"BY YOUR COMMAND!" CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF CLASSIC 'BATTLESTAR GALACTICA'

The original main cast of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Athena (Maren Jensen), Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), Apollo (Richard Hatch) and Commander Adama (Lorne Greene). Images: UNIVERSAL.

They may have been slow off the bat in 1973 in not recognising the original potential for that little space project of George Lucas's that would soon become STAR WARS- having turned down the ambitious project in their first refusal option deal with the young film-maker, but UNIVERSAL STUDIOS were certainly the fastest out of the gate by 1978 with Hollywood's attempts to copy, mostly in the nicest possible way, the eventual juggernaut commercial and iconic success of the soon sci-fi favourite that launched Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and co. into the world. Theirs was to be the genre-busting space epic from veteran series maker Glen A. Larson: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, updated from his original ADAM'S ARK- a previously rejected sixties series concept spawned in the wake of the original STAR TREK- updated with the best STAR WARS vibes possible and quickly launched into cinemas, then followed as a weekly series which premiered today, thirty-five years ago, and using many of the incredible talents of Lucas's loaned out ILM company in the process- a prestigious Who's Who roll-call including Oscar-winning John Dykstra, Dennis Muren, and Richard Edlund, plus influential artists like Joe Johnston and the legendary Ralph McQuarrie.

▶ Battlestar Galactica Opening Theme from 1978 - YouTube
▶ Battlestar Galactica (1978) fan trailer - YouTube

Last protector warship of the Colonial Fleet: the Battlestar Galactica.

But it isn't just the superb for their time, even if over-used special effects of space hardware and intergalactic conflicts, from such talented icons, that would help this particular series uniquely survive the test of time to become so beloved by audiences around the world, who said "Felgercarb!" to the wrath of the critics. It was GALACTICA's central premise-the Pearl Harbour-esque bombing of the human race by deadly inhuman foes, resulting in its survivors fleeing out into the stars, protected by their last of its kind warship, the formidable Battlestar Galactica, in search of their missing brothers with the long lost Thirteenth Tribe of Earth- that proved both relatable and fascinating, showing the best and worst of the human condition in their quest for survival, whilst the central casting of serious-hearted hero Richard Hatch as Captain Apollo, Dirk Benedict as lovable cigar chomping, dering-do viper pilot rogue Starbuck and BONANZA's charismatic father figure of Lorne Greene as the Moses-like Commander Adama, was inspired and a firm fixture of the groovy and spirited late-seventies, alongside a bevy of stunning and capable females including Jane Seymour, Maren Jensen, Anne Lockhart and Laurette Spang that swiftly captured male hearts, in an equal opportunities show where the girls could fly fighters and shoot those metal suited, red-eyed alien Cylons with the best of 'em.

The menace of the Cylons continues...

All in all, GALACTICA, despite its short lifespan, was firmly, squarely, just great family entertainment: exciting, funny and with heart, alongside its excellent visual execution. And those are the reasons why, like the original STAR WARS film, which itself had been the nexus focal point for the reinvigoration of cinema and television to a more youthful audience, it continues to resonate and endure...

Happy 35th Birthday, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!

Get hold of the original 1978 theatrical version on Blu-ray: Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray 1978 Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Lorne Greene, Dirk Benedict, Ray Milland, Jane Seymour, Richard Hatch, Terry Carter, Maren Jensen, Noah Hathaway, Tony Swartz, Lew Ayres, John Colicos, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ed Begley Jr, Richard A. Colla, Donald P. Bellisario: Film & TV

KOOL TV's previous GALACTICA features: KOOL TV: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'BATTLESTAR GALACTICA' - THE 1978 THEATRICAL MOVIE (BLU-RAY)

"By your command!" The Cylons hunt humanity in the long-awaited release of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on Blu-ray. Images: UNIVERSAL.

Its vipers launched, and firing all laser batteries against its long-time robot nemeses- those red-eyed, silver Cylon warriors, the mighty ship-o-war that is the Battlestar Galactica, and its accompanying berth of young seventies hair-styled cosmic heroes, finally make a well deserved debut on High Definition Blu-ray this October with its original 1978 theatrical release, from those sterling people at UNIVERSAL PLAYBACK. And just within the last stages of celebration for the Saga's 35th Anniversary this year!

▶ Battlestar Galactica 1978 Premere Promo - YouTube

The mighty Battlestar fleet of the Colonial worlds.

Originally emerging from the success of George Lucas's seminal STAR WARS opus, the intergalactic version of Mose's Exodus made its first appearance on American TV stations in September 1978, to record ratings and sensational publicity, but a few months beforehand, UK, European and Canadian viewers got to see a truncated form of their three-hour pilot episode, Saga of a Star World, on big screen cinemas- its excellent sound-mix transferred to the evocative and popular at the time SENSURROUND process which rumbled the seats and titillated our eardrums in the most enjoyable way- its sound waves and seat-shaking making you feel as if you were hip-deep in outer space action right alongside our colonial heroes. The Blu-ray comes close to recapturing that particular and unique seventies process- the sound being every bit as crisp and exciting as it was back in the day, alongside rousing and majestic music, particularly its main theme, by Stu Phillips and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Picture quality is clean and lovely (apparently taken from an existing 2004 HD transfer that was obviously prior done with a lot of care and respect), and packed with detail and colour-more than I've ever previously seen within the series- check out Production Designer Jack Chilbert's incredible sets (particularly the huge computer strewn bridge of the Galactica - then one of the most expensive TV studio environments ever built) and the intriguing Colonial military costumes from the innovative Jean-Pierre Dorleac.

The merciless Imperious Leader (Dick Durock, voiced by Patrick Macnee).

The metallic Cylon Centurions- on a mission to kill humans!

Getting off to a spectacular start-literally the equivalent of the intergalactic apocalypse!- a war weary humankind's destiny in the deep reaches of space, during the seventh millennium of time, has reached a critical nexus point, as they finally, seemingly, secure a peace treaty with their deadliest enemies, the reptilian/robot hybrids the Cylons, after thousands of years of interstellar war. But it all turns out to be a cunning trap by the emotionless xenophobic race, in league with traitor to humanity Baltar (a sneeringly evil performance from the much-missed John Colicos), resulting in a huge effects-sweeping scenario reminiscent of Pearl Harbour, as the Colonial fleet and its colony worlds are wiped out in the sneak attack.

Cylon Raiders attack the Galactica!

Only the formidable, pre-battle ready Galactica space aircraft carrier, commanded by the patriarchal Adama (BONANZA's former cowboy, Lorne Greene) cannily survives the conflict, taking under its wing a 220 vessel rag-tag fleet of surviving humans across the stars in search of a long lost Thirteenth Tribe, whose colony may be located in a far away galaxy, housing the planet called Earth! But it won't be an easy search, as the Cylons are following them every step of the way, and have an even worse trap awaiting them on a planet that seems just too good to be true for our food and fuel desperate survivors.

Blue Squadron's finest: Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) and Apollo (Richard Hatch).

Warrior family. Athena (Maren Jensen) with Commander Adama (Lorne Greene).

In this Blu-ray transfer, our pop culture warriors have never looked more youthful and relatable: the serious but dedicated Richard Hatch, best known before GALACTICA for a stint on THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO, as Apollo, and the lovable rogue/ hot shot Viper pilot Starbuck as personified by Dirk Benedict. On screen, they make for a fine pairing, whilst the casting choice of Lorne Greene as humanity's father figure protector, despite lazy press criticisms, proves an excellent one.

The insect Ovions tend to their Queen, Lotay.

The trio are backed up with the kind of all star cast that you'd normally see in an Irwin Allen movie of the time, one certainly helping to garner further box office credibility amongst the impressive special effects, including Ray Milland (as Adama's rival, the ambitious Sire Uri), lovely Jane Seymour as Apollo's love interest, Serina, Lew Ayres as humanity's doomed leader, President Adar, and Wilfrid Hyde White as a dotty member of the Council of the Twelve. Opposing them, chasing the across the universe, the Cylon menace in this launcher are impressive and scary in places (the reptilian Imperious Leader, voiced by the suave British actor Patrick Macnee, being one such example), showing the kind of early potential that the weekly seres never quite got the chance to develop. The movie also has one of the series few alien species, the equally impressive insectoids, the multi-limbed Ovions, running an intergalactic casino above its mining colony, but hiding a terrifying secret that could endanger our mostly spellbound heroes.

The Cylons go on the rampage in the Carillon Casino.

Then the most expensive show ever made by UNIVERSAL, its pre-TV, movie-transfer event (a swift necessity in order to recoup costs) glistens with quality, and has an intelligent script from Glen A. Larson that makes the most of legends, mythology, religion, and outer space theories, weaving them with enjoyable characters alongside epic space battles and blaster duels, plus a nice dose of humour despite its overall seriousness (particularly through the character of Starbuck, and his repartee with flying buddy Boomer (Herbert Jefferson, Jr.)). There's lots of memorable, nostalgic sequences to enjoy anew on Blu-ray from directors Richard A. Colla and an uncredited Alan J. Levi: the aforementioned destruction of the Twelve Colonies, the clearing of the minefield strewn, red-swirled Nova Madagon by the "blind" vipers, the "Las Vegas in Space" that is the Ovion Casino (looking opulent in Blu-ray) and the eventual battle through the Ovion lower levels and outwards, as the Cylons spring their next trap on humanity.

Space action galore! A viper pursues three Cylon Raiders.

Coming straight off the innovations of STAR WARS, Larson secures the incredible talents of Oscar-winning special effects genius John Dykstra and his team, with model ship designs (models-remember those?!) provided by equal icons Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie that have stood the test of time and become very cool sci-fi legends in their own right. Many of the effects shots prove more ambitious than STAR WARS-the camera technology having been improved within the space of the year, since their original work for Lucasfilm. The of the time transfer of the optical effects from TV configuration processes to theatrical display may have rankled Dykstra's relationship with Larson, but, despite some occasional grainy picture quality from the process amplified in HD, they look extremely good on Blu-ray. The space starfields are all the right shade of cinematic black rather than VHS TV grey, whilst early problematic "garbage" matte outlines on the ships in battle and travelling across planetary surfaces are minimal.

Apollo and Starbuck fight back!

A recent sales success in its US release (despite sadly little to nothing publicity in its anniversary year from UNIVERSAL, and being just a "manila" type, with no extras), let's hope that BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Blu-ray purchases here are just as strong and notable, paving the way for the next exciting theatrical compilation: MISSION GALACTICA: THE CYLON ATTACK, and, in the hopefully not too distant future, a complete release of the entire one-off weekly series, too- perhaps in the kind of quality resurrection that has made the re-release of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION for PARAMOUNT such a sales bonanza.

KOOL TV RATING: The original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has never looked or sounded as good as this, in a release, despite the noticeable, much-missed lack of any bonus materials, that's well worth getting hold of. 4.5 out of 5 

Get hold of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA- THE 1978 MOVIE here: Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray 1978 Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Lorne Greene, Dirk Benedict, Ray Milland, Jane Seymour, Richard Hatch, Terry Carter, Maren Jensen, Noah Hathaway, Tony Swartz, Lew Ayres, John Colicos, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ed Begley Jr, Richard A. Colla, Donald P. Bellisario: Film & TV

Check out our previous KOOL TV features on the series here:

THE SAGA CONTINUES. THE MAKING OF 'BATTLESTAR GALACTICA' - PART TWO

SAGA OF A STAR WORLD. THE LAUNCH OF THE ORIGINAL "BATTLESTAR GALACTICA"

And the SAGA OF A STAR WORLD website devoted to the classic series, here: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - SAGA OF A STAR WORLD

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - BLOOD & CHROME' BLU-RAY

Genuine Full Metal Jacket with the robot Cylons in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD & CHROME. All images: UNIVERSAL.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD & CHROME

Starring Luke Pasqualino

Written by Michael Taylor

Directed by Jonas Pate

Available on Blu-ray and DVD from 5^thAugust, from UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Out there amongst the heavens, the savage war between humanity and its now unleashed robot creations, the Cylons, wages on to its tenth year, and a bright, ambitious viper pilot, Lt. William Adama, keen to join the galaxy-spanning conflict, soon finds himself thrust into a premiere and complex top secret mission to a remote snowbound world, of which the consequences of his actions could prove paramount to the survival of all living beings. In the midst of intrigue, betrayal, and murder, failure is not an option, as BLOOD & CHROME, the epic feature-length continuance of the modern, re-imagined BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series, originally created by Glen A. Larson, arrives on UK DVD and stunning Blu-ray, courtesy of UNIVERSAL HOME ENTERTAINMENT.

Blood and Chrome trailer - YouTube

Written in an evolving group effort way by Michael Taylor (story by Taylor, David Eick and Bradley Thompson and David Weddle), BLOOD & CHROME has some surprises in store, where not everything is quite what it seems, linked to both Classic and Modern GALACTICA series (as well as showing firm middle grounding between the one season running CAPRICA and the Ronald D. Moore created re-imagining), that fans will greatly enjoy. It's setting opens up lots of potential story avenues, and its great to finally see a part of the epic often talked about great war that has been so integral to the history of both series incarnations, whilst also having a chance to play in and experience a bigger universe than the one previously seen in the re-imagined series, what with the fugitive Galactica and her fleet having to escape from everything they once known and loved by the end of their original pilot.

 

The mighty Battlestar Galactica and accompanying human fleet stand defiant.

With all of its four season duration production pieces for the weekly series sold off, the filmmakers continue their pioneering behind the scenes efforts in tackling such a big sci-fi project for the small screen by taking a leaf out of George Lucas and the Modern V series book- shooting the majority of the film against green screen, with virtual sets filling in the blanks in post production. It’s a bold move that works for the most part, resulting in 1,900 visual effects, a lot of which hold up very well in High Definition. There’s a bigger and bolder, meaner and more formidable version of our beloved Galacticawarship that stands out more than ever-armed and glistening like a true ship o’ war. Plus, there’s some nice hybrid design work with the series other key space ship icons.

 

Viper versus Cylon. Space warfare guaranteed!

The stunning trademark intergalactic battle work, done in the previous series documentary style, remains dizzyingly right in the middle of it all prescient and enjoyable, whilst updated CGI gives us more intriguing new environments to stage ambitious action/drama (like the human’s snowbound former resort world of Djerba, now a staging base for the enemy) and alien creatures (like the impressive Cylon/snake hybrid, the Cyloth).

 

A baptism of fire for pilot William Adama (Luke Pasqualino).

Away from the pioneering glitz and mechanics of the special effects, the very real human trio that comprise this adventure are an overall solid and likable bunch, even if they don’t yet have the allure of their previous series counterparts. Cocky and intuitive Adama, played by Luke Pasqualino, has the right looks and fiery attitude to be a future Edward James Olmos, whilst Ben Cotton and Lili Bordán provide satisfactory co-support as life-hardened Raptor flying pilot Coker (a kind of pre-Colonel Tigh figure for Adama to spar with) and Dr. Becca Kelly, the mysterious, all-important ‘cargo’ to be delivered to Djerba. Enjoyable support performances emerge from ALPHAS John Pyper Ferguson as Xander Toth, a solitary Colonial Marine who helps our trio on Djerba, and Brian Markinson, who looks good as the Galactica’s former commander, Silas Nash.

Adding subtle depth beyond the story’s visual fireworks, there’s also a nice book ending of Classic and Modern series themes by the latter's regular composer Bear McCreary.

Bonus features for the Blu-ray release are sadly a bit scarce, but there’s a worthy featurette looking at the shows genesis and its heavy effects realisation requirements from a very dedicated core group, plus thirteen nice-to-see deleted scenes from the original green screen filming.

 

Ready for battle. Adama boards his Viper.

Its roots as a planned interactive gaming experience may show through from time to time, but BLOOD & CHROME, with its preface storytelling format, is a very enjoyable, fast and furious thrill ride continuance of the critically acclaimed series. If you’ve missed your regular fix of gritty action/character, this breezes along in its mission statement as a fun one-off, or possible primer for a future series- its ultimate long-term fate so far undecided by UNIVERSAL/ THE SYFY CHANNEL.

KOOL TV RATING (overall film and extras): 3.5 out of 5

Get hold of Blood and Chrome here: Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome Blu-ray + UV Copy 2012 Region Free: Amazon.co.uk: Luke Pasqualino, Ben Cotton, Lili Bordán, Jill Teed, John Pyper-Ferguson, Brian Markinson, Karen LeBlanc, Sebastian Spence, Ty Olsson, Zak Santiago, Jonas Pate: Film & TV

NOW YOU SEE HIM? 'THE INVISIBLE MAN' ARRIVES ON UK DVD

Vanishing point! David McCallum is THE INVISIBLE MAN, out now on UK DVD. Images: ACORN MEDIA/UNIVERSAL.

The Golden Age of Seventies US TV nostalgia released onto shiny DVD continues apace with ACORN MEDIA's welcome arrival of the classic, fondly remembered 1975 David McCallum starring sci-fi/thriller series THE INVISIBLE MAN, in a lovely 4-disc, thirteen episode set.

Husband and wife scientists Daniel and Kate Westin (David McCallum and Melinda Fee).

Based loosely on the always intriguing novel/concept by H.G. Wells (whom I think would have been thrilled and fascinated by Hollywood's popular re-working of his themes and ideas), the top producer behind the hit Bionic action series THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN, as well as shepherd to the original STAR TREK franchise in its classic era movie years, Harve Bennett, joins forces with friend and later firebrand writer/producer of HILL STREET BLUES, Seven Bochco, to deliver an enjoyable, often clever, light-hearted and lively new spin on the use of invisibility, as kindly and ambitious scientist Doctor Daniel Westin (NCIS star David McCallum), of the industrialist Klae Organisation, in his research into molecular disintegration and transportation unwittingly and advantageously discovers the secret, albeit permanently, to becoming invisible. Seeing its merits and potential for good, whilst also needing funds to find the process that will undo and reverse this new situation he has found himself in, Westin, with the help and support of his loving and capable co-scientist wife Kate (the rather gorgeous Melinda Fee) become perfect spies for the government through the company, aided by their boss and supporter, Walter Carlson (Craig Stevens), and soon known under their top secret cover as The Klae Resource. 

Daniel becomes invisible for the first time in the pilot episode.

The Invisible Man TV Intro (HD) coming soon to dvd and blu-ray - YouTube

Featuring a great main titles sequence and lovely theme music from THE PINK PANTHER's Henry Mancini, produced by another formidable US TV and film-making talent, THE OUTER LIMITS and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Leslie Stevens, THE INVISIBLE MAN would make the most of then available special effects methods in bringing the Westin's adventures to amiable life (including video tape blue screen composition, wire work and "smoke and mirrors" style photography) against all manner of scenarios and villains, within family audience friendly stories that managed to blend drama and comedy, showing intelligence used brains over firepower for the most part, and giving the always excellent and seemingly age immune McCallum an opportunity to have the kind of escapist fun he'd previously enjoyed in the mid-sixties, as co-lead on the hit THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. It's a shame that the one and only series original US run on NBC was so brief, as I think the characters and concept (later reworked into all new series vehicle- GEMINI MAN (starring ALIAS SMITH AND JONES Ben Murphy)), was getting bolder and better with its final episodes, showing lots more potential to come.

The lovely Melinda Fee as Kate Westin.

The thirteen episodes (including the excellent pilot), all uncut and digitally remastered, look superb in this ACORN UK release-the best I've ever seen the series (and I'm old enough to remember seeing it on its original UK seventies transmissions and its later nineties repeats on the the BBC 2 channel!). There's also an accompanying photo gallery and cast filmographies for the series, but sadly no interviews, featurettes or audio commentaries-disappointing, really, as I'm sure McCallum would likely have contributed something to the release had he been available.

KOOL TV overall rating- episodes: 3 out of 5

Here's a look at KOOL TV's favourite episodes from the series:

 

Craig Stevens joins the team as Walter Carlson for the weekly series.

THE INVISIBLE MAN (Pilot episode)

Working for the influential Klae scientific research company, Doctor Daniel Westin, in his continuing research into teleportation techniques, discovers the power to become invisible for selected periods of times. Soon unwilling and unhappy with the prospect of his new research work being used for military purposes, he destroys his equipment, but an error in his scientific theories has left him permanently invisible. Wanted by his scientific boss, Walter Carlson (played in the pilot episode by an antagonistic Jackie Cooper), and soon hunted by his own government and foreign powers wanting the secrets of invisibility for their own interests, Daniel ultimately overcomes this difficult situation with help from his dedicated wife, Kate (Melinda Fee), and a long time friend, Nick Maggio (Henry Darrow), a plastic surgeon with expertise in makeup and skin solution, who has created Dermaplex- a unique substance that gives our series hero a special face and hands to wear over his invisible skin.

 

Daniel administers a test drug linked to his invisibility.

Steven Bochco, alongside Harve Bennett, capably writes this intriguing extended pilot episode, nicely visualised by Robert Michael Lewis, which proves a little darker in tone to the lighter-hearted series soon following in its footsteps.

Notes: The character of Nick Maggio reappears in the series final episode, An Attempt to Save Face, but is recast with another actor- Charles Aidman.

The Klae Corporation building exteriors seen throughout the series would also be home to Dr. Rudi Wells OSI science labs in THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN.

THE KLAE RESOURCE (Episode One of the series)

Under the top-secret codename The Klae Resource, the Westins, now working as spies for the government (in order to fund research work to restore Daniel back to normality), investigate Lionel Parks, a recluse Howard Hughes-type figure living in Las Vegas, who’s putting his revolutionary new energy system up for grabs to the highest bidder. But the government believes that an imposter is filling in for Parks, and his deal making must be stopped at all costs. The Westins are quickly putting their skills to good use, and the gambling environment around them, to their advantage.

 

Our heroes enjoy beating the Las Vegas odds in The Klae Resource.

A fun episode from Steven Bochco, whose main guest stars include Robert Alda and Barry Sullivan as Lionel Parks.

Now playing Klae Corporation boss Walter, Craig Stevens makes for a more amiable version of the character (a variation on THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN’s Oscar Goldman), who makes a nice mix with the couple.

THE FINE ART OF DIPLOMACY (Episode Two)

Whilst Kate uses all her feminine allure to distract Iberian foreign minister Diego Devega (Ross Martin), Daniel has to infiltrate and expose an art ring gang within the Iberian Embassy, and replacing the priceless stolen items with forgeries before they can be sold abroad. But first he has to get through the underground vault's security systems…

A very enjoyable MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-esque script from Bionic series veteran James D. Parriott makes the most of exuberant guest star Ross Martin (of THE WILD, WILD WEST fame) as Diego, and Michael Pataki as his henchmen.

 

McCallum gets ready to film an effects scene against blue screen.

MAN OF INFLUENCE (Episode Three)

The Westins poses as paranormal investigators in order to debunk a powerfully influential spiritualist, Ernest Sheed (John Vernon), and his colleague Williams (THE INCREDIBLE HULK’s Jack Colvin), who are manipulating important American businessmen into making unusual but critical decisions that benefit outside forces rather than the domestic front.

STOP WHEN RED LIGHTS FLASH (Episode Eight)

Contempt of court!

What should have been a little side step through the town of Docker Junction soon sees the Westins taking on its corrupt legal system, using the baddies nefarious schemes and practices against them. Highly comic episode from Sterling Lester, making the most of UNIVERSAL STUDIOS backlot town square (best known as the home of Marty McFly in the BACK TO THE FUTURE movies). A notable guest cast includes veteran cult TV favourites Roger C. Carmel and Scott Brady.

 

Kate and Daniel-ready for the next mission!

THE KLAE DYNASTY (Episode Ten)

Family ties!

On the eve of her top scientific summit at the Klae facility, Caroline Klae is kidnapped by an unknown group, with Daniel unwittingly in the firing line as one of the culprits. Beginning the search for the missing woman, the explanation for her kidnap soon points closer to home.

One of the best episodes of the season to mix comedy and action, written by Philip DeGuere and directed by Alan J. Levi, with a top star cast including the always sexy Nancy Kovak, THE X-FILES Peter Donat, film star Farley Granger and regular TV baddie George Murdock.

 

A nice montage from the main titles sequence for the series.

POWER PLAY (Episode Eleven)

A highly intelligent but insane criminal, Pike, breaks into the Klae facility and cunningly holds our trio hostage, threatening murder in wanting the secret of The Klae Resource.

With mild continuity links to the previous episode, The Klae Dynasty, this is overall a very serious penultimate adventure from Leslie Stevens, once again well handled by director Alan J. Levi. It’s a siege drama that makes fine use of our core trio in a charged situation, alongside an intense performance from guest star Monte Markham as the deranged Pike.

 

A great, of its time, cover for the series on DYNAMITE magazine.

Get hold of THE INVISIBLE MAN DVD set here: The Invisible Man [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: David McCalum: Film & TV