What date to set the new UFO movie?

When to set the new UFO movie? Some have mentioned 2000AD, to make the ages of
Straker etc fit the ages of their actors. But that is in error. The original
UFO episodes were shot in 1969 and 1970 but set in 1980 etseq. Therefore Ed
Straker would be 11 years younger than Ed Bishop, and likewise the other
characters and actors, if the two could meet across the barrier between our
time line and the time line where the UFO events happen. Therefore, in 2000
AD, Ed Bishop would be the right age to represent Ed Straker as he will be in
year 2011AD. If filming of this UFO2 finally starts in year X, the story would
have to be set around year X+11, if actors from the original series are to be
used as their original characters.

Another question is: do we find new actors for characters whose original
actors can't take part or don't want to take part or are unavailable?

In the case of Dr.Jackson and Gen.Henderson, whose actors have died, would it
be fitting or acceptable to find new actors for them?

CGI (= Computer-Generated Imaging) can solve many prop and scene problems,
but we will need new alien and human spacesuits to be made, and many things.

CGI will let us show people getting in and out of SHADO vehicles and UFO's,
which Gerry Anderson could not so easily.

If so, we will have to finally e.g. decide how big a spinner is, and where its
side-hatch is, and which of these is true:-
(1) The spinner is exactly as the studio model, and only the small axis core
is motor and crew and cargo / passenger space.
(2) In the spinner, the volume swept out by the internal radial walls as the
studio model spins, is all solid internal space for motor and crew etc, as in
a cutaway disgram of a spinner that I found on the WWW somewhere.
(3) The whole spinner is solid, and there is no equator gap in its casing like
in the model, as in http://www.buckrogers.demon.co.uk/temp/straker1i.jpg .

In my 3D mesh model of a spinner, each gravity plate can rotate up and down
and sideways on its stem; and the plates on each side of the side door rotate
up and out to make enough room for people to go in and out; and the hull stays
still and only the girdle of plates spins.

"Anthony Appleyard" wrote:

> Another question is: do we find new actors for characters whose original
> actors can't take part or don't want to take part or are unavailable?
>
> In the case of Dr.Jackson and Gen.Henderson, whose actors have died, would it
> be fitting or acceptable to find new actors for them?
>

I personally would say no .. I think it would be fitting to have
had their characters deceased as well, and I think that it would
be very difficult to come up with convincing replacements in any
case.

How old is General Henderson in UFO-world 1980 anyway? I think
that he was in his early 50s at least, so he would be in his
eighties thirty years later, and it's difficult to imagine what
part he would have to play quite honestly.

James

Hi All,

As I see it, many of these casting decisions will be out of the hands
of hyperactive fans (myself included). The media corporation that
owns UFO could simply take ideas generated on the list, and run with
them, without any acknowledgement of any of our efforts.

As I understand it, even the Andersons don't own a piece of UFO. It
was mentioned during a Star Trek marathon that Gene Roddenberry was
Paramount's third choice as exectutive producer of Star Trek: The
Next Generation.

What I'm saying is, be careful, and don't get your hopes up too high.
We don't own UFO, it's as simple as that.

Stephen

At 16:58 24/11/00 +0000, Anthony wrote:
>When to set the new UFO movie?

2013. As good a date as any... (According to some sources, the world will
come to an end then :-)
Time frame should be OK, since it'll take a year at least to get scripts
good enough to make a series.

Me thinks that a few of the old characters should still advise SHADO from
time to time but not take an active part. Except every once in a while, if
an emergency crops up (or they are accidentally on the premises when a UFO
attacks)

Maybe the story should begin with the recruitment of a young blond pilot,
Michael Watson, who is in astronaut training and shows a great deal of
promise. Maybe Straker should be one of the men approving the
operatives-to-be. And the young man puzzles him - he reminds Ed of someone,
but he can't think who of. He checks the man's records. Son of Richard and
Jo Watson. In Michael's file is a photo of the parents, he studies it
intently - mother looks vaguely familiar. Where has he seen the woman
before? Maybe he should find out where she lives and check her out in
person? Or phone and listen to her voice, since that might help determine
whether he knows the woman or not? He picks up the phone book - and finds
that the name in the phonebook for the address where the young man lives is
Watson-Fraser J.. He does some further checking and finds she's a widow....
and Michael was born a mere seven months after the wedding. So he rushes
off to the nearest computer and checks the files for the exact date that a
certain journalist bumped him over the head....

I guess you all see where I'm going with this. Straker won't normally be
taking an active part, he's too old for the Astrophysical commission to
want him at Shado - besides, the present Commander doesn't exactly want
Straker there... But if Straker's illegitimate son is a part of Shado he'll
want to take a hand every once in a while. And if our Commander wants
something, just you try stopping him! (Oh shut up, Ed, I'm coming, I'm just
finishing this email, I won't be long...)

Oh dear, Amelia, is he unfaithful to you already, only just after the
wedding? :-) :-)
Serves you right for not sending me any cake!!!!!!! (Besides, who wants to
marry a guy? That means washing and ironing etc. etc. Much more fun to have
an affair...)

Anyway, I doubt there will be a UFO 2 (and if one does get made, it'll
disappoint many of us for various reasons) - so we can just as well create
one in our own minds...

CU

Lieve (who has way too much imagination...)





* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Lieve Peten, Vlaanderen, Belgium : Mailto:[hidden email]
* Internet Sites link page: http://pinball.iwarp.com/mysites.html
* The Pinball Site * Loch Ness + UFOs in Belgium * Vangelis *
* Nikita * UFO TV-series * Animated Gifs * Andrea Bocelli *

Lieve wrote:

I doubt there will be a U.F.O 2 Series . The only people interested in
U.F.O are people on this and connecting lists. The trouble is, most of the
main stars went out of the public eye, and only guest appeared in other shows.
The reason
most of us would like a new U.F.O 2 Series is to see the fab Ed Bishop on our
screens again. Ed Bishop was, and is,
a very good looking , and talented guy. He deserved to be on our screens
more, after his starring role as Straker,
He is a very talented actor. That is why U.F.O had a great impact in our
lives, because of the performance Ed put
in. I 'll say again his looks, his eyes, his voice, the emotions he
portrayed on screen etc. etc. etc. I doubt whether U.F.O would have been as
big a hit then, with someone else playing Straker.

When I joined, I asked if everyone would get together, and write to the powers
that be, for a new U.F.O. I don't think
that will happen. There isn't enough media attention.

All I would like to see happen is Ed Bishop, made a bigger star than he already
is, and get the recognition that he
rightly deserves. If a new U.FO was made, I don't care how etc. etc. etc
All I know is that without Ed Bishop in
it , it wouldn't be the same, and I wouldn't be watching.

So lets not get too techincal, about a new U.F.O, I AND I'M SURE WE, WOULD
LIKE TO SEE MORE OF ED
BISHOP ON OUR SCREENS!!! ED BISHOP RULES!! ED IS THE BEST!! NEED I GO ON.

Let's try and see more of Ed on our screens in anything. Let's see Ed in a new
Polifax Series etc. etc. etc.

I have not been lucky enough to meet Ed Bishop yet, but I've heard from this
list that he uses the Internet, if Mike
Billington has a site, couldn't someone out there get Ed to open a site, or
give an E.Mail address, when they next
meet him at a convention? I've sent a couple of letters to his agent, asking
about his future work, and I've never
had a reply. I get all my information from this fab list. WELL DONE, ALL
CONCERNED. Thanks to Marc and
Amelia.

BEST WISHES TO ALL, KIND REGARDS, TERESA.

> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> * Lieve Peten, Vlaanderen, Belgium : Mailto:[hidden email]
> * Internet Sites link page: http://pinball.iwarp.com/mysites.html
> * The Pinball Site * Loch Ness + UFOs in Belgium * Vangelis *
> * Nikita * UFO TV-series * Animated Gifs * Andrea Bocelli *




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

--- In [hidden email], Lieve <shado@g...> wrote:
> Anyway, I doubt there will be a UFO 2 (and if one does get made,
it'll
> disappoint many of us for various reasons) - so we can just as well
create
> one in our own minds...

Or make it all ourselves, entirely as CGI (computer generated images)
copied to videotape.

Hey Pam, does a multibillion-dollar company you might know of in
you-know-where have an entertainment division?

Paul

In message <[hidden email]>, [hidden email]
writes

>
> I doubt there will be a U.F.O 2 Series . The only people interested in
>U.F.O are people on this and connecting lists. The trouble is, most of the
>main stars went out of the public eye, and only guest appeared in other shows.
>The reason
> most of us would like a new U.F.O 2 Series is to see the fab Ed Bishop on our
>screens again.

Hi Teresa,

As much as I am a fan and devotee of Ed Bishop, I can't really agree
with your statement. Don't get me wrong but UFO was much more than Ed
and I think even he would agree.

Throughout UFO's first showing and beyond, I would be reeling after
watching an episode. Yes, Straker was certainly part of the charm and
enigma of UFO but the subject matter and the way it was presented kept
me wondering for years.

>Ed Bishop was, and is,
> a very good looking , and talented guy. He deserved to be on our screens
>more, after his starring role as Straker,
> He is a very talented actor. That is why U.F.O had a great impact in our
>lives, because of the performance Ed put
> in. I 'll say again his looks, his eyes, his voice, the emotions he
>portrayed on screen etc. etc. etc. I doubt whether U.F.O would have been as
>big a hit then, with someone else playing Straker.

And what about Vladek's mysterious performance, the charm of Paul
Foster, the down-to-earth attitude of Alec Freeman? The eyebrows of
General Henderson or the cute 'come and get me eyes' of Colonel Lake? I
really think it was a pooling together of talent that made UFO what it
was both behind and in front of the camera.
>
>When I joined, I asked if everyone would get together, and write to the powers
>that be, for a new U.F.O. I don't think
>that will happen. There isn't enough media attention.

Hmmmm, over a year ago there was quite a fuss made about a script being
put forward in Hollywood with a UFO premise. I find it fascinating now
that we seemed dead against it (well, I am still against a Hollywood
flop) and now there is an interest in a re-make of some kind

No one here is under any illusions. No way could UFO be made the way it
was. UFO2 would have to stand in its own right. I would like to think
that a UFO2 would be very special but somehow I just don't think it
could be of the same standard particularly if some Big Cheese in
Hollywood got his hands on it.

I tend to look to the likes of JM Straczynski and the effort and trouble
he had to endure to get Babylon 5 a reality. It really should be a
lesson to us all.

UFO2 would probably benefit from some kind of a story arc. That would
probably be the main difference between the original. Having said that,
the lack of story arc probably was one of the main things that gave UFO
its charm (oh yes, not forgetting Ed Bishop;-))

So with Lew Grade gone (I will reserve my usual remark here about him)
an independent company could be concocted just for UFO: Straker
Productions, maybe? And then we would need a hot shot producer to amass
a large amount of funds to pull it off. I'm sure Marc would be up for
the job;-)

We have a lot of talented people on this group. You know, wouldn't it
be funny if we made UFO2 a reality ourselves? I have always maintained
that a decent UFO2 could be made by the fans. I think we could made
quite a decent effort.

Anyway, sorry, pipe dreaming again.
--
Suzanne Sutherland
aka drdougjackson

Hi Anthony - Just a note on actors and ages etc. I found out Mr Bishop was
born in 1932, which would have made him approx 38 in 1970. Now, supposing
the show was supposed to take place in the 1980's (and still giving Straker
Bishop's real chronological age), if Straker was 38 in 1980, moving the
story ahead to 2000, would make him "58".

In the cases of Jackson and Henderson, since the actors passed away, I'd
rather not see them replaced by other actors. Let's just say they somehow
died in the "conduct of their duty" - and put new characters in their places
entirely.

I think you're right about the wonders of CGI doing s/f for UFO2 - after all
- James Cameron had at least 100 CGI items in one shot alone in his Titanic
movie several yrs ago.

Regards, Pam