HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, 'V'!

To serve man! Can Mike Donovan resist the power of the alien reptiles of V? Image: WARNER BROTHERS.

This week, Kenneth Johnson's supreme TV mini-series saga from 1983, V, showing an alien invasion of Earth by disguised reptiles-humanity seduced, Pied Piper-like, into letting them take their planet's natural resources and its people as a food source- reaches its Thirtieth Anniversary this week. And I have to say, its four hour, two-part storytelling has held up pretty well, especially so after the slow burning but vital first hour's set-up. The script and characters (like heroic He-Man Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), independent and relatable young Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant) and diabolical sexy and downright evil Diana (Jane Badler)) are memorable, the film effects model work solid, and the green-skineed, red-eyed aliens, once revealed, positively nasty, as Donovan is the first to discover.

Gaining acclaim and huge ratings on its original broadcasting, V was an international success that would spawn an action-packed sequel and a short-lived, one-off series that would be great fun but didn't totally live up to the original from which it was spawned. Regardless of that, its aura as a big-league and intelligent, thought-provoking sci-fi series remains intact. Here's hoping it gets soem kind of remastered Blu-ray re-release in the not too distant future...

Happy 30th Birthday, V!

Check out Kenneth Johnson's site going behind the scenes on the series here: V History

A nice retrospective on the series: V – The 30th Anniversary of a television classic | Playmountain

V superfan Ilana Rapp's site on both the original and recent re-imaging series continues to gain followers, and is well worth a visit: Ilana's "V" Celebrity Site ABC's V Jane Badler Elizabeth Mitchell Morena Baccarin Kenneth Johnson Faye Grant Marc Singer Michael Ironside

A very enjoyable music tribute to the series action and adventure (with thanks to Paul S Fraser): V for Victory- War (Poets of the Fall) - YouTube