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typingtess · 3 years

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NCIS: Los Angeles Season Twelve Rewatch: “The Bear”

The basics: A Russian plane is down, Nell is back around and Hetty is on the ground (somewhere international one assumes).

Written by: R. Scott Gemmill wrote/cowrote “The Only Easy Day”, “Brimstone”, “Breach”, “LD50”, “Found”, “Borderline”, “Absolution”, “Archangel”, “Tin Soldiers”, “Impostors”, “Cyberthreat”, “Honor”, “The Watchers” and both sides of the NCIS Los: Angeles/Hawaii Five-0 “Touch of Death” episodes, “Recruit”, “Free Ride”, “Wanted”, “Ravens and The Swans”, “Impact”, “War Cries”, both ends of the “Deep Trouble” season five finale/season six premiere, “Inelegant Heart”, “Praesidium”, “Traitor”, “Active Measures” (season seven premiere), “Blame It On Rio”, “Internal Affairs”, “Matryoshka” part one, "Talion" (season seven finale), “High Value Target”/“Belly of the Beast” (season eight premieres), “The Queen’s Gambit”, “Under Siege”, “Unleashed” (season eight finale), “Party Crashers” (season nine’s premiere), “This Is What We Do” (episode 200), “Các Tù Nhân”, “Goodbye Vietnam”, “Ninguna Salida” (the season nine finale), “Hit List”, “Asesinos”, “Till Death Do Us Part”, “Choke Point”, "The Guardian", "Hail Mary", "Kill Beale Vol. 1", "Alsiyadun" and “Fortune Favors the Brave”.

Directed by: Dennis Smith directed “Fame”, “Standoff”, “Rocket Man”, “Cyberthreat”, “Exit Strategy”, “Patriot Acts”, “Out of the Past” part one, “The Livelong Day”, Between the Lines”, “Deep Trouble” part two, “Black Budget", “Black Wind”, “Blame it On Rio”, “Defectors”, “Matryoshka” part one, “Granger, O”, “The Queen’s Gambit”, “Hot Water”, “From Havana With Love”, “Plain Sight”, the lighthearted “Monster”, “Superhuman”, “One of Us”, "Smokescreen” part one, "Decoy", "Mother" (episode 250) and "Alsiyadun".

Guest stars of note: Vyto Ruginis is back as Arkady Kolcheck, Don Wallace also returned as Navy SEAL Senior Chief Frank Wallace. Brian Leigh Smith played one of the Russians – he’s been an extra on the program in the past. New faces were Eugene Prokofiev as Oleg Barinov, Olesya Rulin as Zasha Gagrin, Daniel Kove as Maxim Yurtaev, Lissa Danshaw as Clubber and Brian Leigh Smith as Wingman.

Our heroes: Socially distance their way to finding a Russian plane.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen: Doesn’t want to go to Bakersfield with Sam in two-hours since it is a three-hour ride. Sam: Can make it door to door to Bakersfield in two-hours. Kensi: Very happy to have Nell back, even if it is for a little while. Deeks: The King of Costco. Eric: Become far more eccentric, working on a security robot chimp. Nell: Trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. Fatima: Trolls the UFO websites and found alien sightings in El Segundo. Roundtree: Didn’t know there was an unofficial Russian Consulate in LA. Hetty: Nowhere where she wants to be.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen: Wants Nell to double their expense accounts. Sam: Likes Nell’s management style when it comes to getting helicopters. Kensi: Pays off lost bets to Callen and Sam with counterfeit $20 she gets. Deeks: Reminds Kensi that paying off lost bets with counterfeit $20 is a felony. Eric: Stirring his coffee with Nell’s old Bluetooth earpiece. Nell: Lost her Mom. Fatima: Doesn’t want anyone picking on the new guy. Roundtree: The new guy. Hetty: Sorry Nell lost her Mom.

Who's down with OTP: He’s giving her lawyerly advice while she thinks he’s enough chimp for the office. Nell’s time away from the office has not been a good thing for Eric.

Who's down with BrOTP: Bickering about driving and the case, seems like old times. There is also an “I love you” share post bickering.

Any pressing need for a cranky retired Admiral? With this being Nell’s first day back to the office in months, no need to have anyone lurking around with their own plans.

Who is running the team this week? Nell is drafted into the job.

Fashion review: Callen is wearing a dark blue and yellow plaid button down shirt. In the field, he changes to a medium blue long-sleeve tee and grey khakis. Sam is in a brown long-sleeve tee to start the episode. That becomes a black long-sleeve tee with tan khaki pants and a black baseball cap at the plane site. Kensi is wearing a grey tee-shirt that really looks like something out of an active-leisure wear catalog before wearing a black baseball cap, long-sleeve off-white tee and medium tan khakis near the plane. Deeks starts the episode in a dark red tee-shirt, changes into Artie before wearing a long-sleeve darker teal tee-shirt, a bright blue baseball cap and brownish khakis in the field. Nell is wearing a bright pink dress with black polka dots, puffy sleeves and ruffles that we should never speak of again. Fatima is wearing an off-white tunic, long-sleeve blouse with little gold dots in Ops and tan khakis with a green long-sleeve tee in the field. Roundtree: Black short sleeve button up shirt with grey paisley diamonds – sharp look. In the field, it is a light grey long-sleeve shirt with blue khakis and a white baseball cap. Hetty is in a what looks like desert camouflage gear, including a bulletproof vest. Lots of clothes to open the season.

Music: “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Gregory Stovetop and “Wolf Den” by P.J. O’Connor play in the background in the bar while Kensi and Deeks and questioning Arkady. “Nothing Lasts Forever” winds up being a big of foreshadowing for The Squid and the Dagger.

Any notable cut scene: Not today.

Quote: Arkady: “Oof, this place is dead.” Deeks: “It's, uh, closed, so yeah.” Arkady: “Why is closed?” Kensi: “Why are we closed?” Arkady: “Yeah.” Kensi: “We're closed because most people don't drink at this hour.” Arkady: “We have word for people like them in Russia. Otstayushchiye.” Deeks: “S-Sla-slav-slavaki?” Arkady: “Underachievers. In which case, I am not, so I think I will have ice cold vodka. Uh, none of this well swill you feed to the peasants. Top shelf. Nyet.”

Anything else: A Russian aircraft is involved in a training mission in international airspace but is skirting US airspace. Two American fighter jets chase them off but the plane is suddenly in US airspace. Inside the plane, the Russian pilot is losing consciousness. As he is out cold, the plane starts falling from the sky. The US aircraft lose the ability to track the Russian plane.

Nell walks into an empty office, calling out for Hetty. Nell got a text from Hetty asking her to come in. Once in Hetty’s office area, Nell ignores that Hetty’s phone is ringing. The video monitor pops on – it’s Hetty in camo gear in what looks like a military situation. While a little peevish that Nell did not answer the phone, Hetty offers Nell her sincere condolences about the death of Nell’s mother. Nell looks crushed but is grateful for the support.

Hetty isn’t just offering condolences, she needs a favor. With a Russian plane down off the coast of California, the team needs Nell to run point on the case. Nell brings up the fact that she no longer works for NCIS but Hetty’s being bombed – literally – so the call is over. The phone rings again – Nell answers “NCIS: Los Angeles.”

At the bar, Kensi and Deeks are cleaning up. Deeks is complaining about a bad $20 bill they were passed by a customer. Kensi is fine with fake money – she uses it to pay off lost wagers to Callen and Sam. Lawyer Deeks reminds Kensi that is a felony. Nell calls – Kensi and Deeks are excited to hear from her. They are called into headquarters because of the missing Russian plane is a strategic bomber.

Fatima does a rundown on the plane for Callen and Sam. The plane is a Tupolev TU-95 with a 15,000 kilometer (9,320 miles) flight range. It is nicknamed “The Bear”. The Russians use it to buzz the coast lines from Alaska to California according to Sam. The plane can hold up to 33,000 tons of missiles, including nuclear warheads.

No word from either Moscow or Washington DC about the missing plane. Fatima bring up that Nell is waiting for word from the SecNav, surprising both Callen and Sam. When Fatima explains how Nell was brought in, both Callen and Sam are once again surprised – this time by Hetty’s disappearance. Fatima has no idea what’s going on. The Navy is arranging for someone to talk to Callen and Sam about the plane, causing Fatima to be worried the US shot the plane down. “I sure as hell hope not,” is about as much reassurance as Sam can offer since it would be an act of war.

Senior Chief/Navy SEAL Frank Wallace gives Callen and Sam the update. The SEALs will be involved if the plane hit the ocean – the Russians will do whatever they can to get the plane back, the SEALs want to get there first. The US can take any useful intelligence aboard the plane as well as secure whatever weapons are there – including possible nukes. There is a hope the Russians would tell the US if there were nukes on the plane but there are no guarantees. While the Russians getting their nukes back wouldn’t be so bad, other countries without nuclear weapons could go looking for the plane as well.

The Navy thinks the plane, in theory, could still be flying since they would still have enough fuel. Sam disagrees – NORAD or the Air Force would have found them. Wallace agrees but the Navy wants to make sure. If the plane crashes into a residential neighborhood or a major downtown area, “the results would be catastrophic.”

Callen asks what is the worst case scenario. It is a nuclear attack with just one plane. The US along with allies like the UK, Japan, Germany and even China would step in to threaten Russia. Russia would blame the attack on a rogue faction inside their military and pay billions in restitution to the US and the victims of the attack. But the US would be weakened and badly damaged economically. Russia and China could form an alliance that would be financially greater than what the damaged US and its allies have. Russia and China get to flourish while the US struggles. Callen thinks the scenario is a bit far-fetched. Sam does not.

What the team has going for it now is “The Bear” is a huge plane – loud. It couldn’t just fly over a small neighborhood or a downtown area without attracting a ton of attention.

Struggling with her bluetooth device, Nell is trying to contact the SecNav. Deeks remembers Eric stirring his coffee with the device. Nell asks about Eric, who is on vacation in Tokyo at a trade show. While his time with the San Francisco bogus company in the prior year was a set-up, the technology Eric was working on was quite real. While Nell is worried Eric was working on his robotic security chimp, Deeks thinks dozens of them running around the office would be fun. Kensi is happy with the one chimp they have on the team. Nell is so sorry Kensi is.

Roundtree joins Kensi, Deeks and Nell in the bullpen. Nell greets him as “FBI Agent Roundtree” but he’s NCIS Agent Roundtree now. He’s also going to the unofficial Russian Consulate to see who is around. Roundtree is surprised Nell is giving orders as she walks away but Kensi and Deeks bring him up to speed. Kensi follows Nell while Deeks sets up Roundtree do to some surveillance.

Kensi hangs out in Hetty’s office as Nell orders around an undersecretary. Kensi and Nell share “I miss yous” and Kensi offers her condolences over Nell’s Mom. Kensi really wants to know how Nell is doing and while Nell is OK, “mostly”, she is trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. Kensi wants that kind of info too but Nell is sure Kensi is right where she’s supposed to be. Kensi is so happy to have Nell back, even for a little while. Hetty’s phone rings and Nell is back to work.

Callen is not 100% sure the plane even exists. The Russians could have spoofed US radar technology and can make it look like there are planes where no planes exist. Sam thinks that would explain the recent rash of UFO sightings but US pilots. Or the Russian plane could have flown under US radar and is back home. The Russians are sitting around watching the US conduct a wild goose chase.

With the plane being so big and so loud, if it was anywhere, people would have seen/heard it. Sam disagrees – the plane could have landed at night with one functional engine, not the usual four without attracting a ton of attention. If birds hit the engine, the pilot could glide and do a dead-stick landing. The last place the plane was seen was a foggy, largely uninhabited area.

In the bullpen, Kensi share’s Callen and Sam’s idea with Deeks. The Russians, if they had to land, would blow up the plane immediately and say it crashed. By the time anyone got to the plane, nothing of value would be left. The US and Russians wouldn’t have a big problem over this – nobody was hurt, nobody “stole” anyone secrets. Deeks think local flight clubs, pilots or ham radio operators may know about the plane’s whereabouts.

Looking for possible landing spots, Fatima finds a number of abandoned runways, long desert roads that could be used as runways, even salt flats that would work for landing a plane. These areas would all allow the Russian plane to land without causing an uproar. Fatima tells Callen and Sam she didn’t find any official notice about a plane landing but checking out some UFO websites and social media, a low flying aircraft was seen flying over the Los Padres National Forest, about 42-miles west of Bakersfield.

Knowing the area and with the surrounding mountain ranges, Sam thinks it is possible radar would miss the plane. He wants to check the area out. Callen wants someone to check the area out – not them. It is a three-hour ride. Sam thinks it’s more two-hours and that concerns Callen. It doesn’t concern an arriving Nell who has the two in a helicopter for a less than one-hour ride to Bakersfield. Sam is impressed. Callen takes a shot and tries to get their expense accounts doubled. Nell passes on that.

From the helicopter, neither Callen or Sam see the plane. Callen asks what are the chances the plane is flying over the country. Sam thinks zero – every agency is looking for the plane, the US is on high alert. While Callen thinks the Russians crashed the plane to keep it out of US hands, Sam wonders if the plane is full of malware so when US agencies start to work on it, the Russians will have a backdoor into those agencies – “a Trojan Horse.” He thinks the same of the Russians on the plane – they could be brought to sell their untrue story of Russia. Finally, the could have landed and unloaded the weapons to sell for terrorists. Nothing here is good.

Back at the bar, Kensi and Deeks meet with a crew-cut wearing Arkady. He is training for a triathlon. Kensi wonders if his events are “drinking, gambling and smoking.” She laughs at her own joke. He explains he has no hair on his body – something Kensi did not need to know – to prevent wind and water resistance.

Arkady wants to know why nobody is in the bar. It is early in the morning – the bar wouldn’t be open yet. Arkady thinks people who don’t drink in the morning are underachievers – he is not an underachiever, he wants “wodka.” And the good stuff, not the stuff they serve the “peasants”. Arkady goes to town on the “wodka” before making some calls.

Outside the unofficial Russian Consulate in the food truck, Roundtree sees a young woman entering with an SUV full of items. He’s enjoying life in the food truck but thinks it sticks out in the rather toney neighborhood. Fatima explains that the Russians know the US knows about the unofficial Consulate and they also know folks are watching. Everyone is playing along to keep up diplomatic appearances.

Arkady is working his own bluetooth device while he’s pounding “wodka” and playing pool. Kensi has had enough. When Arkady accuses her of being mean, Kensi promises to show him what mean really is. He’s not interested. Instead, he provides the name of an SVR (Russian Intelligence) Agent who they should talk to – a young woman with a shopping addiction. She may help if offered a donation for “the children of Krasnogorodsky”. Deeks wants to know why they’re bringing John Krasinski’s children into the mess. “Krasnogorodsky” is a code – she’ll work with them if she hears it. Arkady is off to work with his trainer – it is why he only drank three-quarters of the “wodka” – he’s in “beast-mode”. “He’s going to out live us all,” Deeks says.

Fatima ID’s the woman at the unofficial Consulate as Zasha Gagrin. Her official cover is as student and daughter of a Russian businessman. Fatima wants Roundtree to follow Gagrin from the Consulate, which may not be easy in the food truck. Fatima recommends an Uber.

Just as Callen and Sam are about to call it a day, Sam sees the plane in the middle of a field. Callen is surprised. Landing a distance from the plane, Callen and Sam come up from the rear. Unless the weapons were already unloaded, plane looks like it just landed there without incident. Callen and Sam are seen by the plane’s crew. While Callen and Sam try to be friendly, the Russians get back in the plane. One is in the tail gunners spot and starts shooting at Callen and Sam. They take cover under the plane.

Fatima sends Callen and Sam schematics of the plane with the self-destruct levers and their location. With no plan, Sam sees some footprints moving away from the plane. He is going to chase the footprints. Callen doesn’t think that’s really a plan. With Sam gone, Callen introduces himself in Russian to the remaining members of the crew. They are not interested in Callen’s friendly hello or his offer for medical assistance.

With Artie, Homeless Deeks is making his way down a street with an outdoor café. Sitting outside is Zasha Gagrin, looking at her phone. In her SUV, Kensi is looking at Zasha looking at her phone. Deeks does his homeless act, showing Zasha the money, mentioning the children of Krasnogorodsky and asking about the plane. If Zasha has any answers, Deeks will be waiting around the corner with the backpack. Roundtree is two tables away, somewhat entertained. Kensi is opening laughing as Deeks starts panhandling Roundtree. He even drinks Roundtree’s coffee. Hazelnut – and Deeks is not impressed.

Sam returns – four sets of footprints going northwest means some of the Russians could have gone to Highway 166. Nell updates Callen and Sam on what’s going on in LA. Sam wants to go after the Russians near the highway, Callen wants to keep negotiating with the guys in the plane. Sam wants Nell to decide but she’s barely back after months away. Callen takes the pressure off Nell who decides to keep Callen negotiating and Sam tracking.

Sam looks at the plane – there is no way they can take off again, the nose gear is damaged. Nell is working on the names and backgrounds of the pilot and the crew to give Callen something to use in negotiations. She’s also sending the others to meet Sam as he tracks the fleeing crew members. After a few minutes of being the Bickersons, Callen and Sam share “I love yous” – OK – and continue their assignments.

Zasha offers Deeks a muffin in a white paper bag. Inside the bag is all the info the team needs. Deeks takes the paper bag, Zasha takes the backpack of money.

Callen drops his big gun and hides his handgun in his pants. Trying to get into the plane, Callen is shot at for his trouble. In the forest, Sam finds a shell from an AK47. Nell has great news – Zasha’s info was the crew of the plane. At least she hopes it is the crew of the plane – Nell dropped a lot of money getting the names. Callen is sure Hetty won’t fire Nell on her first day back. Nell is more worried about Hetty killing her.

With Nell sending Callen a text with the crew’s names, he calls up to the plane’s captain by name as well as some of the crew members. The Captain signals for his crew to be quiet. While Callen just wants to talk, the Captain starts the self-destruct sequence.

Tracking the other crew members, Sam finds some broken branches and two more cartridge cases – these are from a handgun and not an AK-47. Sam wonders if the crew members were shooting at each other. Callen wonders if one member of the crew is willing to defect and the others were shooting at him.

Nell’s latest text to Callen includes the name of the Captain’s son. Callen is able to use that to get into the plane. The inside of the plane is very warm. Callen offers the two men on the plane a chance to get off the plane – he sees the self-destruct sequence has started. While the Captain is talking to Callen in English, Callen starts speaking to the other crew member in Russian. He is trying to get them all safely off the plane – a plane so old Callen believes is it a museum piece.

Kensi, Deeks, Fatima and Roundtree are helicoptered in near Sam’s location with other teams in the area. Sam tells them there are four men shooting at each other. Sam comes across one man with an AK-47 shooting at the other three crew members.

Callen asks the Captain why are his men shooting at each other. As best the Captain can remember, the were flying and he lost consciousness. He woke up with the plane in the field. Callen guesses a crew member tampered with the plane’s oxygen system.

Sam tries to get the Russians from shooting at each other. Several of the Russians turn their attention to Sam, causing the Russian with the AK-47 to run.

Nell contacts the team with a new problem. The SEALs and other military teams are about the swarm the plane. Callen warns the Captain that the military is coming. The Captain moves again to the self-destruct panel.

Kensi and Deeks neutralize the men shooting at Sam. Roundtree runs after the guy with the AK-47. The Russian puts down his big gun but pulls out his sidearm. Before he can fire at Roundtree, Fatima hits him with the butt of her gun, warning the Russian not to mess with the new guy.

As Deeks is joking with the Russians about it being their first time in California, there is a big explosion a few miles away. Sam calls to Callen as he runs to the explosion. Callen gets the pilot and remaining pilot off the plane at the cost of the plane. Winds up, this really was a training mission and the only weapon on the plane was the tail gun. Callen is taking his two Russian charges for fish tacos.

At the end of the episode, there is a dedication card for David Bellisario, one of the show’s producers who died of brain cancer in July of 2020 after a 15-month battle with the disease. He was 63, the son of legendary producer Donald Bellisario who created both the mothership and the mothership’s mothership.

What head canon can be formed from here: I guess we can have head canon about the new team members but at this has long been thoughts about the episode/season. And this season will be “marked on a curve” because of the pandemic. Much of the enjoyment of the program over the years was the work of the team together. Whole team scenes in Ops or around the screen behind Deeks’s desk in the bullpen, the team in the field working a case didn’t happen as much this season. Siloing the storylines in case of a COVID outbreak makes perfect production sense. So this was a fine season premiere – Nell is back, Hetty’s absences is explained and the Russian theme to the season is introduced.

Episode number: With the truncated season 11, the easy multiply season by 24 math disappears. This is the 263rd episode overall, the premiere of season 12.

#NCIS: Los Angeles Rewatch #NCIS: Los Angeles #NCIS: LA #NCIS Los Angeles #ncis la

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xtruss · 2 years

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Yuri Gagarin: The Spaceman Who Came In From The Cold

Yuri Gagarin belied the West's austere impression of the Soviet Union – a charming, easygoing Russian with a ready smile. The first man in space became a powerful propaganda tool.

— By Stephen Dowling | 12th April 2021

It was the smile that clinched it.

The first cadre of Soviet space explorers gathered together numbered 20. Among them were Gherman Titov, still the youngest person to fly in space (aged 26), and Alexei Leonov, the first person to venture out of the safety of a capsule to conduct a spacewalk.

But these pioneers still followed in the footsteps of another.

The cosmonaut who would become the first man in orbit needed to be a calm and confident pilot, someone able to function on a mission no person had ever encountered without going to pieces. But there was more to this selection process than pure technical skill.

Yuri Gagarin's smile, it's been said, could melt the stoniest heart, and not even those at the highest echelons of Soviet power were immune. When Sergei Korolev – the USSR's chief rocket designer – first met the cadre of pioneering cosmonauts, he spent most of that first meeting chatting to the charismatic Gagarin. Korolev would later call him his "little eagle".

Gagarin's historic mission in Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961 lasted one hour and 48 minutes – far less than the average multiplex movie. The 5ft 2in (155cm) fighter pilot and former foundry worker – his short stature perfect for the cramped interior of the Vostok capsule, it turned out – blasted into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (now in Kazakhstan) with a delightfully informal quip into his earpiece: "Let's roll!" Less than two hours later, his re-entry capsule landed on the ground near the city of Engels in Western Russia, with Gagarin himself landing by parachute minutes later.

A farmer and her granddaughter, who had seen the round capsule fall heavily to Earth, were greeted by the site of a strange, silver-suited figure. "I told them, don't be afraid, I am a Soviet like you, who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow!" Gagarin later wrote in his log book. In a few short weeks, the cosmonaut's face would become one of the most recognisable in the world.

Yuri Gagarin had become the first human to conquer space. The politburo had another mission for him – to conquer the world.

The Soviet Union's leadership knew that should the maiden mission be successful, the first human in space would become a face recognised around the world. The first cosmonaut would become a weapon of soft power.

Gagrin's dazzling smile helped make him one of the most recognisable people on the planet (Credit: Gamma Keystone/Getty Images)

The Soviets kept quiet about Gagarin's mission until he had returned safely to Earth – and then broadcast the news far and wide via the state news agency Tass. The reports sent shockwaves around the world, not least in the US, which had been trying to beat the Russians to the first manned flight. "About 4am, telephones began buzzing up and down the east coast of the United States as reporters demanded responses from Nasa officials to the Tass dispatch," Nasa wrote in a report on Gagarin’s mission. "John A 'Shorty' Powers half-consciously replied to his first inquisitor, 'We're all asleep down here'." One widely celebrated US newspaper headline later that day reads: "Soviets put man in space: Spokesman says US asleep."

At this stage, Gagarin was just a name, a previously unknown Soviet air force pilot now being trumpeted as the first space explorer. On 14 April, two days after he returns to Earth, the USSR unveils the cosmonaut to the world at a giant gathering in Moscow's Red Square after a 12-mile (10km) parade through the city. Millions of Soviet citizens attend.

There are crowds wherever he goes to meet him, even in the UK, which is very firmly in the US camp – Tom Ellis

"[Soviet leader] Nikita Khrushchev said before: 'It's not going to be stage-managed, this is going to be spontaneous'," says Tom Ellis, a professor of Cold War history at the London School of Economics. "And the gathering is spontaneous, there's this amazing footage of labourers and students all dancing together." It's thought the celebrations to mark Gagarin's return are the biggest since the end of the war in Europe, 16 years before.

Gagarin's charisma and easy smile are quickly evident. There are invitations for the first cosmonaut to visit from across the globe. "There are crowds wherever he goes to meet him, even in the UK, which is very firmly in the US camp," says Ellis. "It's very difficult for us now to understand the interest. People just wanted to get a glimpse of him."

Gagarin's humble roots are a godsend for the Soviet propaganda industry. Born to peasant farmers in a small village near the western Russian city of Smolensk, Gagarin's village was invaded by the Germans when he was only seven years old; his family are evicted from their home and have to spend the next 21 months living in a mud hut. Yuri sabotages German equipment and is lucky to survive the war, though he spends several months in a hospital. He's a gifted student – especially in engineering and maths – but is no bookish wallflower – he's equally good at sports, and works in a foundry while studying. Later, after graduating as a military pilot, he flies MiG fighter jets in the far north of Russia, near the Finnish border. Out of hundreds of applicants, he is one of the first 20 chosen as the USSR’s first batch of cosmonauts.

Gagarin's achievement is remembered through statues like this one in Moscow (Credit: Joel Sagat/AFP/Getty Images)

Gagarin's visit to the UK, three months after his historic flight, is initially a cautious affair. The US-aligned United Kingdom steps carefully around the politics, refusing to make it a state visit, even though Gagarin is accompanied by an official delegation. The UK authorities are perhaps taken aback by the excitement. A foundry workers' union – in honour of Gagarin's former occupation – invite the cosmonaut to Manchester, and Gagarin accepts, extending his stay. "There's quite a famous moment when he's appearing in Manchester, and he stays in an open-top car even though it's raining, because, he says, 'The people have come to see me.'"

Gagarin's world tour comes at a delicate time in East-West relations. It is only a few months before the building of the Berlin Wall. His flight takes place only a few days before the abortive US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba; the Cuba Missile Crisis a year later will bring the world closer to a nuclear confrontation than ever before. Amid such tension, Gagarin's visit is a rare moment of celebration, and possibly a way of building detente. "One of the other people who was working with him said, 'That person who asks for an autograph and gets a moment with him, will come back and show all their friends and family, and start reading more about the space programme,'" says Ellis.

In the UK, Gagarin's popularity took the establishment by surprise

"When he came here to England, he was seen as a superhero," says Gurbir Singh, a space journalist who has written a book about Gagarin's visit to the UK. "He had experienced something no one else had experienced. Apart from the speed and altitude records he achieved… he'd also experienced a realm – space, micro-gravity, weightlessness – something no one had ever experienced, and for a few months, no one else would experience."

In 1957, the launch of Sputnik 1 had sent a spasm of panic around Western nations, who saw it as proof of the USSR's ballistic missile arsenal. But Sputnik never survived its historic mission, Gurbir says, burning up in the atmosphere some three months later. "Gagarin was a person, a human being, a very delightful character… he came across as a very warm and engaging individual. And that smile! Everybody I spoke to remembered that."

Gagarin's iconic presence did not die with the fall of the Soviet Union (Credit: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images)

In the UK, Gagarin's popularity took the establishment by surprise. "He certainly met the prime minister MacMillan and the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and neither of those two things were on the cards at the time he arranged to come. It was very confusing for the British government, to on the one hand recognise the technological achievement. And it was a huge technological achievement – and the bravery of this individual… it was a very high-risk adventure." Gagarin, it emerged later, was lucky to survive the mission – not because of problems in space, but because his re-entry module had failed to disengage properly from the orbital module. The cables failed to cut correctly and the two craft spun violently until the wires gave way. Only after that was Gagarin able to eject from the module and make it safely back down to Earth. "So when he did come over, everybody in the West acknowledged that this was a huge achievement for the Soviet Union."

This glorification of Gagarin's humble roots goes deeper than a simple East-vs-West battle of wills

"It put the senior politicians here in the UK in a very awkward position. One the one hand they did want to acknowledge the huge achievement for the Soviet Union, but on the other hand they didn't want to upset the allies across the Atlantic. At that time the American space programme was struggling to catch up. In the end there was a compromise, the invitation for Gagarin to visit the UK didn't come from the British government, it came from various places – including the mayor of Newcastle." An exhibition promoting the Soviet Union, which started the day before Gagarin arrived, was another convenient peg on which to hang his visit.

Though by this time Gagarin had already visited Prague in then-Czechoslovakia and the Finnish capital Helsinki, Singh says the London visit was the pinnacle because "it was the heart of the capitalist West".

Gagarin's popularity took the British government by surprise, and audiences with the prime minister and the Queen were hastily arranged (Credit: Hoxton/Getty Images)

The ever-smiling Gagarin was, Ellis says, "a much more appealing face for communism. Gagarin is a really charismatic figure. He embodies the Soviet Union and the journey it's going through. He's had a childhood interrupted by the war… he's come from a collective farm to the stars in just 27 years. It's kind of what the Soviet Union has done, too." When his parents attend his parade in Red Square, they are told to dress simply – further strengthening the "carpenter to cosmonaut" ideal the Soviet top brass wishes to present.

This glorification of Gagarin's humble roots goes deeper than a simple East-vs-West battle of wills, says Ellis. The early 1960s is a period of enormous global change, with many former colonies finally gaining their independence. Ellis says the exploits of Gagarin – and wider Soviet accomplishments – are a "model of development" for many new nations. "The Soviets are essentially saying to them, 'Look, we've been through the same things that you have, we were technologically backward, and we've managed to forge ahead and get to space in a short amount of time.'" The garrulous, ever-smiling Gagarin was the easygoing public face of something more imposing – a giant technical/industrial base able to design and build a rocket to send a human into space.

Gagarin's tour included a stop off at the United Nations in New York (technically he did not set foot on US soil because he was taken from the airport to the UN by helicopter) but also visited some newly independent nations, like India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

When he died, it all started to go wrong for the Soviet Union – Tom Ellis

Unlike most of his contemporary cosmonauts – such as Alexei Leonov, who passed away in 2019 aged 85 – Gagarin is frozen in time. The statues and paintings, like the young cosmonaut himself, never age. After his world tour, Gagarin became deputy director of the new Cosmonaut Training Centre. Sudden fame and the pressure of his diplomatic duties put strain on his marriage; there were rumours of a drink problem and infidelities, including one where Gagarin leapt out of a window after being caught by his wife in bed with another woman.

Gagarin then focused on getting fit enough for a return to space. The first cosmonaut was reserve pilot for the first Soyuz mission in April 1967; this mission ended in tragedy, killing Gagarin's friend Vladimir Komarov. Soviet authorities banned him from space travel, though Gagarin still insisted on logging enough flight hours on jet aircraft to remain a credible instructor. It was on one of these flights, in March 1968, that Gagarin died. In an incident still mired in conspiracy and controversy, Gagarin's MiG-15 trainer crashed in woodland just outside Moscow. he was only 34.

Gagarin's feat ensured that huge crowds greeted everywhere on his world tour (Credit: Daily Herald/Getty Images)

"When he died, it all started to go wrong for the Soviet Union," says Ellis. "Korolev dies. You have the Americans surging ahead with the Saturn 5 rocket [which eventually takes them to the Moon]. They know they're in trouble. "Gagarin's status survives the Soviet space programme being eclipsed by the Americans. "He's enshrined as a hero," says Ellis. "When Neil Armstrong visits the Soviet Union, he is mobbed by crowds who are really pleased to see him. Nasa thought that it's maybe because Armstrong looks a little like Gagarin."

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