V

[Richard Littlejohn]

These images will be recognised instantly & may only appeal to posters of a certain age, likely those who are in their thirties now. To anybody who doesn't know what V is, it's a made-for-TV movie first aired in 1983 & was a huge success.

What makes it special to me is the lasting impression left by characters such as Donovan, Diana, Julie, Martin & Ham Tyler. Like I said, if these names mean nothing to you, you are likely not one of the pre/early teen lads who grew up with this show. If you owned a Sinclair 48k or a Commodore 64 at a kid you will feel right at home.

If there was ever a role model to be found on TV for the young there were certainly more than one or two to be found here - my personal hero is Donovan, closely followed by Ham, with Julie as the fantasy girlfriend. It used to be Robin but as I've aged I like a more sophisticated woman now.

Who can forget Daniel, Father Andrews, John, Willy, Chris, that Mexican bloke, Alias, the Doctor & especially Elizebeth & her reptillian 'twin'? I never will, for sure.

Rather than cut & paste the story from somewhere I'll give you a quick overview. Aliens come to earth, pretend they're our friends & start to plunder the planet's water & food resourses (us) on the sly. A group 'The Resistance' figure out their plan & despite being heavily outnumbered & possessing inferior technology still end up kicking the 'Visitors' arse back to Alpha Centuri, or wherever they are from.

The story draws heavily from the Nazi v's Resistance ideology from the 1940s, even down to the visitors logo resembling a swastica.



Despite being over twenty years old (& showing its age a little) it is still a fantastic story, wonderfully told through the experiences of the characters. There are laughs, tears, horror & good old fashioned heros to keep you entertained for I think is around five hours, if you are so inclined to watch the lot.

I recommend you give the first ten minutes or so a go & if you want to watch the rest, it's right there on the same page. You won't be disappointed. I promise. Somebody has been kind enough to upload the entire series plus the Final Battle, here is the link to the first episode.



Thie following link is the beginning of the second series. It is only the introduction but features that spooky music you will all remember & will bring beck some memories for sure.



If this isn't your thing then fair enough, but I know I'm not alone here in holding this show in the same high regard as Star Wars & the like & to anyone who embarks on watching the whole thing on the back of this - enjoy.



V (1983) (TV)

V (TV series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

[Marmite the Dog]

Ever been here?

https://teakdoor.com/the-multimedia-forum/

[The Gentleman Scamp]

V is not that far from reality, David Icke told me.

[Richard Littlejohn]

Ever been here?

The thread graveyard? I'm trying to show it to the masses before it inevitably ends up moved there anyway & dies a slow, agonising death with six views.

[Begbie]

I remember it as being crap. I'd rather watch Red Dwarf which doesn't tke itself seriously, though that's crap as well.

[insomnia]

First series I ever got into, was great until it turned from sci-fi to soap opera

Thanks for the links RL, the vids should bring a few memories back

[Fast Eddie]

I remember when this was first on TV. Sadly, my over-riding memory of it is of not being allowed to watch it by my old dear. Something to do with me being around the age of five at the time i think. I only managed to sneak a glimpse of 5-10 minutes here and there. I really wanted to watch it as well.

Maybe all these years later i can finally get to watch V. It's been a long wait.

[AntRobertson]

My abiding memory of it was the scene where that chick ate the rat. Or was it a rabbit?

[Richard Littlejohn]

Guinea pig.

[bkkmadness]

TV Links

Enjoy it lads.

I loved V when I was a kid, Ham Tyler was quality in it. One ofv those series where me, bruv and Dad would all fight over the TV beanbag space to comfortably watch it. It was on about 9-ish wasn't it? I seem to remember closing credits was bed time.

But watching a few of them recently, have to say it's one of those series that I wished I just kept the memories of.

To be fair though haven't watched the first series again, will do now since I just run out of Oz to watch (yes very late I know!). One of the actors in V was in Oz in fact.

Greenie to the first person who guesses which one.

[Richard Littlejohn]

One of the actors in V was in Oz in fact

The Wizard?

[bkkmadness]

The US prison series.

[Richard Littlejohn]

I know...

I'm not entering the competition as you can't give me another green for a while.

[bkkmadness]

You don't know do you.

Anyway I have a good memory for owing greens and I will not forget you.

Unlike the Scamp who still owes me one for letting him use my TV account to access Bedlam.

[Richard Littlejohn]

You don't know do you

No.

I meant I know you meant the TV series.

If I had to guess I would say Ham or Donavan. Unless it's somebody really obscure like Sean, Donovan's son.

Actually, they would both be as old as the hills by now. Maybe it is Sean?

[bkkmadness]

^ I know you know that I was talking about the TV series. I also know you don't know the actor so stop copping out with the 'can't get a green' excuse.

Nope, it's not Sean.

I'll give you a clue, these two TV series have been his only major TV roles as far I know.

[Richard Littlejohn]

I need a better clue. I've even scored IMDB & can't find it.

[bkkmadness]

He's black.

I don' think here were many black actors in V so probably a very good clue.

[Richard Littlejohn]

Elias, the Doctor or the father; maybe that visitor who blackmailed Robert Maxwell?

Hmm...





It's Elias!

[bkkmadness]

Well done that man! Green on the way after I spread a bit more love around.

And reds for everybody else on this thread who didn't partake in such an excellent competition.

[bkkmadness]

Well I should just inform everybody that link I added earlier to V says its the first series, but as I just found out to my dismay is it isn't. I think it's a proper download job to get the first series.

[Richard Littlejohn]

It wasn't the first series. That was the third. Somebody uploaded it onto Youtube & he got a warning from them & the whole lot deleted by whoever holds the copyright.

From what I saw it was terrible anyway & ruined what was a perfectly good show. I've never actually seen it all properly, just bits & they were all shite.

There was supposed to be a remake in 2008 (beginning from where series 1 left off, as Kenneth Williams didn't actually write the Final Battle & there was supposed to be an answer to the distress call Julie & Elias sent at the end of series 1 & the visitors' enemies came to Earth) but Warner Bros fell out with the writers & the whole thing was shelved.

[Richard Littlejohn]

everybody else on this thread who didn't partake

Was a bit of a one-horse race, wasn't it?

[bkkmadness]

To be honest a donkey in brighton comes to mind, how many dudes in V were black?

[Richard Littlejohn]

Four, including the visitors token one.