Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: Who created the British TV show UFO?
UFO is a 1970 British science fiction television series about an alien invasion of Earth. It 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.
After the special broadcast to high ratings, it went forward into weekly TV production as the program "Sightings". The show featured everything from UFOs to ghosts to Bigfoot in an investigative news format and was hosted by reporter Tim White. The show was created by Ann Daniels Productions, Fair Dinkum Productions, and Paramount Domestic Television (Wilshire Court Productions from 1992-93) . One of its executive producers was Henry Winkler.
French: UFO - Alerte dans l’espace German: Ufo– Weltraumkommando S.H.A.D.O. Japanese: Nazo no Enban Yū-Efu-Ō (謎の円盤UFO, UFO: The Mysterious Saucers) Italian: UFO (Italy) and Minaccia dallo spazio (canton of Ticino) Spanish: OVNI (although the Spanish 2007 DVD release title remains UFO)
Fresh Meat is a British comedy-drama television series created by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, who also created "Peep Show".
Prod: The studio production order.[5] ATV: "Official" ITC sequence. This is the sequence in which the episodes were originally scheduled to be broadcast in the UK by ATV Midlands. UFO Series: Recommended order by Marc Martin of . Fanderson: Recommended by Fanderson and used on British DVDs. ITC: Order used for VHS release in the UK.
Two novelisations based on the series, written by John Burke under the pseudonym "Robert Miall", were published in the UK and America.[18] UFO comic strips were published in the comics Countdown and TV Action.[19] Between 1991 and 1999, Entropy Express in Brighton, South Australia published seven issues of a periodical called Flightpath, containing 39 text stories set in the UFO universe. These include a crossover with Bergerac and another with Predator. There was a hardback annual for the series that featured text stories. Much fan-fiction has been written in this series' scenario. An Italian-language board game of the race game type was published, called Distruggete Base Luna (= "Destroy Moonbase"), with up to four players, each representing an alien trying to penetrate Moonbase, and one player representing Straker in charge of Moonbase. The video game UFO: Enemy Unknown, known as X-COM: UFO Defense in North America, is heavily inspired by this series. The game sees the aliens use telepathy to control the soldiers, as in "The Cat with Ten Lives". In the sequel X-COM: Terror from the Deep aliens have built liveable environments in the sea forcing you to go on "scuba-diving" missions to find and destroy their main control centre as seen in the finale of "Reflections in the Water". Also, aliens not killed during a crash landing or battle but captured go under autopsy to further the understanding of the aliens' motives, as in "Computer Affair". A remake of UFO: Enemy Unknown entitled XCOM: Enemy Unknown was released in 2012; it had connections to the original show and featured a nod to the show in some of the dialogue: "Some nut calling himself 'Commander Straker' has been all over the news, ranting about 'SHADO agents'." Character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto has admitted inspiration from UFO for the character designs for Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki in Neon Genesis Evangelion (from Straker and Freeman respectively).[20]
UFO Hunters, a History Channel ""Hoax or History?"" show about the science of UFO's, aired an episode about possible underwater alien bases that featured Dr. Harrington and the Flometrics team. The engineers were presenting a set of theories and tests that could possibly explain a mystery about UFO's entering masses of water without making a noticeable splash. The first experiment to test this observation was done by creating a model UFO and attaching air jets around the model to simulate a "force field" that changes the density of the water as the craft enters the water, minimizing the splash. Flometrics also experimented with a hydrophilic coating on the surface of the UFO. Both tests proved reasonably unsuccessful at minimizing the splash.
In Italy, many episodes were united (with slight changes in dubbing and music, which was provided by John Barry and included some tracks from the James Bond films) by ITC (for UFO - Distruggete Base Luna and UFO - Annientate SHADO... Uccidete Straker... Stop!) Italian film company INDIEF (for UFO - Prendeteli vivi and UFO - Contatto Radar... stanno atterrando...!) in a long series of compilation films, seen by many as a cheat. The films, which usually had titles which resembled SHADO communications or orders transmitted by the extraterrestrial chiefs via telegraph (maybe in reference to the theme sequence of the TV series), were:
The area is today noted for a high number of reported UFO sightings and featured in one episode of a 2008 Five TV series on British cases. Reports have focused on the quarry and the wider steep valley either side of Newchurch Road. This area has even been locally dubbed 'UFO Alley'.
Establishing the main character and principal location as the chief executive of a movie studio was a cost-saving move by the producers: the Harlington-Straker Studio was the actual studio where the series was being filmed, originally the MGM-British Studios and later Pinewood Studios — although the Harlington-Straker studio office block seen throughout the series was actually Neptune House, a building at the former British National Studios in Borehamwood that was owned by ATV. Pinewood's studio buildings and streetscapes were used extensively in later episodes, particularly "Timelash" and "Mindbender" — the latter featuring scenes that show the behind-the-scenes workings of the UFO sets, when Straker briefly finds himself hallucinating that he is an actor in a TV series and all his SHADO colleagues are likewise actors. In "The Man Who Came Back", the main set for The Devils, then in production at Pinewood, can be seen in the background of several scenes.
Around the time of original transmission, "Kinvig" was positively reviewed by "The Times", the preview stating that
"Cast splendid, direction deft".
However, to later TV historians, "Kinvig" is not considered to be one of Kneale's better productions. "The Guinness Book of Classic British TV" claims that apart from Jeavons' performance, "Kinvig" was "a huge disappointment". Peter Nicholls also criticised the program, saying the scripts "lacked the precision required for decent farce". Nicholls also noted that some viewers objected to Kneale's depiction of science-fiction fans as being the same as UFO enthusiasts, and states "Kinvig" is notable for its "contemptuous treatment" of the leading characters. Science fiction historian Brian Stableford dismissed "Kinvig" as "very silly" and echoed Nicholls' criticism of the show, calling Kneale's script "ignorant" for implying that all science fiction fans are also obsessed with UFOs.
The special effects (as in all Anderson's shows of this era) were supervised by Derek Meddings, and the vehicles were designed by Meddings and his assistant Michael Trim. As with all these Anderson series, the look and narrative action of UFO relied heavily on the groundbreaking miniature props and special effects sequences created by Meddings and his team, who devised a range of innovative low-cost, high-quality techniques used to create very convincing miniature sets and locations and miniature action scenes featuring ground transportation, underwater, atmospheric and space travel, and dramatic explosion effects. The large-scale miniature vehicles and craft used for close-up filming were extremely detailed and combine innovative design with a high level of fine workmanship. Most production miniatures typically consisted of a mixture of custom-made elements and detail pieces 'cannibalised' from commercial scale model kits.
A single season of 26 episodes (including the pilot) was filmed over the course of more than a year; a five-month production break was caused by the closure of MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made. Production then moved to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. UFO was first broadcast in the UK and Canada in 1970, and in US syndication over the next two years.
"The Cat with Ten Lives", "The Psychobombs" and "Timelash" formed UFO - Allarme rosso... attacco alla Terra! (meaning "UFO - Red alert... attack to Earth!", 1973); Kill Straker, a Question of Priorities was dubbed and released as "UFO - Distruggete Base Luna" (meaning "UFO - Destroy Moonbase", 1973); "Computer Affair", "Ordeal", "The Sound of Silence", "Destruction" and "Reflections in the Water" formed UFO - Prendeteli vivi ("UFO - Catch them alive", 1974); "Exposed", "Survival", "Court Martial" and "Sub-Smash" formed UFO - Contatto Radar... stanno atterrando...! ("UFO - ["Radar" as a proper name] contact... they are landing...!", 1974); Invasion: UFO was dubbed and released as "UFO - Annientate SHADO... Uccidete Straker... Stop" ("UFO - Annihilate SHADO... Kill Straker... ["Stop" intended as a telegraphic pause and alluding to the end of the alien incursions]", 1974).
An entry in the "UFO Encyclopedia", which was a sighting confirmed as genuine by BUFORA, was later found to be a hoax. The supposed contactee, who claimed to have seen a UFO hovering over the town of Warminster, admitted to the hoax in 1994. In 1995, the group were the only official UFO organisation to endorse a film, purportedly by the US government, showing an alien autopsy at Roswell.
On November 10, 1967 Stolyarov and Ziegel, speaking on the Central TV, encouraged viewers to send their first-hand accounts in. The response was astonishing: it showed, Ziegel later wrote, that the UFO phenomena was indeed widespread. But before the Committee (by this time comprising more than 200 scientists and high-level professionals) could even begin to work on the information received, its work was abruptly cancelled. In the end of 1967 the Soviet Academy of Sciences' Physics department led by Lev Artsymovich, passed a resolution denouncing studying of UFOs as such. In February 1968 Ziegel made a report at a high-level discussion held in Moscow, academicians Leontovich, Mustel and Petrov attending. Several days later he received a letter from Edward Condon, the director of the University of Colorado UFO Project, suggesting that the Soviet and the American groups should cooperate, starting with the information exchange. Ziegel and twelve other members of his group signed a letter requesting the Soviet government to create the state-sponsored organization that should coordinate all the UFO research in the country. Next month he received the official response: it was negative.
Battle Beneath the Earth (1967) is a British spy film starring Kerwin Mathews. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film also features character actor Ed Bishop, who later went on to star in the Gerry Anderson cult TV show "UFO".
The concept for the show was tested in a segment of History Channel's 2006 UFO special entitled "Deep Sea UFOs", produced by Motion Picture Production Inc, which featured two of the final four cast members. "UFO Hunters" was not a direct spin-off from a 2005 History Channel special with the same title, but they did use images from the 2005 special to promote the premiere of the new series. The tagline of the show is: "Hoax or History?" The series should not be confused with a similarly themed and titled "UFO Hunters", a special that debuted the same day and time on the Sci-Fi Channel, (now SyFy), and created by the producers of "Ghost Hunters", but which only aired one episode.
On the TV show Ancient Aliens, former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator Nick Pope claimed wreckage from a UFO crash was likely taken to RAF Rudloe Manor.
Many successful British TV shows have been exported around the world, such as "Pop Idol" (created by Simon Fuller), "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Britain's Got Talent" (created by Simon Cowell), "The X Factor", "Hell's Kitchen" (created by Gordon Ramsay), "The Office" (created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant), "Strictly Come Dancing", "House of Cards", "Who Do You Think You Are?" (genealogy series where a celebrity traces their family tree), "Black Mirror" (created by Charlie Brooker), "Sherlock", "Doctor Who", "Downton Abbey", "The Crown" and "Top Gear". David Attenborough's acclaimed nature documentaries, including "The Blue Planet", "Planet Earth" and "Life on Earth", are produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, the largest wildlife documentary production house in the world. The British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in 2000 was voted by industry insiders. In 2004 the BBC conducted a poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. The British public voted for TV's 50 Greatest Stars in 2006.
Episodes is an American-British television comedy series created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and produced by Hat Trick Productions. It premiered on Showtime in the United States on January 9, 2011 and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2011. The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with unexpected results. It stars Matt LeBlanc portraying a satirical version of himself.
Another episode, "The Square Triangle", centres on a woman and her lover who plan to murder her husband. When they accidentally kill an alien from a downed UFO instead, SHADO intervenes and doses the guilty pair with amnesia drugs. Straker realises, however, that the drugs will not affect their basic motivation and, worse, he cannot reveal the truth to local legal authorities. The end credits of this episode run over a scene set in the near future, showing the woman visiting her husband's grave and then walking away to meet her lover.
Carp was the site of an alleged 1989 UFO landing. It has been called "One of the most significant cases in UFO history." Someone dubbed 'Guardian' filmed the entire UFO crash. The American TV show "Unsolved Mysteries" filmed an episode on Guardian in 1993.
The Indestructible Man, a Doctor Who novel with a scenario derived from various Gerry Anderson story scenarios, including UFO. X-Com, a computer game series whose plot and basis were heavily influenced by UFO. "Attack Squadron: Roswell", a role-playing game featuring a special unit of the US Air Force defending against an alien invasion in the early 1950s. The author cites UFO as inspiration, among other sources.
The British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) is the oldest of the active British UFO organizations. It traces its roots to the London UFO Research Association, founded in 1959, which merged with the British UFO Association (BUFOA) to form BUFORA in 1964.