History Series / UFO

** There's this famous [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=MuXIBOqBitg clothes-changing scene]], which seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a ten minute coffee break.

** In the pilot we briefly see one of the female moon base crewmembers in her [[SpaceClothes silver underwear]].

* {{Fanservice}}: There is no nudity, except for a few [[LingerieScene Lingerie Scenes]] (themselves something unexpected to see in a series that some broadcasters marketed for kids), but lots of other kinds of FanService.
** Male actors wear jockstraps due to their slick trousers and form-fitting catsuits.
** The female moonbase and headquarters personnel wear skin-tight uniforms with bullet bras underneath.

** There's this famous [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=MuXIBOqBitg clothes-changing scene]] which seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a ten minute coffee break.

** The uniforms of the moonbase personnel, of course. The female command-and-control staff wear skin-tight, silver uniforms, while the male pilots wear more mundane, but somewhat futuristic, flightsuits.

** The personnel at SHADO headquarters wear white, futuristic-looking jumpsuits. The female version is skin-tight but the male version has a looser fit.

** The uniforms of the moonbase personnel, of course. The female command-and-control staff wear skin-thight, silver uniforms, while the male pilots wear more mundane, but somewhat futuristic, flightsuits.

** The uniforms of the moonbase personnel, of course.
** Though not technically in space, the uniforms worn on ''Skydiver'' and in the [=SHADO=] [=HQ=] certainly qualify.

* SweaterGirl: The female personnel at [=SHADO=] headquarters affect this look: their uniforms don't include actual sweaters, but the top half of their jumpsuits is long-sleeved with a high neckline and shows no skin, but is skin-tight and emphasizes their breasts.

* FlyingSaucer: Though they were more conical than saucer shaped, presumably to [[WhenThingsSpinScienceHappens help them spin better]].

* SweaterGirl: The female personnel at [=SHADO=] headquarters affect this look: their uniforms don't include actual sweaters, but the top half of their jumpsuits is long-sleeved with a high neckline and shows no skin, but is skin-tight and worn over a bra that emphasizes their breasts.

* HumansArePsychicInTheFuture: Extra-Sensory Perception is treated by mainstream psychologists like any other [[BlessedWithSuck mental condition]]. While most sufferers adjust to its effects, the subject of the episode "E.S.P." cannot cope with knowing everything that's going to happen before it occurs.

* HumansArePsychicInTheFuture: ESP is treated by mainstream psychologists like any other [[BlessedWithSuck mental condition]].

* PsychicPowers: ESP is a [[BlessedWithSuck mental condition]] treated by mainstream psychologists.

* DeathOfAChild: In "A Matter of Priorities". Straker's son is involved in an automobile accident and requires an experimental drug from America, but regular transport options would be too slow. After wrestling with using his position for a personal reason, Straker orders a SHADO transport to bring the drug to the UK. It is diverted en route to deal with a UFO sighting, which meant the drug did not arrive in time to save his son.

%% * DeathOfAChild: In "Confetti Check, A-OK". With Straker's own kid, even!

* FrontOrganisation: SHADO headquarters is hidden under a film studio, where all the odd goings-on can be passed off as [[AllPartOfTheShow something to do with a movie]]. Fair enough, [[FridgeLogic but how does Straker have the time to run a film studio]] ''and'' be the leader of an international alien-fighting organisation? Wouldn't hiring a front man as studio boss make more sense? Of course the real reason for disguising the base as a film studio was that the series was shot at a film studio! (Actually two in succession, because the first studio closed down during production.)

* DeathOfAChild: In "Confetti Check, A-OK". With Straker's own kid, even!

* InfantImmortality: AvertedTrope on "Confetti Check, A-OK". With Straker's own kid, even!

Even if ''UFO''[='s=] original impact was limited, it still had a significant influence on international pop culture. Both the video-game developer Creator/MicroProse and the anime studio [[Creator/StudioGainax Gainax]] have cited the series as a main inspiration for ''VideoGame/XCom'' and ''Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', respectively.

* AnyoneCanDie: And boy, do they ''ever''! The first episode opens with the aliens massacring a bunch of teens who got unlucky enough to find a landing site and take some pictures, S.H.A.D.O. RedShirt agents drop like flies, and then there's episodes like [[InfantImmortality "A Question]] [[AvertedTrope Of Priorities"]]...

* AnyoneCanDie: And boy, do they ''ever''! The first episode opens with the aliens massacring a bunch of teens who got unlucky enough to find a landing site and take some pictures, S.H.A.D.O. RedShirt agents drop like flies, and then there's episodes like [[InfantImmortality "A Matter,]] [[AvertedTrope Of Priorities"]]...

No relation to ''Series/ProjectUFO''. nor to Michael Shencker's rock band ''Music/{{UFO}}''.

* FrickinLaserBeams: The aliens have a laser weapon in their ships. It fires a bolt of energy that travels slow enough for the human eye to see it moving.

[[quoteright:332:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ufotv.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:332:The 80's [[{{Zeerust}} as viewed from the 70's]]. When men were real men and women wore purple wigs.]]

Even if ''UFO''[='s=] original impact was limited, it still had a significant influence on pop culture. Both the video-game developer Creator/MicroProse and the anime studio [[Creator/StudioGainax Gainax]] have cited the series as a main inspiration for ''VideoGame/XCom'' and ''Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', respectively.

* MoveInTheFrozenTime: In "Timelash", Straker and Col. Lake drive into the base to find everyone in it frozen in time (which means it happened while they were out). They find that they can pick up some objects but others are completely frozen, and Straker soon finds a pattern: The objects they can pick up are those that weren't in motion when time was stopped. Later still they also notice they're slowing down, and take some stimulant drug to remain able to move for a little more time.

* Guyliner: Commander Straker and Colonel Foster both wear black eyeliner and blue eye shadow. In "Destruction" you can even see a bit of a 60s "cat eye" look on Foster.

** Our first view of the 1980's is a [[NoNewFashionsInTheFuture mini-skirted dolly bird]] [[ShakingTheRump sashaying away]] from the camera, which is [[MaleGaze positioned at hemline level]].

* MaleGaze
** In the first episode alone, there are ''three'' shots of female SHADO personnel in miniskirts or catsuits sauntering towards or away from the camera.
** In the intro sequence, a curvy, catsuited woman is shown walking away from the viewer, the camera firmly focused on her behind.

* {{Celibate Hero}}: Cmdr. Straker has been divorced for ten years and hasn't been in any serious relationship since then (or at least no such relationship is mentioned). [[MarriedToTheJob He devotes all his energy to his work, and doesn't seem very interested in women.]]

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes / CompressedVice: Straker suffers from {{claustrophobia}}, which causes problems when he's trapped on a damaged submarine (though [[FridgeLogic though you'd think]] it'd cause problems in the confines of a spacecraft too).

Even if ''UFO''[='s=] original impact was limited, it still had a significant influence on pop culture. Both the video-game developer Creator/MicroProse and the anime studio [[Creator/StudioGainax Gainax]] have cited the series for inspiration for ''VideoGame/XCom'' and ''Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', respectively.