"How does a nightmare begin? For David Vincent, architect, returning home from a business trip, it begins at a few minutes past four on a lost Tuesday morning, looking for a shortcut which he never found. It began with a welcoming sign that gave hope of black coffee. It began with a closed, deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. In the weeks to come, David Vincent would go back to how it all began...many times!"--Opening narration from the premiere episode of THE INVADERS (ABC 1967-68) entitled "Beachhead" (10/01/1967) teleplay by George Eckstein from a submitted script by Anthony Wilson and directed by Joseph Sargent.
"Twenty-five years before THE X-FILES posited that aliens are already among us and up to no good. David Vincent began his lonely two-year quest to save the world. Alternately pursuer and pursued, openly unhappy about his role as a modern-day Paul Revere, and often pessimistic about his chances of success, Vincent proved a far more complex hero than 1960s television audiences were used to, and the perfect centerpiece of a SF series more downbeat and realistic than any that had preceded it. Using subterfuge to infiltrate human society, the aliens relied on humans' natural skepticism toward 'crackpots' like David Vincent to protect them from anyone who stumbled onto their existence and tried to blow the whistle on their invasion plan."--Stephen Bowie, SF Television Historian.
"It's an oft-repeated statement that KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER served as the inspiration for THE X-FILES, but Chris Carter's cult tv series owes a lot to Larry Cohen's 1967-68 series THE INVADERS. Carter should be thankful for THE INVADERS' mood, atmosphere, persistent paranoia, and not least, the alien conspiracies that abound in Earth's society without the knowledge of the general public. Although he's credited with creating the concept of the series, what's not so well known is that Cohen actually had no participation in the making of the series. Cohen left THE INVADERS in executive producer Quinn Martin's capable hands and departed, occupying himself with other projects. Martin's series focused on the life-changing events for architect David Vincent (actor Roy Thinnes), as he stumbled across the starkly cold and sober realization that extraterrestrial aliens were among us, and were preparing for an invasion of our planet. THE INVADERS lasted for two seasons and detailed the adventures of Vincent as he wandered throughout the United States, trying to penetrate the aliens' agenda on Earth. Frequently, he tried convincing important people that he's not crazy and that THE INVADERS are real and alive on the planet. Eventually, a group of 'believers' joined him in the crusade including a billionaire who helped on the financial side of things. But THE INVADERS went off the air, as many series do, without a resolution."--Frank Garcia, SF Television Historian.
"THE INVADERS was no kiddie SF outing like LOST IN SPACE. In fact, it was so unrelentingly serious, it made STAR TREK, which had a season's jump on THE INVADERS, look like CAPTAIN VIDEO. Where STAR TREK had fun amid its moralizing, THE INVADERS was a bleak, uncompromising examination of an obsessive hero trapped in a world-wide conspiracy. THE INVADERS was cancelled after two seasons. ABC-TV had a problem with it. It was too sophisticated for a SF show and too wild for the audience that enjoyed THE FUGITIVE."--Will Murray, Entertainment Media Writer and Interviewer, Author (DOC SAVAGE, THE SHADOW).
With the (now) confirmed announcement that THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO (ABC 1972-77) will be made available on DVD (in April 2007) and the (likely) subsequent release of THE FUGITIVE (ABC 1963-67) pending let's draw our attention to yet another outstanding triumph in the distinguished canon of the Quinn Martin Productions tv catalogue.
Produced exclusively in colour, pioneering sophisticatedly complex visual effects unprecendented at the time for early television supervised by Darrell Anderson (of the legendary Howard A. Anderson Company), magnificently scored by Dominic Frontiere (THE OUTER LIMITS) comprising some of his most flamboyantly dynamic orchestrational compositional work and boasting a vertible galaxy of celebrated film, stage and television personalities notably marking early tv appearances of Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Lou Gossett, Jr., Karen Black, Dabney Coleman, Wayne Rogers and Carol Lynley.
THE INVADERS starring Roy Thinnes a stellar dramatic landmark in the wonderous realm of Fantastic Television in addition to being one of the most universally acclaimed and internationally renowned classic SF tv series of the 1960s. A brilliantly innovative tv milestone significantly representing the late Quinn Martin's sole effort in the field still enduring as a profound influence and source of inspiration for many latter day shows aired on television (including THE X-FILES of which series creator Chris Carter is a self-admitted fan).
THE INVADERS timelessly enduring SF entertainment for the 21st Century! Bring on THE INVADERS starring Roy Thinnes in a DVD release for 2007!
THE INVADERS CLOSING TITLE THEME (Click Here).
"How does a nightmare end? Not here in the forgotten town of Kinney...perhaps in Bakersfield. Perhaps at some undiscovered beachhead in another state...or another continent. Perhaps for David Vincent it will never end!"--Closing narration from "Beachhead."
THE INVADERS FAN FORUM (Click Here).
Jeff T.
