 |
||
|
||
|
 |
Bill Grant is looking forward to his leave from Moonbase. He and Paul Foster imagine what kind of things Bill will be getting up to - women
seem to feature largely on the menu. An alien spacecraft flys low towards the five-sphered lunar building and stops some distance away. An alien aims its gun at one of the Moonbase windows and fires. It quietly cracks the window in the Leisuresphere where Paul Foster and Bill Grant are goofing around. Paul detects the pressure leak just as the alarm goes off. Paul makes for safety but Bill is not so lucky. His body is sent off into space on April 12th, 1981. The alien bullet and the shattered remains of the window are sent to SHADO HQ. Foster explains to Straker that the UFO must have arrived undetected because three days ago a stream of meteorites played havoc with their tracking system. |
 |
The interference did not last long so it is surmised that the craft is still on the moon. Straker orders Paul to seek and observe because he wants the alien ship kept intact. Before
the next flight back to Moonbase, Paul spends the night with his girlfriend, Tina Duval, for a bit of rumpy-pumpy. Back on Moonbase, aerial photographs show the culprit is hiding in a crater. Two teams are to go to the area in two Moon Hoppers. One team is headed by Foster, the other by Mark Bradley. Once they are in the area, the alien spacecraft starts indiscriminately firing. Straker orders the immediate launch of the Interceptors (the men's safety comes before an intact alien ship). Bradley and Foster agree that with the Interceptors on the way, Paul will bring back a Moon Hopper to take them all to base. Straker wants them to clear out as soon as possible but Mark keeps waiting for Paul. |
| Unfortunately, Paul bumps into a rock and badly hurts his leg. Not only that, his communication device stops working. He shouts to the other men but there is no response. The UFO
starts to fly away and an Interceptor successfully shoots it down. The UFO crashes into one Moon Hopper totally destroying it and leaving the other one badly damaged The rest of the men come back in the damaged Hopper. Foster is missing, presumed dead. As he does not have any real next of kin, Freeman is instructed to inform Tina Duval of Paul's demise. Foster's job is offered to Lt. Bradley but he does not accept it at first. He feels Straker has done his duty because he is the next in line for the job but Mark feels that he will not be accepted as leader because of his colour. Straker says racial prejudice died out five years |
 |
| ago. Eventually Mark accepts but wishes it had been in different circumstances. Meanwhile, Foster encounters the alien from the damaged craft. He takes Foster's gun and at one point Foster grabs it back only to be shown the bullets have been taken out. They become friends when the alien replaces Foster's dwindling air supply. They have a basic form of communication. Foster's new friend wants to go back to Moonbase but Paul gestures 'no'. They keep heading in the direction of Moonbase and the alien helps Paul climb across a deep ravine. |
 |
Mark walks into Moonbase Central in his fine silver uniform. Lt. Harrington welcomes him on the team. He orders a Moon Hopper to explore the area for damage of the UFO craft. Paul and the alien are resting when Paul sees the Moon Hopper. It turns around to rescue him. He shouts through his helmet at the men from the Hopper saying "There's an alien, he's a friend, he saved my life!" But only the word alien is understood. When the alien appears he is instantly shot at. |
Alec drives Paul back to Tina Duval's flat. She is confused: one minute he is dead, the next he is alive. Since Foster is sworn to secrecy he can not tell her anything so he walks out. He has lost two friends in the space of a few hours. Paul invites Alec for a drink and they drive off.
out of 10
 |
 |
My Life Ain't Easy
by The Equals
| Paul must have been a popular name in the office of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. There had already been a Paul Roper
(see Flight Path)and now there was Paul Foster. Joyously, the latter one was here to stay! Moonbase originally had Franco Desica as its leader but the actor playing him, Franco Derosa, was being difficult and left before UFO had hardly started. Sylvia Anderson spotted the good-looking Michael Billington (she always had good taste!) in an episode of 'The Prisoner'. Since the scripts had already been written, Franco's lines were given to Lieutenant Ellis and Colonel Foster. I think Mike did a splendid job coming in at this late stage of production. He turned Colonel Foster into a very special character. |
 |
 |
Survival is a very thought-provoking episode. Of course, we haven't stamped out racial prejudice but it was lovely that the makers of UFO thought it would have died out by now. Despite the dark
and frightening subject matter of an unknown race doing unspeakable things to the inhabitants of earth, certain aspects of UFO were almost Utopian. Nearly everyone in the series was intelligent, good-looking and healthy (despite the need for cigarettes and
coffee!). The air looked fresh and blue and there was no litter on the streets. For someone coming from Los Angeles, this was paradise. Gito Santana , who had already been in Identified, excels at playing the alien. He gives us a taste of what the aliens are like but leaves us wondering. After causing trouble at Moonbase, why did he help Paul Foster? Why did the |
| alien want to go to Moonbase with Foster? My opinion is that he had followed orders but with a damaged ship he had nothing left to lose. He was already unhappy with the way things were going. Perhaps he had something of interest to tell SHADO? He might have answered some of Commander Straker's burning questions about the alien race and its agenda. But we will never know. Lew Grade decided there was not going to be a second series of UFO when all would have been revealed. Thanks, Mr. Grade (said very sarcastically). A lot of fan fiction has been written about UFO. I am sure there will be some interesting insights somewhere. |  |
 |
One of the reasons Survival gets a 6 on the Kink-o-Meter is because we are now beginning to see more of an equal balance between the men and
women on Moonbase (something for everyone so the old song goes). It's not just all those Moonbase Babes in the forefront anymore. There seem to be more men around in either silver or blue and looking quite splendid, thank you. Take a look at Lt. Harrington's make-up when she is fetching Straker a coffee with cream and two sugars. Did she take make-up lessons from Bozo the Clown? The Kink Factor appears right away in the conversation between Bill Grant and Paul Foster. Bill pops balloons with his cigarette. There seems to be a subliminal message in this activity: he's going to pop a few cherries while he's on leave. |
| One balloon with a badly drawn picture of Straker is left to expand as the air in the Leisuresphere rushes out. Way to go, Bill! So this is He-Man and All Round Mr. Fit Paul Foster in his first episode (following the production schedule, the airing order is another thing entirely). Mike is so nice to look at that he made Gerry Anderson jealous. Good. Even though Ed Straker is delicious to look at he is still too cold. Paul Foster brought sex to SHADO (okay, okay, I hear you guys, Lt. Ellis or Col. Lake did it for you!). He's a real Mensch and even his CO expects him to go sow his wild oats. Ed has the naughtiest look on his face when he says he knows where he will find Paul as he waits for the next available flight up to Moonbase. |
 |
 |
The Definitive Kinky Ditty, 'My Life Ain't Easy' is the music being played while Tina Duval takes a shower. No doubt, the song was carefully chosen for Colonel Foster. He works hard, fights tough and at the end of the day he needs some good lovin' from a sexy chick but has great difficulty forming a lasting relationship. Tina Duval is the first in a long line of lovelies. He does not waste any time, does he? I find it amusing how she says she looks a mess. Does Paul give a toss? Of course not! When you have such a dangerous job and you could be dead tomorrow what's a few strands of hair out of place, bits of dirt and a few smells between friends? |
 |
Back to Dr Doug Jackson's Unique Guide to UFO |  |
Back to Dr Doug Jackson and My UFO Universe |  |
Back to Homepage |
