"Identified" is the very first episode of UFO: The Series. In it, the various UFO sightings reported between 1947 and 1969 finally get their explanation, and it proves to be an ugly, evil one: they can be explained by the fact that Earth is under brutal attack from a dying race of extra-terrestrials which is harvesting human organs for the purposes of its own survival.
The instalment's plot[]
Late 1970, evening, England: Royal Navy Officer Peter Carlin, his sister, Leila, and their friend, Jean, discover a UFO in the woods. Peter films the craft on his cine camera, but the trio are attacked by the spacecraft's pilot. Jean is killed, Peter is severely injured and Leila is cornered by the alien.
7th October, 1970. US Air Force Colonel Edward Straker and General James Henderson arrive in England for a meting with the Prime Minister to present conclusive evidence on recent UFO sightings--an enlarged single from from Peter's cine film, which was found undeveloped, still in the camera, after the UFO incident. Rendezvousing with Cabinet Minister Sir Eric Coulson, they head for Chequers aboard his Rolls-Royce. But they then come under attack from a UFO, under which he car is forced off the road and crashes, killing Sir Eric and his security guard, badly injuring both General Henderson and the chauffeur, and burning up the papers, but Straker himself is thrown clear.
24th August, 1980: Edward Straker is now Commander-in-Chief of S.H.A.D.O., the Supreme Headquarters of the Alien Defence Organisation), situated 80 feet below the Harlington-Straker Film Studios. He informs his second-in-command, Colonel Alec Freeman that, although a fire at Westbrook Electronics has destroyed the building, the new utronic tracking equipment that was being developed there is safe. The utronic equipment is a major breakthrough that will enable SHADO to track UFOs; thus, Straker assigns Freeman to safeguard the equipment, and its design team, during the transfer from the United States.
Freeman pilots the Seagull X-Ray "SHADAir" Supersonic Transport aircraft as it leaves Stevenson Base in Los Angeles with the design team, led by Colonel Dr. Virginia Lake, aboard. Suddenly, the satellite computer S.I.D., the Space Intruder Detector. detects an incoming UFO, which evades the MoonBase Interceptors and launches an attack on Seagull X-Ray. But Peter Carlin, now captain of the SHADO submarine SkyDiver, intercepts the craft in Sky One. The UFO crashes into the sea and one of its occupants is recovered from the water.
The alien is examined back at SHADO HQ and is discovered to have had several organ and gland transplants, the donor body parts having originated on Earth. The alien expires, ageing rapidly, but the report on the examination leads Straker to conclude that the aliens are from a dying race and are coming to Earth to obtain organ replacements. Electronic tissue analysis of the alien's donor heart reveals that it originally belonged to Leila Carlin, who has been missing since the incident in the woods ten years earlier. Straker has the painful task of informing Carlin that his sister is dead--and that his parents can never know the truth about how she died.
Regular Cast[]
- Commander Ed Straker - Edward Bishop
- Colonel Alec E. Freeman - George Sewell
- Dr. Virginia Lake - Wanda Ventham
- Captain Peter Carlin: - Peter Gordeno
- Lieutenant Gay Ellis: - Gabrielle Drake
- Lieutenant Nina Barry - Dolores Mantez
- Lieutenant Joan Harrington - Antonia Ellis
- Lieutenant Keith Ford - Keith Alexander
- Lieutenant Lew Waterman - Gary Myers
- Voice of Lew Waterman - Jeremy Wilkin
- General James L. Henderson - Grant Taylor
- Miss Ealand - Norma Ronald
- Lieutenant John Masters - Jon Kelley
- Lieutenant Gordon Maxwell - Jeremy Wilkin
- Lieutenant Mark Bradley - Harry Baird
- Lieutenant Ayshea Johnson - Ayshea Brough
- Lieutenant Sylvia Howell - Georgina Moon
- Dr. Shroeder - Maxwell Shaw
- Operative Joanna - Shakira Baksh
- Voice of Joanna - Sylvia Anderson
- SHADO Control Operative - Maxwell Craig
- Voice of S.I.D. (Space Intruder Detector) - Mel Oxley
- Voice of Voice-Print Identification - Jeremy Wilkin
Colonel Paul Foster (Michael Billington) does not appear in this episode, as the character was not introduced till "Exposed."
Guest Cast[]
- Cabinet Minister Sir Eric Coulsdon - Basil Dignam
- Lieutenant Bill Johnson - Shane Rimmer
- Lieutenant Ken Matthews - Michael Mundell
- Dr. Harris - Matthew Robertson
- Kurt Mahler - Paul Gillard
- Phil Wade - Gary Files
- Nurse - Annette Kerr
- Captured Alien - Gito Santana
- Alien in Woods - Stanley Bray
- Leila Carlin - Edwina Carroll
- Lieutenant David Worth - Dennis Plenty
- Lieutenant Geoff Manning - Robert Case
- Janis - Penny Spencer
- SHADO Operative Andrews - Louisa Rabaiotti
- Motorcyclist - Jack Silk
- Voice of Stevenson Base Control - Gary Files
- Voice of Seagull X-Ray Crewman - Keith Alexander
- Voice of Skydiver Operative - Gary Files
- Voice of SHADO Operative - Gary Files
- Voice of Mayland Hospital Medic - Jeremy Wilkin
SHADO Equipment Used[]
- Foster's Car A4-215
- Straker's Car A21-384
- MoonBase Interceptors
- SHADAIR Seagull X-Ray
- SHADO Jeep A2-221
- S.I.D.
- SkyDiver 1
- Sky One
- Electric Scooter
Non-SHADO Equipment Used[]
- Ambulance
- Police Motorbikes
- Propeller Jet Handley Page H.P. 137 Jetstream
- Rolls Royce GTU-55G
- UFO
| Production order |
| Production Block 1: Identified I Computer Affair I Flight Path I Survival I Exposed I Conflict I The Dalotek Affair I A Question of Priorities I Ordeal I The Responsibility Seat I The Square Triangle I Court Martial I Close Up I Confetti Check A-OK I E.S.P. I Kill Straker! I Sub-Smash |
| Production Block 2: The Sound of Silence I The Cat with Ten Lives I Destruction I The Man Who Came Back I The Psychobombs I Reflections in the Water I Mindbender I Timelash I The Long Sleep |
| Transmission order |
| Identified I Exposed I The Cat with Ten Lives I Conflict I A Question of Priorities I E.S.P. I Kill Straker! I Sub-Smash I Destruction I The Square Triangle I Close Up I The Psychobombs I Survival I Mindbender I Flight Path I The Man Who Came Back I The Dalotek Affair I Timelash I Ordeal I Court Martial I Computer Affair I Confetti Check A-OK I The Sound of Silence I Reflections in the Water I The Responsibility Seat I The Long Sleep |