I thought about what would be my favorite underrated series for this week’s context on CineTV, and couldn’t narrow it down to just one, so going to tackle three of my favorites in this article. You can check out the CineTV contest and rules at - [https://peakd.com/hive-121744/@cinetv/cinetv-contest-14-your-favorite-underrated-tv-series](https://peakd.com/hive-121744/@cinetv/cinetv-contest-14-your-favorite-underrated-tv-series)

First up, UFO, a British series made in 1970, produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, and Reg Hill, and starring Ed Bishop as Colonel Straker. The Andersons were best known prior to UFO for a number of kids shows using marionettes, including Thunderbirds Are Go! As the interest in their “Supermarionation”  process game to a screeching halt, they were asked to produce a live action series.

![straker.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/thunderjack/23tbiNAbScACWB1xqcNTm5N19tzSkENQz4NfQmtRrFPTLszyhrJJjMrVaA72Z4Lxs6uCC.jpg)
Straker in foreground, Foster in background, a moonbase operative in the middle. 

The series concerns an alien invasion of Earth, the background being that the aliens are coming to Earth, kidnapping humans, and using the body parts of their victims to prolong their own lives. After the initial invasion is discovered, a covert unit is formed with Straker at the head of it – SHADO – Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organization. One of the early members is Captain Carlin, played by Peter Gordeno, whose sister was an early alien kidnap victim. 

![skydiver.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/thunderjack/2458L4YuDBUcQcFvSE1z52FqoP7KBBLh5bqRM2MRSPnWmaquHEQFkJHPjEiDmgG9qSHu4.png)
Skydiver from UFO
The series had a lot of cool model props for various vehicles and space craft, and part of the series was set on Moon Base.

![moonbase.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/thunderjack/23tvcMZiFJHba6dy5V9r4ibyFrqN82tXXmpzCLZR6w1C4GgU7X6Rw3Q7BVMTfMXtuojx8.png)
Moonbase command center

Why the women on Moon Base had purple hair is a point of trivia that I recall running across once, don’t recall what it was, but it looked really cool.

The stories mostly involved the aliens coming to Earth, and getting blasted, although a few episodes involved a bit more intrigue, and some very tough decisions that Straker had to make, including maintaining a cover that he was the head of a movie studio, and he could not even tell his wife the real truth, which eventually destroyed his marriage. Later on, Straker had to make a tough decision – stop an alien infiltration or use is powers in SHADO to save the life of his son. Not going to spoil how he handled it.

About midway through the filming of the series, production was interrupted, and the production had to change studios. This resulted in losing one of the lead characters, Colonel Freeman, played by George Sewell, and replaced by Colonel Lake, played by Wanda Ventham (she’s the mother of Benedict Cumberbatch).

![freeman_lake.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/thunderjack/23uFVhnVCB8jAssLruBDf1BDxdMiuwThw81EteLA6XzwnZtD9roWV6LGHziyG191ivC4Z.png)
Colonel Freeman on left in first image, Colonel Lake on the right hand image
I found most of the episodes to be enjoyable, with a couple of exceptions, the episode “Timelash” being one that I particularly did not like. Overall, though I liked the series, and thought it was a darn shame that it only ran for one season.

Next up, The Invaders, “a Quinn Martin Production, starring Roy Thinnes as Architect David Vincent”, which is how the series opened every episode. Yep, another alien invasion series, this time set in the United States. No secret organization to stop the aliens. And most of the people who believe David Vincent and try to help him frequently ended up dead.

![david_vincent.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/thunderjack/Eoe8Dudj2fcJUxbek7AXCRrNcYgMZWAEKd5wTFRvQrhpJmgycj6q8s6PYUU1XwgVQud.jpg)
Roy Thinnes as David Vincent

Although the alien spacecraft are not as cool as what we see in UFO, they were still saucer shaped. There were other props that were cool, including a handheld device that could cause the victim to suffer a cardiac arrest, the preferred way for the aliens to eliminate their enemies. “It wasn’t aliens that killed him, it was a heart attack!” The aliens also had a tendency to disintegrate leaving no traces behind when they were killed, making proof of aliens rather tough.

![invaders_flying saucer.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/thunderjack/23sU8Gg7hknhKqQ6B9KFqFr6BwPC9sSLEEivzBrz7mU5P4rJdinyEAXEKUPaLayKcm4vd.jpg)
One of the flying saucers from The Invaders

The series was revisited several years back as a mini-series, unfortunately I missed it. So I don’t know anything about it, except Roy Thinnes did return for the show. I should look into watching it sometime.

Last up, a fun one – The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, from 1981, and adapted from the BBC radio show, but the TV series was shortened to 6 episodes, which at that time was about half the story line that had been made to that date.

A lot of the cast of the radio show carried over to the TV production, including Peter Jones (narrator), Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Mark Wing-Davey (Zaphod Beeblebrox). 

![ford_and_zaphod.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/thunderjack/243BgFud64y9aLn5kBVqParokQbJdPdLjZRLNKFw69QGc4jtN1NMXq2nfFec4sUbFrjWp.jpg)
Ford Prefect and Zaphod Beeblebrox

There is a lot to like about the series, not just the performances, and the story. The (mis-)adventures that the leads go through, being subjected to Vogan Poetry, and visiting the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.  I liked how they did Zaphod’s two heads much better than how it was handled in the movie that was made for American audiences (and kind of bombed). Plus Zaphod and Trillian had some of the coolest costumes in the series.

The show is silly, funny, and just a plain old hoot to watch, making fun of just about every darn thing. And yes, I do know where my towel is at! 

Thanks for stopping by.