Os Invasores

"The invaders" is the last great 1960's series and it is inspired by the "Invasion of the body snatchers" concept of conspiracy : science fiction + horror + reality = the fear of the unknown. One of the best show produced by Quinn Martin, including "The untouchables" and "The fugitive". Among the best episode, "The innocent" sums up the paranoiac symptoms at its best when Michael Rennie brainwashes Roy Thinnes in his flying saucer. According to me, the David Vincent character is a blend of Cary Grant, from "North by northwest", and Kevin Mc Carthy, from "Invasion of the body snatchers" : the innocent witness who becomes the new Cassandra, alone against everybody ! The pessimistic message of the series is equivocal : the world is corrupted by the authorities (officials, politicians, army, C.I.A., mafia) or the world is dominated by a claustrophobic mass conformism or the world is on the verge of being overthrown by the emotionless Soviet Union agents (blue collar workers who manufacture weapons and torture to get informations in hidden factories, and businessmen who infiltrate the power and whose bodies turn red when they die). Who knows ? The aesthetic of the show also adds more terror to the stories (the Wayne Fitzgerald expressionist title credits, the dead-serious tone of William Conrad's narration that gives you a cold warning at the beginning and the end of each episode, the Dominic Frontiere's suffocating music and the distorted cinematography). The best brainwashing episodes are : "The experiment", "The leeches", "The innocent", "The dark outpost", "The possessed" and "The pit". One of my all-time favourite tv show (with "The twilight zone", "The outer limits", "The wild wild west", "The time tunnel" and "Mission : impossible"). A word to the wise, don't watch the worthless new series aka "The impostors", you know what I mean. "The nightmare has already begun," and will never end, Mr. Vincent !

The Invaders was a wonderful show. Roy Thinnes played architect David Vincent. One night, he stumbled upon an alien craft landing. Aliens had come from a dying world to take over the Earth. What should Vincent do? Contact the Air Force and get them to kick butt?

Actually, no, Vincent was alone on this one which is what made this show great. The authorities didn't believe him, in fact no-one did. Whenever an alien was killed, he/she would vaporize. At first, there was no way of knowing who to trust; anybody could be an invader, the Invaders could take over anyone. Of course, later on we learned that the aliens had a funny little finger even when in human form.

Like most films and shows of the 1950's/60's, the Invaders was about paranoia. No-one could trust anyone. Vincent could never be sure that potential allies were not really invaders themselves. He tried in vain to convince people but he was fighting a losing battle. The great thing was that he was alone in his battle. It was a great-if depressing-show.

One of the other things worth mentioning is that there are viewers who suspected that Vincent was actually an invader himself and had been placed on Earth and told to try and convince the population of the danger. Apparently, the invaders used him to test the likelihood of their discovery. Is it true? Your guess is as good as mine.

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.

Quinn Martin uber-producer for television in the 60's & 70's with such classics as the Untouchables, the Fugitive, & numerous other shows tried a science-fiction series.This was a change of pace as most of his shows dealt with crimefighting premises.The Invaders was about architect David Vincent who becomes lost one evening while on an isolated country road.Becoming weary,he pulls off the road into a clearing in order to rest but witnesses a alien flying saucer.As the series went on,he discovers that the aliens are attempting to surreptitiously infiltrate earth's various organizations in government,military,& business in order to conquer us because their homeworld is dying.Since they can look like humans,Vincent never knows who he can trust.This added a creepy paranoia to the show.DV must give up his comfortable life as he launches his one man crusade to convince mankind that aliens are already among us.This was a well written show coming from QM productions.Roy Thinnes is a talented actor but he came off as cold & aloof in the lead part.He never generated the likability & sympathy that David Jansen did in the Fugitive.The spaceships were a cool looking design & the guest stars were excellent.This show belongs in the sf hall of fame.

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