Episodes
Due to the then highly localised nature of the ITV "network" in the United Kingdom, the 26 episodes of UFO were shown out of production order, and every broadcaster showed the episodes in different order. As the list below (loosely based on information from the book The Complete Gerry Anderson) shows, on several occasions during the first run various broadcasters aired different episodes of the series on the same day. Some UK broadcasters did not air some episodes until 1973; as a result, some episode guides may list these episodes in different order. The North American DVD release of the series usually follows the production order, with a few diversions. The website ufoseries.com offers seven viewing order possibilities. According to The Complete Gerry Anderson, the episode "Exposed" was intended to be aired second, but it was produced fifth and appears as the fifth episode in the American DVD release.
| Episode # |
Original air date (UK) | Episode title | Production order | Guest cast | Episode summary | Episode notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-01 | 16 September 1970 | Identified | 1 | Shane Rimmer, Michael Mundell | After 10 years of planning, SHADO officially goes into operation and encounters its first UFO. An alien pilot is captured and discovered to have transplanted human organs. | none |
| 1-02 | 23 September 1970 | Exposed | 5 | Jean Marsh, Robin Bailey, Basil Moss, Arthur Cox, Matt Zimmerman, Vladek Sheybal | When civilian test pilot Paul Foster inadvertently witnesses a SHADO operation, he is given a choice: join SHADO or die. | none |
| 1-03 | 30 September 1970 | Kill Straker! | 16 | David Sumner, Louise Pajo | Foster and his lunar module co-pilot are brainwashed by aliens to kill Straker. | none |
| 1-04 | 30 September 1970 | The Cat With Ten Lives | 19 | Alexis Kanner, Geraldine Moffatt, Steven Berkoff, Windsor Davies, Colin Gordon, Lois Maxwell | A SHADO pilot is placed under a hypnotic spell by an alien-influenced Siamese cat. | none |
| 1-05 | 7 October 1970 | Conflict | 6 | Drewe Henley | After Lunar Module 32 is mysteriously destroyed, Straker campaigns to have space junk removed from Earth's orbit. | none |
| 1-06 | 7 October 1970 | E.S.P. | 15 | John Stratton, Douglas Wilmer, Deborah Stanford, Stanley McGeagh | A man with ESP knowledge of SHADO is co-opted by the aliens. | none |
| 1-07 | 7 October 1970 | The Sound Of Silence | 18 | Michael Jayston, Susan Jameson, Richard Vernon, Gito Santana, Basil Moss, Burnell Tucker, Tom Oliver, Malcolm Reynolds | A showjumper is abducted by the aliens. | none |
| 1-08 | 14 October 1970 | A Question Of Priorities | 8 | Suzanne Neve, Philip Madoc, Mary Merrall | Straker faces a terrible decision: attend to an alien defector or deliver life-saving medicine to his critically injured son. | none |
| 1-09 | 11 November 1970 | The Square Triangle | 11 | Adrienne Corri, Patrick Mower, Allan Cuthbertson, Anthony Chinn, Godfrey James | SHADO as well as an alien find themselves in the middle of a murderous romantic triangle. | none |
| 1–10 | 11 November 1970 | Sub Smash | 17 | Anthony Chinn, Paul Maxwell, Alan Haywood, Burnell Tucker | Straker must face his claustrophobia when SkyDiver is damaged and is unable to surface. | This is the only episode where Sky 1 is launched 10 degrees down. Also, the UFO's shape differs from those shown in all other episodes. |
| 1–11 | 2 December 1970 | Destruction | 20 | Stephanie Beacham, Philip Madoc, Edwin Richfield, Steven Berkoff, Jimmy Winston | The aliens attempt to destroy a naval ship dumping toxic nerve gas into the ocean. | A UFO has a full scale engagement with a Royal Navy County class destroyer. |
| 1–12 | 9 December 1970 | Computer Affair | 2 | Michael Mundell | A SHADO investigation reveals that romance may be complicating Moonbase operations. | none |
| 1–13 | 16 December 1970 | Close Up | 13 | Neil Hallett, James Beckett, Peter Burton, John Levene, Alan Tucker | SHADO obtains what may be the first photos of the alien homeworld. | none |
| 1–14 | 30 December 1970 | The Psychobombs | 22 | David Collings, Deborah Grant, Mike Pratt, Tom Adams, Alexander Davion, Christopher Timothy, Hans De Vries | The aliens transform three humans into walking bombs. | This is the only episode that shows one (1) SkyDiver with Sky 3 attached, with mention of a Sky 4 jet—indicating a fleet of submarines. |
| 1–15 | 6 January 1971 | Survival | 4 | Suzan Farmer, Gito Santana, David Weston, Ray Armstrong | Foster is stranded on the Moon, where he befriends a similarly stranded alien. | In this episode, Straker says that racial prejudice burned itself out "five years ago;" this said on 13 April 1981. In the other Anderson series, Space: 1999, Cmdr. Koenig hints that prejudice was finally ended in a great conflict about 10–12 years prior to 1999. |
| 1–16 | 13 January 1971 | Mindbender | 25 | Stuart Damon, Charles Tingwell, Anouska Hempel, Philip Madoc, Steven Berkoff, Peter Halliday, Basil Dignam, Stephan Chase, James Marcus, Stanley McGeagh | An alien crystal causes Lieutenant Andy Conroy, Straker and other SHADO operatives to hallucinate. | Ed Straker hallucinates that he is an actor in a television series about UFOs and aliens. He then steps out of the set and onto the real-world sound stage where UFO is filmed, and we can see all the sets that were used to film the series. Also, in Straker's hallucination, all the actors (except Ed Bishop) are called by their real names: Paul Foster is called "Mike" (as in Mike Billington), General Henderson is called "Grant" (as in Grant Taylor), and so on. |
| 1–17 | 20 January 1971 | Flight Path | 3 | George Cole, Sonia Fox, David Daker | A blackmailed SHADO operative opens the door for a possible alien attack on Moonbase. | none |
| 1–18 | 20 January 1971 | Ordeal | 9 | David Healy, Quinn O'Hara | The aliens abduct Foster. | Includes "Get Back" by The Beatles at the party in this episode, released in 1969 – about the same time this episode was filmed originally. |
| 1–19 | 3 February 1971 | The Man Who Came Back | 21 | Derren Nesbitt, Lois Maxwell, Roland Culver, David Savile | A SHADO pilot believed dead suddenly turns up alive – much to a SHADO operative's suspicion. | Straker and his close friend fly to "The Cape" and travel to orbit in a rocket rather than the usual spaceplane. SHADO seems to have ties to NASA. |
| 1–20 | 10 February 1971 | The Dalotek Affair | 7 | Tracy Reed, Philip Latham, Basil Moss, John Breslin, Clinton Greyn, Dr. Frank E. Stranges, David Weston, Alan Tucker | Communications problems at Moonbase are traced to a non-SHADO mining operation. | The president of the Dalotek corporation speaks to Commander Straker who is in his office under the film studio. The president of Dalotek does not seem surprised that Straker the film producer and Straker the commander appear to be the same person. This episode features another base on the moon and communication between it and the SHADO base. |
| 1–21 | 17 February 1971 | Timelash | 24 | Patrick Allen, Ron Pember, John J. Carney | Time stands still at the film studio for everyone but Straker, Col. Lake and a mysterious enemy. | |
| 1–22 | 3 March 1971 | The Responsibility Seat | 10 | Jane Merrow, Patrick Jordan | Straker is attracted to a reporter who poses a possible security leak to SHADO. | none |
| 1–23 | 1 April 1971 | The Long Sleep | 26 | Tessa Wyatt, Christian Roberts, John Garrie, Christopher Robbie | A woman awakening from a decade-long coma sparks a hunt for an alien bomb. | It is often reported that the references to drug use in this episode led to several regional networks dropping it from the original UK run, but this is a fallacy. |
| 1–24 | 1 May 1971 | Court Martial | 12 | Jack Hedley, Pippa Steel, Louise Pajo, Georgina Cookson, Tutte Lemkow, Paul Greenhalgh | Foster is tried and sentenced to death after a security leak is traced to him. | Foster dives through the display screen behind Straker's desk and takes another elevator to ground level |
| 1–25 | 10 July 1971 | Confetti Check A-O.K. | 14 | Suzanne Neve, Shane Rimmer, Jeffrey Segal, Tom Oliver, Donald Pelmear, Geoffrey Hinsliff, Jack May, Alan Tilvern, Gordon Sterne | A flashback episode focusing on SHADO's formation and how it caused the failure of Straker's marriage. | This episode continues the creation of SHADO CONTROL (in the episode's past). |
| 1–26 | 24 July 1971 | Reflections in the Water | 23 | Steven Berkoff, James Cosmo, Richard Caldicot, David Warbeck, Anouska Hempel, Gordon Sterne, Conrad Phillips, Gerald Cross | Straker and Foster investigate an undersea alien base. | The massive UFO attack battle scene at the end was almost entirely a compilation of special effects shots from previous episodes. Four interceptor missiles are seen to be launched, implying that a spare craft was launched for the emergency. The terrestrial portion of the battle seemed to suggest that Sky 1 took out 25 UFOs unassisted. |
A number of episodes were edited together in the late 1970s to form the feature-length Invasion: UFO, which was syndicated to American and European broadcasters. It primarily consists of approximately 30 minutes each from Identified, Computer Affair, and Reflections in the Water, with the ending taken from The Man Who Came Back. Shorter segments from ESP and Confetti Check A-OK are used to bridge continuity gaps.
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