From the first episode of “The Invaders” (1967) with Roy Thinnes as David Vincent and Diane Baker as Kathy Adams.
No one believed him. He wasn’t surprised, but he was frustrated. He wasn’t some nut or UFO conspiracy kook. He was a rational human being who had been thrown into an irrational if not insane world.
Architect David Vincent. 29 years old, considered reasonably good-looking, divorced for two years, no kids, a successful career but at the cost of friendships, marriage, and family.
It wasn’t his fault that he’d seen an alien spaceship land near a deserted diner off of an old State road used by almost no one anymore. It wasn’t his fault that the only two witnesses, a newlywed couple who had been camping nearby, hadn’t seen or heard anything, not even the approach and then rapid departure of David’s car. It wasn’t his fault that the local Sheriff thought he was another crazy Californian trying to play a prank on what he thought was some dumb country Arizona officer.
There had to be evidence at the site. David had to tell someone. He drove to the nearest town, burst into the Sheriff’s office, and demanded an investigation.
After the laughter stopped and they realized he was serious. Sheriff Ben Holman and one of his deputies, Lou Carver followed him back out to where David thought he saw the ship land.
Nothing.
The diner was there but no spaceship and nothing to indicate something that size had ever landed anywhere near there. They did find a young couple, John and Bonnie Brandon, camping out just a few hundred yards away. They said they’d been there for the past three days, Just got married and wanted to be alone. They hadn’t seen or heard anything all last night, certainly nothing as loud as how the spaceship sounded when it landed.
If they had been there, they couldn’t possibly have missed it.
“Come on, Mr. Vincent.” Sheriff Holman had always been annoyed with him, but now he was getting angry. We’ve wasted enough of the Brandon’s time and frankly enough of mine, too.”
“Are you sure? This is important.”
David was looking directly at John Brandon. There was something not right about him. He had a deformity of one of his fingers on the right hand, but that wasn’t it. He and his wife seemed normal, looked normal, but who the hell spends their honeymoon in the middle of sand and sagebrush sleeping in a camper shell on back of an old pickup?
“Mr. Vincent, that will be enough. We’re leaving now.”
David looked at the Sheriff. Behind him, that thug Deputy was smirking. He thought this was all a joke. At least Holman was acting like this was professional business.
“Alright, Sheriff. I guess we should be going.”
Holman looked past David at the Brandons. “Thanks for your cooperation. If we have anymore questions, we’ll be in touch.” The Sheriff had gotten their address and cell numbers for his report. Fortunately David had a good memory. He’d been able to get a look at Holman’s notebook and as soon as he was back in his car, he grabbed a pen and notepad from the glove box and wrote the information down.
Kinney, Arizona. David looked it up on his cell phone at a rest stop on Interstate 10 near the California border. It was a small town on State Highway 95 between Quartzsite and Parker but off the road by quite a bit. He’d have gone there right then to check out the Brandon’s story but he had to get back to the office. The senior partner Alan Landers was already upset that he hadn’t shown up first thing this morning. Now it was past noon.
“Have you lost your mind, David?”
Alan and David had been friends, good friends for nearly six years, ever since David had started working at, and then later became a junior partner of Landers Architecture and Design. That didn’t prevent him from expressing frank concern and opinions about David’s story.
“I know what I saw, Alan. I’m not imagining things.”
“Okay, let’s say you’re one of the thousands who thought he saw a UFO, but all of those reports have been debunked. Whatever you saw clearly has no evidence to back it up, so why don’t you just drop it. The developer liked your specs for the Arizona data center. We don’t want to lose this client, so I suggest you get your head out of the clouds and back here on the ground.”
“Alright, Alan.” David sounded contrite but he was…disappointed? How would he react if Alan came to him with such an outrageous story?
“Look, David. I didn’t mean to come down on you so hard, but we’re a small outfit and every client counts. I didn’t make you my partner because I thought you’d cost us business.”
“You’re right, Alan. I’ll get back with Mr. Parsons right away and then start on the detailed design specs.”
“Good lad, David.” Alan patted him on the shoulder. “I can always depend on you.”
In the past, that was true. David would have to visit Parsons next week. That would give him a chance to visit Kinney if he left early enough. He had to find out if he was going crazy or if there was something wrong with John and Bonnie Brandon and their story.
David spent his days at the office and his nights searching the internet. Everything he could find on aliens, UFOs, and conspiracy theories sounded straight out of an insane asylum. No wonder Sheriff Holman, Alan, everyone thought his talk of seeing an alien spaceship was crazy.
Hadn’t anyone seen what he had seen? Wasn’t there anyone else out there like him, a witness to the truth? The truth. He was beginning to sound nuts, even to himself. He was after facts, not “truth.”
******
“Kinney, 12 miles,” the sign said. He turned off of Arizona State Highway 95 and headed west. “Not much out here,” he thought, but then again, David was a native of Los Angeles. Life outside L.A. usually meant snow skiing, fishing, and the camping trips his Dad took him and his sister on when they were kids.
The pavement gave way to dirt road. “Nothing but sagebrush, cactus, and jack rabbits.”
“Kinney, 2 miles”. The sign was rusty. One of the bolts had come off the pole, so it was hanging at an angle. Some trees ahead. A few out buildings.
Finally “Kinney City Limits, Pop. 239”.
David pulled into the town’s only gas station and got out of his car. He couldn’t see anyone. No one walking on the sidewalk, no cars driving on the town’s main street, not even a stray dog sniffing around a fire hydrant.
“Anyone here?” He opened the door to the gas station. Not even a convenience store. A real old-fashioned garage.
No one. He could have robbed the cash register with no interruption.
No one in the General Store. Only canned goods. No fresh goods of any kind.
The doors to the small Cinema were locked. The marquee advertised a double feature, “Men in Black” and “Starship Troopers”. Old movies for an old town. No, maybe a dead town. Yet this is where the Brandons said they lived.
He pulled out the piece of paper he’d written their address and phone numbers on from his pocket. The address was the local motel. Office was locked. Lights were out, but a cloth banner in the window declared, “No Vacancy.” He pulled is cell phone out of his jacket. Maybe if he called them.
“No signal.” He wasn’t surprised that there was no cell service this far off the beaten path, but then what use would the Brandons have owning cell phones if they lived here? John Brandon told Sheriff Holman that he ran the General Store, but the place looked like no one had been in there in weeks. Dust all over the counters. Obviously no customers.
“Hello.”
Actress Diane Baker as Kathy Adams in the pilot episode of “The Invaders”.
David jumped in spite of himself.
“I’m sorry to have startled you, Mister. Sorry, but the motel is closed.”
He turned to see a woman coming around from out back. “I was watering my garden. Didn’t hear anyone pull up.”
“I left my car at the gas station. Where is everyone?”
“Hi.” She took off her right glove. “Kathy Adams. This is my place.”
David shook her hand. Warm flesh, soft. She was young, about David’s age, attractive in a girl-next-door sort of way. “David Vincent. I’m looking for some people. This is the address they gave. John and Bonnie Brandon. They’re supposed to run the General Store.” David indicated the direction of the establishment across the street.
“Brandon? I don’t think I know the name. Haven’t had any guests here in weeks and Mr. Kemper ran the General Store until he sold out.”
“Sold out? What’s going on around here?
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you a reporter? We got a few of them around here when Kroner Enterprises first bought the town.”
“No, I’m not a reporter…bought the town?”
“Yes, I think they’re going to build some sort of resort here. You know, for rich retired folks. Ever since the mine gave out, there hasn’t been much reason to stay in Kinney. What’s your business here, Mr. Vincent? Anything I can do for you?”
“Um, like I said, I was looking for John and Bonnie Brandon. I met them last week not too far from here. They were camping, on their honeymoon. They said to look them up if I was ever out here again.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Vincent. I’ve never heard of them and I’ve lived here most of my life.”
“Seems a lonely place to live.”
“It is now that most the folks have left. Must be only ten or twelve of us left, and we’re all getting ready to pull up and leave within a week.”
“So, where is everyone?”
“Townsfolk live in those group of houses west of Main Street.” She pointed behind David, behind the Cinema and General Store. He hadn’t noticed the small collection of vintage 1960s houses and cottages before this.
“Actually, I’m an architect. Do you know if Kroner Enterprises has a designer or builder for their resort yet? Maybe I could drum up some business.”
“I couldn’t tell you, Mr. Vincent. Want to come in the office? I can offer you a cup of coffee.”
“Maybe later. You run this place all on your own?”
“My husband and I did…before he died.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Adams.” David felt suddenly guilty for finding the dark-haired Kathy Adams attractive.
“That’s all right, Mr. Vincent. He was really too young to have a heart attack. Guess that was the start of my bad luck. Kroner came in only a week after the funeral and bought everything. Now I’ve got to figure out where I’m going to call home.”
“Look, Ms. Adams.”
“Please, call me Kathy.”
“I’m David.”
“Pleased to meet you, David.”
Was it his imagination or was there something in her voice when she said his name?
“Do you mind if I look around? I’m kind of interested in the area. Maybe Kroner would be interested in hiring my firm.”
“Nothing around here really belongs to me anymore, David. Go ahead. I’ll keep a pot warm for you. It gets cold out here in the desert in the winter.”
“Thanks, Kathy.”
David continued to walk down the street. “The mine is played out,” she said. “I wonder. If I were trying to hide something, maybe like a spaceship, I might put it in a mine.”
There was a sign just as he was leaving the other side of town. “Delgado Mine 0.5 miles”. David decided to walk rather than go back for his car.
The mine was gated off and there was a brand new sign posted. “Property of Kroner Enterprises. No trespassing. Trespassers will be Prosecuted”.
David saw fresh truck tracks, big ones, going into the mine. Someone had been through recently. He’d have to ask Kathy about that when he got back. Right now he needed proof.
He pulled at the chain holding the two gates together and managed to create enough space for him to squeeze through.
David kept walking. There was a building constructed right into the rock face. “Guess you’re the Delgado Mine.”
The door was steel and locked, but the lock was old, like the structure. David looked around and found a large lead bar on the ground among the other random debris. He had a hard time lifting it even though he considered himself in shape.
With a grunt, he lifted the bar above the lock and then let muscle and gravity slam it down. Once. Again, twice. Again, finally.
The lock broke off. The door was open and he walked inside, shutting it behind him. It would have been impossible for David to tell he’d triggered an alarm and that hidden cameras and microphones were following his progress.
At an undisclosed location, what appeared to be men and women, all identically dressed in blue coveralls bearing the name Kroner Enterprises were in a warehouse loading strange equipment into trucks. Some of it looked like clear cylinders large enough to contain a person. Others were a blue metallic poles or spines extending some four or five feet vertically, with three curved arms extending horizontally around on each side as if to grab anything standing next to the pole.
An alarm went off. No words, just an incessant repeating buzz. A map appeared on a monitor indicating the Delgado Mine at Kinney. Several figures broke off from the group and boarded a large eighteen-wheeler. The truck left the undisclosed location heading toward State Highway 95.
******
David walked down stairs. It was dimly lit which was good because it had never have occurred to him to bring a flashlight. He doubted that the flashlight app on his phone would make enough light if the place were pitch dark.
The lower level. There weren’t doors into the mine. It was just a hole on the back wall, which seemed odd. In fact it looked like the entire interior had been recently reconfigured for a different purpose than its designers had originally intended.
There was a low hum, as if something were generating power. As David continued walking, he saw the lights getting brighter ahead. The hum was louder. Then the tunnel opened up into a huge chamber.
Cylinders. Hundreds of them. Large, clear cylinders suspended over some sort of framework made up of vertical blue metal poles with three metallic arms extending around each side. David walked up to the nearest one. He gingerly put his hand inside. The interior became brighter and hummed. The cylinder started to descend.
Roy Thinnes as David Vincent in the pilot episode of “The Invaders”.
Quickly he extracted his hand and the actions reversed themselves. He got out his cell and started taking photos, lots of photos.
Almost all of the cylinders were empty. Almost.
There were about ten that were occupied. David couldn’t see inside clearly but the shapes were roughly humanoid. Roughly, but they kept shifting, moving, and twisting. Sometimes he thought he saw fins or a tail in place of human limbs. The lights pulsed red and blue and orange at regular intervals along with the humming.
He took more photos. This was his proof. The technology definitely wasn’t of this Earth and neither were the beings it contained. David had to get back out. He had to get help.
******
Alan had just gotten off the phone with Gregory Parsons. David had never shown up for their appointment and the developer was on the verge of cancelling his deal with them. Alan had pleaded with him. Maybe David had car trouble. There was terrible cell coverage in some of those desert areas.
Parsons cooled off, but Alan had to find David. He didn’t have far to look. He found some notes in David’s office next to his computer.
“Kinney, Arizona.” Alan shook his head. His partner hadn’t given up this obsession. After checking Google maps, he figured it would take him a little over four hours to get to Kinney if he left now. He tried David’s cell but was immediately put into voice mail. No cell coverage. He hadn’t lied to Parsons.
David said he was leaving before dawn. Alan could be in Kinney by nightfall. This was going to end tonight, one way or another.
******
“Kathy! Kathy!” David ran all the way back from the mine and burst into the motel office. He found Kathy packing boxes. She had changed out of her gardening clothes into a simple white blouse and jeans. Her hair had been pulled back before but now was loose around her shoulders.
“David, what’s the matter? Did something happen?”
“Do you have a phone, a landline? My cell doesn’t work out here.”
“Well, no. My service was turned off, but the diner next door still has a working phone. Kitchen still works, too. I can make you something. What’s wrong?”
“I found something, something important. I have to tell someone.”
“Calm down, David. You’re sounding just like…”
“Like who?” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Did someone else see something out there in the mine?”
“David, please. You’re scaring me.”
“Oh, sorry,” he let go. “I didn’t mean to do that…it’s just so…who do I sound like?”
She lowered her head and David thought he saw tears in her eyes. “Like Mark.” She looked up. “My husband. Before he died, he said some strange…oh, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Please, Kathy. I need to know.”
“Don’t do this, David. Don’t chase whatever you’re chasing any further. I’m afraid you’ll end up like…”
David softened his voice. She seemed so sad, so vulnerable. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I really do need to make a phone call, though.”
“Come with me.” She led him through a doorway that connected the motel to the diner next door. There were a few lights on but the place was empty. “The phone’s behind the counter.”
David walked behind the cash register and found the phone on a shelf underneath. He pulled it out and dialed Alan. He’d thought about calling the Sheriff’s office but this was Holman’s jurisdiction and he couldn’t expect any more cooperation out of him or his deputies.
“Alan. Where are you?”
“On Interstate 10 heading to you in Kinney. That’s where you are, right David?”
“Yes, but I’ve found something fantastic. I need you to see it. I’ve got proof, Alan.”
“Parsons is pissed as hell David, so I hope for your sake that you have a really good explanation.”
“I do, believe me. When can you get here?”
“Maybe another couple of hours. I’ll hurry.”
“Great. Thanks. This means a lot to me, Alan.”
“I’ll see you soon, David. Bye.”
Alan broke the connection and David hung up. “That was my friend, Alan. He’s on his way. He’ll be here in a few hours.”
“We can wait for him if that’s what you want, David.”
“I want to show you, too. I’ve got all the photos on my cell.” He started to reach into his jacket pocket but she put her hand on his arm to stop him.
“Please, don’t. I can’t take it, not again. Not after what happened to Mark.”
“What do you know, Kathy? Please, I have to understand what’s happening. It’s so strange here. You’re the only person I’ve seen since I arrived. Where are the others? Kathy, who are the others?”
“Don’t ask me. Please David, I’m afraid.”
“Have they threatened you? Are you in danger? I can protect you, get you out of here.”
“Stop. Please stop.” She pressed her face into his chest wetting his shirt with her tears. David gently put his arms around her and slowly she embraced him.
It was late afternoon. They heard a car outside.
Kathy let go of David. She was blushing. “Excuse me.” She went to a window and looked out. Then she turned back to David. “It’s Deputy Carver. I haven’t seen him out here in a while. Maybe he can help.”
Actor John Milford as Deputy Lou Carver in the pilot episode of “The Invaders”.
David looked out. He remembered Carver, that smirking punk. “I’ve met him before. He has no reason to help me.”
“He’s getting out of his car, coming this way.”
“Look, I’ll hide in the back. If he asks, just say some investor…no, he’ll recognize my car and plates. Just tell him I left hours ago on foot to look around. You don’t know where I am.”
“If that’s what you want, David.”
The architect went into the back of the diner, past the kitchen and into a walk-in pantry.
He heard muffled voices but couldn’t make out the conversation. They stopped talking and there was a pause, then David heard heavy footsteps walking across the floor and the door opening and closing.
A minute later, he peeked out of the kitchen.
“You can come out now, David. I told him you were still looking around town. He said you were a troublemaker. Is that true, David?”
“What do you think?”
He walked back into the main part of the diner.
“I think you are very kind, but I’m worried about you.”
“I’m worried too, but not about me.”
“I’ll be fine, David. Do you still want to wait for your friend?”
“Yes. I’d better. I need someone who’ll listen, who’ll believe me.”
“I’m sorry David, I…”
He took her by the shoulders again, this time touching her arms more softly. “No. It’s not your fault. I don’t know what they’ve put you through, but I’m sure you’ve got your reasons for shying away from all of this. Don’t worry. When I leave with Alan, you’re coming with us. Then I’ll make them listen.”
“Do you still want that coffee?” She looked up at him with a small smile. “I’m not a bad cook and you probably haven’t eaten in a while.”
******
Alan finally made it to the junction of I-10 and Hwy 95. As he pulled onto 95 heading north, he was passed by a large big rig with Kroner Enterprises plastered all over the side.
“Hey why don’t you watch where…”
The eighteen-wheeler continued to pull head of Alan’s car. He took a deep breath. “Calm down,” he said to himself. “Just another jerk who thinks he owns the road.”
Then the truck’s break lights suddenly came on.
******
It was dark. Kathy had turned off all the lights in the diner. The remains of their dinner were sitting in the sink in the back.
“You must think I’m a terrible person, David.”
“What do you mean?”
“The way I practically threw myself at you before. I don’t do that. I mean…it’s just been so hard since Mark died, the town being bought out. Now this.”
“Alan will be here soon. Then we can get to the bottom of everything and you’ll be free.”
She sat up in her chair. “David, please let this go. It won’t end well for you, for your friend, for me. Please let it go. It killed Mark and it could kill you, too.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve asked too many questions, talked to too many people. If I die mysteriously now, it’ll draw more attention to them, and I don’t think they want that. They tried to discredit me, discourage me, make me give up. That didn’t work. What else can they do, especially now that I have proof?” He patted his jacket pocket feeling his phone still inside. “Alan should be here soon. I just have to avoid Deputy Carver and wait for the sound of Alan’s car arriving. It should be any time now.”
“Oh David, please.”
She pulled her chair next to his and laid her head on his shoulder. He caressed her hair. It was soft, not what he expected for someone living in such a dry place. Kathy looked up. He leaned over and they kissed. It was strange, surreal but so was everything in David’s life now.
“Let’s go now, David. We can meet your friend before he gets here. Deputy Carver’s out there still looking for you. We’ll be gone before he realizes it. Then we’ll be free.”
“No, Kathy. We have to wait. I have to show Alan. The pictures won’t be enough. I need an eyewitness.”
They felt the vibration and then heard the sound. A large truck was rumbling down the street.
David sprang up out of his chair.
“Wait, David. Come back. It’s nothing.”
He ignored Kathy and went to the window. He saw the big rig, “Kroner Enterprises” on the side of the trailer.
“Oh no. They’ve found out. They’ll take away all the evidence.”
He started for the door when he felt Kathy grabbing his right arm with both of hers. “No, David. No. You still have a chance. Just walk away. You can still live a normal, happy life.”
He turned to her.
“What are you talking about?”
“David, it’s over. You never had a chance.”
He pulled his arm away and stepped back.
“The others will be coming out of regeneration soon. In a few hours there’ll be nothing left here…including me.”
“You…you’re…”
“Yes, David. I’m one of them. You see, we’re not so bad. We just need to share your world with you. Ours is dying. All you have to do is cooperate.”
“You…I don’t believe it…but you…”
“Right now, I’m as much a human woman as anyone you’ve ever known. You’ve held me in your arms. You even kissed me and you couldn’t tell. You’ll never be able to tell.”
A look of horror twisted David’s face and then he realized. “You’re the proof. I take you with me and no one will be able to say you don’t exist. I’m sure you’re not exactly human. You said the others have to regenerate. I’m betting you do too. Those others I saw in the mine. First they looked human and then they didn’t. It’s your real shape.”
“It’s too late, David.”
“Alan will be here any second.”
The door of the diner opened abruptly. Deputy Carver stood just inside pointing his handgun at David. “No, he won’t. He had an unfortunate car accident about twenty miles from here. Sheriff’s and the EMTs are on the way but he won’t make it. You shouldn’t have called him, gotten him involved.”
“How are you going to explain it if you shoot me? Holman thinks I’m a nut but not dangerous.”
“Who said anything about killing you, David?” He turned to see Kathy with a small object in her hand. A small light shone at the end pointed at him and then everything went black.
******
When David woke up, he was alone. The sky in the east was just beginning to turn light. He stood up nursing a headache.
“Kathy! Carver! Is anyone here?”
The only answer was silence. He walked outside. He looked left. His car was still at the gas station where he had parked it yesterday. He felt in his jacket pocket. The phone was still there. Then it occurred to him.
The photos of inside the mine were gone. No photographic evidence. No cell connection so no backup to the cloud.
He ran to his car and drove to the mine. The gates were wide open. There were new tire tracks in the dirt along with a lot of footprints. He ran into the building and down the stairs but he knew what he’d find…nothing. That’s all that was left. Nothing. No evidence. Not even scrapes or gouges in the rock floor to tell anyone that a lot of machinery, alien or otherwise, had been in the mine recently.
He walked back out. It was cold. He pulled his jacket around him. A Sheriff’s patrol car was slowly approaching. It stopped next to his and Sheriff Holman got out.
“I had a hunch I’d find you here. The Brandon’s last known address.”
“You can’t find them, can you?”
“You know that your partner, Alan Landers, you know that…”
“He’s dead. They told me.”
“They?”
“Carver. Kathy Adams. The town’s deserted now. Everyone’s gone, including Alan.”
“I’m sorry about your friend, Mr. Vincent. As far as Kinney goes, it’s just another small town that died when the only business keeping it going went bust. The new owners will bulldoze everything and start from scratch.”
“That’s what you think I should do now, isn’t it Sheriff? Forget everything and start from scratch. Don’t you see, they murdered Alan.”
“The coroner will still have to do an autopsy, but the preliminary report says that he had a heart attack while driving and ran off the road. I’m sorry. It’s a tragic accident. Nothing more.”
“What about John and Bonnie Brandon? They were never here. I bet you can’t even reach them by phone.”
“They gave false names, phone numbers, and a bad address. That’s true Mr. Vincent, but it’s a misdemeanor.”
“Why would they do that, Sheriff? Why would a whole town of people just disappear? Where did Kathy Adams go? What about Deputy Carver?”
“The people of this town left a month ago, Mr. Vincent. Where they went is their business. Carver’s off duty and my deputies are none of your concern. Mr. Vincent. Go home. Bury your friend. Then get on with your life. Nothing good will come of pursuing this.”
David gave Holman a strange look. It was as if Kathy were still trying to convince him to give up his chase.
“I can’t, Sheriff. I can’t. You’re right. I’ll bury my friend. He’d still be alive if I hadn’t pulled him into all this. What I’ll do after that…”
“Get in your car, Mr. Vincent. Follow me. I’ll need you to answer some questions about Mr. Landers. We need to know about next of kin, that sort of thing.”
“Sure, Sheriff. Sure.”
Title card for TV series “The Invaders” 1968.
Sheriff Ben Holman returned to his car and started the engine. As he drove through the now deserted town of Kinney, David Vincent followed him. But in the days and weeks to come. he will be following nothing except the next clue, the next report of strange lights in the sky, people acting out of the ordinary, and anything else that will help him to uncover and reveal to the rest of the world the truth about The Invaders.
Advertisements Share this:From the opening of each episode:
“The Invaders, alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination: the Earth. Their purpose: to make it their world. David Vincent has seen them. For him, it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a shortcut that he never found. It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy. Now David Vincent knows that the Invaders are here, that they have taken human form. Somehow he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.”
Yesterday, I wrote a short story called The Visitors which was loosely based on the opening sequence of the 1967-68 television show The Invaders. Something I’d read on a piece of fan fiction and my comment in response reminded me of the classic opening to that show.
So last night, I decided to go to YouTube and re-watch the pilot episode Beachhead which originally aired on January 10, 1967. Inspired, I decided to re-write and update it for 2017. I admit to cutting out a lot of the material (two attempts on David’s life and a hospitalization), but I think my story holds up pretty well on its own.
I was a little surprised that there was an attempt to remake or continue the show in 1995 in a miniseries starring Scott Bakula (“Quantum Leap,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) with Roy Thinnes playing David Vincent in a cameo.
In any event, I think it was a classic science fiction show and I’m sorry it only lasted two seasons (actually about a season and a half). It remains one of my favorites from childhood and I think it’s held up pretty well for being fifty years old.
Don’t worry. I have no intention of rewriting each and every episode. I’ll be returning to my homage to the Andre Norton (Alice Mary Norton) time travel novels pretty soon. I just decided to indulge myself and hope folks out there find it interesting and entertaining.
In case you’re curious, below I’m posting a link to the full pilot episode of “The Invaders” called “Beachhead” for your viewing pleasures. Enjoy.
