This episode takes place in the course of over one month.
At 4:42 on the DVD, an office of
Sunway Blinds is seen across the street.
At 4:56 on the DVD, we see a number of businesses listed on
the sign in the building lobby where Croxley goes to see his
psychiatrist: H. Smart Solicitors, Arcon Products, Jetcar
Hire Co. Ltd., Stanton Smith Inc., and Lamont Design Ltd. As
far as I can tell, these were all fictional establishments
at the time.
At about 21:27 on the DVD, notice that the shockwave of the
exploding UFO causes cracks in the windshield of Mobile 2.
Freeman states that the largest
piece of debris recovered from the
self-destructed UFO is just 6 inches
long. But, just seconds later, in a shot at 24:33 on the DVD, we
see that the whole base of the craft
appears to be largely intact behind
the damaged house! |
 |
As commented upon in the study of
"Identified", Straker receives a package in our current
episode, addressed to him at Harlington-Straker Studios,
Harlington West, Wessex. There is no Harlington West in
England and Wessex is only officially known as a former
kingdom in southwest England ruled by the Anglo-Saxons in
the 6th-10th Centuries; i.e. Wessex is not a recognized county in
modern times. It is possible that the mention of Wessex is
intended by the producers to be a nod to the novels of
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) in which he placed his stories in
the fictional county of Wessex in southwestern England;
additionally, he renamed real world cities in that region to
suggest a slightly alternate history of his setting, e.g.
Oxford becomes Christminster, Dorchester becomes
Casterbridge, etc. Harlington could be argued to exist just
within the boundaries of Hardy's Wessex, so it may be that
Harlington in our world is Harlington West in Hardy's (and
UFO's!).
After his hospitalization from injuries incurred from being
in the blast radius of the self-destructing UFO, Foster does
not return to SHADO HQ under Harlington-Straker Studios for
a month, as he remarks on how quiet it seems there at 30:47
on the DVD. This tells us the story spans the course of about a
month.
At 39:51 on the DVD, a monitor of some kind in the medical
ward of SHADO HQ suddenly goes from a flatline display to
fluttering with waves as Foster leaves the room. What is the
meaning of the interference? Was it Croxley attempting to
glean more information from Foster's mind? Was it Foster's
own mind reacting in a psychic manner to his decision to
return to the ruins of Croxley's home? Does Foster have
latent psychic abilities of his own?
Apparently Croxley never recovered his and his dead wife's
cat from the ruins of the house, because the pet is still
seen hanging around the ruins a month later!
Croxley leaves a message with his psychiatrist to have
Straker and Freeman meet him at the crash site at 10:00 that
night. The two arrive early, 9:30. After entering the ruins
of the house, they encounter Croxley who, after just a few
minutes of discussion and threats, looks at his watch and
announces it is four minutes to twelve and he'll kill them
at midnight.
Near the end of the episode, Croxley seems to deliver a
telepathic message from the aliens, explaining their
interest in Earth: "Our planet is dying. Our national
resources are exhausted. We must come to Earth! We must come
to Earth to survive!" and "We mean no harm to peoples of
Earth. Why do you attack us? We're fighting for existence.
You must understand!"
At about 45:58 on the DVD, Croxley seems to gasp "Help" in
between sentences of the aliens' purpose on Earth.
Notice that Straker seems to have a drink with Freeman at
the end of the episode, though he normally abstains from
alcohol. Freeman is known to enjoy whiskey and the color of
the drinks he and Straker toast with appears to correspond
to it.
In the end credits, Croxley's psychiatrist is referred to as
Dr. Ward, but the sign in his building indicates Dr.
Brunner.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Do the aliens simply want to co-habitate Earth with us? The
dialog spoken by Croxley, seemingly from the aliens,
suggests they mean no harm to the people of Earth, they
simply must come here to survive as their own resources are
exhausted. But, by stealing human organs, they are certainly
harming (i.e. killing) individual humans. They have also
launched attacks that have killed humans, though it is
interesting to note that their attacks are focused on SHADO
bases and personnel.
Why was the UFO flying so erratically and why did it crash?
Was the pilot evading its own people? Are there two (or
more) factions of aliens vying for Earth with one possibly
more malevolent than the other? This question of
competing factions comes up in previous and later stories as
well.
Since the aliens seemingly had extra-sensory contact with
Croxley, it seems quite possible they learned much of, if
not all, that he did about SHADO and its personnel from the
reading of Foster's mind. Will they make use of that
knowledge?
MEMORABLE DIALOG
red alert.wav
ESP sound effect.wav
we managed to scratch along without you.wav
ESP.wav
powers of perception.wav
we must come to Earth to survive.wav
we mean no harm.wav
fate and fear.wav
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Episode Studies