V - The Series
 V originally aired as a mini-series shown in two 90
minute episodes in 1983.
Another mini-series of three episodes
screened in 1984 followed by a 21 part series. The V story
chronicled the "Visitors" arrival to Earth.
First seen as benevolent humanoids, the Visitor's evil plan
became apparent and their plan, along with their lizard-like
appearance, were eventually revealed.
This $50 million space soap opera about an alien invasion of
Earth contained some of the most disgusting moments of television.
In one scene the alluring leader of the humanoid aliens, Diana ate
a live rat (actually a clever effect with a mechanical head
designed by make-up artist Leo Lotito), In another, an alien
female called Robin gave birth to children: - since the aliens
were actually lizards underneath their assumed human exteriors,
one baby was born a reptile, the other a human with a forked
tongue.
 The aliens in V originally arrived on Earth in peace in
31 five-mile wide spaceships looking for minerals.
No sooner had
they landed than they launched a totalitarian takeover,
disseminating propaganda ("The visitors are our
friends") and herding scientists into concentration
camps.
Even worse, as intrepid TV newsman Mike Donovan discovered when
he sneaked aboard the mother ship, their real mission was to
transport humans back to Sirius for food.
With scientist Julie Parrish, mercenary Ham Tyler and alien
fifth columnists Willie (Freddy Kruger from the Nightmare on
Elm Street series of films) and Martin, Donovan formed a
resistance movement with an HQ at the Creole Club, Los Angeles.
In
a climactic showdown the aliens were defeated by using "red
dust" poison, manufactured from the cells of Elizabeth, the
human/reptile baby.
V was of course a thinly veiled liberal parable about
the rise of Nazism in Germany in the 1930s.
 The producers however,
took no chances on audience intelligence and scripted a Jewish
member of the Resistance to make explicit how similar the
experiences were.
The series might not have been sophisticated, but it was
fast-moving, resplendent with glossy special effects and had, on
stages 25 and 26 of the Burbank Studios in California, one of the
most elaborate sets ever constructed for TV.
Inevitably, the success of V (in Britain alone it was
watched by 10 million viewers per night) spawned a full series
with most of the cast reprising their mini-series roles. The Nazi
parallel was dropped and V:The Series turned out a routine
space action drama.
A "re-imagining" of the original series was aired in
2009 by ABC. The confusing new series was cancelled in May 2011.
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