The Invaders

1 9 6 7 - 1 9 6 8 (USA)
43 x 60 minute episodes

Produced by Quinn Martin, (the man who brought us that other cult, running man classic, The Fugitive), The Invaders is the tale of David Vincent, a man alone, battling aliens with human faces. 

In the pilot episode, Vincent accidentally stumbles across a "regeneration center" where the human forms used by the aliens are recharged every ten hours. 

From then on the series revolves around his one man crusade against the invaders and him trying to convince others of their existence. His quest proves difficult because it is not easy to spot whether someone is human or alien. 

Tell-tale signs are stiff little fingers (yes, that is where the band got their name) due to a defect in the bone structure, a lack of a heartbeat or no bones showing up on an x-ray. One of the biggest signs that someone was an alien was if you hit them hard enough or killed them, they had a habit of evaporating leaving nothing but a few ashes.  So why didn't Vincent just carry around a big stick and whack everyone he met? If they evaporated they were aliens, if they just fell down they were okay.

Throughout the series, the audience was treated to many a fiendish alien plot to control the Earth. These ranged from bribery and corruption, through to mind control due to sleep deprivation and even carnivorous butterflies (I kid you not!). The show ran for a mere two seasons before its untimely cancellation.