(1962)

User Reviews

Review this title
8 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
8/10
Great to find this mention on the web
pjuk-126 September 2008
This is one of the first TV series that hooked me as a child. It scared the life out of me, but I loved it and I remembering starting a playground game called 'The Big Pull' which was based on aspects of the show (loosely, I'm sure!) but was pretty popular with my friends while the show was on.

I'd love to see it now, but guess it would look pretty tame and even a tad embarrassing. I was fascinated to see that the show was produced by Terence Dudley who later had such a big hand in one of my other favourites shows - the excellent 'Survivors'.

Another review here remembers the name 'Jotus' and 'Nebula' - something I have not forgotten either. The reason is that one of the dead 'humans' inhabited by an alien, recounts this information with his mouth and eyes wide open and the voice echoing from somewhere inside him. I was terrified when I saw it and have never forgotten the scene although I'm sure it would look pretty ordinary now. I also dimly being aware of the need not to be in pairs with a final episode scene featuring a terrified call from a mother with just her baby for company saying she didn't want to 'become a baby'. I can still picture the final shot in my head now - the two 'heroes' of the show melded together as one alien.

Few ever remember this show (although great to see those who do remember it were as equally terrified as I was!) even though it was on the early evening slot on Saturday evenings, (pre Dr Who ) so it's great to see it mentioned here.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
This scared me stiff as a child, but I loved it.
metafis15 February 2002
This was the first thing I ever remember seeing on TV. I was 9 years old and we had just got a TV set in our house. I was riveted by this program, and ,although it scared me silly, I would wait avidly for the next episode. I have not seen it since then, but it started a love affair for me with any science fiction , both on TV and in the film world.
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Great Early Sci-FI
pieronip14 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I have been searching intermittently for details of this series for a number of years but my search was hindered by my being unable to remember the title! I was ten years of age when it was broadcast and I remember being scared silly. I found this page by accident while searching for something else and now I have that all-important title. This was well-acted and frightening sci-fi, if a bit derivative (Quatermass Experiment) and the downbeat ending was a bit of a novelty. I remember being quite shocked and looking for the next episode where the alien force would be defeated.

I'll add the following information in case anyone searches for this using the only info I could remember. The names of the two alien forces which fought for dominance in the universe outside the Van Allen belts were 'Jotus' and 'Nebla'. It was the former force which had invaded the earth.

A great pity the tapes are lost. It would have been good to see this again.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
very scary
leonard-dawson15 July 2012
like the other reviews-I was 9 when this series was broadcast in summer1962.It scared me stiff(it was on quite early in the evening).

There are some elements I vividly remember; -newspapers with headlines like "Have you seen these men?" -a scientist being "taken over" by the force and being hurled over a landing.When his face was shown he was dead with mouth/eyes wide open .I was terrified! - the ending; Scientists had worked out that the people taken over by the force had assembled in an aircraft hanger. It was vital to kill them all by a specified time-otherwise the force would expand exponentially.An RAF jet bomber was sent to bomb the hanger but it did so too late!! The series ended with the observers by the hanger panicking and being taken over by the force.

When I went to bed I couldn't sleep. Unfortunately all tapes have been lost.Pity-I'd love to see it again.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Downer SciFi
celtz-112 December 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It certainly scared the hell out of me since it was almost too adult for its early transmission time on Saturday evenings.Was it the first science fiction series which ended on a note of universal horror? It seems odd to me that - apart from an excellent review on one site dedicated to the history of UK science fiction on TV - it appears to have been missed by most crics of this genre. I would love to see it again or read the scripts. And what has happened to the writer,Robert Gould? Does anyone have any further information regarding this series? It should surely be available somewhere. I also contend that it would also suitable for an update and a new version.
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Big impression
andrewhockey14 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I was young when I saw this. It was nail bighting stuff. I remember that the Force affected one person originally - can't remember how. But they became some sort of automaton. Then the infection was somehow passed on to another, then 2 more, then 4 more - the numbers affected kept doubling. When this was eventually worked out there was a race to interfere with this sequence in order for the spread to stop. They weren't successful. It was all very sinister and frightening!
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Memories
derekvcassidy3 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
As I remember it the spaceflight that started the whole affair was the first two-man mission. When the mission ends there is only one man in the ship. He is in the 'wrong' spacesuit and initially the drive is to establish what has happened to his co-pilot. The infection/ possession that the mission has brought back works on this same basis throughout the series - on each occasion the total number of 'aliens' doubles but at the expense of combining two humans to generate each additional body. The two principals battling to understand the problem and trying to bring it to an end are a scientist and an army(?) officer. In the final episode the aliens have gathered in a large country house and this is judged to be the final stage before they can disperse and spread the infection indiscriminately. As someone else remembered an air strike is called in but arrives a fraction too late. The aliens escape and incorporate/infect some of the observers including the two heroes. The final scene shows one of the latest composite beings escaping: it turns out to be the chief scientist in the army officer's uniform. This was a terrific series, really sad if it's gone for good. I'm sure it would look pretty 'stagey' in terms of today's production values - think of early Doctor Who compared to today's episodes, but I agree, a remake would be well worthwhile.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Always wondered what this was
melodeon-762-88336410 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
It was great to find out some details of this show at last. I too - at 9 years old - was scared stiff along with all the adults in the family. I remember that in one episode there was a broadcast telling people to keep together in groups bigger than a certain size so that the aliens couldn't get them. I remember counting heads in the room to make sure that we were OK. I vividly remember my horror at the end when the scientist (my hero) was dead and the military chap was missing. When I have tried to explain the plot to people I have met with blank incomprehension. Yet at the time it was very popular - how can it have disappeared so completely? I have always been surprised that it has never been repeated or updated.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Clear your history

Recently Viewed