about the
meteor. “You videoed to tell me that?” Ah, but there
is your red herring. But the meteor’s probable impact
site is near the Dalotek base, giving us a link to the
presence of civilians on the moon.

There’s the scene in Straker’s office between Straker
and Freeman. I’ve seen speculation that the smile
from Alec Freeman was in response to a dialog slip up
on Ed Bishop’s part. I don’t think so, I think it is
Alec Freeman ribbing Straker about Dalotek’s oepration
on the moon because he’s heard Straker’s thoughts on
the matter too many times.

What I did notice was a rare accent slip-up by Ed
Bishop. When he starts his dialog he sounds almost
“Joisey” instead of the barely noticeable New York I
usually heard from him. And, look, it’s rather
obvious in this scene that Ed Bishop wore a t-shirt
under his wardrobe. There are a few other spots I’ve
seen one. It’s less on display, but I noticed in
episode that George Sewell wore one, too. Michael
Billington? Not that I noticed and it’d interfere
with showing off the hair on his chest, anyway.

Straker has a point that having civilians on the moon
is a bad idea. He’s fighting a war against aliens who
try upon occasion to attack Moonbase. Having
civilians there where they might see something and
blow SHADO’s cover is a serious risk. The animosity
on both sides only makes the conflict between Moonbase
and Dalotek more inevitable. Foster immediately
assumes that Dalotek is causing the communications
problems Moonbase is having. And it’s wonderful cover
for the aliens trying to hide that they are the
culprits.

One of the more amusing scenes is Joan Harrington’s
reaction to Paul’s flirting on the phone. The man is
a shameless womanizer. And then he realizes he’s been
overheard and he immediate demands to know if the
shuttle is on positive track.

Then for a while we are treated to a dual search for
the reason for the communications blackout. Paul
continues his quest on the Moon and determines that
Dalotek isn’t to blame, but only after a moon shuttle
is lost. Meanwhile, Straker starts thinking about the
problem and is plagued by an idea lurking at the back
of his mind. Ford gets probably his nicest “Come to
my office” he ever got. Straker figures it out but
can’t tell Foster. And, fittingly, Dalotek finds the
alien installation that is causing all the problems so
Moonbase can destroy it just in time. SHADO wins
again.

Is it just me or did they not give the Dalotek boss
Tanner an amnesia shot? He tells Paul that their
secrets are safe with him, then Paul asks about the
amnesia shots are ready for the team. Tanner doesn’t
seem surprised by the shots, it’s as if it doesn’t
apply to him.

The fantasia with Jane dreaming about Paul as the
amnesia takes effect is nauseating.

Finally, we’re back at THE RESTAURANT frequented by
SHADO personnel. Paul goes and hits on Jane. His
line was really lame.

THE END

Diorite



         

       
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--- In [hidden email], zerg harry <zergharry@...> wrote:

> (I believe this one was scripted for Franco Desica and Paul Foster
inherited the script after Billington was cast, along with Ordeal
which was written for Karlin. The original Paul Foster scripts like
Exposed and Court Martial were far superior I reckon.)




I never thought about that before, but that's interesting because The
Dalotek Affair is my least favorite episode, and Ordeal is only a
little better in my mind. However, I like Exposed and Court Martial a
lot. In fact, they're probably my favorite episodes after the ones
that I actually think of as my favorites. I always thought that I
didn't like Foster all that much, but maybe it's really the remains of
the Desica character that I don't like.

But going back to the topic of The Dalotek Affair, I liked the plot
about the communications blackouts, but what really ruined it for me
was the whole Paul and Jane thing.

>Alpharaptor

--- In [hidden email], zerg harry <zergharry@...> wrote:
>
>    
> (I believe this one was scripted for Franco Desica and Paul Foster
inherited the script after Billington was cast, along with Ordeal which
was written for Karlin. The original Paul Foster scripts like Exposed
and Court Martial were far superior I reckon.)
> Z.


That could go a long way to explain all of the drivel about fettucine.  
I wondered what the heck is all of this about eating Italian food. If
it was meant for an Italian actor, makes a little more sense.

Diorite

--- In [hidden email], "Alpharaptor" <segara0@...> wrote:
>
> --- In [hidden email], zerg harry <zergharry@> wrote:
>
> > (I believe this one was scripted for Franco Desica and Paul
Foster
> inherited the script after Billington was cast, along with Ordeal
> which was written for Karlin. The original Paul Foster scripts like
> Exposed and Court Martial were far superior I reckon.)
>
>
>
>
> I never thought about that before, but that's interesting because
The
> Dalotek Affair is my least favorite episode, and Ordeal is only a
> little better in my mind. However, I like Exposed and Court Martial
a
> lot. In fact, they're probably my favorite episodes after the ones
> that I actually think of as my favorites. I always thought that I
> didn't like Foster all that much, but maybe it's really the remains
of
> the Desica character that I don't like.
>
> But going back to the topic of The Dalotek Affair, I liked the plot
> about the communications blackouts, but what really ruined it for me
> was the whole Paul and Jane thing.
>
> >Alpharaptor
>

You know, the Dalotek Affair, when i heard that Name, I thought it
might have been Written by a Former 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' Script
Writer! the Episode had More Twists and turns than Le Mans!

it was a Good episode but......a favorite Episode of Mine from UFO
was Exposed! Stay Cool.

Dan

Good point, and the singing nonsense in Ordeal was apparently because Peter Gordeno was a good singer. I think Exposed is the turning point for the first shooting block of UFO, it is when the scripts get into high gear. Foster is a Bond-like hero and therefore the total opposite of Straker, moreso than Freeman, and his arrival and the clashes in Exposed, Courtmartial, Conflict and finally Kill Straker (one of the very best episodes) all make UFO come alive as character drama. Kill Straker seems to be the resolution to the Straker/Foster contest for power, and in Sub-Smash, Foster calls him "Ed" for the first time, and they seem more or less friends after that. In The Long Sleep, Foster says "Ed, if there's anything I can do..." when Catherine dies.

Identified, Computer Affair, Flightpath, Ordeal and Dalotek Affair all seem to be pre-Foster scripts and they're the weakest, although Straker carries Identified and Flightpath fairly well I think. God knows how poor UFO would've been if they'd not cast Foster and had stuck to the original plan of having one ep about Bradley (Computer Affair) as the hero, one with Desica as the hero, one with Karlin as the hero, etc. I think the show would've been a lot less effective.
Z.

[hidden email]> wrote:
--- In [hidden email], zerg harry <zergharry@...> wrote:
>
>
> (I believe this one was scripted for Franco Desica and Paul Foster
inherited the script after Billington was cast, along with Ordeal which
was written for Karlin. The original Paul Foster scripts like Exposed
and Court Martial were far superior I reckon.)
> Z.

That could go a long way to explain all of the drivel about fettucine.
I wondered what the heck is all of this about eating Italian food. If
it was meant for an Italian actor, makes a little more sense.

Diorite






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

--- zerg harry <[hidden email]> wrote:

Foster is a Bond-like hero and
> therefore the total opposite of Straker, moreso than
> Freeman, and his arrival and the clashes in Exposed,
> Courtmartial, Conflict and finally Kill Straker (one
> of the very best episodes) all make UFO come alive
> as character drama. Kill Straker seems to be the
> resolution to the Straker/Foster contest for power,


LOL. Poor Paul has to admit there is a bigger dog in
the yard and he is not the alpha male.

Diorite

Hi all,

Arriving in my mail today was my copy of the new behind-the-scenes book
by Alan Shubrook! Glancing through it, I see that the UFO chapter
runs 20 pages, and most of that is behind-the-scenes photos. Many
of the photos are ones that I've seen before, but there are
definitely some new ones here, taken by Alan himself! In addition
to these, I see that there are some more UFO photos scattered about
the book. It's a nice coffee-table sized book, but I would say
that some of the photos aren't as nice quality as they could
have been (simply taking them from my website would have produced
better results in some cases)

The most interesting thing to me is that all of those unknown,
unnamed crewmembers that we see in various UFO behind-the-scenes photos
all have names in the captions -- amazing!

It was also sad to read that less than a month after UFO finished
filming, some outside company came in and took everything to
the dump! (everything but the few things saved by the crewmembers).
Certainly they could have found a better home for much of these
items!

So, if one wants to learn more about the special effects
in UFO or some of the other Gerry Anderson series (Thunderbirds,
Captain Scarlet, etc.), then you want this book!

Marc

Marc Martin wrote:

> The most interesting thing to me is that all of those unknown,
> unnamed crewmembers that we see in various UFO behind-the-scenes photos
> all have names in the captions -- amazing!

Wouldn't it be neat if these unnamed crewmembers discovered
ufoseries.com and started posting here about their involvement with the
show?

Err, I was thinking about the actors, did you mean the character names?

Paul

> Err, I was thinking about the actors, did you mean the character names?

I'm talking about the special effects crew... the people who built the
models, setup the shots, filmed the special effects, etc.

Marc

Exactly! You hit the nail on the head, Diorite. In fact the great thing is, the way UFO shows episodes which highlight both Straker and Foster as the main hero early on and thus evokes audience sympathy and identification with both men, makes the series ultimately a rich experience, because you don't find yourself automatically siding with one against the other, and even when Paul is brainwashed you don't want Straker to simply kill him. Then when they resolve their differences and become more like good friends in the later eps, it's enjoyable because they seem to compliment each other.

A friend once said to me "with Straker and Foster together, the Aliens never stood a chance." :)

Z.

Diorite Gabbro <[hidden email]> wrote:
--- zerg harry <[hidden email]> wrote:

Foster is a Bond-like hero and
> therefore the total opposite of Straker, moreso than
> Freeman, and his arrival and the clashes in Exposed,
> Courtmartial, Conflict and finally Kill Straker (one
> of the very best episodes) all make UFO come alive
> as character drama. Kill Straker seems to be the
> resolution to the Straker/Foster contest for power,

LOL. Poor Paul has to admit there is a bigger dog in
the yard and he is not the alpha male.

Diorite





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--- In [hidden email], Diorite Gabbro <diorite@...> wrote: OF STRAKER AND A COOL LADIES MAN.