"Survival" is the thirteenth 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. The screenplay was written

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 ...

and the director was Alan Perry. The episode was filmed between 30 June and 10 July 1970 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 ...

on 30 December 1970. Though shown as the thirteenth episode, it was actually the fourth 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

Under the cover of a meteor shower, a UFO manages to evade SHADO's tracking and land on the Moon. The alien pilot gets close enough to Moonbase to shoot out a window of the Leisure Sphere. The resulting

explosive decompression An uncontrolled decompression is an undesired drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as a pressurised aircraft cabin or hyperbaric chamber, that typically results from human error, structural failure, or impact, causing the pressurised v ...

kills an astronaut inside and almost kills Paul Foster. Straker orders a search of the vicinity around Moonbase using Moon mobiles and they locate the UFO in a crater. The UFO shoots at the Moon mobiles whereupon the interceptors are called in. They shoot the UFO down as it tries to take off and it crashes into Foster's Moon mobile. Thrown clear, Foster is injured in the explosion and his spacesuit's radio transmitter is broken. SHADO believes that he has been killed. Foster is not alone, however, as the alien has also survived. The two adversaries realise that to survive they need to co-operate on the walk back to Moonbase. They get close to their destination but a search team locates Foster. Believing the alien to be a threat and with Foster unable to contact the search team due to his broken radio, they shoot and kill the alien.

Regular cast

Production

Locations used for the filming included

Neptune House The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the BBC. The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England. Th ...

ATV Elstree Studios The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the BBC. The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England. Th ...

, Borehamwood; and Windermere Hall, London.

Reception

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 ...

regards "Survival" as one of ''UFO''s lesser episodes, commenting that "not much interesting happens". He argues that the scenes showing the uneasy alliance between Foster and the alien fail to convince, partly because the two space-suited characters are unable to communicate meaningfully with one other. Muir also highlights a subplot in which Straker makes the black Lieutenant Bradley acting Moonbase commander despite the latter's concerns about being undermined by racism, which has supposedly disappeared in the near-future world of ''UFO'': "Straker's hostility towards Bradley, bluntly informing him that ''he'' is the only one who still believes in racism, comes off in today's era as

paternalistic Paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy against their will and is intended to promote their own good. It has been defended in a variety of contexts as a means of protecting individuals from significant harm, s ...

and a bit condescending." Ranking the ''UFO'' episodes from best to worst, review website ''anorakzone.com'' places "Survival" 15th, stating that the episode "sums up ''UFO'' in many ways, as it contains lots that's good and lots that's pretty terrible ..However, it scores fairly high here for a customary dark twist, even if it doesn't all make perfect sense."

References

External links

* {{UFO (TV series) 1971 British television episodes Survival fiction Television episodes set on the Moon UFO (British TV series) episodes