What is the basic storyline?
The series is set in what would have been ten years in the future — the early 1980’s. It had been discovered that Aliens are coming to Earth and kidnapping people for unknown reasons. A secret military defense organization named SHADO (“Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation”) is set up and is just becoming operational in the first episode. SHADO’s main headquarters is secretly hidden beneath a London film studio, and many SHADO personnel double as film studio employees as a cover. SHADO also has a base on the moon (“Moonbase”) and a fleet of submarines (“Skydiver”). Incoming UFO’s are detected by an Earth orbiting satellite (“Space Intruder Detector”, or “SID”). An initial interception attempt is made in space with three Interceptors launched from Moonbase. A second attempt is made in the Earth’s atmosphere with a fighter plane (“Sky One”) launched from Skydiver. Landed UFO’s are tracked down with ground Mobiles. SHADO is run by the extremely dedicated Commander Ed Straker.
