AaronCapenBanner A Quinn Martin production, just like "The Fugitive", which this series resembles in how, just like Richard Kimble, David Vincent(played wonderfully in refreshing, ultra-serious fashion by Roy Thinnes) crisscrossed the country in pursuit of his goal, in this case to prove that insidious alien invaders have infiltrated many areas of society and government in a patient but relentless plan to conquer Earth.No matter how many aliens David killed, there always seemed to be more to replace them, so the stakes for our hero are far higher than they were for Richard Kimble. David Vincent never gives up his pursuit, since he will go anywhere, do nearly anything to stop them, and persuade a disbelieving public and authorities of the invasion, since these aliens appear and sound just like us, though that was a deception.As compelling as "The Fugitive", except this series was sadly canceled before it reached a proper conclusion, which makes it in some ways like "The Incredible Hulk" as much as that series resembled "The Fugitive".Stylish, smart Sci-Fi that isn't aired much, though is at least available on DVD.

qormi The acting was good; the weekly plots banal. Th aliens are supposed to blend into the population disguised as humans...except for a little quirk where their pinky finger sticks out. Maybe if they held a teacup all the time, nobody would notice. Every week, the same thing...the aliens know who David Vincent is. They know that he's on to them. They know that of the 4 billion people on the planet, he poses their greatest threat. So..week after week, they rough him up, they capture him and let him get away, they play tricks on him....I know...why don't they just kill him? Every week, they kill one of Vincent's associates...they put them in a car and roll it down a hill, they electrocute them with a sort of taser, they even zap them. But not David Vincent. So...zero credibility....Next!

ShadeGrenade Quite simply, this is the best show of its kind. Created by Larry Cohen ( maverick film maker responsible for 'Its Alive!' and 'Q - The Winged Serpent' ) and produced by Quinn Martin, it features the most popular story in the whole of science fiction - the Earth under attack.Roy Thinnes plays architect 'David Vincent' ( don't ask me why they felt the need to mention his occupation in the opening credits ) who is driving home late one night. Tired, he stops near a deserted diner and falls asleep. He is awoken a short time later by a strange whirring sound. He sees a saucer-like object touching down nearby.When Vincent returns to the same spot the next day with the police in tow, there is no saucer, only a trailer belonging to a honeymooning couple, and they claim to have seen nothing. Vincent notices that the name of the diner has been changed. So is he mad? Or has someone tried to cover things up? Late that night, he approaches the couple yet again. The man attacks him. Suddenly he begins to glow...So begins the opening episode 'Beachhead' written by Anthony Wilson. Taut and intelligently written, it could easily have been an instalment of 'The Outer Limits' ( and shared that earlier programme's composer Dominic Frontiere ). Vincent learns that the invaders are here, refugees from a dying world, and they are out to conquer the Earth. His task is made harder by the fact that they can assume human form, so they can be anyone or anything. The only way to identify one is by their little fingers - they cannot bend them! Kill an invader and it disappears in a fiery red ball of light.Each week, the intrepid architect followed the invaders across the country, thwarting their nefarious plots, which include turning insects into carnivores, sending the Earth off its axis by detonating an antimatter bomb, and attempting to sabotage a moon exploration project. He also hoped to be able to capture an alien and take it to Washington in order to prove their existence.Guest stars included Jack Lord, Peter Graves, Burgess Meredith, Michael Rennie, Roddy McDowall and a pre 'French Connection' Gene Hackman.It anticipated the 'paranoid' shows of the '90's, such as 'The X Files' and 'Dark Skies'. After an excellent first season, it returned for a second, but mid-way through there was a change in format. In 'The Believers', Kent Smith was introduced as 'Edgar Scoville', head of a group who also knew of the invaders' existence, and provided back-up. Ratings fell and the show was cancelled without a conclusion.In Britain, 'The Invaders' played in late-night slots on I.T.V., but in 1984 B.B.C.-2 screened the first of two bumper runs ( the other being in 1991 ), and as had happened with 'Outer Limits', the show found a new audience. Most recently, it has been seen on 'Five' at the ungodly hour of 4.00 A.M.In 1995 'The Invaders' returned in a two-part mini-series starring Scott Bakula with Thinnes reprising his role as 'Vincent'. It was dire, looking more like an 'X-Files' rip-off.Luckily, the original is on D.V.D. and has stood up very well. Just keep an eye out for anyone acting suspiciously in your neighbourhood with a stiff little finger!

aimless-46 The 42 one-hour episodes of the science fiction series "The Invaders" were originally broadcast on ABC from 1967-1968. That might seem like just one season but the series was a mid-season replacement, which premiered in January 1967. The season one DVD set includes only the 16 episodes produced to fill out the remainder of ABC's 1966-67 broadcast season. Like "The Prisoner" which also premiered in 1967, "The Invaders" has become a mega cult hit over the years and this DVD package is greatly anticipated. The series has its roots in 1950's paranoia science fiction, specifically those films ("Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "It Came From Outer Space", "Invasion From Mars") that were surrogates for the anti-Communist hysteria that swept the country during the early Eisenhower era. "The Invaders" took up the old theme of finding the enemy in our midst and was a worthy successor to the classic anti-Communist series "I Led Three Lives" (1953-1956). But the anti-Red phobia was no longer a draw by 1967 so the series confined itself to aliens from outer space and drew few parallels to those folks from behind the Iron Curtain. It did exploit the growing distrust of American business and government leaders by showing alien infiltration of these sectors. Ray Thinnes plays architect David Vincent who stumbles across a spacecraft of disembarking aliens one night. They are from a dying planet and have come to colonize the earth. Their strategy is to infiltrate society by taking the form of humans, but like the robots of "Westworld" they have a little problem with their hands (or in this case with a bent pinky finger). They also have no heartbeat as a consequence of having no heart. And when they die their bodies rapidly evaporate, leaving no trace for Vincent to prove his claims to the authorities. Vincent becomes a latter day Paul Revere, riding around trying to spread the alarm to a citizenry that dismiss him as a nut case. He is never able to bring physical proof of his claims to anyone important. The aliens do not kill him because his death might make his story more believable so they monitor his activities and do their best to thwart his various schemes. Each episode was structured as a four-act play with commercial breaks between acts and an epilogue. Quinn Martin regular William Conrad provided a narration. Conrad also did narration for "The Fugitive". During its run "The Invaders" became more and more like "The Fugitive" because the original concept offered the writers no where else to go. There were only so many ways Vincent could fail to warn people of the aliens and should he successfully convince the world of the invasion the series would end. So like Richard Kimble he becomes a man on the run who episodically meets up with new people each week. This takes away from the original idea of an alien invasion. The acting is generally first rate and the music lively and distinctive. Production design is standard Quinn Martin, the occasional sci-fi devices are meant to be taken seriously and are not the self-parody stuff of 1960's sci-fi series like "Lost In Space" and "The Time Tunnel". Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.