Race, racism, and... UFO!

[kateorman]

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

Comments

[doctor_toc]

I think picking on the pressbook for the show is a little unfair, as it was written by publicity guys (one step lower on the evolutionary ladder than ad men), and not by the writers or producers of the show. It was written to appeal to TV buyers, who're a pretty conservative bunch

[kateorman]

Hey, great feedback! Ta!

Gerry Anderson is a friend of the family

Blimey!

The Press Book was helpful because it gives some info about the backgrounds of the actors, but it's also hilarious and excruciating. I couldn't resist quoting. :-) But perhaps I should've pointed out that its sleazy attitude is not generally reflected in the show. (In fact, it's almost bait-and-switch - the opening credits, and the first episode, have lots of T&A - including that ghastly opening shot of Ayshea's furry pink arse - but for the most part it's decorous and proto-feminist. :-)

I did actually put UFO into its 1970 context, and pointed out that it included better roles for actors of colour than most contemporary British shows. (For those who may be interested, I took a bunch of notes about race in UK TV a while back and stuck them in seeingred.)

Computer Affair makes far more sense in light of your remarks and the online version of the script. But even when Ellis and Bradley do finally recognise their feelings for each other, they still don't kiss, hold

[doctor_toc]

"Blimey!"

Tell me about it :-) Mum's boyfriend of many years has known Gerry since the seventies, after he wrote the music for season 2 of SPACE:1999 and the Anderson one-shot INTO INFINITY. It took me quite a while to be able to talk to Gerry without making a complete fool of myself!

[kateorman]

YOUR MUM'S BOYFRIEND WROTE THE "KNIGHT RIDER" THEME?!

How many *%(&% coolness points is that worth?!!!

[mrteufel]

I used to love UFO as a kid. I don't think I followed it all that well, but it was obviously Sf that didn't talk down to the viewer.

[kelliem]

I watched, and loved, UFO back when it originally aired (I so wanted one of those purple page-boy wigs!), and recently picked up the box set and rewatched the whole thing and was quite pleasantly surprised by how much better it was than I was expecting. It holds up surprisingly well. I definitely noticed that they at least made nods toward racial diversity, rare in its day, and somewhat less so but still noticeably toward gender equality. I hadn't remembered that at all. Of course, as a 12 year old I wasn't particularly familiar with either concept.

The things that really felt the most anachronistic to me though were the smoking (everyone smokes, even in space!) and the use of alcohol (Straker has a wet bar in his office).

[pbristow]

Thanks for this. That episode ("Computer Affair") was adapted as part of the 2nd UFO novelisation, which was the first "grown up" book I ever owned. It was bought for my by Mum after much begging and pleading in the shop, largely because the cover featured Lt Gay Ellis, who was my first ever major crush (I was six). =:o

[pbristow]

I should add, of course, that it took me a lot longer to discover my own prejudices, because they were so much less blatant than the examples I occasionally ran into in my childhood that I concluded (as many do) that I just "wasn't racist", full stop.