UFO
UFO
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In 1980, the Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organization covertly defends Earth against threats from a dying extraterrestrial race that needs to harvest human organs to survive.
EnochLight reviewedJuly 15, 2025
In the wild, mod-tinged universe of UFO—Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s delightfully paranoid slice of 1970s British sci-fi—Lieutenant Gay Ellis stands out like a silver-blue bob in a sea of gray-flannel heroes. Played by the mesmerizing Gabrielle Drake, Ellis commanded Moonbase with a cool efficiency and a catwalk poise that made her look like she could zap aliens with a side glance and still be on time for a Rudi Gernreich photo shoot. And yet, beneath the gleam and glam, Ellis was more than just a pretty face in a purple wig—she was one of the earliest examples of a woman in science fiction television who held command, authority, and purpose… even if the scripts didn’t always know what to do with her.
Let’s get one thing straight: UFO was never subtle. This was a show where shiny Interceptors blasted extraterrestrials out of the sky while Earth’s best hope for survival wore silver catsuits and eyeliner sharp enough to slice through alien hulls. But within that bubble of Cold War paranoia and mod aesthetics, SHADO’s Moonbase—fronted by Ellis—was a strangely progressive outpost. When most genre shows were still slotting women into “space secretary” roles, Ellis was running tactical responses and giving orders to male subordinates without batting a false eyelash. It was quietly radical. She wasn’t the sidekick, the love interest, or the screaming victim. She was the boss.
Gabrielle Drake brought a curious mix of discipline and detachment to the role, which made Ellis feel enigmatic in the best way. She wasn’t written with deep emotional arcs—let’s be honest, UFO rarely indulged in character depth—but Drake’s performance hinted at a vast inner life just below the silver surface. You got the sense that Ellis had stories, regrets, private triumphs, and maybe the occasional lonely night staring back at Earth and wondering if she’d ever be anything but a line officer against an unseeable enemy.
And then… she vanished. Not literally, but narratively. Despite her prominence early in the series, Ellis quietly disappears from several of the later episodes, a casualty of the show’s shift from Moonbase-centric plots to earthbound melodrama. SHADO HQ took the spotlight, and with it came Commander Straker’s brooding family drama and Alec Freeman’s suave deflections. Meanwhile, Ellis—arguably one of the most visually iconic and thematically rich characters—was left in lunar limbo. She deserved better.
Behind the scenes, it wasn’t exactly scandal—it was scheduling. UFO’s production was notoriously nonlinear. Episodes were shot out of order, and the Andersons retooled the focus midseason based on feedback from American markets, which preferred more human drama and less Moonbase abstraction. But let’s call it what it was: a mistake. Because losing Gay Ellis was like ejecting Uhura from the bridge to make room for another white guy with a clipboard. You could feel her absence.
Looking back, Ellis occupies a strange but essential place in the canon of sci-fi women. She predates Space: 1999’s Dr. Helena Russell, comes years before Ripley in Alien, and offers a kind of proto-Starbuck energy long before Battlestar Galactica ever rebooted. She was competent, commanding, stylish as hell—and tragically underwritten. In a better universe (or maybe an HBO reboot), Lt. Gay Ellis would’ve had entire episodes devoted to her background, her challenges, her fears. We’d know where she trained, what music she listens to, and who she trusted in SHADO. But even with just a handful of appearances, she remains unforgettable.
It’s time we stop viewing characters like Ellis as relics and start recognizing them as pioneers—women in science fiction who held their ground, looked the future in the face, and didn’t blink. Gabrielle Drake gave us a Moonbase commander with poise, mystery, and a quiet ferocity. She deserved more. But what we got was still a shimmering glimpse of what sci-fi could be, if it had only been brave enough to keep her in the command chair.