Three interceptors..one shot each…then they’re sitting ducks. And I thought there was more than 1 SkyDiver (at least 3). That said, I love this series.
The Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart lost his memory. How did this happen. Did that mean that the Brigadier didn't remember who the Doctor was to him. But with gentle coaxing from the Doctor he started remembering. And as he remembered who he was, who the Doctor was and Sarah-Jane was etc then he slowly got his memory back. What actually happened to the Brigadier that he suffered from amnesia(memory loss). It was with the Doctor's help and support the Brigadier's memory returned. He remembered being the Brigadier, he also remembered who the Doctor and Sarah-Jane were thank God for the Doctor. He gave the Brigadier his memory back. Thanks so much Doctor. I know all too well how the Brigadier and the Doctor's friendship means to both of them
I think I saw this one either my last year in college (in the U.S.) or just after I graduated. I know I saw it with a couple of buddies of mine! Wonderful episode!
Odd that Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart didn't mention to the Doctor how he felt when Sarah Jane Smith told him that the Doctor had to return her home after he got a telepathic call to return to his home planet and had to obey it as a Time Lord. The Brigadier could've told the Doctor he had a feeling the Master sent the call after all those encounters the brigadier had with that evil renegade of the Doctor's race.
A surprise that the Doctor didn't ask Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart if Mike Yates did or didn't contact him since Yates had to resign from UNIT quietly to avoid getting court-martialed for being part of Operation Golden Age, which was to wipe out humanity except for a handful of people in a protective field, though Yates redeemed himself months later against the giant spiders, which was the 3rd Doctor's last adventure.
Wish this episode had a scene in which the Doctor tells Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart that he was lured back to his home planet by the Master and that he was used as a scapegoat for the killing of the President of Gallifrey, was in an emaciated state, and tried to get a new cycle of lives by destroying that planet. Also, the Doctor should've warned the Brigadier about the Master getting his 13th regeneration later on and to be on the lookout for him, though he gotten a beard and was dressed in black again before seeing the evil renegade Time Lord later on.
An Alien civilisation so advanced it can build machines that can travel billions of miles .....& then shoot like a cockeyed drunk when it makes contact with the enemy
UFOs were like STAR WARS Stormtroopers - they couldnt hit the side of a barn. One nuclear weapon would have wiped out the Moonbase. One would think with their level of technology they would have some type of weapon like that.
Fun Fact: The Brigadier doesn't have amnesia, it's just been so long. The monsters and clips are from The Web of Fear (1967, his first story, Yeti) The Invasion (1968, Cybermen) The Claws of Axos (1971, Axon) Day of the Daleks (1972, Daleks) Robot (1974, K-1 Robot) and Terror of the Zygons (1975, Zygons)
Ed Stryker should have been a brigadier general, given the scope and depth of his responsibilities. It would be great to see a Hollywood movie of this as long as they don't overdo it or infuse political ideology or correctness.
Nicholas Courtney appeared as Curt Vyon with The First Doctor, arguably, the only companion to die until Adric. The Fifth Doctor’s shows were filled with allusions and Easter Eggs.
I do hope that when the eventual Blu Ray boxset of season 20 comes out, they don’t edit this sequence to feature the recovered footage of the Brig and the yeti from web of fear and leave it as is
Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart was a good man for giving the Doctor a home after he was marooned on Earth by the Time Lords and helped him a lot in the fight against evil.
This is really making me think of when in modern who, when a time lord opens a chameleon arc and hears lots of voices before getting their memories back.
Coming close to fifty years, watched it as a kid and i still love this series, sad that most of the main stars have now passed away, hoping Ed Straker is still guarding the Earth for us from Heaven!
john Thatcher Absolutely true. Aliens who could send dozens of ships to Earth from another star in a few months, would almost certainly have technology that would allow them to snap their fingers and eliminate the planet in an instant. “UFO” sort of brushed up against this topic in a few episodes, but didn’t really address it directly. I think it could have been very interesting if the series had continued. Aliens: “Hey Guys, we’re here to help you in some way. So, please stop attacking us, while we’re trying to save your lives.”
It was good to see UNIT appear in the era of the 5th Doctor Who,which happened in The Five Doctors sometime after the Doctor got to see Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart working at a boys' school,long after their battle with the Zygons during the Doctor's 4th incarnation.
'there on their way' ... a young James Cosmo at the beginning, Night's Watch Lord Commander Mormont from Game of Thrones and Renton's dad in Trainspotting.
This special effects collage from "Reflections In The Water" was mostly composed of stock footage from previous episodes. There were a couple of "new" shots made by adding optical effects to existing footage. In space, a curving UFO is seen to fire its death ray downward at, but missing, a SHADO Interceptor. In atmosphere, a UFO bursts into (overprinted) flames upon being hit by a SHADO defender. The full film sequence includes shots of *four* interceptor missiles being fired -- a quick reload being unlikely in such circumstances, we're better off to assume at least one spare interceptor was launched. As to 50 UFOs being taken out by the limited Earth arsenal presented on the show, we might speculate that SHADO had more vehicles and weaponry than we viewers got to see in 26 episodes... this was subtly hinted at in many ways.
