UFO (TV Series) A Question of Priorities (1970) User Reviews

"I never want to see you again!"

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 11 July 2012]

Straker's son 'Johnny' ( Barnaby Shaw ) is involved in a road accident near his country home. He is close to death, and the only thing that can save him is a new drug only to be found in America. Straker uses a S.H.A.D.O. transporter to bring the drug to England. This personal crisis overlaps a professional one - a U.F.O. has landed somewhere on the west coast of Ireland. The Alien pilot ( Richard Aylen ) wants to defect, and sets up transmitting equipment in the home of an elderly, blind woman ( Mary Merrall ). As S.H.A.D.O. hunts for the Alien, Straker prays his son's life can be saved...

Tony Barwick's script shows a rare human side to Straker, putting him in the unenviable position of having to decide whether or not to sacrifice his son's life to get information about the Alien menace. Ultimately, the decision is taken for him - Freeman re-routes the transporter to Ireland in order to ferry S.H.A.D.O. Mobiles. Straker fails to cancel the new order. The ending is suitably tragic, with Straker left alone in the hospital to contemplate the consequences of his actions.

Curiously, the Alien is seen without his helmet. It had been established in earlier episodes the Aliens could not breathe our air and had to wear helmets filled with green liquid. He is not seen to age, much less die. Possibly he was wearing a prototype version of the belt-like device invented by Alien scientist 'Sagum' in the 'Countdown' comic-strip 'The Renegade'?

Mary Merrall is delightful as the old lady who is terrible danger, and never realises it. Philip Madoc - who sadly passed on a short time ago - has a small role as 'Steven Rutland', Mary's new husband. He reappeared as a different character in the episode 'Destruction'. As 'Mary', we have the lovely Suzanne Neve, an actress who has fallen out of public gaze but who graced in a number of television shows and movies, such as David McCallum's 'Dambusters' rip-off 'Mosquito Squadron' ( 1968 ). She reprised the role of 'Mary' in 'Confetti Check A.-O.K.'.

For once, a behind the scenes look at Straker.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 4 May 2010]

This is one of the few episodes that explores the private life of the usually angry and somewhat robotic Commander Straker. The show begins with Straker's young son being involved with an accident. At the hospital, Straker, his ex-wife and her new husband all wait to find out if the boy will live. In an improbable twist, the child will live ONLY if he gets a special antibiotic from America--but there doesn't appear to be time to get it. But, in his capacity as director of SHADO, Straker has the ability to have it flown there immediately--though, of course, there is a catch that comes up late in the show.

By the way, you can tell that Straker is very distracted and concerned because of his son. That's because he forgets to be his usual over-controlling and grouchy self! It's also quite sad and telling when he stays at work because he really has no home--just an empty apartment.

In the meantime, a UFO appears to be heading for a crash near Ireland. However, at the last minute a pod shoots out of the UFO--the pilot has ejected. But, as SHADO assumes the ship simply crashed, they don't realize that it's imperative to find the alien, as he's taken a nice old blind lady hostage in her own home.

Overall, it's a decent but not a standout episode--even with the look at the private life of the usually imperturbable Straker and its surprisingly downbeat ending.

Melodramatic and extraordinarily downbeat

[lor_ · 11 August 2023]

This segment deals with Straker's private life, and thematically poses in melodramatic fashion a choice of Ed having to decide between pressing personal matters and his duty as the SHADO chief.

His son is injured in a car crash and a SHADO transporter vehicle to get him needed medical aid all the way from America, must also be used to fight the aliens. Which purpose will Ed put it to: saving his son or defending Earth versus the invaders? Add in a ridiculous subplot with veteran actress Mary Merrall as a blind old woman with a parrot who's visited by a silent alien who made it to Earth, specifically Ireland.

It's maudlin and incredibly downbeat, violating most rules for a commercial tv series. Silly, use of a vintage car and fire engine in an opening sequence of Ed frolicking with his young boy, the kid looking a bit like Joe 90 from the Andersons' kiddie series by that name. Suzanne Neve as Ed's ex-wife along with MM brings some class to an otherwise preposterous show that overdoes its sentimentality and seems designed to alienate its audience.

The 21 Year Old Penny Spencer

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 13 September 2020]

In the pilot episode of 'UFO' we discover Fenn Street's big-haired, short-skirted temptress Sharon Eversleigh now working as a receptionist at Harlington-Straker Studios under the name Janis.

However, in 'A Question of Priorities' - the only one of three 'UFO' episodes in which Penny Spencer appears on which she is actually credited - we learn that the receptionist's job is only half the story, that Sharon has actually been recruited by SHADO, and when not working in reception wears the uniform and boots and carries the clipboard of one of their female operatives.

A Question of Priorities

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 25 January 2020]

We probe into Straker's personal life as he spends time with his young son John. Straker makes out he really is a film producer as John spends a day on a film set, not a secret UFO combat organisation.

When he takes John home, it is obvious that Straker is divorced, it was his turn to have his son for the day and is now returning John to his mother. It seems his ex wife Mary is married to someone else. This seems to have come as a surprise to Straker. It seems neither John or the ex wife has told Straker of this other man and that John now has his stepfather's surname. So Mary has not told Straker of a lot of important things regarding their son.

All I can say is that Mary is a horrid woman. Straker is standing by his car so John can pop into the house and show his dad a model boat something before he goes. Instead Mary tells Straker to leave. As he goes off in his car, John goes chasing after his dad, Mary does little to stop him and John gets run over by another car.

Seriously injured in hospital, it seems John is allergic to antibiotics but there is some experimental antibiotics in American but it needs to get here fast. Straker orders a SHADO craft to bring some over. As an aside most people in the world are allergic to things like Penicillin which is why there are other types of antibiotics available.

Back at SHADO an alien spacecraft is going too fast and crashes somewhere in Ireland. Straight out of Frankenstein, the alien goes knocking on a remote house where he is met by an elderly blind lady. She thinks she has let in a strange quiet man not an alien. Of course it is a bit weird to think why did this lady open the door at that time of night in the first place.

Straker being the distant stoic type does not even tell Freeman the tragedy that has befallen him. A big mistake as Freeman diverts the SHADO craft that was delivering the antibiotics to Ireland.

I feel conflicted by this episode in some ways it is raw but it is also a really hokey piece of television. An alien with bad make up who can now breath in Earth's environment. The house of a blind woman with her parrot with a stranger doing something strange inside. The bit where she dials the phone was bewildering, then again how did the alien know what a phone was?

Then there is the awkward new husband who does and say very little. A horrid ex wife and a really miserable ending which would have left the kids confused as to what kind of show this was. I can only think that in some ways the episode was reflecting issues in the Andersons marriage.

Sometimes, one vote just isn't enough!

[joegarbled-79482 · 2/10 · 23 November 2023]

"A Question Of Priorities" is one episode of "UFO" that I rarely watch, although once again, it shows that Commander Ed Straker is the one SHADO man that can completely separate his private life from his work in SHADO ("Odd..." I can hear Mr Spock say, that his supposed job as a movie executive never seemed to surprise Mrs Straker, given his vastly different job when they were courting and first got married.)

It's Straker's ex-wife's presence that puts me off from watching this episode, which would otherwise be a favourite, with an apparently renegade alien travelling a billion miles to make (possibly) friendly contact with SHADO. Ruining this possibly great episode is the dreadful Suzanne Neve, a pitifully poor actress who ruins one of my otherwise favourite WW2 films ("Mosquito Squadron") as well this episode of "UFO". I find it is possible to fast-forward through her scenes, without losing very much, one day, I'll get around to editing her out of these videos completely.

Ignoring the side story of Straker's son getting run over (thanks to Straker's miserable ex cutting his visit short!!) the alien landing (in the middle of nowhere as usual) and attempting to contact SHADO is the episode's real interest. Having taken refuge in an old blind lady's cottage is lucky for him as she obviously doesn't sense the danger she is in, thus the alien can go about his purpose without harming her in anyway. That the aliens have sent another UFO in hot pursuit shows that his purpose doesn't agree with theirs.

The episode's two threads join together when Straker's private use of a SHADO transport aircraft (the purpose of which he keeps private, not even telling Colonel Freeman, which is key to the episode's ending) is literally diverted when Freeman uses the transporter in SHADO's attempt to find the landed UFO and the alien with a transmitter pushing out more power than a commercial station. The episode ends with two deaths: Straker's son, which cues Neve at her overly dramatic worst: "I...never...want to...see you....again." well, I'm sure that the feeling was mutual.

The second UFO fries the renegade alien before SHADO can capture him causing Freeman to muse that they'll never know what the alien's intention was. The old lady being blind would've heightened her other senses, including a sense of danger yet apart from his silence, she was hardly terrified. Again, this was an episode that could've taken Season Two down another path: aliens who were against attacks on the Earth.

I have two votes for this episode: With Neve 2/10.... with Neve edited out 8/10.