Les envahisseurs

This was a milestone series in my opinion - the acting was usually above average. Roy Thinnes was excellent - the way he shows his frustration when explaining the aliens is very good. Roy was cast perfectly for this series. I recently was able to buy all the episodes on DVD - just watched "Dark Outpost" - This is one of the best episodes as well as the first one.

If I remember rightly, the whole series doesn't end by driving the invaders off the Earth, when I get to that DVD I'll see of course

Theme music excellent too (Dominic Frontiere I think)

WELL DONE ROY!!

I was eight or nine years old when this aired. About all I can recall is that it was frightening and gloomy for a kid to watch, but I often did nevertheless. One thing I seem to recall is that the aliens could kill people by touching them with a device on their palms that looked like a joy buzzer. I remember one episode where a man was sitting at the wheel of a parked car and an alien rose up in the seat behind him and touched the back of his neck with one of those gizmos. Spooky. This must have provided at least a bit of the inspiration for "The X-Files." It also had a motif, if I recall correctly, reminiscent of "The Fugitive." Along with "The Outer Limits," this show really had a terrifying effect on me. I used to have to hide behind my dad's big chair and peek out around it to watch this, and "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock" as well. I wish TVLand would air a few episodes.

In the late 1960s Science Fiction on British TV consisted of Thunderbirds and little else, since Star Trek had not been aired yet,but before that "The Invaders" established a Beachhead on our late night schedules. Aged 8 , i was soon captivated by the story one mans fight to convince the world that aliens were living among us and had wormed their way into the police,government and military and were planning to take over the Earth! This was not easy; the aliens looked and acted like us but required frequent "regeneration" in transparent tubes otherwise they would die,and burn up leaving only ashes. Whenever David Vincent [played by Roy Thinnes] discovered alien installations he would phone the cops,only for the switchboard operator to be alien! By the time the cops arrived only dust would remain and Vincent waswritten off as a nut. The show had strong parallels with Cold War paranoia communist witch hunts but benefitted from fine writing and sparingly used but impressive special effects.Of the videos available in Britain i strongly recommend #1] "Beachhead"[excellent music,great story and acting from Roy and his beautiful guest star Diane Baker] and "The Saucer/The Enemy"[two superb episodes on one vid!].Also, if you can find it,"The Trial" where a human is tried for murdering an alien.The scene with the alien "parents" outside the courthou astonishing-----10/10.

For me this show ranks as one of the 10 best TV shows ever made. It resonates with me even today, and I think Roy Thinnes' performances, especially in the first season, are brilliant in their subtlety. I guess what really hits me about this show is how you have a man, David Vincent, who was living in a very conventional 60's worldview--until the night he makes one wrong turn and ends up having his safe, comfortable little existence turned upside down. Somehow I see a parallel between David Vincent and the title character of another top ten TV show - THE PRISONER. Both Number Six and David Vincent have been dragged into worlds of great excitement and adventure - but both are also modern equivalents of Sisyphus, forever doomed to struggle against overwhelming opposition. Both Number Six and David Vincent are actually tragic characters. The trap of most TV shows - that the status quo must be maintained from episode to episode to keep the series going - proves in this case to be a great asset to the nightmarish quality of the premise. Also, you never truly see who the aliens "are", any more than you find out who's running the Village.

Watch this show along with THE PRISONER. You'll be amazed at how much is going on within the "confines" of conventional TV drama.

I think Roy Thinnes' role as "David Vincent" was unsurpassed; it is awfully difficult to appraise one's acting ability when the role they play has never, ever been played before--By anyone! I mean, Acting is an art of "role" playing-Mimicking- How does one confront such a disturbing revelation, as discovering

that Alien beings have infiltrated the earth, especially, when they look exactly(almost)as we do? His bewildered look, and keen reactions--and sometimes, non-reactions, were the hallmark of his craft- I think he was underestimated as an actor- His "down-to-earth" behavior is perhaps his saving grace.

Maybe it is a blessing in disguise- Actors today are wrapped up in their own self-certifying egos; and their idiot pride usually accellerates their status of, "Who was that?" after only a few years of practice. Roy, on the other hand, is impossible to forget- Ask anyone who is between the ages of 45 and 60, today if they know who Roy Thinnes is--or "DAVID VINCENT"--and I bet almost everyone will say,

"THE INVADERS"! The Show itself had promise- Perhaps, if I were to rewrite it, I would have opted for a more Soap-Opera, serial "hook" to follow a sequence- The Aliens seemed to have no plan- but, for the Obvious-Take over the world- Some episodes were comical! Donald Davis played a funny kind of Alien-- and, most had no sense of Humor-but, even some of the Women Aliens were too weird to be true. Their gadgets were cool. Spinning Crystal hypno-beams to extract info for interrogation was cool; and the "Death-Disc" was sinister, to say the least- The Ray Guns were clumsy the first season; new model in '68- The Aliens'willingness to commit suicide, unquestionably, was also odd. The Aliens also seemed to be good fighters, in a fist-fight; but also, died easily when wounded or shot- Roy Thinnes is from Chicago--and his accent came through--! It was cool- and here is a kicker--I am related to him! My mother's family is "THINNES" from Wisconsin; then Illinois--and yes--it is the same Family, originally from Luxembourg! I hope only one day to meet him, and introduce him to my son, Dominic- He is a Fan of "The Invaders"! as am I! Try to find these on Video--they are worth it- Nothing Gross, or Evil--just good, wholesome science fiction, at it's best- FrancoDomenico Lisanti