User reviews

I remember watching this when I was 9 years old in the Uk (Yes I understand I was way below the legal age limit but my dad watched it with me). I really enjoyed this interesting original story which in my opinion had good acting and fantastic special effects (if you consider the year in which it was made). Having looked at some of the other reviews I can understand people's frustration with the ending of this series, I myself even as a 9 year old felt very disappointed that no real answers was given. The reason for this was that there was originally going to be a second series but then BBC went over the budget and were forced to cut down in the next year, I do think that they made a huge mistake in axing this well loved series but any attempts now to revive it would be a taint of it's memory. I would recommend fans of Sci-fi who are looking for something alien and original to watch this although you may have to take the bad ending with a pinch of salt.

Living in the States requires my constant search or decent programing (Be thankful for being spared the constant barrage of 'reality television'.). This what 'the underground' long for. Too few are programs such as 'Fringe' or defunct programs like 'Freaky Links' or anything else with any bloody thought behind it.

Plus, Fred Ward being involved, never hurts, in MHO. (sorry for the text speak...) So, RUN AWAY!!!! Find 'Torchwood', 'Doctor Who', 'Jekyll' and then, if necessary find old episodes of 'Space 1999' or, Hells, even 'Odyssey 5'.

Bloody Hell the viewing public is, for the most part DAFT!!!

Invasion: Earth in my opinion should have been up for an Emmy in several categories. The plot, though it used alien abduction, is very original in most other aspects. The special effects look believable. The characters are all well rounded. The finale of the (I won't give it away) was one of the great, non-Hollywood endings that leave you wondering.

This had soooo much promise! I remember all those years back, looking forward to a new sci-fi show...my hopes shattered within 4 minutes! A cassette player in a phantom jet? a RAF pilot who disobeys at least 4 direct orders? all in the first few minutes? As for the plot,two sets of aliens? "special effects" that were anything but, and as for the performances..my god i am surprised all the actors ever worked again! I came here, via "Outcasts", another turgid BBC waste of time and money.Seems nothing was learned from Invasion in the last 20 years. glad to get that off my chest.don't bother with the DVD, this show was truly truly AWFUL!

I'd be lying if I said I was satisfied with the ending. I appreciate what they were trying to do with it -- show the absolute desperation of the battle, and the need to use whatever means necessary to stay alive, even if it means sacrificing innocent people (or yourself). That was a theme that went through the entire series.

But still, too many things were left unresolved for me to fully appreciate the point...particularly the fate of the communications guy with the dreadlocks, and of the sacrificed townspeople, and -- let's face it -- the fate of the entire world!

Everything was very, very well set up. The actual series was spectacular in many ways...the special effects, the focus switching from development to development, the overall confusion of humankind dealing with an alien intelligence (though I did find that some of the characters were a bit TOO intuitive..."Wow, a strange swirling yellow portal...I wonder if we're dealing with aliens from another dimension?).

I think they struck a fine balance between tense (and often gory) action, uneasy suspense, and development of the characters. I don't think I've ever seen such well-developed character interactions in such a short series.

All in all, it unfolded much the way I imagine this sort of thing really WOULD unfold -- lots of confusion, anger, anguish, guilt, drama, and fear -- but I do wish there had been a BIT more direction to the process. It was almost TOO lifelike to be ultimately entertaining for me. How often, in a TV series, do you hear a mother admit to her child that she's terrified of what might happen next, and that she doesn't know if she'll be able to come home again? Or a desperate general decide that total destruction is the most preferable course of action -- and have it actually be TRUE?

The whole thing gave me the shivers, and I don't really sure that's a good thing.

I can see the BBC bosses salivating at the prospect of Invasion Earth. A US/UK co-production with state of the art graphics, a script from a rising star writer and a big movie star as part of the cast. That show those disgruntled Doctor Who fans that we can do real sci fi the Beeb executives must have muttered to themselves.

Here is a story of aliens coming through another dimension via a portal and the armed forces have no way to stop them. Every attempt to destroy them is futile. At the end the the only way to destroy the aliens is to blow up the planet which is a rather bleak prospect.

However despite the polished production the series was dull, tedious and overlong. Its story could be told in half the time instead it was stretched over six episodes as we had a slow moving story with slow moving flashbacks.

In a sense it was good that the series ended the way it did so there would be no second series.

Recently saw this again on Sci-Fi channel in the UK. Just to clear up the comments from the other poster about "no follow-up" - Invasion: Earth was not actually a movie, but a series made by the BBC in the UK. There should have been a second series, but the BBC pulled the plug and a second series was never made. It's a real shame, as I think it was a great programme.

I'm not going to give away the ending, but I must say this is the worst ending of any film or mini-series I have ever seen. Even worse than the 2-hour "Twin Peaks" movie (the European movie version)... but the "Twin Peaks" movie ending was probably intentionally bad. What makes the "Invasion Earth" ending so bad is that I really enjoyed, oh, the first 98% of the mini-series. Then came the horribly lame "end." I may be harshing too much on it... maybe it was originally planned as a series and was cancelled, so they tacked on an ending to "wrap it up." I cannot express forcefully enough the total lack of catharsis in this mini-series... when the credits roll, you will be jaw-dropping shocked... "surely it can't be over?" Sadly and disappointingly, you will realize that it is finis.

I Really enjoyed the way the story turned out. Another series would have ruined it.I liked the way the aliens came from another dimention and not in spaceships or carrying laser weapons like the stereo typical E.T. "al a independence day" alien does.

I liked the way the only American involvement was Fred Ward's US NATO commander investigating the Pilot Vincent Regan. The thing i liked the most about this series was how every attempt to destroy the aliens was futile and in the end the only way to win was to destroy (ourselves) the land and sacrifice the innocent people which just goes to show how desperate things were getting for us humans.

This was a really well thought out and intellegent show and the action and script racheted up the tension as everything they tried to do eventually failed and the frustration that they felt knowing this.

I thought the ending was great, everything they had tried failed, the only thing they had left was to nuke the ND's and themselves. The implications of this are horrific for mankind and the characters knew this.

I see lots of people across the atlantic slated this because they were expecting the good guys to win and the ND's to lose and didn't understand why it ended so abruptly with the humans nuking themselves. I think that it would probably be more realistic and has a much greater impact on me the viewer then if we beat the ND's and lived in a much safer united world "al a independance day".

But then in America, you hardly ever see a film or TV program where the

good guys lose and the bad guys win.

Can't wait to see it again in a re-run and might even get it on DVD A great piece of Cult British Sci Fi and ranks along side Quatermass.

"Your Honour, I rest my Case....." Drugstore-Cowboy 03

I'm not one of those sci-fi fans who believe science fiction should be all action and no drama. I think good science fiction should be character driven, and besides, this was one of the very few sci-fi dramas the UK has produced. I thought it'd be good. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The script is clichéd and awkward. It felt like someone copying American sci-fi, instead of coming up with an original idea of their own. Surprisingly, given the standard of actors in it, the acting was awful, and the direction dire. The whole thing made me wince all the way through the first episode, and I never got round to watching the rest. If you want really good, British, character driven sci-fi, go for Dr Who. Don't bother with this. You won't be able to get through the first hour.

Lots of people have made this series out to be truly awful, and the bad press made sure that it was never given a second series, which is a shame because I really wanted to know what was going to happen next. It wasn't brilliant definately, but it had something compelling which made me tune in week after week. About as good as post-Mulder X-Files, 8/10

This starts out with an alien spaceship being found during the blizt , a homage to QUATERMASS AND THE PIT no doubt but as the series progresses it comes more as an insult than a homage. I rate Nigel Kneale as television`s greatest ever writer and QUATERMASS AND THE PIT as the greatest drama ever to have been transmitted under the telefantasy banner and to have INVASION EARTH pay homage in this way is an obscenity . INVASION EARTH is possibly the worst telefantasy series ever made by the BBC . It is truly awful

The script is responsible , the opening episode features so many coincidences in order to bring the characters together it looses all credibility , but after the first episode it gets worse , concepts like the NDs ( They`re the bad guys from another dimension I think ) polluting the water supply and kidnapping humans in order to carry out experiments on them are underdeveloped and badly explained while entire episodes are padded out with the subplot of a Second world war army officer`s journey through the galaxy with a race of good aliens . All this is unnecessary to the plot , at least I think it is because I`m not sure what the plot is , describing the plot of INVASION EARTH is like describing the plot of a James Bond film , lots of things happen but none of it adds up to much. In which case I`ll say in INVASION EARTH not much happens and none of it makes much sense. Truly awful

I really loved this show. It appeared on the Space Channel here in Canada. I've seen it 3 times and get something new out of it every time I watch it. I found it very entertaining, in that typical dry, British way. The Brits really know how to do Sci-Fi, totally unforgiving. The last scene was incredibly haunting and I really wish that there was a sequel underway. The acting was incredible, the characters believable and likeable (and not so likeable) and the plotline profound. I would watch it again in a heartbeat!

What an ending. I don't think people realise how good the ending was. The ND's manipulated life as a tool. And they manipulated the echos to destroy themselves just as they manipulated us to destroy ourselves. There was no sequel to be had. We lost, we done exactly what they wanted from the start. We killed Terrell, then sacrificed the towns folks. Then sacrificed our own planet.

It is a really good brit sci-fi. Dark and dank and miserable.

The acting was a wee bit on the dodgy side, apart from Fred Ward who I will alays have as soft spot for after Tremors.

All in all pretty good stuff.

A group of 4 of us watched for 6 hours. The acting was acceptable and the plot had potential. Our greatest problem with this mini-series is that it was unresolved at the end. If this were a pilot for a series, or the first part of a multi-part story, it would have been acceptable. As a stand-alone, however, we found ourselves frustrated and "let-down".

This was one of the few shows ever that have taken place in an English countryside that contains elements of romance that I could stomach.

Of course this series wasn't about some messed up broke aristocrat trying to choose between the boring Duke or the good looking pool guy. This series is about an Alien Invasion. That always helps :) I caught this Invasion Earth about 8 years ago and I thought it was really good. I thought the way the Military acted was fairly credible, which is usually not the case in SciFi series, so that scored points with me. The alien adversary hadn't at the time was very unique, so more points. I also liked the ending, though it would have been great if a second mini series had been made. It would be great now, twelve years later, if a second mini series were made, with the battle continuing.

I caught the series again on Net Flicks, and this time I could see a few more plot gaps. A few reviewers have remarked that they thought Fred Ward did was bad being cast as the American NATO general, I can see where this criticism comes from, but the acting isn't so much Ward's fault as some of his dialogue was weak. His character, though realistic in the situation, I think was written in later so the American's would have someone to identify with, and his lines could have been polished up a bit more I think. Acting wise Ward did a fine job IMHO.

If you are a SciFi fan, you will like this series. It isn't 10 stars, but there are many unique aspects of the miniseries that make it worth the watch, and for those who are sci fi fans, concepts presented in this mini-series I'm sure will reinforce and add to kind of the body of lore that SciFi writers draw from when the make new stories. Good stuff.

If you are not a SciFi fan, you will be bored with this series. I bet the negative reviews here pretty much pan every scifi offering.

I saw this on the Sci Fi Channel as a 3 part mini-series. The plot is excellent, the writing fairly good (avoiding many of the typical cliches), the acting generally competent except for Fred Ward being badly miscast as a NATO general. The atmosphere created by the writer was dark, grim, and often depressing - a kind of sci-fi film noir. This added to the obviously intended idea that humanity was in a fight it couldn't possibly win. The ending was, of course, disappointing from the standpoint of "what happens next?", but it's also obvious that some kind of continuation or sequel was originally intended. The Sci- Fi Channel (or some other interested party) would do well to look into reviving the premise and doing a follow up. Perhaps an international production with segments being made by producers in several countries all over the world and shown in sequence. Difficult to do, but with the proper coordination...

I was so happy when this movie was coming on tv. I was just counting the days for it. I thought it would be better than "V".

Boy, I was dead wrong. This movie was so stretched out. This movie was more like a drama film instead of a sci-fi movie. The movie had only three or four action scenes. So all of this lead up to: the movie was so boring go out and rent much better sci-fi flicks like "Starship Troopers" and/or "V".

This TV mini series started here on a Monday night - unadvertised with no promotion - with a start time after midnight. I watched all six episdoes waiting to see where the story was going, and then it ended...Disappointed! At least it was the last episode of the series - Australian TV networks have a history of starting, stopping and restarting series (especially Sci-Fi) at different stages in series. Maybe a second mini series will be made in the future...