Destruction (UFO)

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"Destruction" is the ninth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Dennis Spooner and the director was Ken Turner. The episode was filmed between 4 June and 16 June 1970 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 2 December 1970. Though shown as the ninth episode, it was actually the twentieth to have been filmed.^[1][2]

The series was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.^[3]

Story[]

A Royal Navy destroyer in the Atlantic Ocean shoots down a UFO. Straker wants to know why the UFO was interested in the ship and how it managed to evade SHADO's detection. The UFO's wreckage is too deep for Skydiver One to retrieve and a Royal Navy admiral, Sheringham, refuses to divulge any information on the incident or the ship's mission.

Straker decides to see if he can get information out of the Admiral's secretary, Sarah Bonsanquet (the daughter of one of the astronauts who disappeared while building the SHADO Moonbase). He has Foster establish a relationship with Sarah and, while they're on a date with Sarah, Straker and Colonel Virginia Lake break into and search her apartment. There they discover a refracting telescope with a transmitter powerful enough to reach the aliens - she has been passing information to them.

Straker learns that the ship was going to dump nerve gas into the sea but the aliens see an opportunity to release it into the atmosphere to kill the Earth's human population. Three UFOs are then detected heading for the ship, proving that the aliens have managed to circumvent SHADO's detection systems. Moon-based SHADO Interceptors destroy one UFO but another attacks the ship, which is later saved when Skydiver One arrives and Sky One destroys the UFO.^[4]

Cast[]

Starring[]

• Ed Bishop — Commander Edward Straker
• Michael Billington — Col. Paul Foster
• Wanda Ventham — Col. Virginia Lake
• Dolores Mantez — Lt. Nina Barry
• Ayshea — Lt. Ayshea Johnson

Also Starring[]

• Grant Taylor — Gen. James L. Henderson
• Stephanie Beacham — Sarah Bosanquet

Featuring[]

• Edwin Richfield — Admiral Sheringham
• Philip Madoc — Captain Steven
• Peter Blythe — Second Officer Cooper
• Steven Berkoff — Captain Steve Minto
• David Warbeck — Sky Diver Captain
• Barry Stokes — Sky Diver engineer
• Jimmy Winston — Rating
• Michael Ferrand — Radar technician
• Robert Lloyd — Radar officer

Production notes[]

• Locations included Neptune House, BBC Elstree Studios, Borehamwood; Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire; and Horseguards Parade, Admiralty House and Trafalgar Square in London.
• Archive Footage, provided by the Ministry of Defence, featured HMS Hampshire (D06), a County Class Guided Missile Destroyer and the Seaslug Missile System
• Philip Madoc is one of the eleven actors to appear in both Doppelgänger and the UFO series. This was also his second episode, having previously appeared as Straker's ex-wife's new husband in A Question of Priorities.

References[]

External links[]