Near the beginning of the episode, the three Interceptors
lift off from Moonbase armed with the usual missile in the
nose of the craft, in preparation to intercept the
approaching UFO. But when Commander Straker nullifies the
intercept and orders the ships back to base, the
Interceptors no longer have their missiles even though they
never fired them!
SHADO control pinpoints the UFO landing site in southern
England, near the towns of Clare Cross and Lingbury. As far
as I can tell, these are fictional locations.
In this episode, the Mobiles are transported on a truck with
the logo Markers Universal on the side. This appears to be a
fictional transportation company. Underneath the logo, the
company's locations are designated as London, Manchester,
and Cardiff; these are all cities within the UK. The main
business address shown is too blurry to read, but it appears
to be on East Park Avenue, London; Park Avenue is a real
street in London.
Being attacked by the dog, the alien falls face-first onto a
rock, smashing his faceplate with the sound of shattering
glass and allowing the breathing fluid to drain out. But
wouldn't the faceplate of the spacesuit of an advanced
alien race be made out of sturdier material than
mere glass?
The hole in the alien's faceplate is quite a bit smaller in
the shot at 19:50 on the DVD than it was when the break
occurred earlier.
At 21:42 on the DVD, a fire extinguishing canister is seen
along the dashboard of SHADO 1 that wasn't there in previous
scenes.
At 23:05 on the DVD, Cass appears to turn off the shower as
he finishes bathing, but the water doesn't entirely stop,
the flow just decreases. We can see the water still
streaming out into the shower stall behind him, and even
continue to hear it, as Cass dries himself off.
Over the phone, Liz's husband reminds her of a recent visit
to Burlington Arcade and a blue pendant she saw there that
she wanted.
Burlington Arcade is a real world covered shopping
center in London, built in 1819.
At the UFO landing site, Foster reports in to Straker that
they've found the missing game warden's Alsatian dog in the
blue area. "Alsatian" is another name for the German Shepherd
breed of dog.
What is the strange sound heard at 34:08 on the DVD that
alerts Liz and Cass to the arrival of the alien? It sounds
like an exotic bird or something, but is it meant to be the
voice of the alien? Listen:
strange sound. The sound is suspiciously similar to the
sound previously heard by Mrs. Roper in
"Flight Path".
The waiting room Liz and Cass are brought to in SHADO
Control appears to be a redressing of the set of Straker's
office.
After having them brought to SHADO Control, Straker tells
Liz and Cass they will have to take SHADO's amnesia drug to
make them forget their alien encounter, everything they've
seen of SHADO, and the past 12 hours, saying, "It's
tasteless." It sure is.
The ending credits of this episode do not feature the usual
pullback through space from Earth. Instead, it features Liz
visiting a grave site and then walking away and meeting with
Cass. Presumably, the two carried through with their plan to
murder her husband. Notice that the more sinister-sounding
aspect of the closing theme music cuts in just as Cass walks
out from behind the church to meet Liz. Very nice editing!
MEMORABLE DIALOG
intact.wav
it's tasteless.wav
back to the triangle.wav
Back to UFO
Episode Studies