Review Episode 22 Mindbender ( improved review)

[michaellevenson]

This episode is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!! Big praise , but it is unbelievably good, bizarre, mind-blowing. If you're reading this post and not seen this then in the words of Zaphod Beeblebrox " BOY, HAVE YOU MISSED OUT"
A UFO hovering over the lunar surface suddenly explodes for no apparent reason. Straker wants answers. Astronauts Conroy and Dale are dispatched in a moonmobile to investigate.
They come across the debris, and pick up a nice looking chunk of crystal , opaque, a bit of moon rock they assume.
Back on moonbase Conroy goes into command centre where the purple wigged girls work. But no girls there, just Mexican banditos' with their guns. Conroy fights the bandits, and then flees leaving behind three Mexicans on the floor bloodied.
Well no....he's been punching the girls, having some hallucination.

 

[michaellevenson]

Conroy , now seen wearing Mexican bandit gear himself steps into the wild west town street, Straker and Foster in cowboy gear await. A gunfight, Conroy falls dead.
Back at HQ on Earth , Lt James played by Bud Tingwell (Carrot 's dad in Catweazle) is walking through the corridors outside the main control centre, when he shoots in cold blood another operative. He grabs Colonel Virginia Lake and drags her into the control room demanding to see Straker, but the room is populated by aliens in red spacesuits. Everyone James sees is an alien. Straker orders him to drop the gun , but James sees an alien standing there.....hallucinations again.
Straker. " when I say dive Virginia...dive"
Foster" we can't"
S " we've no choice Paul, he's already killed"
S " now Virginia"
Col Lake dives out the way, Foster shoots James dead.
Later;
Foster. " what makes a man lose all sense and start seeing aliens?"
Lake " same pattern as Conroy"
Straker. " they're must be a link"
Foster puts a plastic box on the desk.
F " Conroy's affects"
S " been checked?"
F " last thing James did"
Straker leaves HQ for some air, his secretary Miss Ealand says,
" the star of that series they're shooting in studio 2, Howard Byrne wants to see you "
S " well, he's picked a bad time"
Back below in SHADO HQ, Straker's office.
Straker going through Conroy's possessions, picks up a notebook and looks through it.
Straker. " Cowboy stories?"
F " yes Conroy wrote them in his spare time"
S " perhaps in his mind he thought he saw cowboys!?"
Straker is tossing from hand to hand the crystal that Conroy found.
F " General Henderson is on his way to see you, I better leave"
More.

 

[michaellevenson]

General Henderson wants answers as he marches into Straker 's office.
Henderson. " first I get a report on Conroy that makes no sense, and now James"
Straker " I just don't know, I haven't any answers"
The discussions turn into a shouting match.
H " don't give me that crud Straker, if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen"
S " are you making this personal?"
H "any way you want"
S " alright general almighty Henderson, every man and woman in SHADO is my responsibility"
H " my gums bleed for you!"
S " you don't care do you?"
H " stop it, you're making me cry, Father Straker and his bleating flock"
S " someone ought to stop you"
H " you're nothing but sheep the lot of you"
S " don't push me Henderson"
H " you're all gutless sheep!!"
S" I'm warning you Henderson"
Straker, fist clenched ready to punch Henderson.
H " Sheep!! Baaah Baaah Baaah"
the episode director walks into shot
Director. " okay cut it . Alright for you Grant?"
Grant Taylor ( actor playing Henderson ) " okay seems fine to me, but you know the bit I say to Howard, you're making me cry, perhaps I could do that a bit stronger"
Director to Straker. " Howard you can go "
Straker, an actor of course, real name Howard, leaves the set, and ends up outside his own office in the film studios above SHADO HQ. Straker to secretary " I want to see Straker"
She doesn't call him Straker!
Secretary " that's not possible Mr Byrne !!, shouldn't you be in theatre 7 watching your rushes?"
Straker, or perhaps Howard Byrne ( very confusing ), goes to theatre 7 in Pinewood and starts watching clips of previous UFO episodes!!
Straker and Foster ( actor Mike Billington) watch the episode where Straker 's son gets run down.
Foster " good little actor playing your son."
Straker " listen Paul..."
Billington/Foster " Mike is the name remember, I mean I've only been your co star for two years"
S "okay, Mike, I need your help, I need Paul Foster's help. I know what I'm seeing is only in my own mind"
Mike/Paul " I don't know what you're talking about "
S " Conroy, James, must have gone through the same thing. They're trying to make me crack, believe in the unreality. I have to get back"
Mike/Paul " you're crazy, CRAZY"
Straker hits him and runs out.
Back on the set of SHADO HQ Taylor/Henderson rehearses his lines.
Sitting in a chair next to the director is a woman, called Sylvia. Sylvia Anderson !! She reads from a script, playing the Straker role.
Sylvia " don't push me Henderson"
Henderson" Sheep the lot of you"
Sylvia " someone ought to stop you"
Henderson" sheep!! BAAAH BAAAH BAAAH"
WTF is going on?!!?. Well watch it to find out.

 

[michaellevenson]

Straker walks through the " fourth wall" and off set, well it is only a tv show after all!

 

[michaellevenson]

Straker on moonbase set, passes girls reading their scripts for the next scene.

 

[michaellevenson]

The woman playing Sylvia is not listed in the cast.
Question: Is this woman Sylvia Anderson? She presumably wouldn't have had an equity card, and therefore got no credit, but I think it's her., reading the lines during rehearsal as Straker looks on , having walked off the set. I did say this is a stunningly bizarre episode.

 

[michaellevenson]

Henderson " you're a load of gutless spineless sheep the lot of you, BAAAH BAAAH!"

 

[michaellevenson]

 

[michaellevenson]

Okay, here is the resolution to the story.

Spoiler

Straker after viewing episodes of UFO with Paul Foster, who insists he is an actor called Michael ,as indeed he is in real life, Straker returns to the set where Henderson is rehearsing his lines.
Straker walks out of the office set, onto the moon base set, the girls are reading their scripts.
Nina " hiya Howard "
Straker kicks over a floodlight in anger.
Director " for god sake Mr Byrne please be quiet ,we're rehearsing "
Straker walks back into the office set, and straight into his lines.
St " you really don't care Henderson do you?"
H " sheep the lot of you. Baah Baah BAAH"
Straker fist clenched, but is holding an opaque crystal, the one Conroy found on the moon. Straker throws it, it smashes on the wall, and breaks into tiny fragments.
Straker wakes up All an hallucination.
Straker still in his office at SHADO HQ, Henderson on the floor dazed, Straker has obviously been physically having a go at him while having these hallucinations.
Paul Foster runs in gun in hand as Straker presses button on desk to open door.
H "I thought he was going to finish me off, but suddenly he regained control"
Straker staggers into control room, very weak and tired. The room is a mess, computers smashed, Straker sits ," did I cause all this?"
Foster " well, nothing too serious "
Straker " Conroy, Lt James, the link was a rock, Conroy must have found it on the moon, James went through Conroy's affects, it bent the mind of whoever touched it, and then me when I touched it. The rock planted in some way by the U.F.O. that crashed"
F " a booby trap "
S " yes, aimed at the mind"

 

[michaellevenson]