This episode of "UFO" focused on Foster, who sees a colleague die in front of him on Moonbase Alpha from a sniper shot by an alien camped out there somewhere on the moon surface, which shatters a window and de-pressurises the room in which they were relaxing. Fuelled by revenge, he goes out, against Straker's better judgement, on his moon-buggy, accompanied by some colleagues, to hunt down the perpetrator.
Soon enough, they track down the alien vessel in the depths of a remote crater but Paul gets separated from the group during the search, injuring himself in the process. As time passes, it seems that there's no way back for him, leading Straker to even consider a replacement for him.
This introduces the episode's sub-plot, a rather heavy-handed homily on race-relations as the chap he asks to step into the role is black and it seems worried about the racism he might encounter in the job. Now this seems strange to me, as there have been no signs at all of any such behaviour exhibited by anyone in SHADO, be it on Earth or the Moon. In fact, I'd say it's the women who have a stronger case for discrimination. Having now watched five episodes in the series, I've yet to see a woman in a major role. They seem to exist merely to sit at their flashing consoles and fetch the Commander's coffee.
Anyway, Foster knows he's in trouble when he sees his oxygen supply has been damaged but who do you think comes to his rescue in a true "we're all brothers under the sun" (or should that be "moon"?) moment? There's one more mordant twist in the tale.however although it's stretching things a little that Foster couldn't make himself clear to his rescuers from inside his transparent helmet.
Like I said, I found the politics laid on just a little too thick here plus Foster's trek back to base seemed to take longer than the slowest boat to China. Certainly the lack of any panoramic camera-work either from height or distance didn't help convince me that his journey was especially epic.
That said, it was a reasonable enough episode although it did tend to highlight the setbound limitations presumably imposed on the show.
Soon enough, they track down the alien vessel in the depths of a remote crater but Paul gets separated from the group during the search, injuring himself in the process. As time passes, it seems that there's no way back for him, leading Straker to even consider a replacement for him.
This introduces the episode's sub-plot, a rather heavy-handed homily on race-relations as the chap he asks to step into the role is black and it seems worried about the racism he might encounter in the job. Now this seems strange to me, as there have been no signs at all of any such behaviour exhibited by anyone in SHADO, be it on Earth or the Moon. In fact, I'd say it's the women who have a stronger case for discrimination. Having now watched five episodes in the series, I've yet to see a woman in a major role. They seem to exist merely to sit at their flashing consoles and fetch the Commander's coffee.
Anyway, Foster knows he's in trouble when he sees his oxygen supply has been damaged but who do you think comes to his rescue in a true "we're all brothers under the sun" (or should that be "moon"?) moment? There's one more mordant twist in the tale.however although it's stretching things a little that Foster couldn't make himself clear to his rescuers from inside his transparent helmet.
Like I said, I found the politics laid on just a little too thick here plus Foster's trek back to base seemed to take longer than the slowest boat to China. Certainly the lack of any panoramic camera-work either from height or distance didn't help convince me that his journey was especially epic.
That said, it was a reasonable enough episode although it did tend to highlight the setbound limitations presumably imposed on the show.