V - The Series

1 9 8 3 - 1 9 8 5 (USA)
5 x 90 minute episodes
21 x 60 minute episodes

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.