The Psychobombs

"**The Psychobombs**"
"The Psychobombs"
UFO episode
Episode no.	Episode 12
Directed by	Jeremy Summers
Written by	Tony Barwick
Editing by	Lee Doig
Production code	22
Original air date	30 December 1970
Guest appearances
	Deborah Grant as Linda Simmonds; Mike Pratt as Clem Mason; David Collings as Daniel Clark; Tom Adams as Captain Lauritzen; Alexander Davion as The Executive; Robin Hawdon as Captain, Skydiver 3; Christopher Timothy as Navigator, Skydiver 3; Peter Dolphin as Engineer, Skydiver 3; Mark York as Engineer, Skydiver 3; Peter Blythe as Lieutenant Blythe; Oscar James as Police Officer; Aiden Murphy as Guard; Peter Davies as Tracker Station Guard; Derek Steen as Tracker Station Guard; Gavin Campbell as Police Motorcyclist;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Close Up"	Next →; "Survival"
	List of episodes

"The Psychobombs" is the twelfth episode aired of the first series of UFO, a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Tony Barwick and the director was Jeremy Summers. The episode was filmed between 30 June and 10 July 1970, and first aired on ATV Midlands on 30 December 1970. Though shown as the twelfth episode, it was actually the twenty-second to be filmed.^[1]^[2]

The series was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.^[3]

Plot

A UFO lands in England, and takes control of the minds of two men and a woman (Linda Simmons, Daniel Clark and Clem Mason). Each is given superhuman strength as well as being made into a walking bomb. Simmons strangles a policeman close to her home, and each of the three is sent to destroy a SHADO installation. Following an unsuccessful attack on Straker's car, a note is found detailing three attacks on SHADO if it continues to operate.

Clark attacks the Fairfield Tracker Station, which he destroys by grabbing high-voltage power cables and then exploding. This is followed by Mason evading security and getting on board Skydiver 3, and destroying it by grabbing power cables as it leaves its base of operations.

Foster investigates Simmonds (following up on the strangled policeman), the last surviving 'living bomb', and takes her to SHADO headquarters unaware of what she is capable of. Whilst in detention, Simmonds escapes and looks for high-voltage cables she can use to explode herself. Just before she manages to do this, Sky One destroys the UFO that has been controlling the humans, and Simmonds only electrocutes herself.^[4]

Regular cast

Ed Bishop — Commander Ed Straker
Michael Billington — Colonel Paul Foster
Vladek Sheybal — Dr Douglas Jackson
Wanda Ventham — Colonel Virginia Lake
Ayshea — Lieutenant Ayshea Johnson

Production

Locations used for the filming included Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios and St Alphage House, London.^[1]

Reception

Calling the episode "a pretty strong addition" even if the story is "pure formula", John Kenneth Muir likens the guest characters to terrorist suicide bombers, writing that "in a post-9/11 world, this entire plot line seems even more fascinating than it may have in the early 1970s".^[5]

Review website anorakzone.com ranks the episode the sixth-worst of the series, commenting that its "terrorism" theme is "rendered in pulp terms".^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "UFO Episode Guide - The Psychobombs". Fanderson. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
^ "UFO Characters - The Psychobombs". SHADO Library. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
^ "Underappreciated TV: UFO". Den of Geek. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
^ Bentley, Chris (10 January 2003). The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO. 978-1903111659. p. 134. ISBN 978-1903111659.
^ Muir, John Kenneth (19 March 2019). "UFO: 'The Psychobombs'". Retrieved 19 January 2024.
^ "Worst to Best: Gerry Anderson's UFO". anorakzone.com. September 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2024.