Posted by
Natalie Foster on
URL: https://www.shado-forum.com/Hello-tp1508065p1508071.html
Murray Smith wrote:
>Nat,
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>Thanks for your welcome. I'd like to give a few reasons, both serious and
>amusing, for why I like the show:
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>1. The idea of a government organisation covering up alien activity, as in
>'The X-Files', but this time genuinely done for the good of people, is a
>refreshing change. I enjoy the efforts by those working for SHADO, from Ed
>Straker down, to keep the rest of the population from knowing the truth,
>including the use of an amnesia drug (anticipating 'Men in Black' by nearly
>two decades), and the resulting serious moral dilemmas that need to be
>confronted. (I like 'The Square Triangle' because of this, though the
>acting isn't up to much.)
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Haven't seen the Square Triangle yet, but I hope to watch it later this
afternoon. A Question of Priorities was a good one, I'm sorry he had to
loose his son though.
>2. The realistic portrayal of leadership in a large organisation like
>SHADO. Ed Straker is an obsessive workaholic, whose dedication to his duty
>cost him his marriage and his son's life. He is quite unlike the womanising
>James T. Kirk, who is almost always in the field, and gets away with such
>tactics because the writers make sure that he is always right.
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>Compared to Kirk, Straker is unpleasant; but he is far more effective as a
>leader. He is quite prepared to stay in headquarters, letting his field
>commanders do the actual fighting; and, when he leaves for a break, he lets
>his second-in-command run things. (This is why 'The Responsibility Seat' is
>one of my favourite episodes.) It is this loyalty and trust that Straker
>not only demands from his people, but which he gives to them in return that
>establishes him as an effective leader. We also see him having to deal with
>bureaucratic and financial constraints, including the hostility of General
>Henderson, a former mentor now hostile to him for reasons never given.
>
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He is a true leader in that respect, and I think that that
'abrasiveness' is what makes him a more believable character myself. I
have yet to watch the Resposiibility Seat, I have the videos, curtesy of
a friend of my boyfriends. Kirk was too goody/goody, very much the
Americian ideal of a hero.
>3. The question of who the aliens are and what they want. This is something
>we're not sure about. We're not even sure what they really look like. Are
>they different aliens, who want different things from the Earth, or do they
>just change their minds a lot? As you need to properly know your enemy to
>properly defeat him, this lack of real knowledge is understandably
>frustrating for SHADO, and is shown in the series.
>
>
Yes, it a pity that they weren't able to more fully realise this. The
aliens, I felt, could have been a little more different, I suppose,
there was definately something missing in their make up (no pun intended).
>4. SID: I liked that computer and how it sounds like Zen in 'Blake's 7',
>another favourite sci-fi series of mine.
>
>
Yes, Peter Tuddenham did the voices for all the computers in both
series. I think he did a good job.
>5. The clothes: Like other sci-fi series, 'U.F.O.' seemed to go for the
>'nightclub' school of uniform design. I've laughed a lot at the wearing of
>purple wigs by female Moonbase personnel, and the string tops worn on board
>Skydiver! (That said, I like the Neru jackets on the men, and wouldn't mind
>wearing one myself.)
>
>
Personally, I like those wigs, I don't have the figure for the uniforms,
but the wigs are cool. I to like their fashiom sense, who says that a
uniform has to be drab and boring. As for the fishnet shirts, they look
sort of all right on men, but on the women, *cringe* I think that Sylvia
should go back to fashion school for that one.
Nat
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>>So you like The new Dr, or don't like him? Me, not to sure on the
>>Scottish fella or the fact that their only 45 minute eps, but I totally
>>fell for Christopher E, he was good.
>>
>>
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>I like the new fellow so far, though I agree that his predecessor was good;
>it was a real pity they weren't able to keep him on. (I loved his
>explanation to Rose of why he spoke in a Northern accent!) When I said that
>my watching 'Dr. Who' was prejudiced by childhood nostalgia, I meant that,
>for a long time, I compared all the other Doctors to Tom Baker. Since
>watching other recorded episodes, I can be fairer to those others.
>
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>Murray
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>Yahoo! Groups Links
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