“The Man Who Came Back” is episode sixteen of season one of UFO.
Ship 534 is heading back and the pilot, Col. Collins, is flirting with Col. Lake. Starker wants to speak to Collins when he returns, when there’s a fire in the ship’s cabin and SID reports three UFOs incoming. Interceptors are launched and one UFO heads towards SID. An Interceptor is sent after the UFO, which is destroyed but not before SID is damaged.
Straker arrives at his office and asks Miss Holland why the Collins file hasn’t been transferred to the morgue as is procedure. She hasn’t given up hope. Straker tells her that Collins is one of his closest friends, but the file still needs transferring. And Collins is promptly found.
Straker meets with Col. Grey as Collins is heading in. It sounds like Grey and Collins have issues, but Collins knows more about SID’s brains than anyone so needs to be in on the mission to fix it. Collins enters; he says his ship came in over the sea and he swam to shore. When Grey leaves, Straker apologises to Collins for what happened.
Afterwards, Collins tells Grey he’s heading to MoonBase immediately. He’s got stuff to do up there, and unfinished business. Which seems to be Col. Lake, who he meets with Foster. Once Foster has gone. Collins kisses her, but he’s overly aggressive.
Collins heads to see Grey, as he’s asked for a two-man mission to fix SID. And he wants Foster as his partner. Grey agrees. Then goes to speak to Lake. The computer ran analysis of her with Collins, and her with Foster, with no problems. But all three is a problem. Lake tells him it’s two. Collins is gone. For personal reasons.
Collins and Foster are sparring and going over stuff needed for the repair as Grey watches. Afterwards, Collins heads to the rec sphere. After seeing Lake and Foster together, he suggests a game of chess with Grey. He’s never beaten Grey before. But this time he wins.
Grey speaks to Lake again; she never said she hated Collins. He watched how she looked at him. Collins is on a vital mission, so she needs to tell him anything she knows. Lake tells him Collins has changed. Grey reports his misgivings to Straker, but all the doctors have given Collins a clean bill of health. However, Grey is right to be concerned. Something is wrong with Collins.