User Reviews

When 'U.F.O' was repeated on Saturday mornings in the H.T.V. area ( Wales and the West country ) in 1986/87, Tony Barwick's 'The Responsibility Seat' was allocated a later time-slot, along with 'Mindbender' and 'The Long Sleep'. The reason for this was probably two-fold; there is a bloody scene where a man who looks like Straker is walking around the lot when he gets a machine-gun blast in the face ( it turns out to be a sequence for a movie ), along with one where 'Jo Fraser' ( the delectable Jane Merrow ) strips down to her underwear to seduce the Commander. Fraser is a spy who poses as a freelance reporter to interview Straker. She leaves her handbag in his office, and goes back to retrieve it. Inside a bugging device has recorded 'Lt.Keith Ford' ( Keith Alexander ) referring to Straker as 'Commander'. It is hardly the beginnings of another Watergate, but Straker - fearing a security leak - is sufficiently worried to hand over command to Freeman while he goes after the girl. Another reviewer has commented on his amazing self-control; the sight of Fraser in her undies would be too much for most men to cope with.

Merrow is great as a Mata Hari type. The British actress later went to the States where she notched up roles in, among other things, 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and 'Mission: Impossible'. It is good to see Straker relaxed and having fun for once. The Alien threat barely registers, apart from a sequence in which three U.F.O's try to reach Earth, only to be fired upon by Interceptors.

There is a lengthy scene near the end where Moonbase is threatened by a runaway Russian mining rig which has gotten out of control. It looks to have been put in as an afterthought.

This is a pretty good episode and it just goes to show you that in this world, there are some very scary people! The show begins with Straker being told my his receptionist that earlier in the day a Miss Fraser had briefly gone into his office to retrieve her handbag. What the ditsy receptionist didn't know is that Fraser is a reporter--and Straker is panicked. When he checks, he discovers that she'd planted a bug in his office--and he begins to worry what she might have overheard. So, much of the show is spent showing Straker as he tracks down this lady--to find out what she knows and what sort of security breach occurred.

Eventually, an odd thing occurs. Straker seems less and less angry at her for her deception and more interested in her as a lady. As they settle in for a VERY, VERY romantic evening, he learns the truth about her--and unfortunately, it would be very hard for most men in this situation to exercise the sort of amazing self-control that Straker uses. See the episode to see what I mean.

In addition to this plot, the command of SHADO is briefly passed on to Alec, since Straker is busy with the wayward reporter. Several incidents come up and Alec seems very, very worried he'll screw up, but he manages to hold down the fort and Straker is never the wiser that Alec felt like he was in way over his head.

Overall, a very good episode but not among the very best. You get to see a relaxed side of Straker you don't often see and it was a bit funny to see Alec in action.

By the way, while I hate that A&E Video has mixed up the order of all the episodes on the DVDs, seeing this episode immediately after "UFO: Confetti Check A-OK (#1.22)" is a major plus, as Straker's vulnerability with women (not evident if you haven't seen 1.22) makes 1.25 a much better...and rather sad episode, as Straker THINKS he might have found a woman he can get serious about, as he doesn't need to worry so much as keeping SHADO a secret from her.