V (science fiction)

V is a science fiction franchise created by American writer, producer and director Kenneth Johnson about an invading alien race known as the "Visitors" – reptilian humanoids disguised as human beings – trying to take over Earth, and the human Resistance group attempting to stop them.

It debuted in 1983 as the two-part television miniseries V, written and directed by Johnson. It was followed in 1984 by a three-part miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a one-hour weekly television series, V (sometimes referred to as V: The Series) during the 1984-85 television season.

A number of novels, comic books, video games and other media have been spun off from the franchise. Johnson's novel V: The Second Generation, an alternative sequel to the first miniseries which disregards V: The Final Battle and V: The Series, was released on February 5, 2008. Johnson claimed he was in negotiations for a TV adaptation of his sequel novel, but in October 2008, Warner Bros. Television announced they were producing a complete remake of V instead. This new V series ran for two truncated seasons on ABC, from November 3, 2009 to March 15, 2011, eventually being cancelled due to continuously falling ratings, which were indeed poor from the outset.^{[citation needed]}

A common misconception is that the title V is an abbreviation for the Visitors. Instead, it refers to the "V for Victory" sign; in the original 1983 miniseries, several resistance fighters are shown spray painting the V sign over the Visitors' propaganda posters.

Television

The original miniseries debuted in the United States on NBC on May 1, 1983, airing for a total of about 200 minutes on two nights. Series creator Kenneth Johnson has said that the story was inspired by the 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. Also, several scenes from the original TV pilot resemble the Bertolt Brecht play The Private Life of the Master Race. Damon Knight's short story "To Serve Man" (previously adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone) had a similar theme of deceptively friendly aliens secretly cultivating humans for food.

In a commentary track on the DVD release of the first miniseries, Johnson reveals that V was originally intended as a straightforward political thriller, charting the rise of a fascist movement in the United States. NBC was interested in a sci-fi hit, to capitalize on the success of films such as the Star Wars trilogy.

The story remains a Nazi allegory, including the Swastika-like emblem used by the Visitors and their SS-like uniforms. There is a Visitor youth auxiliary with obvious similarities to the Hitler Youth and Visitor broadcasts mimic Nazi-era propaganda. The show's portrayal of human interaction with the Visitors bears a striking resemblance to stories from Occupied Europe during the Second World War with some citizens choosing collaboration and others choosing to join underground resistance movements.

Where the Nazis primarily persecuted Jews, the Visitors were likewise depicted to persecute scientists, their families and anyone associating with them and distribute propaganda in an effort to hide their true identity. Some of the central characters in the initial series were from a Jewish family and the grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, frequently commented on the events of the past again unfolding. The Visitors declared martial law to control the scientists. Later, throughout the TV series, the Resistance Network's TV news bulletins report stories of erstwhile enemies uniting in common cause against the alien occupiers, such as black and white South Africans (the series was produced when South Africa was still under apartheid). In addition, direct figure analogies are used, such as the senior Visitor scientist, Diana, who is a direct analogue of Dr. Josef Mengele.

The miniseries was successful enough to spawn a sequel, V: The Final Battle, which was meant to conclude the story, and also a television series in 1984-1985 that continued it. Johnson left the franchise during production of The Final Battle.

The cancellation of the TV series in the spring of 1985 appeared to have caught its producers by surprise,^{[citation needed]} as the season ends with a cliffhanger. The TV series' single season was released on Region 1 DVD in 2004.

Novels

V spun off a series of original novels, including a novelization of the first two miniseries combined into one story. Unusually, most of the original novels that followed did not feature characters from the TV series, but rather focused on battles against the alien invaders in other parts of the world.This was due to the writers guide not being ready in time.

While the series was on the air, new novels were published once a month by Pinnacle Paperbacks, and in the U.K. every 2 months by New English Library. In 1987-88, The remaining 5 books, left unpublished with the demise of pinnacle books, were published by Tor. No U.K. publisher was found for these.

Num.	Title	Author	Published	ISBN
1	"V"	A.C. Crispin	May 1984	0-523-42237-7
An adaptation of the original miniseries, as well as The Final Battle. There are some differences between the novel and the televised miniseries, including the deaths of several characters who are still alive in the televised version. This includes Chris Farber, leading to confusion about his return in V: The Series.
2	"East Coast Crisis"	Howard Weinstein	September 1984	0-523-42259-8
Set in New York and Washington D.C., the book begins with the gargantuan Mothership (aka the New York Mothership) arriving on Earth. The commander, Roger, and his subordinates, Angela and Jennifer, arrive and after the Visitors are revealed to be something evil, the resistance group named White Christmas is formed to combat them. They now have to face Roger's devious plan: to surpass the human food storage by emptying one of New York's neighborhoods next to their chemical plants.
3	"The Pursuit of Diana"	Allen L. Wold	December 1984	0-523-42401-9
The LA resistance tries to revive those stored on the mothership after capturing it in the events of the first book. However they are faced with the converted government, and several of the "sixth column", survivors on board the mothership still loyal to Diana, who has escaped capture on board.
4	"The Chicago Conversion"	George W. Proctor	January 1985	0-523-42429-9
In Chicago, the Visitors' grip on the Earth has been freed with the release of the Red Dust, a biological germ that takes the physical and tangible appearance of a red-colored powder. The Dust causes near-instant death to Visitors, but can cause mutation, sterility and ultimately, death, to all life in excessive amounts. Prior to this event, High Captain Gerald manages to finally storm the resistance, but with little success, as they were currently liberating the Chicago Art Museum, the Visitors' ground base. Seconds before the commander of the Chicago Mothership, Alicia, calls him back for withdrawal (after the Red Dust is deployed), he is able to distribute anti-toxin from the resistance base into his shock troopers. Though Alicia is frustrated at her subordinate, she gives him a chance to redeem himself, which Gerald jumps at, as unknowingly to Alicia, Gerald is a double agent. Her plan is to convert the resistance, and "unlock the key" to regaining Chicago.
5	"The Florida Project"	Tim Sullivan	February 1985	0-523-42430-2
The Visitors undertake a plan to create a human-reptilian hybrid in the Everglades to wipe out the resistance.
6	"Prisoners and Pawns"	Howard Weinstein	March 1985	0-523-42439-6
Lydia and Diana try to wrestle power from each other while trying to get the resistance out of the way. The resistance find that there might be collaborators in their group.
7	"The Alien Swordmaster"	Somtow Sucharitkul	April 1985	0-523-42441-8
Tomoko Jones is revived to become the consort of the fearsome Fieh Chan, Visitor Commander of Tokyo. Meanwhile, her husband finds a plot to capture the Earth's martial arts masters for conversion.
8	"The Crivit Experiment"	Allen L. Wold	May 1985	0-523-42466-3
A Visitor experiment in breeding, if successful, will ravage the Eastern Coast Seaboards (causing serious environmental consequences). The experiment is based on the crivit species, which exists in the Visitor's home planet.
9	"The New England Resistance"	Tim Sullivan	June 1985	0-523-42467-1
A human scientist tries to test a toxin that he developed, and that could help decimate the Visitors. In his endeavour, a newly group of resistance against the Visitors ends up being formed.
10	"Death Tide"	A.C. Crispin	July 1985	0-523-42469-8
The Resistance works on a new version of the red dust that will live in seaweed and thus protect the planet's water; Diana works on a defoliant that will destroy the seaweed. Marjorie Donovan returns.
11	"The Texas Run"	George W. Proctor	September 1985	0-523-42470-1
The Texas resistance has been weakened by Commander Charlie and his batch of visitor Shocktroopers.
12	"Path to Conquest"	Howard Weinstein	September 1987	0-8125-5725-5
The resistance of the East Coast, and the free zone, are in a "cold" danger, if Project Icewind of the Visitors is to be executed, with the use of oil rigs.
13	"To Conquer the Throne"	Tim Sullivan	November 1987	0-8125-5727-1
Great Britain is to become the Visitor's conquest and the launching pad for them to conquer the entire Earth.
14	"The Oregon Invasion"	Jayne Tannehill	January 1988	0-8125-5729-8
The Visitors initiate a fourth invasion in Oregon.
15	"Below the Threshold"	Allen L. Wold	March 1988	0-8125-5732-8
Lewis is a Natural, a Visitor who wants to live in peace with the humans in Freeport, a city without red dust. But humans in Freeport are in danger of being controlled by the Visitors, through a local tv station.
16	"Symphony of Terror"	Somtow Sucharitkul	May 1988	0-8125-5482-5
The Jones family (from previous novel 7 The Alien Swordmaster) tries to go to Washington DC, and spoil the plans of an Visitor spy that has a large amount of anti-toxin.

The Second Generation

See V: The Second Generation for more detail.

Kenneth Johnson—V's original creator—had been trying to bring the series back to television as a sequel to the original miniseries that would ignore the second miniseries and all the other subsequent fiction. When Warner Bros. decided to go with a complete reboot instead, Johnson wrote his story as a new novel.

Num.	Title	Author	Published	ISBN
1	"V: The Original Miniseries"	Kenneth Johnson and A.C. Crispin	November 2008	0-7653-2199-8
Crispin's adaptation of the original miniseries without any of the chapters that originally covered The Final Battle. In their place is a short work by Johnson linking this new version of the book to The Second Generation.
2	"V: The Second Generation"	Kenneth Johnson	February 2008	0-7653-1907-1
Twenty years after the original miniseries, the Visitors are in de facto control of Earth, and life across the planet is analogous to living under the Nazis in occupied Paris. In response to the message sent at the end of the original miniseries, the Resistance—which has been slowly losing ground for years—makes contact with another alien race. However, their actions trigger suspicions among the human fighters.

Other spin-offs

DC Comics published an 18-issue V comic book series from February 1985 – July 1986, with stories set to be concurrent with the events of V: The Series. The editor of the comic reported at one point in the letter (fan mail) column that DC was working to acquire permission to continue the storyline of the television series should it not be renewed for a second season. In the end, either such permission was denied or DC decided not to pursue the matter further.The cover of the 18th issue did state "Final Issue", but actually featured (with issue 17) a flashback story featuring Elias Taylor. (Issue 16 led into the opening scene of the final television episode—it also left various plot threads from the comic series unresolved.

In Japan, Go Nagai wrote a manga adaptation of the series with art by Tatsuya Yasuda.

In 1986 Ocean Software released a video game based on the series for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum: V (video game).

External links

• V: The Original Miniseries (1983) at the Internet Movie Database
• V: The Final Battle (1984) at the Internet Movie Database
• V: The Series (1984-85) at the Internet Movie Database
• V: The Series (2009) at the Internet Movie Database
• Kenneth Johnson's Official Site
• V (science fiction) at the Open Directory Project