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THE INVADERS - THE FIRST SEASON

Paramount Home Entertainment / 5 disc set / Region 1 / Released 27 May 2008

Featuring Roy Thinnes

Back in the 1960's producer Quinn Martin was THE man, with hit series after hit series to his name, amongst them the likes of The Fugitive, Barnaby Jones and The FBI. One of the real highlights though was that ultimate example of late 60's paranoia The Invaders which has its first season released this month by Paramount.

The premise is classic scifi at its best and as the opening narration from premiere episodes Beachhead puts it "How does a nightmare begin? For David Vincent, archtect, returning home from a business trip, it began a few minutes past four on a lost Tuesday morning, looking for a short cut he never found. It began with a welcoming sign that gave hope of black coffee. It began with a closed, deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. In the weeks to come, David Vincent would go back to how it all began many times."

Roy Thinnes is David Vincent, an architect who discovers that an alien invasion of Earth is well under way. After witnessing a flying saucer landing he soon learns that the aliens can easily take on human form (making them difficult to spot of course) and are out to take over the upper echelons of power across the world. The only clue to their real alien status is the way their little fingers protude at an odd angloe (English punk rock band The Stiff Little Fingers named themselves after this aspect of the series!). Vincent of course is desperate to get the truth out there but who's going to believe him, in fact the only ones who do tend to be other aliens.

It's fantastic stuff, 17 episodes of paranoic genius and a huge influence on everythiung and everyone from The X-Files to Davick Icke. Martin takes the basic format of his other hit show The Fugitive and gives it a scifi spin. This first season has some top notch guest stars too including Roddy McDowell, Suzanne PLeshette, Michael Rennie, a young Dabney Coleman, Jack Warden, Joe Campanella, Peter Graves, Ed Asner, Burgess Meredith and Ralph Bellamy.

Over the years we've become a little blase about the whole Area 51, Roswell, New Mexico, is Superman real or just a guy wearing his underpants over his trousers thing but The Invaders is one of the places where it really all began. Quinn Martin was an expert at producing high qaulity, extremely watchable television and The Invaders doesn't disappoint.

Extras include the full extended version of the pilot, episode intros from Roy Thinnes and an interview with the man himself, there is also an audio commentary from series creator Larry Cohen on The Innocent.

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