The Invisible Man (1958 TV series)

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The Invisible Man was a 1958 ITC Entertainment series for Associated TeleVision. The series was networked on CBS in the United States. It ran for 26 half-hour monochrome episodes across two seasons and was loosely based on the novel by H.G. Wells, one of four such television series.

The series follows the adventures of Doctor Peter Brady, a British scientist who has an accident which turns him permanently invisible. He searches for an antidote but also uses his invisibility to help the government solve crimes and defeat spies.

Contents 1 Main cast 2 Episode list 2.1 Season one 2.2 Season two 3 External links

[edit] Main cast

• Deborah Watling as Sally Brady
• Lisa Daniely as Diane Brady
• Ernest Clark as Sir Charles Anderson

In the unaired pilot episode, Canadian actor Robert Beatty provided the voice for the Invisible Man. After Ralph Smart (1908-2001), the creator saw the pilot, he realised that he could not use it. The bandaged hero could be seen bumping into doors and scenery and the strings and such which animated moving objects could be seen in a number of scenes. This pilot was never transmitted but is believed to still exist.

A second pilot episode was made featuring Doctor Peter Brady (whose face you do not see) who is unwittingly subjected to radiation and turns invisible. While Brady searches for a cure, he also acts as an agent for the British intelligence services. In the earlier episodes, the public also knows that Brady is invisible so wears bandages when he appears in public but the episode "Picnic with Death" dealt with Brady first being discovered to be invisible after a motoring accident and shows how he was besieged by the Press. These same bandages Brady uses when out in public helped convict Dermot Walsh (episode Jailbreak) to escape the police when they thought he was Brady.

The invisible man himself was uncredited, but Johnny Scripps played Dr Brady under the bandages. A midget, he was able to see through buttonholes in Brady's coat. Tim Turner provided his voice.Turner himself appeared visibly in the 'Man In Disguise' episode, though on this occasion he played a villain with a foreign accent. Among the writers recruited for the show were Ian Stuart Black, Michael Pertwee and Tony O'Grady who was better known as Brian Clemens who later wrote for The Avengers, The Protectors and The Baron TV series. Puppeteer Jack Whitehead (who had earlier worked on Muffin the Mule) was called in to provide the brilliant special effects of the show, like cigarettes smoking while hanging in the air, wine being drunk by an invisible drinker and such.

Stuntmen risked their lives hiding in the bottom of cars, steering the car while looking from a slightly open door or in the steering a motorbike from a sidecar (once causing members of the public to try and stop what they thought was a runaway vehicle). In the second series, the camera often took on Brady's perspective which meant that the need for special effects could be cut down.

Guest stars included Peter Sallis, Leslie Phillips, Irene Handl, Honor Blackman, Patrick Troughton, Dennis Price, Dermot Walsh, Willoughby Goddard and Ian Hendry and many other stalwarts of the time.

[edit] Episode list

This list is based on the ATV transmission order, which appears to be the same as the CBS order.

[edit] Season one

1. Secret Experiment
2. Crisis in the Desert
3. Behind the Mask
4. The Locked Room
5. Picnic With Death
6. Play to Kill
7. Shadow on the Screen
8. The Mink Coat
9. Blind Justice
10. Jailbreak
11. Bank Raid
12. Odds Against Death
13. Strange Partners

[edit] Season two

1. Point of Destruction
2. Death Cell
3. The Vanishing Evidence
4. The Prize
5. Flight into Darkness
6. The Decoy
7. The Gun Runners
8. The White Rabbit
9. Man in Disguise
10. Man in Power
11. The Rocket
12. Shadow Bomb
13. The Big Plot

There was also an un-aired pilot episode.

[edit] External links

• The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television
• epguides.com
• The Invisible Man at the Internet Movie Database
• [Booklet which came with the complete 5 DVD series of the show with some information from http://www.action-tv.org.uk]