Some photos from the tour, guest talks and model display.
SHADO JEEP:
The event had a very special appearance of an original SHADO Jeep, a prop first seen in the film, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.
The has been meticulously restored by James Winch, who managed to rescue it from a scrap yard in Tenerife, had it shipped back to England, and spent a fortune putting it back on the road. It now has a full M.O.T., and James used it to drive down to the event. Attendees were able to try it out for size and enjoy rides round the car park in it.
Yours truly in the driving seat. The gull- wing doors, once unlocked can easily be removed as each are attached by a single metal rod.
Front visibility is pretty good, although I’m not sure I’d rely on that single wiper blade in heavy rain. Rear visibility is limited as there’s just a rear view mirror, and no side or wing mirrors.
The Jeep does have a large rear window.
FILMING LOCATIONS:
Unsurprisingly, due to the passage of time most of the filming locations are gone or unrecognisable (Neptune House in Elstree aka to UFO fans as the Harlington – Straker building was in the process of being demolished at the time of writing)
However, one or two filming locations can still be found, although I should add some are now private residences are not generally accessible.
The Double Lodge at Pinewood Studios. This was used as a main entrance to Harlington Straker Studios.
Black Park and Black Park Lake in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. The Park was used several times in UFO, and also in Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s following sci-fi series Space: 1999.
The Church of St Mary The Virgin, Church Hill, Harefield. This was seen in UFO episode, The Square Triangle. In the episode, Liz Newton is attending a grave (which uses prop gravestone) presumably of her dead husband The location had been used previously in Gerry & Sylvia Anderson’s puppet series, Joe 90 during the episode, The Unorthodox Shepherd.
A sneaky look at The Coach House, Iver Heath. This private residence has a major facelift over the years, as it was a dilapidated barn in the UFO episode, The Long Sleep.
This canal bridge in Benbow Waye, Uxbridge was also a location used in The Long Sleep. For the more pedantic it’s bridge number 189 apparently.
York House School, Rickmansworth. A location used in the episode, Ordeal.
Wexham Park Hospital, Slough. A location used in the UFO episode, The Long Sleep, and in the Secret Service, episode, School For Spies.
Marlyn Cottage, Ley Hill, Chesham, which was used in A Question of Priorities.
This location featured a special guest, Suzanne Neve, who played Mary Rutland, ex wife of Ed Straker, and mother of John Straker (Rutland)
Here’s a photo of Suzanne, along with on the left, the man behind the event and main organiser, Andrew Staton, and his assistants Gary Whittaker, and on the far right, Glenn Hobster
THE SPECIAL GUESTS:
The event’s special guests were Keith Alexander Buckley, who played SHADO Operative Lt. Keith Ford, Ayshea Brough, who played Lt. Ayshea Johnson, and puppeteer, Mary Turner, who worked on many of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson’s puppet series, and sculptured the heads of several of the puppets including Joe 90, and Lady Penelope.
Mary brought her original Lady Penelope and Joe 90 puppets.
At the end of her presentation Mary was given a plaque from Fanderson recognizing her work as a sculptor, puppeteer and director , and giving her an Honorary membership to the Gerry & Sylvia Anderson fan club.
Keith Alexander Buckley was the main focus of the event, and talked about his career on TV and radio, both here in the UK, and Australia.
Keith was also awarded an honorary membership from Fanderson , recognising his work as an actor, voice artist and writer.
Ayshea was the second guest who appeared in UFO.
Apart from her regular appearance in UFO, Ayshea talked about her time on the seventies pop show, Lift-Off , and her recording career.
Keith and Ayshea sharing the spotlight.
Keith suggested he and Ayshea did a little party piece based on the song ,’ I remember it well’, which featured in the 1958 film, Gigi .
“We met at nine” “We met at eight”
“Ah yes, I remember it well. You wore a gown of gold” “i was all in blue”
“Am I getting old?” “Oh no, not you…”
“Ah, yes, I remember it well!”
MODELS AND PROPS:
There was a small selection of original UFO props and excellent scratch-built model replicas, courtesy of James Winch, Pete Hutton, Paul Gray and Mammas Pitsillis.
Original prop of smaller SHADO Interceptor (James Winch)
Original prop of a Harlington Straker artic rig. (James Winch)
Original Ambulance prop (James Winch)
The underside of the Ambulance prop
Original Hover Truck prop (James Winch)
Original SID 2 prop (James Winch)
Radio controlled SHADO Mobile (Mammas Pitsillis)
Replica Harlington Straker truck (Mammas Pitsillis)
Large Skydiver (Mammas Pitsillis)
Large SHADO Moonmobile (Pete Hutton)
Tracking station (Paul Gray)
BI42 Tracking probe (Paul Gray)
SHADO Moonbase ground defence tank. (Paul Gray)
Original UFO prop used for long shots. (James Winch)
Resin Alien (James Winch)
An unused Fire Truck prop from ‘Journey to the Far Side of the Sun’ (James Winch)
One side was not intended to face the camera as it has no detailing (James Winch)
Some photos of other models on display seen in Thunderbirds and Joe 90
Large Thunderbird 3 (Pete Hutton)
Thunderbird 1 (Pete Hutton)
Explosives Truck (Paul Gray)
PUPPET DISPLAY:
Although puppets don’t feature in UFO, it’s hard to get away from them at an Anderson event, and consequently there was a small display of replica puppet figures in the dealers room provided by Vaughan Herriott.
The cast of Stingray.
Steve Zodiac with lip sync and movable eyes.
A large scale Captain Scarlet figure.
B.I.S.H.O.P. agent Matthew Harding’s Secret Service case.
Vaughan presenting Keith with a Sam Loover replica puppet. Keith voiced Sam in the Joe 90 series.
FILE UNDER MISCELLANEOUS:
Fans gather at Marlyn Cottage.
Manu San holding the original Interceptor prop.
Fans gather in Black Park.
FINAL WORD:
Lots of things for the UFO fan to enjoy. I didn’t get chance to see everything , and did miss out on Ayshea talking about her Lift – Off days, and Keith revisiting Topo Gigio, but overall it was great fun, and as these kind of events are fast becoming a thing of the past (pun intended) I really do appreciate the efforts that Andrew Staton and his small team managed to achieve.
Time for a quick spin! Stay tuned for UFO Location tour part 2 focusing on Borehamwood which will take place next May 29th, 2026