1983 in television: V

The summer of 1983 saw the television debut of US science-fiction miniseries 'V'. The premise was that an alien race came to Earth in large 'flying saucer' style ships, ostensibly looking for assistance from the human race in aiding their own world and in return offering their own advanced science and technology. Styling themselves as 'visitors', they succeeded in gaining the trust of the world's governments and soon wielded considerable influence themselves. Appearing human, they were distinguished by an eerie 'metallic' resonant voice and needed to wear special lenses in order to protect their eyes, they were actually reptilian and their true purpose was to enslave Earth and strip its resources, including the human race, whom the 'Visitors' wished to harvest as food.

The original miniseries played out over two feature-length episodes, and created a memorable villain in Diana, the Science Officer of the Visitors, played by Jane Badler. Ruthless even to her own species, the outwardly attractive Diana set about destroying anyone in her way, be it human or 'visitor' in order to achieve her goals. Also featured in the miniseries was Robert Englund, who later went on to stardom as Freddy Krueger in the 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' series of films.

The 'V' concept led to a follow-up miniseries, 'V: The Final Battle' featuring almost all of the main cast from the original, and then a full-blown series which ran for 19 episodes.

The concept of the series where a race from afar gains power and influence, then uses it to subjugate the native population struck a chord with viewers, with its similarity to how the Nazis gained power in Thirties Germany. 'V' has since been rebooted by original series creator Kenneth Johnson, and the Diana character was reimagined as Anna, the Visitors' High Commander played by Morena Baccarin.

*2023 update: old video link to trailer replaced*: