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| In the teaser, an alien spacecraft menacingly glows in the forest. A dazed man walks away
from the craft and heads for his car. He phones SHADO HQ to say he will shortly be reporting for duty. Moonbase Operative Paul Roper nervously memorises a set of numbers while waiting for a Moonbase shuttle to take him to earth for a series of medical tests. First thing back on Terra Firma, he goes home to his young wife and receives a threatening phone call on the way. As he enters his house, Paul is greeted by his wife, Carol, as she points a shotgun at him. Somebody gave her a fright just before he arrived. After placating Carol with a sleeping pill, he receives another phone call. Roper caves in and says he will comply with the mysterious caller's demands. |
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| The next day, Dawson, a medical assistant, presents Roper to Dr. Schroeder. Dawson is the same man from the prologue.
Roper finds the tests a very sweaty experience. Afterwards, he bumps into Colonel Freeman. They exchange pleasantries but Paul gets agitated when Freeman innocently asks after Carol. Straker gets
the results of Roper's tests: the man is seriously stressed-out. Ed wants Alec to investigate. Paul and Carol come home from their evening out. Midnight approaches and he inadvertantly speeds up. After settling his wife in the house, Roper goes back out to the car to receive a phone call. He gives the unknown person the set of numbers he has memorised but little does Roper know that Alec resides in the bushes recording everything. |
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Paul is interrogated at SHADO HQ but he is not forthcoming. Eventually Straker finds Roper's weak spot by making
a threat on Carol's life. From now on, Roper helps all he can. He tells Straker and Freeman that he got the numbers by inputting given information into SID but he does not know what any of it means. SHADO
is put on alert as Straker and the Moonbase girls try to decipher the information. Lt. Harrington thinks they describe planetary positions of, probably, the sun, moon and earth. Straker announces to the whole base that Roper is allowed to go home in an hour. Ed maintains Roper's contact is someone at SHADO and this will bring him out of the shadows.. |
| Alec lets Roper go right away. When Straker finds out, he is irate and quickly calls for Sky One to search and destroy the UFO.
Captain Carlin, however, is too late. The UFO has already taken a shot at Roper and has flown away. Roper is injured in the car crash. Somehow Straker finds out Dawson is the contact. He also realises the set of numbers refer to sunrise on the moon. |
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There is a time reference at the end of the numbers and it appears to be incorrect. Roper gave the wrong information to the enemy. Straker knew the aliens would be angry and he actually shows his distress when he learns that Roper has been attacked. Now Carol could be under threat yet again. The aliens are planning a dawn raid on Moonbase during a lot of sun spot activity and will be flying very low to avoid detection. |
Unbeknown
to Paul, Dawson has gone back to murder Carol. He is successful but she manages to fatally hurt him, too, with the shotgun. An electronic device is found in Dawson's temple during an autopsy. Meanwhile, Roper goes
back to Moonbase to make amends. Going out on the lunar surface, he successfully shoots down the sinister spinner. A piece from the blast punctures his spacesuit, however, and he dies while
trying to relay a message for his wife.
out of 10
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Carol Roper
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Unfortunately, this is another episode where I have had
to go back to view the script. It is basically a
sound story, if a bit slow in pace, that has been slightly fractured in the editing. For example, Straker is livid when he finds out Freeman has let Roper leave early.
Knowing Straker as I do, he would not let that one go so easily. And my suspicions are correct: in the script he ticks off Freeman. But neither
the finished episode nor the script tell us how Straker finds out Dawson was the go-between. Like Computer Affair, Flight Path is a very people-orientated episode. In fact, this is one of the beautiful aspects of UFO: the whole series is not just about fighting the aliens, we get to know the courageous men and women of SHADO, faults and all, along the way. Not even Star Trek got so up close and personal. |
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On the other hand, Flight Path introduces a favourite but
quite spooky theme of the show: alien mind control. The scriptwriter, Ian Scott Stewart, exploits the contrast in character between Straker and Freeman. For Straker, this is a war and people have to be at risk. But Freeman does not buy this. He says, "It's too complicated for people like me and too simple for you." Ever get the feeling that deep down inside Freeman was slightly affected by Flower Power? Make love, not war: something I think Alec knew a lot about! And wait! Ed's icy exterior melted for just a few seconds there as he learned that Roper had been at the receiving end of an alien attack. That is interesting coming from a man who believes casualties of war are an inevitable occurence. |
| Well, there is plenty of Moonbase girl action in Flight Path and Straker plays with his slide rule but after that what is left? I really can not fathom what Carol Roper sees in the face and physique of Paul Roper. I suppose money comes into the equation somewhere but she does feel genuine affection for him. The difference in age does not seem an overriding issue on the surface. They light-heartedly banter back and forth about it but the issue is understated throughout the whole episode. I am sure a few American eyebrows were raised in the early '70's when Flight Path first aired. Even now in America, if the difference in age between a couple is two years or more it is considered quite odd, even perverted at times. I first saw UFO during my Puberty Years and this young woman/older man pairing certainly held my interest. |  |
| Under the surface, Roper's reaction to his wife being threatened could be seen as him showing his insecurity about their relationship. He probably
knows he's not some handsome hunk and over-compensates. He also mentions to Alec after completing the sweat-producing tests that he feels old. Of course, this is all good from the alien's point of view. They know a weak spot when they see one. But I think he was
aware that their relationship up until this unfortunate incident had been a happy one. As for Carol Roper, she is kind, loving and playful. She is the one who saves this episode from a totally dire lack of kinkiness. I have emulated her liking for an older man many times in my own life. So without further ado: Carol Roper - I salute you! |
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