Wednesday 8 February 2017

Television: 'The Invaders' (1967-1968)

It's over. All of 'The Invaders' has been watched, and it ended just as it was getting interesting... Blast you, infernal executives of cancellation! Ratings? Who cares about ratings?! Humbug! Well, I don't feel quite as strongly about it as all that but the idea of a television series from that era actually evolving its story as it goes is almost unprecedented. Yes, the earlier episodes were of a much higher quality, but the whole concept actually changed a little. It went from David Vincent, supposed architect and sometime nasty paranoid lunatic, erratically hunting down the incredibly disorganised and uncoordinated conspiracies of the alien invaders to him being part of an organised group, and then in the last episode the aliens ramping up their plans from reconnaissance to full scale invasion and extermination. Yes, actual story progression! And then cancelled!

'The Invaders' used to be the target of mockery at home, with much fun being had especially at the extremely fragile aliens, who seemed to burn up and die at the slightest provocation. Now, on rewatching, it seems a remarkably well done science-fiction drama of the time, while still being worthy of mockery on a regular basis due to the goofiness of the alien plans. It's well done, and very intelligently made, with excellent production values. The guest stars return fairly frequently, which is a problem if you watch it in a fairly short period of time, but at least they're solid actors.

Side note: There seems to have been a segregation in actors back in this period. Guest actors especially seemed to appear either in 'seriously played dramas' or 'goofy genre' shows and never crossover. For example, 'Star Trek' and 'The Invaders' has almost no crossover apart from Susan Oliver. How does that explain 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea', though, which attracted many of the serious types? Maybe it was more studio based, although 'Voyage' and the other Irwin Allen shows did play things utterly seriously, unlike 'Star Trek'. Maybe 'Star Trek' was looked down upon, and 'Voyage' and 'The Invaders' weren't?

Back to the main flow, 'The Invaders' could have many great games associated with it. You could score points for: Aliens being shot and burning up, David Vincent (the ever serious Roy Thinnes) being called a maniac, rogue aliens turning up and dying before they can be helpful, all evidence being destroyed during the climax of the episode, and allies dying (especially in the latter episodes). There is also the 'Is he one?' aspect of watching some of the more suspenseful episodes too.

A great and unwttingly silly series, which I have already written about once, and one which transcends all the other Quinn Martin feasts of grimness. Now it's over once again. Blast, blast, blast, Doom-Mongering Experts of Cancellation!

O.

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