V (1983 miniseries)
| V | |
|---|---|
2001 DVD cover
|
|
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Written by | Kenneth Johnson |
| Directed by | Kenneth Johnson |
| Starring |
Jane Badler Frank Ashmore Bonnie Bartlett Diane Cary Michael Durrell Robert Englund Faye Grant Richard Herd Richard Lawson Peter Nelson David Packer Neva Patterson Andrew Prine Marc Singer Jenny Sullivan Blair Tefkin Penelope Windust Michael Wright |
| Theme music composer | Joe Harnell |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Kenneth Johnson |
| Producer(s) | Chuck Bowman |
| Cinematography | John McPherson |
| Editor(s) | Paul Dixon Alan C. Marks Robert K. Richard Jack W. Schoengarth |
| Running time | 189 min |
| Production company(s) |
Kenneth Johnson Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | May 1 – May 2, 1983 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by |
V: The Final Battle V: The Second Generation (novel) |
V (or V: The Original Miniseries) is a two-part science fiction television miniseries, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. First shown in 1983, it initiated the science fiction franchise concerning aliens known as "The Visitors" trying to gain control of Earth, and of the ways the populace reacts to this.
A race of aliens arrive on Earth in a fleet of 50 huge, saucer-shaped motherships, which hover over major cities across the world. They reveal themselves on the roof of the United Nations building in New York City, appearing human but requiring special glasses to protect their eyes and having a distinctive resonance to their voices. Referred to as the Visitors, they reach out in friendship, ostensibly seeking the help of humans to obtain chemicals and minerals needed to aid their ailing world, which is revealed to be a planet orbiting the star Sirius. In return, the Visitors promise to share their advanced technology with humanity. The governments of Earth accept the arrangement, and the Visitors, commanded by their leader John and his deputy Diana, begin to gain considerable influence with human authorities.
Strange events begin to occur and scientists become objects of increasing media hostility. They experience government restrictions on their activities and movements. Others, particularly those keen on examining the Visitors more closely, begin to disappear or are discredited. Noted scientists confess to subversive activities; some of them exhibit other unusual behaviors, such as suddenly demonstrating hand preference opposite to the one they were known to have.
Television journalist cameraman Michael Donovan covertly boards one of the Visitors' motherships and discovers that beneath their human-like facade (they wear a thin, synthetic skin and human-like contact lenses in public), the aliens are actually carnivorous reptilian humanoids preferring to eat live food such as rodents and birds. Donovan, who first took footage of one of the alien ships flying overhead while on duty in El Salvador, records some of his findings on videotape and escapes from the mothership with the evidence. However, just as the exposé is about to air on television, the broadcast is interrupted by the Visitors who have taken control of the media. Their announcement makes Donovan a fugitive pursued by both the police and the Visitors.
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Wikipedia