UFO: The Vault

5. Scripting and screenwriters

An excellent page on the scripts of the series can be found on the UFO Series website; http://ufoseries.com/scripts/index.html.

In common with the last three SUPERMARIONATION series, Tony Barwick remained as script editor for the series, writing 11 of the episodes. Co-writing the opening episode, Identified, with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, he, the Andersons, Donald James (a close friend to the Andersons) and Reg Hill devised the show's concept. Barwick was born in London in 1934 and has a long career with the Anderson starting with Thunderbirds. He played a vital role for AP Films to help stretch the length of the episodes of Thunderbirds from 25 to 50 minute episodes, as well as writing the episodes Lord Parker's 'Oliday and Ricochet for the second series. He scripted edited for Anderson's next shows Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and The Secret Service as well as writing many of the episodes. Barwick would also write and script edit for many episodes of The Protectors as well as writing two episodes of the second series of Space: 1999, One Moment Of Humanity and The AB Chrysalis. His commitments to The Protectors rendered Barwick unavailable for Series 1 of Space: 1999. He also wrote for many episodes of Terrahawks under jokey pseudonyms, plus co-writing Anderson's one-off pilot Space Police as well as writing all of the stop-motion series Dick Spanner. Barwick also wrote five episodes for Anderson's G-Force Intergalactic which was made with cell animation and the results of the CGI proved disastrously poor. This was his final contribution to the worlds of Gerry Anderson before his death in 1993.

Each script was about 67 pages long, Donald James contributed to four scripts; Flight Path, Conflict, The Dalotek Affair and Kill Straker!. Born 1931, James, an occasional actor, he had previously written for 3 episodes of Joe 90 (The Professional, Test Flight and Trial At Sea), Century 21's feature film Doppelganger, 3 episodes of The Secret Service (A Question Of Miracles, The Deadly Whisper and School For Spies) and later with 7 episodes of The Protectors (episodes like A Matter of Life And Death and The Big Hit) and 3 episodes of Space: 1999 (The Exiles, Journey To Where and The Seance Spectre). His vast other works include The Adventurer, Jason King, The Champions, The Persuaders, Paul Temple, and The Befriends to name a few. James had to reduce his involvement with UFO when he was commissioned to write several scripts for Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Department S and Mission: Impossible, hence he arranged Ian Scott Stewart to write Flight Path and for Ruric Powell to write Conflict and The Dalotek Affair. In the meantime, James acted as script editor for Powell and Stewart while writing Kill Straker! himself.

For The Square Triangle, Alan Pattillo returned to Century 21 since The Trap, an episode of Captain Scarlet. Born 1929 in Aberdeen, Scotland, Pattillo was heavily associated with the Andersons as far back as Four Feather Falls, right up to Thunderbirds; writing, directing and editing a large number of episodes in that period, as well as editing the Space: 1999 episode The Mark Of Archanon and always remaining close to the worlds of Gerry Anderson, appearing in many documentaries as an interviewee such as The Thunderbirds Companion (2000) and Filmed In SUPERMATIONATION (2014). He is also known for his work on The Avengers, Strange Report and Gandhi (1982 - I actually watched it in my Religious Studies lesson at school and never even realised it was edited by the guy who wrote and directed lots of episodes of my second favourite series of all time Thunderbirds!). He died in Salisbury on 16th January 2020, with his obituary being published on 7th April 2020.

Also returning to the Andersons was Alan Fennell, writing the episodes ESP and Sub-Smash. Founder of TV21 comic, he shared an agent with Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks from Doctor Who, who appeared in the strips from 1965-1967. Born 1936, Fennell has a vast writing career for the Andersons for Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds before he left to continue to edit TV21. He died in December 2001. For The Sound Of Silence, the first episode of the second production block of the slightly reworked UFO came from David Lane and Bob Bell. Leo Eaton, an assistant director for UFO submitted a story idea to Tony Barwick, the African set The Patriot was developed into a full script. Eaton was born in 1945, and first entered the world of Gerry Anderson writing and directing the Captain Scarlet episode Place Of Angels - his first writing and directing task. He also directed the episodes Expo 2068 and Flight To Atlantica as well as episodes of Joe 90 and The Secret Service. However, The Patriot was never filmed as one theory was that the episode was deemed unsuited for the more action-orientated and faster-paced tone of the second production block, another theory could be because of personal reasons after working with Alan Perry on Close Up, or was perhaps too political for the series. After leaving Century 21, Eaton has become one of US TV's leading documentary and factual entertainment filmmakers, producing specials and series for the BBC, ITV, PBS, National Geographic and Discovery, including Emmy award-winning children's wildlife series Zoboomafoo, Eaton is the president and CEO of Eaton Creative - a TV production company he established in 1997.

Joining Century 21 for the second production block was David Tomblin, writing The Cat With Ten Lives, Reflections In The Water and The Long Sleep (the first two he also directed), three incredibly strong episodes. 39-year-old Tomblin was actually born in Borehamwood in 1930 and has a high profile as a director, writer and producer - entering the film industry when he was 14. Performing at the National Service, which led him to become a Royal Marine, he has worked in total around 500 TV shows and films combined. For example, he worked on Danger Man starring Patrick McGoohan and formed a strong friendship with him. For The Prisoner, he and McGoohan formed their own production company for the series Everyman Films. With his work on The Prisoner clearly showing he was a major talent (like epic episodes such as Living In Harmony and The Girl Who Was Death - from an idea by Terence Feely), hence he was recruited for UFO, taking UFO in a slightly different direction. 

Dennis Spooner returned to Century 21 following his works from Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds (the last episode he wrote was Cry Wolf), and was even offered the chance to write Supercar. He would later return to write for The Protectors episode The Bodyguard, as well as writing the new scenes for the Space: 1999 compilation movie Alien Attack. Born 1932 in Tottenham, London, Spooner has a vast writing career from Coronation Street, Man In A Suitcase, The Champions, The Avengers, The New Avengers, Thriller, The Adventurer, The Professionals, The Baron, Department S, Jason King, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Bergerac, The Baron and Doomwatch. He wrote the Doctor Who serials with William Hartnell; The Reign Of Terror, The Romans, The Time Meddler and parts of The Daleks' Master Plan. As well as having an uncredited role as script editor for The Power Of The Daleks - Patrick Troughton's first story as the Doctor as well as script editing from the episodes The Rescue up to The Chase. He died in 1986 in Hertfordshire.

One final writer to the show was Terence Feely, writing two more very strong episodes; The Man Who Came Back and Timelash. Born 1928 in July, Feely also has a vast writing career from The Avengers, The Saint, Armchair Theatre, The Persuaders, Thriller and Number 10 to name a few. He was also a producer on The Prisoner, writing the episodes The Schizoid Man and The Girl Who Was Death. He also wrote for the Andersons again for The Protectors episode 2,000 feet to die, the opening episode. Feely also wrote the Space: 1999 episodes New Adam, New Eve and The Bringers Of Wonder.