'Exposed' is the episode where Paul Foster accidentally stumbles upon the secret SHADO organisation and becomes one of its key members. The previous poster is discussing 'Computer Affair' which was indeed episode 2. 'Exposed' which was intended to be episode 2 was actually shown as episode 4, and is presented as such in the DVD boxed set. The episode also features an interesting performance by 'Upstairs Downstairs' creator and star Jean Marsh, though older fans of TV Sci Fi will also remember her appearance in 'Doctor Who'. It would fit better into the series as episode 2 as it gives us, the viewers, more information about the SHADO organisation and its situation under the Harlington Straker film studio, its policies on security and secrecy, and of course it introduces the Paul Foster character earlier on in in the series. Shown as episode 4 Foster seems to establish himself in the organisation far too quickly and is already Moonbase Commander by the following episode ('Survival')! It is established later in the series that Col. Alec Freeman has been Straker's right hand man for the 10 years of establishing SHADO, but Foster achieves the rank of Colonel in just one episode. However, it remains one of the better episodes of the series as it presents the SHADO organisation from an outsider's point of view.
8 Reviews
Conspiracy of silence
ShadeGrenade5 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Written by Tony Barwick, 'Exposed' was the fifth 'U.F.O.' episode to go into production, and introduced the character of 'Paul Foster' ( the late Michael Billington ). Foster is testing a new plane for the Ventura Aircraft Corporation, when he spots Sky-1 shooting down a U.F.O. He blacks out, and wakes up in hospital, his co-pilot 'Jim' ( Matt Zimmerman ) is dead. Foster reports the sighting, but there is no evidence to back up his claim. The film Jim took of the alien craft has been locked away in the safe of 'William Kofax' ( the late Robin Bailey ), Foster's superior. Foster steals it, but it has been doctored. Two thugs break into his flat and steal the footage. The only other clue in the safe is a letter addressed to film executive Ed Straker ( Ed Bishop )...
The credits say 'introducing Michael Billington' but this is incorrect as he had appeared four years earlier in an episode of 'The Prisoner' entitled 'A Change Of Mind' - he was one of the goons who beat up 'Number 6' ( Patrick McGoohan ) as he exercised in some woods. Billington was good looking, and unsurprisingly was once tipped as a future 'James Bond' ( he later played 'Sergei Borzov' in 'The Spy Who Loved Me' ). As Foster, he brings a much-needed touch of machismo to the sci-fi show, providing female interest in what was otherwise a male chauvinist fantasy. The episode itself is not unlike an 'X-Files' story with a conspiracy for the hero to smash. It ends with Foster, instead of being killed or given the Amnesia Drug, being recruited to the S.H.A.D.O. organisation.
Jean Marsh - just before she looked sharp for 'Hudson' in 'Upstairs Downstairs' - plays Jim's sister, who initially blames Foster for her brother's death, but gradually comes to see his point of view. Matt Zimmerman a.k.a. 'Jim' was familiar to Anderson fans as the voice of 'Alan Tracy' in 'Thunderbirds'.
When Robert Miall ( a pen-name for novelist John Burke ) came to write a novelisation for Pan Books ( he wrote two in all ), he decided to make 'Exposed' the introductory story, thus Foster's first exposure to S.H.A.D.O. becomes the reader's. Foster then goes off on a training course, and the events of 'Identified' ( the first episode ) kick in.
The credits say 'introducing Michael Billington' but this is incorrect as he had appeared four years earlier in an episode of 'The Prisoner' entitled 'A Change Of Mind' - he was one of the goons who beat up 'Number 6' ( Patrick McGoohan ) as he exercised in some woods. Billington was good looking, and unsurprisingly was once tipped as a future 'James Bond' ( he later played 'Sergei Borzov' in 'The Spy Who Loved Me' ). As Foster, he brings a much-needed touch of machismo to the sci-fi show, providing female interest in what was otherwise a male chauvinist fantasy. The episode itself is not unlike an 'X-Files' story with a conspiracy for the hero to smash. It ends with Foster, instead of being killed or given the Amnesia Drug, being recruited to the S.H.A.D.O. organisation.
Jean Marsh - just before she looked sharp for 'Hudson' in 'Upstairs Downstairs' - plays Jim's sister, who initially blames Foster for her brother's death, but gradually comes to see his point of view. Matt Zimmerman a.k.a. 'Jim' was familiar to Anderson fans as the voice of 'Alan Tracy' in 'Thunderbirds'.
When Robert Miall ( a pen-name for novelist John Burke ) came to write a novelisation for Pan Books ( he wrote two in all ), he decided to make 'Exposed' the introductory story, thus Foster's first exposure to S.H.A.D.O. becomes the reader's. Foster then goes off on a training course, and the events of 'Identified' ( the first episode ) kick in.
The series starts to enter its stride with a promising second episode
DVD_Connoisseur26 June 2007
While elements of "Exposed" echo the first episode, this is an entertaining and gripping piece of sci-fi television. There are familiar shots of the various vehicles in action and the story enters "a live alien captured" territory once again but there is a genuinely good drama at the heart of this installment.
"UFO" is clearly a product of its time and there is a scene that is offensive in the way it handles the subject of race. While its intention is a good one, the way that the subject of an astronaut's colour is raised by a psychologist is almost stunningly bad. This point aside, this is an adult piece of science fiction that is clearly aimed at an older audience than previous Anderson productions.
George Sewell and Ed Bishop remain unconventional heroes and are believable as a result of this. Gabrielle Drake leaves her purple wig at Moonbase when she returns to Earth following the death of an astronaut.
8 out of 10. Dated but still impressive.
"UFO" is clearly a product of its time and there is a scene that is offensive in the way it handles the subject of race. While its intention is a good one, the way that the subject of an astronaut's colour is raised by a psychologist is almost stunningly bad. This point aside, this is an adult piece of science fiction that is clearly aimed at an older audience than previous Anderson productions.
George Sewell and Ed Bishop remain unconventional heroes and are believable as a result of this. Gabrielle Drake leaves her purple wig at Moonbase when she returns to Earth following the death of an astronaut.
8 out of 10. Dated but still impressive.
Brilliant!
planktonrules1 May 2010
Wow....this is one terrific episode of "UFO". However, if you buy the box set from A&E Video like me, you, too, will be ticked off that this important 2nd episode is shown (like all the rest) completely out of sequence--especially since this ruins some of the suspense because of this! Stupid idiots at A&E Video--I can't see ever buying another series from them because of this (as they ALSO did this with "Space: 1999"--another Gerry and Sylvia Anderson series). Despite the utter stupidity of the folks at A&E, see this show--just try to see it immediately after the initial episode on disk 1.
The episode begins with yet another group of three UFOs trying to sneak past the outer defenses on the Moon. One of the three alien ships is able to sneak by and must be destroyed by the Earth-bound defense system. The problem is that in the same vicinity, there is an experimental aircraft with two pilots who clearly see the UFO and the attacking Earth ship. However, the blast manage to knock out the experimental plane and one of the pilots is killed. As SHADO is a secret organization, the surviving pilot is a problem--he simply knows too much. And, to make things worse, he has a lot of integrity and won't just pretend that this never happened when he is pressured to do so. How this is handled by Straker and his people is really, really cool--and the episode is the most engaging of the series.
Brilliantly written, fascinating and proof that "UFO" was a very good series--one that, unfortunately, was pretty much ignored at the time and died after one season.
The episode begins with yet another group of three UFOs trying to sneak past the outer defenses on the Moon. One of the three alien ships is able to sneak by and must be destroyed by the Earth-bound defense system. The problem is that in the same vicinity, there is an experimental aircraft with two pilots who clearly see the UFO and the attacking Earth ship. However, the blast manage to knock out the experimental plane and one of the pilots is killed. As SHADO is a secret organization, the surviving pilot is a problem--he simply knows too much. And, to make things worse, he has a lot of integrity and won't just pretend that this never happened when he is pressured to do so. How this is handled by Straker and his people is really, really cool--and the episode is the most engaging of the series.
Brilliantly written, fascinating and proof that "UFO" was a very good series--one that, unfortunately, was pretty much ignored at the time and died after one season.
It begins...
lor_8 August 2023
Guest stars highlight this edition of the series, battling (who else?) the spaceships of the alien invaders.
Segment also serves as the backstory for SHADO team member Paul, played by Michael Billington, who is a flyer that is involved in a UFO vs. SHADO dogfight, but nobody in outside the agency will believe him, the fate of most pilots who report UFO incidents. And of course, SHADO is careful not to let facts of its activities become public, for security reasons.
Vladek Sheybal is forceful as a psychologist on Ed's staff and the great Jean Marsh of "Upstairs/Downstairs" fame appears as the sister of Paul's co-pilot, who got killed when his plane crashed.
Offbeat episode takes us behind the scenes (in the backlot) of the movie studio that serves as SHADO's cover. Following the pilot episode, it was the next one shown to help introduce the series.
Segment also serves as the backstory for SHADO team member Paul, played by Michael Billington, who is a flyer that is involved in a UFO vs. SHADO dogfight, but nobody in outside the agency will believe him, the fate of most pilots who report UFO incidents. And of course, SHADO is careful not to let facts of its activities become public, for security reasons.
Vladek Sheybal is forceful as a psychologist on Ed's staff and the great Jean Marsh of "Upstairs/Downstairs" fame appears as the sister of Paul's co-pilot, who got killed when his plane crashed.
Offbeat episode takes us behind the scenes (in the backlot) of the movie studio that serves as SHADO's cover. Following the pilot episode, it was the next one shown to help introduce the series.
Exposed
Prismark1023 September 2019
The second episode, Exposed sees the core cast of UFO get larger.
Ed Straker dresses sharply as he still has to pass himself off as a studio film executive.
When a civilian test pilot named Paul Foster (Michael Billington) sees a UFO being intercepted by SHADO. Straker finds himself having to protect the general public from finding out about aliens and UFOs.
This is a conspiracy episode. Foster is dogged in his search about what he saw and he has photographs. His test pilot was killed and SHADO is doing everything to persuade him that he saw nothing of any consequence.
Although Exposed was the second episode filmed, it was not broadcast in that order. So viewers might have seen Foster as part of SHADO and then later joining them.
You can sense that as this was Episode 2. Scenes have been shot to show off how vast the film sets are and the large cast of extras. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson wants to let the viewer know that they have thrown money at the series.
The introduction of Paul Foster was seen to bring an action hero type who could also be eye candy for the ladies.
Ed Straker dresses sharply as he still has to pass himself off as a studio film executive.
When a civilian test pilot named Paul Foster (Michael Billington) sees a UFO being intercepted by SHADO. Straker finds himself having to protect the general public from finding out about aliens and UFOs.
This is a conspiracy episode. Foster is dogged in his search about what he saw and he has photographs. His test pilot was killed and SHADO is doing everything to persuade him that he saw nothing of any consequence.
Although Exposed was the second episode filmed, it was not broadcast in that order. So viewers might have seen Foster as part of SHADO and then later joining them.
You can sense that as this was Episode 2. Scenes have been shot to show off how vast the film sets are and the large cast of extras. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson wants to let the viewer know that they have thrown money at the series.
The introduction of Paul Foster was seen to bring an action hero type who could also be eye candy for the ladies.
A Rather Obvious Introduction
Theo Robertson9 September 2008
UFO is a show that probably has far too many characters . It's obvious in the later episodes that the writers can't find a way of using characters to any idiosyncratic effect . For example Alec Freeman more or less gets written out of the show later on and you can't help thinking why was he included in the first place ?
Identified is the first episode of the series with Exposed being the second . These are the only two episodes where everyone agrees on chronology because lie so many shows made for an American markets there's a lack of internal continuity which makes a series more attractive to television syndicates - you can show the episodes in any order without there being any jarring confusion in the narrative
Exposed deals entirely with the introduction of Paul Foster who is effectively UFO's action hero . With so many characters used in the first episode it would have been nigh on impossible to introduce such a major character with an episode that sets up the programme's premise . It might have been an okay episode but it rather let down by the little plot details such as how did SHADO modify the film so that a UFO wouldn't appear on it . The dialogue is unfortunately laughably melodramatic in places which leaves you unconvinced that it's actually a adult show in the same way THE X FILES can be viewed as an adult show
Identified is the first episode of the series with Exposed being the second . These are the only two episodes where everyone agrees on chronology because lie so many shows made for an American markets there's a lack of internal continuity which makes a series more attractive to television syndicates - you can show the episodes in any order without there being any jarring confusion in the narrative
Exposed deals entirely with the introduction of Paul Foster who is effectively UFO's action hero . With so many characters used in the first episode it would have been nigh on impossible to introduce such a major character with an episode that sets up the programme's premise . It might have been an okay episode but it rather let down by the little plot details such as how did SHADO modify the film so that a UFO wouldn't appear on it . The dialogue is unfortunately laughably melodramatic in places which leaves you unconvinced that it's actually a adult show in the same way THE X FILES can be viewed as an adult show
Standing in the S.H.A.D.O.'s
Lejink14 February 2024
The second episode of "UFO" basically seemed to serve one purpose, namely the introduction of a new, presumably major character, Paul Foster. A test pilot, he and a colleague are flying a plane when S. H. A D. O. take down a UFO unfortunately taking down his aircraft at the same time. His mate sadly parishes in the crash, but Foster survives. Just before the crash he's sure hesaw for himself the pursuing UFO and when he fully recovers seeks to get to the bottom of the mystery, engaging the assistance of his late co-pilot's sister in the process.
As he gets closer to solving the puzzle he finally meets up with Straker who attempts to see him off by playing up to his cover job of film studio manager. We already know that all is not what It seems so the ending while it does contain one small twist, isn't any great surprise giving the episode a fill-in quality as part of the wider story arc.
So this one was more about character focus than all-out action, but the Foster character seems credible and likeable, so job done I guess as far as the overall narrative is concerned.
As ever with programmes of this era, there's fun to be had picking out familiar TV faces of the time and in this episode there are guest appearances by Jean Marsh, later of "Upstairs Downstairs" and future nearly-pop-star Ayshea Brough.
I'll probably see it in every episode I watch but the sexism of the times does grate with every camera shot of what looks like a parade of Miss World contestants sashaying around S. H. A. D. O HQ doing menial tasks but I'm hoping at least one or two stronger female characters break the glass ceiling.
Hopefully there'll be more action in the offing too...
As he gets closer to solving the puzzle he finally meets up with Straker who attempts to see him off by playing up to his cover job of film studio manager. We already know that all is not what It seems so the ending while it does contain one small twist, isn't any great surprise giving the episode a fill-in quality as part of the wider story arc.
So this one was more about character focus than all-out action, but the Foster character seems credible and likeable, so job done I guess as far as the overall narrative is concerned.
As ever with programmes of this era, there's fun to be had picking out familiar TV faces of the time and in this episode there are guest appearances by Jean Marsh, later of "Upstairs Downstairs" and future nearly-pop-star Ayshea Brough.
I'll probably see it in every episode I watch but the sexism of the times does grate with every camera shot of what looks like a parade of Miss World contestants sashaying around S. H. A. D. O HQ doing menial tasks but I'm hoping at least one or two stronger female characters break the glass ceiling.
Hopefully there'll be more action in the offing too...
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