Race, racism, and... UFO!
It's International Blog Against Racism Week! For more info, visit ibarw.
UFO was a British TV series first screened in 1970, but set in the 1980s. A secret organisation, with one base hidden under a film studio and another on the moon, protects Earth from aliens who hatch all sorts of improbable schemes in their quest to harvest human organs. Jon, who'd watched the show as a kid, recently got the boxed set and we worked our way through the 26 episodes. It was lavishly made and surprisingly credible and adult, not to mention having the grooviest opening credits of any series ever.
UFO touches on race and racism now and again in a well-intentioned way. Rather than looking to laud or condemn the show - bit pointless nearly 40 years later, really - I'd like to just note some of these moments... although I do want to pimp to you the character of Lieutenant Nina Barry, sort of UFO's version of Uhura.
The main characters and most of the guest stars are, of course, White guys. But let's have a quick overview of the non-White characters, as seen in the opening credits:
Captain Peter Carlin commands the Skydiver submarine and pilots the Sky 1. IIRC his ethnicity isn't mentioned in the show, but Rangoon-born dancer, choreographer, and actor Peter Gordeno is of mixed Italian-American, Scottish, and Burmese descent.
Fighter pilot, and later squadron leader, Lieutenant Mark Bradley. You will not be stunned to learn that when racial issues come up in the show, they're centred on him. But to be fair, this is one of Harry Baird's less stereotypical roles: to get an idea of the work available for Black male actors at the time, have a peek at his IMDB entry. It's mostly witchdoctors, earnest racial dramas, and Italian sword-and-sandal epics.
Singer and TV presenter Ayshea Brough's character is called Ayesha in the show, but is always credited just as SHADO Operative. Quoth the UFO Press Book: "Ayshea is also the only girl in the series to be seen with her own hair - jet-black hair that goes with dark brown eyes and an exotic glamour that comes of having a father from Kashmir." Wince. I'm sorry to say that she has few lines and no real story roles and really is just there as eye candy.
Lieutenant Nina Barry. Moonbase is run by women in purple wigs. It just is. No, seriously, it is. From the Press Book again: "Two worlds meet up in a glamorous combustion named Dolores Mantez....... the worlds of Africa and Ireland... The dusky beauty of this striking actress comes of an African father and an Irish mother." Oh, God. Never mind that; Lt Barry is a kickass military woman, professional and effective. More of which below.
Halfway through the season, production stopped for five months when the original studio at Borehamwood closed. This meant some abrupt, unexplained cast changes, including the disappearance of Bradley and Carlin. Barry takes over from Ellis as commander of the Moonbase.
On to some scenes of interest.
In "Survival", Lt Bradley's having a peaceful smoke on Moonbase (yes, you read that right) when head honcho Straker pops in to offer him the position of the recently deceased Commander. What's notable about the scene is Bradley's scepticism:STRAKER: Mark... I'm sure you realise how important this base is. It's a vital link in our defence system. Now, whoever commands it has got one of the most responsible jobs in SHADO. I'd like you to consider it, Mark.
BRADLEY: Are you offering me the job, sir?
STRAKER: Yes. Does that surprise you?
BRADLEY: Not altogether. And does it surprise you if I say no?
STRAKER: It disappoints me.
BRADLEY: Well, you've done your duty. You've asked. And I've given you the no you wanted.
STRAKER: What do you mean, I've done my duty?
BRADLEY: Sure - after Foster [who's missing, presumed dead], I'm the senior man. The obvious choice, if you like.
STRAKER: So. I offer you the command of Moonbase, and you say no. Why?
BRADLEY: (Says nothing)
STRAKER: I asked you why!
BRADLEY: (Runs a finger down his own cheek) Because of this.
STRAKER: Don't give me that. Racial prejudice burned itself out five years ago.
BRADLEY: How would you know? All right, on the surface, maybe. But deep down inside of people, it's still there. Maybe it will never show. And maybe it will - like some time I'm ordering a guy out on a mission? A time the chances are he won't be coming back?
STRAKER: Look. I'm not offering you some easy number. And I don't care if you're [wait for it] polka dot with red stripes. [Hooray!] You're the best man for the job. Now, do you want it?
BRADLEY: (Hesitates)
STRAKER: Do you want it?
BRADLEY: Yes sir. I would like it. But not like this.
STRAKER: No-one wanted it like this. Now, you get some rest - Commander.
What struck me about the scene is the way it undermines the whole cheerful magically unracist future thing you get in SF. Bradley directly challenges his White boss' blithe assumption that he knows whether racism is still around or not; as well as the idea that racism could suddenly just disappear one year after being around for centuries. (We never learn what was supposed to have happened around 1976! Was there a Eugenics War? Or was Rock Against Racism more effective than anyone had expected?) Now, Straker isn't just making a token offer - something which Bradley has clearly encountered more than once and is fed up with. That said, Bradley commands Moonbase for about five seconds before Foster turns up alive and well; so in a way, the show itself was making a promise it had no intention of keeping.
"Sub-Smash" is a ripping episode - my favourite, and arguably one of the show's best. Not coincidentally, it has a strong role for Lt Nina Barry. She's brave, competent, and above all, professional - without being a wooden block or a perfect robot.
Here, a crewmate spots her looking tense, and reassures her he and his crew escaped a similar situation: she nods and smiles and goes on with her work. Except perhaps for the chaste hand on her shoulder, the brief scene could've been played between any experienced character and newcomer to submarines, regardless of gender.
Nina gets the uneviable job of escaping the sub via the crash dive tube: she has to physically drag herself up the pipe, only a little wider than she is, and wait for the others to blow the outer hatch. It's a claustrophobic nightmare to watch, and apparently wasn't much easier to film. She's unfazed by the job, having used the tube during training. But the hatch malfunctions: the others think she's safely out when in fact she's still stuck in the tube. After having a bit of panic, but knowing that no white knight (as it were) will be coming to the rescue, she rescues herself by painfully climbing back down the tube and thumping on the inner door until Straker hears and gets her out.
On the down side, there's a Chinese redshirt (played by Guyana-born actor Anthony Chinn), and like all members of the Skydiver crew, Nina has to don the comedy fishnet. At least she doesn't have to wear the purple wig.
"Computer Affair" dares confront the love that dare not speak its name, at least on US television: interracial relationships. Lieutenant Ellis makes a decision in battle which leads to the death of a fighter pilot: did she make a mistake, and if so, was it because she's in a clandestine relationship with Lieutenant Bradley?
Now I think this is one of those occasions where US television doesn't just influence UK television, but directly affects it. Ellis and Bradley's lerv looks like, well, this:
They don't kiss, or even touch each other - this is as intimate as they get:
They don't even appear in the same shots in that brief restaurant scene, and the fact that yes, they are indeed an item, is never outright stated. In fact, I simply didn't get that they were in a relationship until Jon explained it to me - I thought the psycho-computer (lol) had simply guessed wrong. With a lucrative US market in mind, I guess this is as much as the show's makers thought they could get away with. (Jon also pointed me to the original script, in which Ellis and Bradley admit they've fallen for each other, but because of the computer's analysis, not beforehand.)
We get another scene of Bradley's weary irritation with the antics of the White guys, as he's psycho-analysed in the Psycho-Analysis Unit:
SHRINK: Before we start, I'd like to get one thing straight. I've no liking for you blacks. (Long pause; he watches closely, but Bradley shows no reaction.) Have you ever heard that phrase, or something similar, on Moonbase?
BRADLEY: No. Never.
SHRINK: You didn't seem surprised when I said it.
BRADLEY: I assumed you didn't mean it.
Well, we should hope so, given that racial prejudice has "burned itself out". Although (amongst other things) it's Ellis' stumble over the word "black" in a word association test which gives her and Bradley away. Racism may be a thing of the past in UFO's future, but it's still very much on everybody's 1970s minds.
Thoughts
I could scribble a lot of thoughts about UFO - about the sexism, hilarious seen from this distance in time; about the question of the precise military role of women in this version of 1980; about the frequent trippy bits; about the resemblance to Torchwood (they're even all shagging each other, albeit heterosexually and decorously off-screen), about Ed Straker's glamorous blue eyeliner. But here, I've used the show as a sort of time capsule of British TV at the time.
In UFO, COC are moving away from stereotyping, following ground broken by Star Trek - but are still very much marginalised. The main characters, and most of the guest artists, are still White guys. In fact, almost everyone on British TV in the early 70s is White; when there's a COC, they're generally in an imported US show, or in a small background role. WOC in particular will be stuck playing maids, prostitutes, etc, until the 80s, so UFO deserves a few points for having a couple of regular professional female COC.
UFO's blithely integrated future is pretty different to the real-life situation in Britain at the time: racial tensions were running high after a couple of decades of bigotry against post-war immigrants from Africa, the Carribean, and South Asia. And of course, over in that lucrative US market, the hard, painful fight is on for civil rights. It's a bit lazy and timid - but you can see the temptation of imagining all of it simply being over.
UFO was a British TV series first screened in 1970, but set in the 1980s. A secret organisation, with one base hidden under a film studio and another on the moon, protects Earth from aliens who hatch all sorts of improbable schemes in their quest to harvest human organs. Jon, who'd watched the show as a kid, recently got the boxed set and we worked our way through the 26 episodes. It was lavishly made and surprisingly credible and adult, not to mention having the grooviest opening credits of any series ever.
UFO touches on race and racism now and again in a well-intentioned way. Rather than looking to laud or condemn the show - bit pointless nearly 40 years later, really - I'd like to just note some of these moments... although I do want to pimp to you the character of Lieutenant Nina Barry, sort of UFO's version of Uhura.
The main characters and most of the guest stars are, of course, White guys. But let's have a quick overview of the non-White characters, as seen in the opening credits:
Captain Peter Carlin commands the Skydiver submarine and pilots the Sky 1. IIRC his ethnicity isn't mentioned in the show, but Rangoon-born dancer, choreographer, and actor Peter Gordeno is of mixed Italian-American, Scottish, and Burmese descent.
Fighter pilot, and later squadron leader, Lieutenant Mark Bradley. You will not be stunned to learn that when racial issues come up in the show, they're centred on him. But to be fair, this is one of Harry Baird's less stereotypical roles: to get an idea of the work available for Black male actors at the time, have a peek at his IMDB entry. It's mostly witchdoctors, earnest racial dramas, and Italian sword-and-sandal epics.
Singer and TV presenter Ayshea Brough's character is called Ayesha in the show, but is always credited just as SHADO Operative. Quoth the UFO Press Book: "Ayshea is also the only girl in the series to be seen with her own hair - jet-black hair that goes with dark brown eyes and an exotic glamour that comes of having a father from Kashmir." Wince. I'm sorry to say that she has few lines and no real story roles and really is just there as eye candy.
Lieutenant Nina Barry. Moonbase is run by women in purple wigs. It just is. No, seriously, it is. From the Press Book again: "Two worlds meet up in a glamorous combustion named Dolores Mantez....... the worlds of Africa and Ireland... The dusky beauty of this striking actress comes of an African father and an Irish mother." Oh, God. Never mind that; Lt Barry is a kickass military woman, professional and effective. More of which below.
Halfway through the season, production stopped for five months when the original studio at Borehamwood closed. This meant some abrupt, unexplained cast changes, including the disappearance of Bradley and Carlin. Barry takes over from Ellis as commander of the Moonbase.
On to some scenes of interest.
In "Survival", Lt Bradley's having a peaceful smoke on Moonbase (yes, you read that right) when head honcho Straker pops in to offer him the position of the recently deceased Commander. What's notable about the scene is Bradley's scepticism:STRAKER: Mark... I'm sure you realise how important this base is. It's a vital link in our defence system. Now, whoever commands it has got one of the most responsible jobs in SHADO. I'd like you to consider it, Mark.
BRADLEY: Are you offering me the job, sir?
STRAKER: Yes. Does that surprise you?
BRADLEY: Not altogether. And does it surprise you if I say no?
STRAKER: It disappoints me.
BRADLEY: Well, you've done your duty. You've asked. And I've given you the no you wanted.
STRAKER: What do you mean, I've done my duty?
BRADLEY: Sure - after Foster [who's missing, presumed dead], I'm the senior man. The obvious choice, if you like.
STRAKER: So. I offer you the command of Moonbase, and you say no. Why?
BRADLEY: (Says nothing)
STRAKER: I asked you why!
BRADLEY: (Runs a finger down his own cheek) Because of this.
STRAKER: Don't give me that. Racial prejudice burned itself out five years ago.
BRADLEY: How would you know? All right, on the surface, maybe. But deep down inside of people, it's still there. Maybe it will never show. And maybe it will - like some time I'm ordering a guy out on a mission? A time the chances are he won't be coming back?
STRAKER: Look. I'm not offering you some easy number. And I don't care if you're [wait for it] polka dot with red stripes. [Hooray!] You're the best man for the job. Now, do you want it?
BRADLEY: (Hesitates)
STRAKER: Do you want it?
BRADLEY: Yes sir. I would like it. But not like this.
STRAKER: No-one wanted it like this. Now, you get some rest - Commander.
What struck me about the scene is the way it undermines the whole cheerful magically unracist future thing you get in SF. Bradley directly challenges his White boss' blithe assumption that he knows whether racism is still around or not; as well as the idea that racism could suddenly just disappear one year after being around for centuries. (We never learn what was supposed to have happened around 1976! Was there a Eugenics War? Or was Rock Against Racism more effective than anyone had expected?) Now, Straker isn't just making a token offer - something which Bradley has clearly encountered more than once and is fed up with. That said, Bradley commands Moonbase for about five seconds before Foster turns up alive and well; so in a way, the show itself was making a promise it had no intention of keeping.
"Sub-Smash" is a ripping episode - my favourite, and arguably one of the show's best. Not coincidentally, it has a strong role for Lt Nina Barry. She's brave, competent, and above all, professional - without being a wooden block or a perfect robot.
Here, a crewmate spots her looking tense, and reassures her he and his crew escaped a similar situation: she nods and smiles and goes on with her work. Except perhaps for the chaste hand on her shoulder, the brief scene could've been played between any experienced character and newcomer to submarines, regardless of gender.
Nina gets the uneviable job of escaping the sub via the crash dive tube: she has to physically drag herself up the pipe, only a little wider than she is, and wait for the others to blow the outer hatch. It's a claustrophobic nightmare to watch, and apparently wasn't much easier to film. She's unfazed by the job, having used the tube during training. But the hatch malfunctions: the others think she's safely out when in fact she's still stuck in the tube. After having a bit of panic, but knowing that no white knight (as it were) will be coming to the rescue, she rescues herself by painfully climbing back down the tube and thumping on the inner door until Straker hears and gets her out.
On the down side, there's a Chinese redshirt (played by Guyana-born actor Anthony Chinn), and like all members of the Skydiver crew, Nina has to don the comedy fishnet. At least she doesn't have to wear the purple wig.
"Computer Affair" dares confront the love that dare not speak its name, at least on US television: interracial relationships. Lieutenant Ellis makes a decision in battle which leads to the death of a fighter pilot: did she make a mistake, and if so, was it because she's in a clandestine relationship with Lieutenant Bradley?
Now I think this is one of those occasions where US television doesn't just influence UK television, but directly affects it. Ellis and Bradley's lerv looks like, well, this:
They don't kiss, or even touch each other - this is as intimate as they get:
They don't even appear in the same shots in that brief restaurant scene, and the fact that yes, they are indeed an item, is never outright stated. In fact, I simply didn't get that they were in a relationship until Jon explained it to me - I thought the psycho-computer (lol) had simply guessed wrong. With a lucrative US market in mind, I guess this is as much as the show's makers thought they could get away with. (Jon also pointed me to the original script, in which Ellis and Bradley admit they've fallen for each other, but because of the computer's analysis, not beforehand.)
We get another scene of Bradley's weary irritation with the antics of the White guys, as he's psycho-analysed in the Psycho-Analysis Unit:
SHRINK: Before we start, I'd like to get one thing straight. I've no liking for you blacks. (Long pause; he watches closely, but Bradley shows no reaction.) Have you ever heard that phrase, or something similar, on Moonbase?
BRADLEY: No. Never.
SHRINK: You didn't seem surprised when I said it.
BRADLEY: I assumed you didn't mean it.
Well, we should hope so, given that racial prejudice has "burned itself out". Although (amongst other things) it's Ellis' stumble over the word "black" in a word association test which gives her and Bradley away. Racism may be a thing of the past in UFO's future, but it's still very much on everybody's 1970s minds.
Thoughts
I could scribble a lot of thoughts about UFO - about the sexism, hilarious seen from this distance in time; about the question of the precise military role of women in this version of 1980; about the frequent trippy bits; about the resemblance to Torchwood (they're even all shagging each other, albeit heterosexually and decorously off-screen), about Ed Straker's glamorous blue eyeliner. But here, I've used the show as a sort of time capsule of British TV at the time.
In UFO, COC are moving away from stereotyping, following ground broken by Star Trek - but are still very much marginalised. The main characters, and most of the guest artists, are still White guys. In fact, almost everyone on British TV in the early 70s is White; when there's a COC, they're generally in an imported US show, or in a small background role. WOC in particular will be stuck playing maids, prostitutes, etc, until the 80s, so UFO deserves a few points for having a couple of regular professional female COC.
UFO's blithely integrated future is pretty different to the real-life situation in Britain at the time: racial tensions were running high after a couple of decades of bigotry against post-war immigrants from Africa, the Carribean, and South Asia. And of course, over in that lucrative US market, the hard, painful fight is on for civil rights. It's a bit lazy and timid - but you can see the temptation of imagining all of it simply being over.