"A Question of Priorities" is the fifth episode aired of the first series of ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

'' – a 1970 British television science fiction series about an

alien invasion Alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and films, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade Earth to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it, harvest people for food, steal the planet's resource ...

of Earth.

Tony Barwick Anthony Clive Barwick (10 July 1934 – 18 August 1993) was a British television scriptwriter who worked extensively on series created and produced by Gerry Anderson. Career Television Barwick scripted episodes for Gerry Anderson's Supermario ...

wrote the screenplay and it was directed by David Lane. The episode was filmed between 28 July and 7 August 1969 and aired on the

ATV Midlands ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to ...

network on 14 October 1970. Though shown as the fifth episode, it was actually the eighth to have been filmed. The series was created by

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s production ...

and

Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In ...

with

Reg Hill Reginald Eric Hill (16 May 1914 – 31 October 1999) was an English model-maker, art director, producer, and freelance storyboard artist. He is most prominently associated with the work of Gerry Anderson. Early life Born on 16 May 1914, Hill ...

, and produced by the Andersons and

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production ...

Century 21 Productions AP Films or APF (renamed Century 21 Productions in 1966) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette t ...

for Grade's

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

company.

Plot

Commander

Ed Straker Colonel Edward Straker, United States Air Force, Commander-in-Chief of SHADO, is the main character of British TV series ''UFO''. He is one of the original promoters of Project Angel, an international organisation to found the Supreme Headquarte ...

's son Johnny is hit by a car and taken to hospital. Straker arrives at the hospital with his ex-wife, Mary, to find that Johnny is allergic to the antibiotics the hospital has available – Straker uses his position to order an experimental anti-allergenic antibiotic to be flown from New York to Britain by a SHADO transport. In Ireland, an alien escapes from a crashing UFO and starts transmitting from the home of an elderly blind woman. The transmissions are intercepted by SHADO HQ and Colonel Alec Freeman diverts the transport aircraft, unaware that it is carrying the antibiotics, to investigate the signals. When Straker discovers this change of schedule he knows that he cannot order the transport to Britain as his duty to SHADO overrides any personal needs. But Mary challenges Straker when he tells her the transport is being delayed because of "a more important matter". SHADO mobiles carried by the transport are sent to investigate the alien transmissions but before the mobiles can make contact, another UFO arrives and kills the alien: it appears that he was trying to defect. The transport then continues on to Britain and Straker rushes to the hospital with the antibiotics but it proves too late as his son has died, with a tearful Mary saying that she never wants to see her ex-husband again.

Regular cast

Reception

TV Zone ''TV Zone'' was a British magazine that was published every four weeks by Visual Imagination that covered cult television. Initially, it mostly covered science fiction, but branched out to cover other drama and comedy series. History ''TV Zone ...

'' magazine considered this episode the best of the series, describing it as a "perfect fusion of science fiction action and human drama" while praising Ed Bishop's "understated" acting. The publication noted that the series further explores Straker's difficult relationship with his son and ex-wife in the later episodes " Sub-Smash", " Confetti Check A-O.K." and " Mindbender". Review website ''anorakzone.com'' ranks the episode second only to "

Timelash ''Timelash'' is the fifth serial of the 22nd season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 on 9 and 16 March 1985. In the serial, the Borad (Robert Ashby), the mu ...

", noting the story's "emotional rawness". The review states that despite a number of "moderately corny and misjudged sequences ..the tangible pain at the climax and the concept of the series becoming ''this'' dark is a punch to the gut that's impossible to forget." For

John Kenneth Muir John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres. Biography Bor ...

, it "must rank near the top" of ''UFO'' episodes. He comments that the story is "very much a case of the series' potential fully realised. This episode offers a haunting, devastating portrait of

..." He adds that it "succeeds as well as it does because the episode – though contending with life and death, and family – is not histrionic"; instead, it "offers a dispassionate, uncompromising view of a leader forced to make an impossible decision."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Question of Priorities, A 1970 British television episodes Television episodes set in hospitals Television episodes set in Ireland UFO (British TV series) episodes