USELESS FACTS FROM THE WORLD OF FANZINES 1.1

While going through my collection of old comics fanzines I stumbled across some interesting-for-geeks factoids to share:

Marvel's adaptation of the opening episode of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA fell foul of the studio.  Universal demanded three minor changes to the text features in the magazine (Super Special) edition and, as a result, most copies had to be shredded before they were distributed.  However, Marvel sneaked-out some copies into Midwestern markets figuring that no-one at the studio would notice.

Marvel's magazine-format adaptation of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE was meant to be priced at $2 rather than the standard $1.50 (Marvel figured that Trek fans would happily shell-out the extra half-buck meaning bigger profits for the House of Ideas) but someone in production cocked-up and the issue appeared with the usual price.  Marvel were estimated to have lost $50,000 in extra profits.  To make matters worse, the contract with Paramount set a firm on-sale date to coincide with the film's premiere.  Except, Marvel's distribution operation blundered and the magazine, with a full adaptation of the hush-hush movie, appeared a month early!

(Both from: Of Magazines and Movie Adaptations, an interview with former Marvel editor Rick Marschall, in BEM issue 27, March 1980)

Sales figures for the 1985 MARVEL UK comics line:

The Getalong Gang 119,000

Secret Wars 100,000

Transformers, The 56,500

Star Wars 48,500

Spider-man 40,000

Doctor Who Magazine 39,500

Captain Britain 38,000

Storyland 23,000

Starburst Magazine 20,000

(From: FANTASY ADVERTISER issue 92, August/ September 1985).

GEEKEPEDIA: 'V': THE TOTAL SERIES GUIDE: EP.1 LIBERATION DAY

The invasion begins again here! This is the first of an occasional, highly-detailed guide to every episode of "V": THE SERIES. As far as we know, this is the most detailed episode guide to ever appear in print or online. Be warned, it's not always pretty.

V: KEY

CORPSE OF THE WEEK – Seldom has so many series regulars and recurring characters laid down their lives in so short a time. These are the details.

STOCK FOOTAGE – As early as The Final Battle the producers were cutting corners by recycling footage, either feeding on the show's own archive or other films and TV shows.

TONIGHT'S MENU – Stuck for ways to boost the ratings? No money for anything impressive? Fear not! Just show one of the Visitors snacking and... bingo... more viewers! You hope!

CHARACTER NOTES - Notes... about the characters.

BATES MOTEL – Nathan Bates and Science Frontiers.

SECURITY ALERT – Examples of poor security.

GROUND FORCES – For the weekly series, he aliens abandoned their high-tech transport in favour of Earth vehicles.

HARDWARE – Visitor technology.

THE CULTURE SHOW – Details of the Visitor culture, religion and society.

RED ALERT – Details of the Red Dust.

FROCKS ON THE BOX – A complete guide to Diana and Lydia's wardrobe.

BLOOPERS – Yeah, you know... bloopers.

JEDI MINDTRICKS – Elizabeth's trick-of-the-week. Groan.

OBSERVATIONS – All the other stuff.

LIBERATION DAY
aka The Pursuit of Diana.

“The budget for the mini-series was about double what we had per hour, so that's what was really difficult. It's impossible to retain the quality of the show with half the money, half the time to shoot things, half the special effects, half the sets, half the characters and half of everything.”
David Ambromowitz, Executive Story Consultant. Interviewed in The V-Files Book Five: The Conclusion.

CORPSE OF THE WEEK
Martin dies at the hands of Diana.

STOCK FOOTAGE
The footage of the Mothership in space is a mixture of stock from the mini-series and a new wide-shot.
The Skyfighter combat sequence originally produced for the first mini-series' second night is blatantly recycled several times beginning with this episode.
Diana's crashing Starfighter effects were originally produced for the attack on the Resistance base in the hills for the first mini-series, recompisited here to add a new location for the crash.

TONIGHT'S MENU
Apart from a few comments, Diana doesn't get anything to eat.

GROUND FORCES
None. The invasion fleet is hiding behind the moon.

BATES MOTEL
How did an organisation called Science Frontiers exist during the first invasion? Surely anything with “science” in the title would make it a prime alien target.
Why does Nathan Bates assume the Visitors are telling the truth about having a cure for cancer?
Bates has a personalised number plate.

SECURITY ALERT
How do the media know about the Starchild and where she is living? As very few people watched her powers manifest themselves on the Mothership bridge, someone in the group must have sold her out to the press during the following year.
Security outside Diana's trial is very slack. The ambulance which takes her away has no police escort and no-one else attempts to follow (which is unlikely, the press would go to any lengths to follow. Did Bates and Tyler engineer it all?
Why doesn't Tyler notice the helicopter? You would expect him to have an eye (and an ear) for such things.

CHARACTER NOTES
Elias has a line of footwear, the Club Creole and is technical advisor on a film (presumably about the first alien invasion). 

Martin is now working with Donovan as his camera assistant. 

Donovan has been offered an anchorman's position but is going to turn it down (“that's showbiz”). Julie is in charge of Science Frontier's Mothership project (despite not having a technical background). 

Ham Tyler runs a security agency (the services of which Nathan Bates attempts to engage).
Mike's son Sean is at a special school in Ohio. Donovan thinks he will resist attempts to de-convert him.
Donovan seems very willing to defend Diana's right to a fair trial. Maybe he is just confident that the evidence against her is overwhelming and she won't get away with it.
Ham's role in the escape of Diana, and Donovan's knowledge of it is conveniently forgotten after this episode. It should have been a major source of conflict between the two as well as a motivator for Ham to get revenge on Diana.
Donovan is willing to hand over responsibility for Diana's recapture to local law enforcement.
What happened to Polly Maxwell after the end of the first invasion?

HARDWARE
How does Martin know it is Diana's fighter making an escape? Does it have a unique identity code (or her name printed on the wing)?
Donovan exits his Skyfighter through just the lower part of the hatch.
Diana has special secret codes that are preventing the unlocking of the secrets of the Mothership, including the Conversion Process.
How does everyone get on and off the Mother Ship in Liberation Day? It's hovering just off the surface with no visible means of access yet nobody has any problems gaining access. Martin even tells Donovan that he will meet him “outside”.

THE CULTURE SHOW
Why do the Visitors continue to wear their human disguises throughout the series now that the truth is well-and-truly out. What value does maintaining the deception have? Why do the humans allow Diana to stand trial in her human disguise?
Diana's crimes (according to Bates): Crimes against humanity, genocide and cannibalism Bates and Diana never met (she appears to have never even heard of him or Science Frontiers) during her year of captivity.
Why does the alien fleet remain in Earth's solar system after their retreat when they are full of essential supplies (food and water) for the home world? Are the crews feeding off the humans in their holds?
Why do the Visitors take so long (a year) to address the issue of Diana? Surely her capture would represent a significant security threat. Even if the Red Dust prevented ground operations, surely a surgical strike could either rescue her or kill her before the humans learnt too much.
Why do the Visitors allow the humans to hold the LA Mothership and analyse its technology? Why not just destroy it from space?

RED ALERT
Martin has to take an antidote for the Red Dust every twelve hours for the rest of his life. The antidote is manufactured by Science Frontiers. With the exceptions of Willie and Diana, are there any other Visitors stranded on Earth? It must be costly to manufacture the antidote for just three aliens.
The effects of the Red Dust are not immediate. Diana is able to escape her bubble and grab Martin's pills apparently without suffering any ill-effects from limited exposure.
Why cant the aliens develop an antidote to the Red Dust? Are they even trying?

FROCKS ON THE BOX
How did Diana acquire the civilian disguise in Liberation Day? Was the redneck she attacked a secret cross-dresser?
Diana carries her neatly-folded uniform to hide the Visitor laser pistol she stole from Martin.

BLOOPERS
When Donovan takes the Skyfighter from the Mothership landing bay at the beginning of episode one, Visitor troops rather than Resistance fighters can be seen through the viewport.
In close-up Donovan leaps just before the shot ends, then in the long-shot he chases Diana for another couple of metres before leaping.
When Diana boards the Skyfighter at the end of the episode, the bullet holes on her tunic don't match the shots fired by Donovan.
While fighting Donovan, Diana's eyes turn briefly 'lizard' but this is impossible as her human eyes are really just elaborate contact lenses.
Mike's body changes location (watch the trees) after being knocked-out by Martin.

JEDI MINDTRICKS
Young Elizabeth can force a helicopter off-course at close range.
During the early stages of Elizabeth's transformation (which Julie attends very quickly), her skin begins to peel and then pulsate.
Elizabeth has learnt to ride a horse during her year at the Ranch. She knows exactly where to go to complete her transformation.

OBSERVATIONS
The whole of V: The Series was given a Certificate '15' by the BBFC, the same as the two mini-series, when released on home video in the UK.
The opening scenes are a direct continuation of the events in THE FINAL BATTLE before skipping ahead to one year of peace.
Diana understands more than most the deadly effects of the Red Dust yet she pilots her Skyfighter towards Earth rather than following the retreating fleet (which must still be reachable).
The Mothership is still in space when Diana's fighter launches but when Donovan launches and the subsequent ariel combat, all recycled, take place in Earth's atmosphere.
Jenny Beck reprises her role as Elizabeth.
The Maxwell Ranch is first referenced in the first mini-series when the family talk about going to “their place in the mountains”.
June Chadwick, Jennifer Cooke and Jeff Yager all appear in the credits for Liberation Day but don't appear in the show itself until episode two.
Diana's assassination is a direct lift of the fate of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Why is Martin that bothered about Diana signalling the fleet? If the aliens were monitoring Earth's transmissions they would already know she was a captive. At this point no-one knows that the Red Dust is useless.
It is lucky that the South-western automated tracking facility is close to where Diana was held prisoner before her escape. How far did she have to drive before her stolen car broke down?
The tracking station is unmanned but has a lovely lobby.
The tracking station is packed-full of old-fashioned computer technology.
At least they remember to put Diana in sunglasses while she is outside, even if she is very confused by a beeping digital watch.
Why does Diana stop and turn when Donovan calls her name? How can she be certain that his bullets wont penetrate her uniform? What happens if he aimed at her head or legs? Are all alien uniforms bullet proof or was Diana, a senior member of the fleet, issued with a special super-strong version?
What happened to the humans stored on the LA Mothership? Did they get defrosted?
The Visitor's eyes are sensitive to bright light in the mini-series (hence the sunglasses and visors for guards and shock troopers) but this becomes hit-and-miss in the series.
Considering she is responsible for the attempted genocide of the human race (and certainly the death and disappearance of thousands, maybe millions, of people), surprisingly few people turn up to protest outside Diana's trial.
No reference is made to the fate of all the humans contained in the holds of the fleet after the retreat.
Realistically, Earth would be devastated after the alien retreat: Governments, politicians, businessmen and leaders “converted” during the invasion would find themselves without instruction and accused of collaboration by the population. The systematic targeting of the scientific community would leave the planet without its greatest scientific minds, essential for rebuilding, analysing captured alien tech and devising a longer-term defence against re-invasion.
Earth's population (and water supplies) would be severely depleted by the actions of the Visitors.

GEEKEPEDIA: THE A-TEAM

AIRDATES: 23 January 1983 – 14 June 1987, NBC.

Opening narration: “In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you could hire the A-Team”
(nb: Season one's narration begins “Ten years ago...” before continuing).

Show creator Stephen J. Cannell confessed on the BBC's I LOVE THE '80's that “We told the same story every week!”

The show's memorable theme, revamped for the fifth season, was written by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter.

HARDWARE – The van (A grey-over-black GMC G15 van with red stripe/ wheels paint job and sliding side door. Six of the beasts, sharing at least three registration plates, were used for the show's run. It's become as iconic as the Mystery Machine), Face's Corvette (1984 issue. The distinctive red stripe was added to white hired cars as required), guns and ammunition (no-one dare speculate what tonnage of munitions were discharged in the course of the show. Needless to say, the hardware on show would make the mouth of many an African warlord water), cabbages (infamous Team weapon-of-choice), anything that happens to be in a shed, locked room, warehouse, broom cupboard etc. (you know the score. You know the plot).

Season one ranked 10th in the 1982-83 ratings, NBC's only show to break the top ten. By the fifth, and final, year the ratings had collapsed to 61st place.

Marvel Comics published a three-issue mini-series (apparently, according to an otherwise unrelated Marvel Age Magazine article, all completed within one month). These stories were reprinted as two specials by Marvel UK. A separate, UK originated, A-Team strip appeared in the weekly TV Comic until the title was cancelled. The license then transferred to Look-In.

In the UK, five hardback The A-Team annuals appeared between 1985 and 1991. Four were published by World Distributors between 1985 and 1989. The 1991 edition came from Marvel UK (coinciding with a repeat run of the television show) and, like the holiday specials (see above) reprinted strips from the US mini-series.

Several years after the show ended, Mr T got his own US comic book (Mr T and the T-Force, 14 issues 1994-95.) from Now Comics. More recently, Mr. T returned to comics but, despite heavy hype in industry publications, the title (and the publisher) folded after a single issue hit the stands.

The T-ster also attempted to conquer animation and, bizarrely, self-help videos for the under elevens. The Saturday morning (which ran between 1983 and 1986) show saw Mr. T leave behind the A-Team in favour for a group of pre-pubescent gymnasts (insert your own joke here) who travelled the globe solving crimes and learning valuable moral lessons. Mr. T topped-and-tailed each episode with a brief live-action piece-to-camera. Universal also rush-released Be Somebody, Or Be Somebody's Fool, a VHS attempt to educate the youth of America as the big T rapped out his moral message. Sadly, neither have yet resurfaced in the DVD age (at least, not officially).

In 1984, at the height of his fame, Mr.T also recorded the album Mr. T’s Commandments. It is not available on CD or download (that we know of).

An A-Team soundtrack album is available on CD.

The show features in the 1984 segment of BBC TWO's I Love the '80s with clips, interviews with Cannell and Schultz and the contemporary advert for the amazingly poor action figures. Falling some way short of the detailed documentary the show deserves, Channel Four's Bring Back The A-Team is a start. All the surviving members of the team are interviewed and several reunited (T declines the invertation but does consent to a solo interview).

Boy George’s appearance in the episode Cowboy George is included in the light entertainment documentary Secret Life of the Stars (BBC ONE).

George Peppard (who died of pneumonia following treatment for lung cancer in May 1994. He had been married five times and was survived by three children) was first choice for Blake Carrington in DYNASTY and played the part in the original pilot episode. The producers found him demanding and difficult and became concerned how he would behave if the show became a success. They recast and reshot with John Forsyth.

Mr. T was the first member of the team to be cast.

George Peppard was very nervous in his audition and sweated heavily despite trying to appear cool and cocky. Peppard developed a reputation for being hard work on the A-Team set as well: he clashed with Mr. T, forced the writers to under use and ultimately drop the reporters Amy Allan and Tawnia Baker, and refused to work long hours.

The cast turnover amongst the military ranks was even more frequent: William Lucking was Colonial Lynch while genre regular Lance LaGault had the same mission as Colonial Decker during season’s two-four. Also on the Team’s case were Jack Ging as General Fulbright (eventually killed in action) during Season Four. Carl Franklin was Captain Crane during season’s two-four.

Tim Dunigan played Face in the pilot episode, MEXICAN SLAYRIDE. He was replaced by Dirk Benedict for all subsequent episodes but the pilot was not reshot to take account of the change. Dunigan would later headline his own show with Captain Power and the Solders of the Future, a short-lived live-action show designed to sell futuristic interactive toys from Mattel. When the toyline faltered, the show was cancelled after a single season.

Following continued heated disputes with Peppard (apparently still convinced he should have been the star of the show), Mr. T walked off the set during production of the fourth season episode Judgement Day. Opting to play hardball, the studio briefly fired T until he agreed to return to work.

The team’s van is a 1985 model General Motors G-15. It made it to 8th place in SKY ONE's TV's Greatest Cars. Face's corvette is a 1984 model. The car's red stripe was added every time the vehicle was hired.

The show was spoofed, as The B-Team, by Benny Hill.

In 1995, Mr. T was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma but has continued to work. He has become a born-again Christian in recent years and announced in 2005, following the devastating affects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans, that he would no longer wear his gold jewellery, believing it is an “insult to god”.

Benedict was a housemate for the duration of the 2006 instalment of Celebrity Big Brother. The star signing at the beginning of the run (he arrived at the house in a replica A-Team van) he was swiftly overshadowed by the international race row that engulfed the show (and Channel Four). Ultimately, he came a respectable third.

Dirk Benedict has penned two autobiographies: And Then we Went Fishing: A Story of Fatherhood, Fate and Forgiveness (Avery publishing Group, July 1994) and Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy: A True Story of Discovery, Acting, Health, Illness, Recovery and Life (Avery Publishing, June 1991). Sales of both apparently leapt on Amazon after his CBB appearance so maybe a third is one the way?

The choosy viewer might be more interested in the impressive rota of 1980s guest stars: Season One: Dean Stockwell (A Small and Deadly War), Tracy Scoggins (The Rabbit Who Ate Las Vegas), Yaphet Kotto (The Out-of-Towners). Season Two: Michael Ironside (The Taxi Cab Wars), Tracy Scoggins (There's Always A Catch), Keye Luke (The Maltese Cow), Dennis Franz (Chopping Spree), Tim O'Connor (Semi-Friendly Persuasion), Sam J. Jones (Semi-Friendly Persuasion). Season Three – Marta Du Bois (Bend in the River), Barry Van Dyke (Bend in the River), Joe Santos (Trouble on Wheels), Richard Lynch (Hot Styles), Daphne Ashbrook (Road Games), Richard Herd (Waste 'Em), Lloyd Boucher (Beverly Hills Assault), Dennis Franz (Beverly Hills Assault), Claudia Christian (Trouble Brewing), Judson Scott (Incident at Crystal Lake). Season Four: June Chadwick (Judgement Day), Isaac Hayes (The Heart of Rock'n'Roll), Hulk Hogan (Body Slam), Robert Pastorelli (There Goes The Neighbourhood), Richard Anderson (The Doctor Is Out), Boy George and Culture Club (Cowboy George), Hulk Hogan (The Trouble With Harry), William “The Refrigerator” Perry (The Trouble With Harry), Tia Carrere (The Sound of Thunder). Season Five – Dustin Nguyen (Point of No Return), Roy Doltrice (The Spy Who Mugged Me).

RENEWALS

News this week that FOX have commissioned a second season of TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. A further thirteen episodes will be added to the nine episode first season and there are hints that FOX will add a further nine shows to their second season order sooner rather than later.

BBC THREE has ordered six more episodes of human/ werewolf/ vampire flatshare drama BEING HUMAN following the well-received pilot earlier this year. The channel has already ordered a full series of PHOO ACTION, the first of the experimental drama pilots.

B-SKY-B are developing two sixty-minute scripts for a revival of BLAKE'S SEVEN for Sky One, in association with license-holder Blake 7 Productions (who, after many false-starts including previous plans for a live-action update and, believe-it-or-not, an animated version, did manage several reimagined audio dramas for CD and BBC SEVEN). Sky One had previously toyed with the idea of a revival of THE PRISONER before deciding the revival of such an iconic property was an unwise move. At this point, it remains to be seen if the new BLAKE'S SEVEN will actually enter production.

GEEKEPEDIA: 'V': THE SERIES overview

As a post-script to our recent coverage of the original 'V' mini-series and by way of a preview of our upcoming highly-detailed episode-by-episode analysis of the series, here is an overview of 'V: THE SERIES'.... The Visitors are NOT our friends. Remember that.

On-screen, the series is known simply as 'V' (indeed, only THE FINAL BATTLE has any official sub-title) but in NBC's publicity material (including press adverts) it was billed as V: The Series.

None of the episodes have any on-screen titles leading fans to create some “interesting” alternatives. The now firmly established official titles come from Warner Brothers VHS and DVD releases.

The complete series is available on R1 DVD with no extras.

The move to a weekly production schedule (and a weekly budget) forced the producers to compromise on some of the key elements of the success of the two mini-series: The Visitor's laser weapons were costly to complete in post-production (each blast cost over a $1000 dollars) so usage was kept to a minimum with Visitor troops instead issued with (normally) non-lethal stun batons.

The aliens distinctive voices, an effect again added in post, was also abandoned without explanation. The fan-produced Visitor Technical Manual (now long out-of-print but a nice-to-find item) speculated that the change was the result of extended exposure to Earth's atmosphere. The show's producers made no such effort to explain it. A fringe benefit of the decision was to open up the possibility of aliens disguised as humans, something unlikely with their distinctive reverb.

The first episode, LIBERATION DAY, continues directly from the events of the second mini-series before jumping ahead to the first anniversary of the alien retreat from Earth. The novel THE PURSUIT OF DIANA (by Allen Wold), written before production begun on the weekly series, offers a different take on Diana's fate and Earth's reconstruction.

The Red Dust is only active in parts of the world that experience freezing temperatures. In climates such as Los Angeles, it dies. Science Frontiers research has discovered that further releases of the chemical would have disastrous effects on Earth's species making it impossible to repel the second invasion with further releases.

LIBERATION DAY's memorable effects shot of the alien fleet hiding behind the moon was achieved using models (the 30-inch Saucer in the foreground, newly built smaller ships behind and a 36-inch model of the moon's surface) because there wasn't the money in the budget for optical compositing.

Despite boasting an increased budget on early episodes, the producers were confronted with their first major budget crunch as early as episode two. The Visitor super-weapon, the Particle Beam Triax, was a key plot-point but there was no money in the kitty to fund the construction and filming of new miniature work. The initial plan was to hire some existing stock footage from another production and alter it as required. Faced with this unsatisfactory solution, the show's effects team found an existing model (built by Dale Fay, one of the team, for a student film) and filmed that instead. Even then, only one shot could be filmed but cut into smaller segments to be placed throughout the episode.

Despite being completed, NBC passed on the third episode, BREAKOUT, during the show's initial run. To cover the gap, the producers shot additional scenes for the next episode which offered alternative explanations to how several of the characters met for the first time. When NBC put the show into reruns the following summer, BREAKOUT was included in its correct place in the season. When released on VHS and DVD, both episodes are included, creating the impression that they contradict each other.

BREAKOUT introduces the alien Crivit creatures, inspiration for the original novel THE CRIVIT EXPERIMENT.

Selected episodes credit “Science Fiction Advisors”. Really.

Network and studio asked Kenneth Johnson to return to his creation and turn things around toward the end of the first (and only) season but he declined, believing too much damage had been done.

Despite capturing large amounts of hardware, including equipment that must have been abandoned at the end of the second mini-series, the Resistance seem very reluctant to use clearly superior alien tech. The real reason, of course, is that it would have pushed budgets too high.

According to show writer David Braff, the episode VISITOR'S CHOICE fell victim to network concerns over levels of violence and a battle scene was cut from the final edit.

Several characters from the mini-series return, albeit briefly, for episodes of the weekly series: Robert Maxwell (LIBERATION DAY and DREADNOUGHT), Sean Donovan (DECEPTION and SANCTION) and Young Elizabeth (LIBERATION, DREADNOUGHT and REFLECTIONS IN TERROR).

Despite already featuring a larger than average cast that the show's writers found difficult to juggle, NBC offered to fund the creation of a talking land vehicle (ala K.I.T.T). The studio declined.

Mid-season saw a drastic reduction in the number of regular and recurring characters. Amongst the casualties: Charles (accidently poisoned by Lydia), Elias Taylor (vaporised by a Visitor weapon), Nathan Bates (killed in a gun battle), Ham Tyler (departs for Chicago), Chris (Chicago), Robin Maxwell (Chicago), Mr Chaing (suddenly unemployed), Howard K. Smith (unknown).

Howard Kay Smith was a former real-life news anchor. The Freedom Network was intended to expand the scope of the alien invasion and give it a more 'epic' feel than the show could afford on its limited budget.

The second half of the season did, however, introduce some new characters: Lt. James became Diana's most trusted foot soldier as the was effort continued. Another Visitor, despatched from the homeworld to speed victory, turned out to be a slightly less valuable addition to the fleet's forces. Phillip (inexplicably Martin's twin brother, despite wearing the standard alien-issue human disguise mask) swore revenge on the man he believed killed his brother (that would be Donovan then) but quickly secretly sided with the resistance once he knew the truth. This allowed the show's writers, albeit belatedly, to reintroduce the idea of a Visitor Fifth Column in the fleet despite going to great pains to make them off-limits (we're told all suspects were purged after the fleet's initial retreat) at the beginning of the series.

Despite establishing that Nathan Bates' death would trigger a massive release of Red Dust particles which would make Los Angeles off-limits to the Visitors (a plot-point mentioned again in THE HERO), his passing triggers no such alien apocalypse. A scene was shot showing Kyle Bates taking Bates Snr's pulse monitor and placing it on his own wrist as his father slipped away but the scene was dropped from the final edit and no explanation was ever offered. Bates' company, Science Frontiers, charged by the US government with reverse engineering and exploiting Visitor technology prior to the second invasion, is never mentioned again following his death despite, presumably, holding vast stocks (albeit unseen) of alien technology which could be invaluable to the resistance effort.

The weekly series divides fairly neatly into three distinct styles: The early episodes are an A-TEAM/ DYNASTY hybrid with simplistic action aimed at an early evening family audience and high-camp on the Mothership as the aliens devote more time to foiling each others ambitions than the Resistance. Suddenly, mid-season, the show suddenly starts to develop an edge with slightly more gritty storylines (and an extreme rise in the body count). This strategy, despite being something of a creative success (at least compared with earlier episodes), clearly failed to arrest declining audience and the final part of the season (suffering from a reduced budget as well as a reduced cast) has the stench of desperation and treading water until inevitable cancellation. With no money and no ambition, the final episodes slide into high camp with only the alien antics on the Mothership holding any attraction.

A formal Visitor written language was never devised for the show but the fan compilers of the Visitor Technical Manual had a crack based on what was shown on-screen.

Including the originally AWOL BREAKOUT, the weekly series clocked-up 19 episodes. An unexpected ratings bounce toward the end of the season prompted the commissioning of a 20th script, THE ATTACK, which would have acted as a pilot for any second season. The episode, had it have gone into production, would have seen the death of Juliet Parish (Faye Grant had expressed a desire to leave the show), a shift of emphasis onto Kyle Bates and Elizabeth (the two characters the network felt most comfortable with) and the introduction of a new format that would see the surviving Resistance members crossing the United States looking for something of vital importance to the invading aliens while pursued by Diana and her minions. Apparently Mike Donovan was also due for the chop had the show continued. When the ratings showed no sustained upswing, the 20th episode and the second season were both abandoned leaving the plot lines of the 19th outing (including the alien ceasefire and Diana's apparent assassination of the leader) unresolved.

Warner Brothers hoped that NBC would buy a third mini-series (or TV movie), V – THE CLOSING CHAPTER, to keep the franchise alive but the network, no doubt sensing damaged goods, declined. Ideas for the third mini-series included taking the war to the alien's home planet (difficult and expensive) or an examination of how the remaining aliens would be treated on Earth after being abandoned by their retreating fleet, or Fifth Columnists who choose to stay behind (cheaper to film and not special effects intensive). Ultimately, neither materialised and the publishers of the licensed books and comics also decided (or were told) to stay away from events after the final episode.

Following the success of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION in first-run syndication, Warner Brothers looked at the possibility of relaunching the franchise in syndication but abandoned the idea when the relatively low revenues generated by sellings shows to local stations couldn't match the high budgets the show would have demanded. JMS (previously of animation and soon to launch BABYLON FIVE for Warner Brothers) proposed V: THE NEXT CHAPTER which would have removed most of the surviving members of the original cast in favour of new faces.

More recently, Kenneth Johnson has been working with both network and studio on ideas for a new V mini-series. Sticking points seem to include whether it should be a remake of the first mini-series, a continuation (which would probably ignore, or at least skate round, the events of the second mini-series and the weekly series) or a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA style re-imagining of the original idea for a modern audience. His follow-up to the original mini-series (ignoring the events of THE FINAL BATTLE and the weekly series), V: THE SECOND GENERATION, was published by TOR in hardback and paperback in 2007. Johnson hopes this will serve as the basis for a television revival.

V: The Series was supported by a massive merchandising campaign in the United States and abroad. Tellingly, most of the material issued was aimed at younger viewers and collectors. Amongst the most interesting pieces are the 16 original novels issued between 1984 and 1988. Only the first is a direct adaptation of television material, the two mini-series. The third book, The PURSUIT OF DIANA, offers an alternative account of events immediately after the first alien withdrawal. The remainder recount events around the world and many feature no appearances by the human characters from the tv show. None of them conclude events after the final episode of the television show.

The complete television 'V' saga runs to 29 commercial hours: four hours for the initial mini-series, six for THE FINAL BATTLE and nineteen for the weekly series, including BREAKOUT. Today, the saga is often shown as a twenty-nine episode series.

GEEKEPEDIA: IRON MAN ANIMATED

To get in the mood for the soon-to-be-released IRON MAN feature film, here's a swift overview of shell-head's 1994-96 animated show. At the time of writing, a new animated series (intended as a companion to the already on-air FANTASTIC FOUR) has yet to debut.

One half of MARVEL'S ACTION HOUR (and significantly better than co-stars THE FANTASTIC FOUR), this Shell-head solo show is watchable but average fare. The decision to make the Mandarin the recurring villain in early episodes (the show enjoyed a reboot for the second season) is an odd one as he's hardly a Marvel Universe heavy-hitter but the choice does emphasise the weakness of Iron Man's rouge's gallery compared with other Marvel creations. After 13 episodes, Marvel sensibly shifted the show to another studio and things improve significantly for the second half of the run. Expect to find the normal cameos and guest shots from various other Marvel characters (including War Machine and the West Coast Avengers) in need of a show of their own and some merchandising bucks.

The choice of armour design is an odd one, hardly a classic design and a serious mis-fire. Hell, even the non-trad red'n'silver incarnation introduced in Iron Man issue 200 (part of Marvel's merchandiser unfriendly 1980's policy of changing everyone's traditional costumes... sometimes for no apparent reason) would have been a better choice. And don't get us started on the CGI inserts... they really shouldn't have bothered (and didn't for the second batch of shows).

In one of those classic television cheats, Stark has the ability to switch between specialist armours by some unexplained metamorphosis in the second season. No nipping back to Stark Enterprises for a quick change of clothes before continuing the mission.

Rather conveniently, Marvel's business plan was closely tied to toy manufacturer Toy Biz during this period, allowing the toy company to merchandise the myriad of Iron Man variations seen on the show.

It's Robert (Airplane) Hayes as Tony Stark/ Iron Man.

An animated Bill Clinton makes an unexpected guest appearance, as leader of the free world, in seven episodes. Whether he receives repeat fees is unrecorded.

Marvel issued a tie-in comic based on the show (and outside usual continuity) for as long as it would sell. A companion ACTION HOUR title for the FANTASTIC FOUR also appeared.

The first season of the Action Hour aired with live-action intros from Stan Lee (ala Walt Disney) but these were dropped for the second 13. The second thirteen also have a new title sequence, improved theme tune ("I am Iron Man!" We'd like to think kids across America were chanting that mantra... and we bet Marvel wished they had too) and better writing. Compared with fare like BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and much of today's anime inspired shows, the animation (even on the superior second run when someone was at least checking for obvious errors) is standard TV quality of the time. Watchable but hardly stylish or ground-breaking.

The complete series has been released on R2 DVD but without any reference to the Action Hour and Stan's intros.
Ahead of 2008 live-action movie (and another animated series), Marvel issued a direct-to-DVD animated one-shot, THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, in 2007 which is superior fare and well worth seeking out along with the other three Marvel animated direct-to-DVD projects (two volumes of THE ULTIMATE AVENGERS and, of all people, DOCTOR STRANGE).

ESSENTIALS -
The DVD box set will ensure a complete dose of shell-head action.

Best of the episodes is the second-season two-parter based on the classic ARMOUR WARS story arc from the comics (albeit truncated for the kids). Iron Man is seen as responsible for a nuclear explosion (at least in the public's eyes... an idea which would be much expanded upon (and reworked) for Marvel's CIVIL WAR epic, albeit with other heroes taking the blame) which is a bad start to a bad day. Then Stark discovers that his not-quite top secret armour technology is being used by most of Marvel's armoured super villains, sending an obsessed Shell-head rogue as he attempts to stop the bad guys he believes he 'created'. Cue lots of guest-shots from Marvel's menagerie of armoured folk including the always-rubbish Stilt Man, Sting Ray and the Beetle (given a Liverpool accent... can't think why) as well as Nick Fury and Hawkeye.

None of the TV-based comic strips have ever been collected into book form (but perusers of the 50p bargain back issue boxes will probably get lucky) but plenty of the real-deal is out there including the Marvel UK reminisant (IE cheap and black'n'white) phone book thickness Essential collections and higher-priced (but better packaged) collections of classic story arcs including the ground-breaking DEMON IN A BOTTLE and the adapted-for-TV romp ARMOUR WARS.

GEEKEPEDIA: ROBOCOP IN OTHER MEDIA

The first film (1987) is a classic but the franchise soon suffered from declining returns, both at the cinema (the first sequel fails to live up to the promise of the first despite boasting a writing credit by acclaimed comic book scribe Frank Miller while the second is obviously the first stage in repositioning the character on a more family-friendly footing) and on television.

Marvel produced and aired an animated version of the character as part of its' MARVEL ACTION UNIVERSE (1988) syndicated anthology, clocking-up twelve episodes. All the elements, albeit much toned-down, from the first movie are included and nobody seemed too concerned that kids were being handed an easy stepping-stone to a violent adult movie (although this was nothing new: the decade had already spawned a RAMBO animated show for Saturday mornings). Marvel also produced a comic book version but this was based on the universe of the feature film rather than a direct adaptation of the animated fare.

A decade later, a forty episode animated series, ROBOCOP: ALPHA COMMANDO, was unleashed. The show has the distinction of being the last production from MGM's animation division.

Following a long-trod path, theatrical failure did not stand in the way of further small-screen efforts (especially when the costume, and the cars, were already paid for). A 22-episode weekly series which is, suprisingly, better than it deserves to be, was aired during 1994. The show demonstrates a nice line in satire and black humour (“Italian government falls after 10 minutes in office.” “New language laws in France: Speak English and go to jail!”) in keeping with the movies.

Despite being filmed in Canada (production is cheaper in “North Hollywood”), per-episode budgets were still said to be in the region of $1.2 - $1.5 million. The feature-length opening episode was based on a rejected story line for the third feature film. Despite its' high-profile origins, the show was largely overlooked at the time of its' release and things haven't changed since, despite a priced-to-go DVD release here in the UK. It remains something of an undiscovered telefantasy secret.

Four TV movies (DARK JUSTICE, MELTDOWN, RESURECTION and CRASH AND BURN), known collectively as ROBOCOP: PRIME DIRECTIVES, appeared in 2000. These were produced by the production company as one final roll-of-the-dice before the television rights reverted to MGM. The mini-series is set ten years after the original film and while it lifts footage from the TV series (and the first film by virtue of footage from it having been used in the TV show), it ignores the continuity of the theatrical sequels and the weekly series. These can be found very cheaply on DVD if you shop around including a bargain-priced four movie/ two DVD budget release from Prism Leisure. Our copy cost us the princely sum of £2. That's a steal!

All three movies (1987, 1990 and 1993) are available in one box set (albeit only the first one with an extras). The animated series is available minus all its' MARVEL ACTION UNIVERSE branding (initially as a cheap'n'cheerful single disc partial collection, later superceded by the whole series). The four TV movies are available in various formats (see above) and the complete TV series is also available, minus any extras (and watch out for the inexplicable Light Sabre sound effect on the opening menu).

ESSENTIALS -
The first movie (of course).
ROBO-COP Vs. COMMANDER CASH is a biting satire (in the spirit of the original movie) on marketing to children and well worth a look. Keep an eye on Cash's sidekick, Major Marketing.
RoboCop fights feminism, cross-dressing and the odd (alleged) lesbian (“civilisation as we know it is at an end”) in SISTERS IN CRIME.

COMIC BOOKS
In addition to his small-screen spin-offs (two animated, two live-action), RoboCop has also enjoyed a spin-off career in comicbook law enforcement.

Marvel kicked things off with a black and white magazine adaptation (suitably toned-down for news stands) of the first movie (later published again, this time in colour) followed by an original monthly series running to 23 issues. British creators proved to be mainstays of the title: JUDGE DREDD scribe Alan Grant was the no-brainer writer (art chores by Lee Sulivan art throughout save the occasional fill-in) on the first year before Transformers legend Simon Furman added a third mechanoid (after the warring robots and freelance bounty hunter DEATH'S HEAD) to his CV.

In the UK, the movie adaptation was released as a one-shot special and then serialised in the 'mature readers' Punisher title (along with the Marvel universe hard-man and Vietnam 'drama' THE 'NAM, partial inspiration for New World Television's TOUR OF DUTY). The original strips were given a brief outing in the weekly HAVOC (along with Ghost Rider, Conan and others) in a final attempt to create a newsagent-friendly anthology weekly. The experiment (probably only a placeholder for the Marvel's upcoming OVERKILL weekly) proved something of a failure and disappeared without trace (or any resolution to any of the strips) after a mere 9 weeks.

The license passed from Marvel to Dark Horse who, amongst several mini-series, teamed RoboCop with the TERMINATOR (another licensed title in their rosta for a four-issue slug-fest). Other Dark Horse entries were Prime Suspect (4 issues), Mortal Coils (4 issues), Roulette (4 issues) and an adaptation of the second movie (3 issues).

More recently (Dark Horse relinquished the rights in 1994), the license has transferred again, this time to Avatar Press. Amongst their offerings has been one, by Frank Miller, based on a rejected story line for the second movie.

GEEKEPEDIA: 'V': THE MAKING OF THE ORIGINAL MINI-SERIES

With the publication of Kenneth Johnson's sequel to the original mini-series (V: THE SECOND GENERATION in hardback and paperback from Tor Books), and talk of a TV movie of mini-series adaptation to follow, now seems a good time to look back to 1983 and the making of Johnson's original.  It couldn't happen here.

NB - Much of this information comes from Johnson's commentary from the DVD release.  No matter how many times you have seen the original production, purchase of the disc is strongly recommended just for Johnson's contribution.  The same is true for his audio commentaries on the first two HULK TVMs and the pilot episode of ALIEN NATION.  This writer is looking forward to hearing his commentaries for all five of the ALIEN NATION TV movies.

Johnson's first draft of what would, ultimately become V was called Stormwarning and didn't contain any aliens. Johnson wanted to tell a straight-forward story about how people would react to a fascist takeover from within the United States. NBC boss Brandon Tartikoff suggested that the American viewing public wouldn't accept a fascist takeover from within and suggested a Soviet or Chinese occupation. Johnson thought such a scenario unlikely (how would they mount a successful invasion and maintain control for a prolonged period?) so created the alien threat.

Johnson's first story treatment, the one he read to the studio brass, was completed 23 July 1982. The first draft of the screenplay was completed 12 August that year. The 230 page script was completed in only 19 days (in longhand). Filming started 11 October.

To save money, many of the sets and props designed for the first mini-series were designed to be modular, allowing them to be multi-purpose and adapted as the script demanded. The Skyfighters could be split into two along their centre-line and the fore and aft sections attached to other mid-sections (tanker, transporter, squad car etc.). This approach was used on both the full-sized and miniature versions of the craft. The alien laser pistol, based on a German luger, could have extra sections added to form the larger laser rifle.

Rushed production is the reason that not all the Visitor Motherships around the globe look the same in the television coverage. They should do.

Actress Dominique Dunne was originally cast as Robin Maxwell and had already started filming when she was strangled and killed by her abusive ex-boyfriend. The role was recast but one shot featuring the original actress survived into the final edit. A dedication to the late actress appears on both parts of the original mini-series.

The first mini-series, along with The Final Battle, were novelised in a single 400 page volume by A.C. Crispin. Crispin's second novel (writing with Howard Weinstein) covers the same time period as the first book but from the perspective of the populations of New York City and Washington DC. According to that book, the Fleet first arrives in October (p.10). Despite being written after the first mini-series was shot and aired, the book does take some liberties with what is established on-screen. The New York Mothership landing bay (which MAY be a different design than the LA craft) is described as having blue-grey walls and being dimly lit in contrast to the bright bays seen throughout the TV version.

Both mini-series were purchased by the UK's ITV network and aired in the summer of 1985 as a schedule filler when the network's planned coverage of the Olympic Games collapsed over budgets and staffing, leaving hours of airtime to fill at short notice. The two mini-series were stripped over 1 week and delivered ratings of around 10 million viewers.

Filming began in October 1982. Shooting took 54 days, almost all of which were on location.

The opening scene, at the South American rebel camp, was filmed at Indian Dunes, north of Los Angeles. The sequence was shot in 2.5 days. The helicopter accident that killed Vic Murrow and two children during the shoot of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE had happened at the same location shortly before V started filming.

Multiple camera shots were used during the helicopter sequence which allowed several shots to be repeated from different angles, creating the impression of separate events (watch for the duo climbing into the old wreck several minutes before they do it for real).

Two jeeps were used for the sequence, neither of which were very mechanically sound.

Marc Singer was a last-minute casting decision. He got the role on a Friday and started on-set the following Monday.

The musical sting from Beethoven's Fifth Synthoney, the first music (other than the main theme) heard on the mini-series (as the Mothership sweeps over Donovan) spells out 'V' in morse code.

There are 56 speaking roles in the mini-series.

Johnson only had 2.5 weeks from getting NBC's green light to the first day of shooting to prep the piece.

All the news bulletins etc. were shot on the first day of filming, at KTTV LA, so that they could be played live into subsequent scenes (rather than being keyed in during post production).

The location of the archaeological dig at the start of the mini-series and the Resistance camp in the hills are one-and-the-same.

All the shots of the Motherships swooping in are the same matte painting with different live-action elements.

Elias turns on the tv to make sure it is a colour set, not black and white.

At the time of production, V was the most expensive mini-series ever made.

Dominic Dunne, murdered four weeks into filming by her boyfriend, still appears in one scene. As the Mothership flies over Pacific Palisades and the Maxwell family look up, it's Dunne on the reverse angle effects shot.

Pacific Palisades suffered from a fog problem which created some stylish scenes but also some continuity problems.

A continuing visual motif throughout the mini-series is water, keep 'em peeled!

Johnson added the alien quality to their voices to stop them infiltrating humans too easily. He was never completely satisfied with the end result.

The sunglasses proved to be a bit of a problem when Johnson realised there were times when he wanted to see the actors eyes. The solution was to create a selection of glasses, some darker than others.

Johnson deliberately mixed the voices of the newscasters during coverage of the UN first-contact sequence, he assumed people would be watching coverage on a variety of news outlets.

When the shuttle lands on the roof, it's the camera that moves not the ship.

Dunne died the day that the New York sequence was shot. Johnson had to leave her family to shoot that night's material.

Two stages at Warner Brothers were used just to build the various Visitor craft. They were designed over one weekend.

Johnson read War and Peace, a great inspiration for him, a year before writing V. In his first story treatment he didn't bother to name the characters, he just described them by their roles or job titles. Once Johnson had completed his treatment, he spent more than two hours reading it to Brandon Tartikoff and the NBC top brass.

Christine's apartment is Bunker Hill, LA being passed-off as New York.

The Mothership landing bay is Warner Brothers stage 25. For the wide shot the right-hand side of the shot is physical set, the centre of the shot (with the hatch) is a matte painting and the left-hand side is another shot of the physical set but reversed.

Along with Singer, Jane Badler was another late addition to the cast. Filming had already begun when Johnson met her. She was cast, at least in part, for her eyes.

The Mothership tanks seen on the initial tour are really the Budweiser brewery.

The refinery location is a generating station in Long Beach.

When the shuttle lands and the Visitor personnel disembark at the refinery, a split-screen is used to double the number of aliens and the marching band.

Rehearsal time on the picture was only two days, the weekend prior to the first day of filming (and the day after Marc Singer was cast).

The actor who looses his arm in the refinery accident really was an amputee with a fake arm that shatters on impact. It's grapes stuck to Robert England's face to create the blistering caused by exposure to the extreme cold.

The action figures that Sean plays with aren't real toys or prototypes, they were one-off's specifically made for the scene.

Johnson had already hoped to make the landing bay and other public areas of the Mothership darker to reflect the light sensitivity of the Sirians but the time-scales of the shoot didn't allow for more complex lighting.

The shoot's Production Meeting took place on 21 September, just before shooting begun.

The infamous swallow scene was shot in two chunks: The live-action elements, including Diana's expanding neck, were shot first with the prosthetic head (with extending jar) shot at a later date (against a slightly different background) because it wasn't ready for the initial shoot days. Another prosthetic head was built for the stuntman who discovers, and fights, Donovan for the shots where he uses his alien tongue.

The alien eyes contact lenses had a tendency to rotate slightly leading to Sirian wonky-eye syndrome.

The very first shot of the production is the scene, shot at KTTV Los Angeles, where Donovan and the anchorman walk across the studio floor just prior to the aborted newscast which would have revealed the true nature of the aliens. NBC's Standards and Practices, concerned about viewer confusion, wouldn't allow the NBC News logo to be used at the top of the breaking news bulletin sequence hence the generic caption slide.

Three weeks before the mini-series aired, “The Visitors are our Friends” posters, without reference to V or NBC, started to appear across America. Two weeks ahead of transmission, all the posters were defaced with a spray-painted “V” just as in the programme. One week later, transmission details were added.

Because of a mistake during shooting, Johnson didn't have the right coverage of the scene where David sits down. As a work-round, Johnson reverses the shot where David sits so he appears to be standing again. If the shot ran any longer, it would be obvious he was walking backwards.

The first Resistance meeting, at the laundry, was shot on 1 November, the 16th day of shooting.

Johnson himself comes from, by his own account, a very anti-semetic household.

Each laser blast cost $1,000. The full visual effects budget clocked in at around $1.3 million.

When Julie spins her VW, it's a stuntman in a blond wig doing the turn. Faye Grant did much of the driving, of the lorry and the car, in this sequence.

V's 'heroic theme', first introduced at the conclusion of the first night, comes from the 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th. The score was recorded by a 60 piece orchestra.

The small town where Donovan's ex-wife and son live is filmed in Monrovia. The damage to the street is all dressing.

There's a reflection of the boom mike in the glass of the picture as Daniel uncorks the champagne.

Katie is heard crying even when the young actress obviously isn't.

The production clocked up a lot of overtime to hit its airdates.

The El Tepiac reference is (or was) a Mexican restaurant in East LA frequented by cast and crew.

The tunnel HQ is the old Belmont tunnel, part of LA's underground railway system, running from the city to Pasadena and built in 1925. After its closure as a subway it was used to store emergency provisions intended to feed the inhabitants of the city after a nuclear attack. In the late 1960s the tunnel started leaking so the food supplies were removed and cars, captured from criminals, were stored instead. The interiors were filmed at an old abandoned bank building. The production had to return to the location to reshoot scenes already in the can featuring Dunne. Johnson painted the red V's on the walls himself.

The only dissolve in the whole mini-series is when Daniel sits alone at the dining table.

Donovan's semi-fall from the walkway at the Visitor plant was improvised by Singer (not a stuntman) on the night of the shoot.

Johnson wrote the lyrics for the Choral music while the human prisoners are loaded onto the Visitor transport (and reused for the climax at the mountain camp). In English, before Johnson had them translated, they are “Don't take my children, don't hurt my children. Don't bring harm to them.”

Johnson's original plan to use an oil refinery for the alien plant was nixed when the owners wouldn't allow the production team to set-off assorted explosions. The steam plant proved to be a more accommodating alternative. The explosives fitted by the Resistance were really propane-fuelled which created a big explosion but little damage. Some of the explosions at the plant were stock miniature effects from another production.

Diana's hair is made to look deliberately serpent-like.

The Mothership's corridors and quarters were filmed on stages 8 and 9 at the CBS studios. As previously noted, the docking bay was filmed at Warner Brothers. The sets were designed so they could be lit by the 'natural' lighting on the set ('hidden' behind tracing paper). The hatches deliberately have a turtle-shell design.

The lighting on the Landing Bay set was so intense that, on one occasion it triggered the stage's sprinkler system and, another time, overloaded the Warner Brothers fusebox.

Barbara (the Visitor who gives her uniform to Donovan and gets semi-naked in the process) would have become a recurring character, developing a relationship with Donovan, had Johnson continued to oversee the show beyond this initial mini-series.

It isn't Singer in the scene in the ally. Because of the lengths of the shooting days he couldn't appear in the night shoot and a double had to be used.

Some of the laser rifles were “working” props with small working monitors fitted as gun sights.

As Donovan walks the Mothership corridor before entering the crafts darker areas, we see almost the entire corridor set built for the production. As he walks through the dark corridor of the hold area with Martin after finding out the truth about the alien mission, almost the entirety of that set is shown.

As the Skyfighter explodes after Ruby's attack it is visible darker than the other shots in the sequence because it was completed late in the evening after the day's shoot ran late.

As the truck approaches the STOP sign outside the Visitor facility the sequence was originally shot in reverse so the truck started at the sign and reversed away. The stuntman playing the Visitor trooper walked backwards to complete the illusion when the shot was reversed. The whole Resistance attack was filmed in one day on 14 December 1982.

Johnson said he wanted the hold of the Mothership to sound like a whale and ultimately created the sound himself in a cupboard.

The water and human storage areas were small sets enhanced by matte paintings.

One Skyfighter interior was built, all the other ships are hollow shells. A separate set, divided into front and rear sections, was built to film the interiors against bluescreened exteriors.

When the Skyfighter loops-the-loop, Robin's hair defies gravity.

The flying footage, filmed with a helicopter, is speeded-up slightly. Look out for the waves crashing onto the beach.

One of the most expensive visuals of the piece (cost: $75,000) is as the Skyfighters fly over the Jeep as everyone heads for the Resistance mountain camp.

The exploding Skyfighter as it collides with the hillside is a post-production effect as the crew weren't allowed to detonate any explosives at the location.

When Julie is firing at Diana's Skyfighter, she is really firing at a helicopter so that Grant has something to relate to.

The very final shot of the production is where Diana's mask is partially destroyed by Donovan's surprise attack on her Skyfighter.

Broadcast standards wouldn't allow the gun to be put straight to the head so the finished shot is a compromise. The reunion scene had already been shot with Dunne and had to be remounted.

Johnson's cut, allowing for commercials, overran by 15 minutes. Unable to find a cut, he handed his over-long edit to Brandon Tartikoff at NBC for his input. Rather than hack into the first night, Tartikoff allowed it an extra 15 minutes, airing from 9pm to 11.15pm.

The mini-series had a 40% share and over 80 million viewers each night, the highest rated show NBC had aired in more than 2.5 years.

Chuck Davis, V's production designer and long-time Johnson collaborator died shortly after the mini-series was created. Johnson still has his pencil and eraser displayed in a small glass case so that he always remembers him, his advice and creative contributions.

The GTE radio telescope facility was used for numerous small scenes and pick-up shots with various small and partial sets constructed in the lobby area.

The production added Latin lyrics to Beethoven's music (a combination of the Fifth and Seventh symphonies) for the closing credits. Translated they are: Glory to the cause, glory to the fallen, glory to the fighters for freedom. Victoria! Victoria!

Johnson had intended the prospect of help from a second alien race to be a false alarm. The signal would be intercepted by the fleet and a false message of hope and assistance sent to make the humans believe that relief was on its way when, really, none would ever come. When Johnson left the project, the whole idea of a second alien race was quietly forgotten.

Over 300 people (on camera and off and at the network) were involved in the creation of 'V”.

GEEKIPEDIA: BUILD YOUR OWN ACTION TV MARATHON

Plan your own Action TV (escape) route-to-midnight.

BOEING BOEING

- The Incredible Hulk: 747 (Season One)

- Airwolf: Flight 093 is Missing (Season Two)

- The A-Team: The Beast In the Belly of the Boeing (Season One)

- Charlie's Angels: Angel Flight (Season Two)

- The Bionic Woman: Fly Jamie (Season One)

- Department S: Six Days (Season One)

- Department S: One Of Our Aircraft is Missing (Season One)

- Department S: The Mysterious Man in the Flying Machine (Season One)

- Knight Rider: Sky Knight (Season four)

TERROR IN A SMALL TOWN

- The A-Team: Black Day at Black Rock (Season One)

- Knight Rider: A Good Day at White Rock (Season One)

- The Fall Guy: War On Wheels (Season Five)

- Battlestar Galactica: The Magnificent Warriors (Season One)

BEHIND BARS

- Matt Houston: Caged (Season Four)

- Charlie's Angels: Angels in Chains (Season One)

- Charlie's Angels: Caged Angels (Season Four)

- Sledge Hammer!: Hammer Hits the Rock (Season Two)

- Spider-Man: Photo Finish (Season One)

TERROR ON SKIS

Location filming, ski chases, bad back projection, avalanches, fur trees, fake snow... it must be the winter sports episode:

- Charlie's Angels: Terror on Skis (Season Three)

- Return of the Saint: Hot Run (Season One)

- Avalanche (The Hoff's finest TVM moment)

- The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries: Mystery on the Avalanche Express (Season Two)

DANGER ISLAND 

- The Fall Guy: Devil's Island (Season Three)

- Magnum PI: Skin Deep (Season One)

- Tales of the Gold Monkey: Pilot (Season One)

- The Six Million Dollar Man: Survival of the Fittest (Season One)

- The Cover Girl Murders (Lee Majors TV movie about a bevy of beautiful centrefold models on a desert island... who are murdered one at a time.  Who amongst them is the killer?)

- Dead Man's Island (William Shatner, Barbara Eden and Roddy McDowall are amongst a group trapped on an isolated island... who are murdered one at a time.  Once again, who amongst them is the killer?)

- The A-Team: The Island (Season Three)

MARVEL CARTOONS THAT DON'T FEATURE MARVEL CHARACTERS

- Transformers

- G.I Joe (aka Action Force)

- Rude Dog and the Dweebs

- Defenders of the Earth 

- Jem

- Inhumanoids

- Visionaries

- Dungeons and Dragons

MUSIC BOX

- The Equalizer: Meatloaf: Bump and Run (Season One)

- The Equalizer: Adam Ant: Lock Box (Season One)

- Sledge Hammer!: Adam Ant: Ice Breaker (Season Two)

- Charlie's Angels: Sammy Davis Jnr.: The Sammy Davis Jnr. Kidnap Caper (Season Two)

- TJ Hooker: The Beach Boys: Blind Justice (Season One)

- The Hardy Boys: Shaun Cassidy (Any episode but particularly The Mystery of the Flying Courier)

LONDON DOCKLANDS

- Gideon's Way: The Tin God (Season One)

- Return of the Saint: One Black September (Season One)

- The Sweeney: Trojan Bus (Season Two)

- Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

- The Sweeney! (Feature Film)

MARVEL LIVE-ACTION TV PILOTS THAT MISS THE POINT

- Spider-Man

- Captain America

- Doctor Strange

- Power Pack

- Generation X

COP SHOW SPOOFS THAT ARE FUNNY!

- Sledge Hammer!

- Police Squad

- Funky Squad

- Bakersfield PD

- Danger Theatre

FRIENDS REUNITED

- The Fall Guy: Old Friends (Lee Majors and Lydsey Wagner)

- The Man From U.N.C.L.E: The 15 Years Later Affair

- The Fall Guy: Pilot (Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett)

- Hart To Hart: Reunion movies

- Cagney and Lacey: Reunion Movies

- CHiPs '99 (ChiPs)

- Six Million Dollar Man/ Bionic Woman: Reunion Movies

- The Incredible Hulk: Reunion Movies.

- Knight Rider 2000

- The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion Movies

- Starsky and Hutch: Feature film cameo

RESURECTIONS and REMAKES

- Star Trek (numerous)

- Mission: Impossible (the 1980s series and the feature films)

- Battlestar Galactica

- (Kolchak) The Night Stalker

- The Bionic Woman

- Return of the Saint, The Saint (Simon Dutton version), The Saint (feature film)

- Charlie's Angels (feature films)

- Transformers (numerous)

- Knight Rider 2010

- Team Knight Rider.

- The Dukes of Hazzard (Feature Film)

- Starsky and Hutch (Feature Film)

ITC SPOOFS

- The Playboys (Harry Enfield)

- The Preventers

- Mystery Science Theatre 3000: Space 1999

- The Adventurer (Just kidding... or are we?)

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (Confirmed sightings IE SF/ Fantasy shows excluded)

- The Fall Guy: Spaced Out (Season Two)

- Charlie's Angels: Unidentified Flying Angels (Season Two)

- Matt Houston: The Visitors (Season One)

- The Dukes of Hazzard: Strange Visitor to Hazzard (Season Seven)

- CI5: The New Professionals: Orbit (Season One)

GHOST WATCH

- Department S: The Haunting of ????? (Season One)

- Shadow Chasers: Any episode (Season One)

SEXEY SPACE VILLAIN LADIES

- Diana in 'V' (The episode The Littlest Dragon for her bitch-fight, dual-to-the-death with Lydia).

- Princess Ardala in Buck Rogers (The openning episode, ideally the theatrical edit, if you can find it).

- Servelan in Blake's Seven (Season three's Aftermath [For the Servelan-Avon snog] and Rumours of Death [servelan's bondage episode].  Season four's Sand [an excellent character-piece]).

ANNOYING CUTE SIDEKICKS

- Twiki (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)

- Snarf (Thundercats)

- Muffet (Battlestar Galactica)

- Doctor Zee and the Superscouts (Galactica 1980)

- Ms. Lion (Spider-man and His Amazing Friends)

- Orko (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe)

- Wheelie (Transformers)

- Snuffy (Defenders of the Earth)

CRUISING

- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Cruise Ship to the Stars (Season One)

- Charlie's Angels: Angels at Sea (Season One)

- Charlie's Angels: Angels Ahoy! (Season Three)

- Charlie's Angels: Love Boat Angels (Season Four)

- Magnum PI: All Thieves on Deck (Season Six)

- Kolchak: The Night Stalker: Werewolf (Season One)