UFO (TV Series) Computer Affair (1970) User Reviews

An odd choice as the second episode on the DVD...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 30 April 2010]

If you buy the DVD set for "UFO", you'll discover that all the episodes are completely out of order except for the first one. So, while this was actually the 21st episode to air, in the DVD set, it's the second--making this a rather odd choice.

The episode begins with a UFO slipping past the moon's defenses. In an odd move, Straker orders the three pilots and Commander from the Moon back to Earth. There, he conducts an inquisition, of sorts, and has the four evaluated by some crackpot psychoanalyst. While I saw absolutely no buildup to this at all, the therapist announces that the problem was caused by the female Commander's falling in love with one of the pilots. Her actions, as a result, were colored by her feelings. In other words, because she cared so much about him, she acted more out of a desire to protect him than for what was best for the planet.

This COULD have been a much more interesting topic than it was. That's because the Commander is a white lady and the pilot is a handsome black man. But, instead of allowing the plot to take this daring choice, the show seemed to back away from this--giving a rather vague handling instead of allowing an interracial love to definitely occur. The vagueness was a bit annoying. Still, apart from not really dealing with the topic, the episode had many interesting moments--such as the capture of a live alien. All in all, worth watching but I wanted to see more about this budding love interest. Perhaps if the show had lasted more than one season it would have gone there.

By the way, for all those who were baffled by the purple-haired ladies on the Moon, here you get to see one with normal hair. Oddly, after leading the Moon, the Commander has brown hair through the rest of the episode. Are we to assume there's some odd properties on the Moon that cause only ladies' hair to become, temporarily, purple?! What's with this?!

A very mixed bag.

[joegarbled-79482 · 8/10 · 26 November 2023]

"Computer Affair" is a mixed bag of an episode of "UFO" where love affairs at SHADO are investigated after an Interceptor pilot is killed after Lieutenant Ellis seemingly dithers in giving courses to the pilots so that they can avoid a collision with a UFO. She appears to favour astronaut Mark Bradley and thus, the third Interceptor is destroyed in a collision. Straker orders Colonel Alec Freeman to investigate what went wrong and Ellis, Bradley and astronaut Lew Waterman are ordered to report to SHADO HQ.

Alec Freeman is shown to be shrewd enough to recognise an attachment between Ellis and Bradley, though he says nothing. Dr Schroeder gives the three Moon Base personnel a barrage of pyschological tests and he concludes that Lew Waterman is fit for normal duty but that the unspoken love between Bradley and Ellis means that both have less reliability and efficiency. Freeman sends Waterman back to the Moon whilst giving Bradley and Ellis ground assignments telling them "Let's hope that this thing sorts itself out." As SHADO's greatest lethario, who should know better than Freeman??

A damaged UFO needs to be found, Straker puts Freeman in charge. Freeman chooses Ellis and Bradley to take part in the operation. Noticing Straker's response, he snappily points out that he'll trust in his own judgement of people over that of Schroeder's computer any day. Every now and then, Freeman does tell Straker that there's more than one way to command those beneath you, and obviously, showing people that you trust in their ability and professional integrity is one way of getting the best out of them, rather than riding them hard like Straker does.

Ellis is put in charge of controlling some SHADO Mobiles searching for the crashed UFO. She chooses Mark Bradley's Mobile to go in against the UFO, putting him in grave danger. She apologises afterwards (as ever, Mark is "Glad of some action.") but it's proven that it was a correct call when Bradley takes an alien alive. Back at SHADO HQ, Straker attempts to interrogate the alien and he orders that an experimental drug be used, the alien dies screaming, revealing many dental fillings!! Ed Bishop once again shows his acting chops as Straker reveals a sheepish look as it's obvious that neither Freeman nor the medical staff were happy about the use of a dangerous drug. Freeman is so upset that he offers Straker his written resignation (though as Straker once said "Nobody LEAVES SHADO.") citing their personality clashes.... Straker's "Can't we talk about it?" shows his high regard for Freeman.

Straker then tells Freeman that his belief in both Ellis and Bradley has been proven correct and that had Ellis made a different choice in the original incident, all three Interceptors would've been destroyed rather than just the one. Thus, Ellis and Bradley are returned to normal duty.

A solid 8/10.

Computer Affair

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 19 July 2019]

The episode speculates on cold judgment, devoid of emotions.

When an alien is captured, Colonel Freeman is uneasy about Commander Straker's methods to find information from the alien. Freeman regards Straker as cold, calculating like a computer.

By the same token when one of three Interceptors is destroyed in an encounter with the UFO. A computer when analysing the data thinks that Lieutenant Gay Ellis (Gabrielle Drake) did not want to put one of the other pilots, Mark Bradley in danger as they are an item.

The episode flirts with an interracial romance between Ellis and Bradley. We even see a scene where Ellis is without her purple hair. It led me to think why the women on the moon had purple hair wigs in the first place.

Although this was the second episode shot, it was relegated to be shown later on in the series. The story really was lethargic and limp despite some good production values. It really would had sent viewing figures spiraling downwards if was broadcast after the first episode.

One thing that swerved Gerry Anderson's glimpse of the future was the smoking ban on the workplace. It just looks odd with so many characters smoking when they are supposed to be working. It is political correctness gone mad that you cannot give your colleague secondary cancer!

Prescient regarding over-reliance on computers (way before AI)

[lor_ · 4 August 2023]

Following the pilot, the next episode shot for the series was held back until the next year for broadcast.

Perhaps the segment's showing was postponed due to controversial subject matter, as a suspected love affair between Moonbase leader Gabrielle Drake and black pilot Harry Baird is suspected after a "pyscho-computer" series of testing.

This storyline is balanced by action footage of aerial dogfight with a UFO and hunt for alien survivors after a UFO crashes on Earth.

Script criticizes the overuse of computers, as in this case Bishop relies too heavily on them for decision making, but learns his lesson -reinstating Drake and Baird to their jobs on Moonbase, and also talking his second in command George Sewell out of resigning due to strong differences (including the computer-heavy emphasis) on command decisions.