Countdown: UFO (1971) Part Two - The Picture Strip: Part Three

Too Old At 32:

Part I: Issue 7: 03 April 1971.

Captain Frank Harris is going through Interceptor Simulation tests but at 32 he is the most experienced and oldest of the pilots and only just passes. Alec Freeman thinks Straker maybe on the verge of dismissing him but the Commander simply wants him watched. Returning to Moonbase, a real UFO is sighted and the Interceptors launched, but Harris is concerned he may slip up - ending his career.

Part 2: Issue 8: 10 April 1971.

Interceptors 1 & 2 fire but the mechanism of Harris' craft jams, for which he is sure he will be blamed. Trying again, Harris manages to cripple the UFO but it still carries out its mission - to cripple SID. Contact with Moonbase is lost briefly until emergency links are established. Meanwhile, Harris has spotted a second UFO landing on the moon and followed it down in the hope of making amends, but in the shadows an Alien spots him and opens fire!.....

Part 3: Issue 9: 17 April 1971.

While repair crews tend to SID, Straker & Foster have taken a ferry to Moonbase to investigate and find Harris is missing, presumed dead. Foster leads a search in two Moon Mobiles to the area where a dazed Harris recovers consciousness. Seeing the abandoned UFO, Harris lifts off again but has to make a forced landing when the fuel runs out. Alone & injured, he struggles over the Lunar landscape to try and warn Moonbase. Elsewhere, on the surface, the Alien has placed homing beacons that will signal the position of Moonbase for an attack.....

Part 4: Issue 10: 24 April 1971.

Harris collapses but is found by Foster who returns him to Moonbase. The Pilot struggles to warn them of the Alien and taking no chances, Straker launches the Interceptors which destroy the departing UFO. But too late, an Alien missile is already in flight and strikes at Moonbase. With SID still out of action the Base is now a sitting duck!.....

Part 5: Issue 11: 01 May 1971.

Straker launches the Interceptors using manual radar in the hope of preventing further missiles getting through, but they fight a losing battle. At the last moment, SID is repaired and able to trace the Alien location devices, allowing Foster to destroy them. The last missiles veer off course and the danger is over. Recovering, Harris is told he will be returning to Earth. His reflexes may be slower but he kept his head. SHADO would be better served with his experience at HQ, where he will be promoted to Colonel.....