UFO (TV series)
Following poor ratings for "Joe 90" (1968–69) and the cancellation of children's espionage television series "The Secret Service" (1969) after only one series, Lew Grade approached Gerry Anderson to look into creating his first live-action TV series. Anderson worked with his wife, Sylvia, and producer Reg Hill to create a sci-fi adventure series based around UFOs. Anderson said the core idea for the series was that UFO sightings were a common issue during the late 1960s and that idea of aliens harvesting human organs came from the work of Christian Barnard and his pioneering transplant operations. The creative team initially envisioned an organisation called UFoeDO (Unidentified Foe Defence Organisation), which was to become the secret SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation).
UFO (TV series)
Many of the props and actors that had appeared in the Anderson-produced 1969 movie "Doppelgänger" were utilised in the series. The creators looked ten years ahead and placed the series in a kitsch 1980 future. Sylvia Anderson also designed the costumes for the show, including the Moonbase uniforms and purple wigs that female staff wore; the wigs were to become a major reference point for the series.