The Invisible Man (TV serial)
Encyclopedia
The Invisible Man is a six-part television serial based on the science fiction
/fantasy
novella by H. G. Wells
, screened by the BBC
in the UK throughout September and October 1984. It was produced as part of the BBC 1 Classic Serial strand, which incorporated numerous television adaptations of classic novels screened in serial form on Sunday afternoons. Starring Pip Donaghy in the title role, the series follows the same plot as the original book, of a deranged scientist who discovers a formula by which to make himself invisible
, but is driven to insanity
by his inability to reverse the formula and is evoked to use his invisibility to terrorize those around him. Out of all the numerous film and TV versions of H. G. Wells' book
, this remains to date the most faithful to the original text.
A sinister stranger arrives in the small, quiet village of Iping
, where he hires a room at the local inn. The innkeepers, Mr. and Mrs. Hall, are immediately unnerved by their guest's bizarre appearance, for his head is completely wrapped up in bandages, his eyes concealed by large dark goggles, and his body wrapped in a thick black coat despite the intense summer heat. As the locals become suspicious of the strange man, who seems to be conducting some kind of scientific experiment in the inn's parlour, Mr. and Mrs. Hall begin to wonder if they have made a dreadful mistake by allowing him to stay...
Episode Two: The Unveiling of the Stranger
As the stranger's conduct becomes more and more suspicious and he falls behind with his rent, Mr. and Mrs. Hall begin to fear that his wrappings conceal a terrible secret.
Episode Three: Mr. Marvel's Visit to Iping
When Mr. and Mrs. Hall decide to finally confront the stranger, they receive a dreadful shock when he peels back his bandages and reveals he is completely invisible. Escaping from the inn, The Invisible Man enlists the services of a reluctant tramp named Thomas Marvel to help him steal his research books from the inn.
Episode Four: Dr. Kemp's Visitor
After Thomas Marvel betrays the Invisible Man, the Invisible Man attempts to kill him but winds up being wounded by a gunshot. He flees to take refuge in the house of a young doctor named Kemp played by David Gwillim
.
Episode Five: Certain First Principles
The Invisible Man reveals his true identity to Kemp- Griffin
, Kemp's old university colleague. Recovering from the gunshot wound, he tells Kemp the story of how after leaving university, he discovered the formula for making himself invisible, but wound up alone and stray on the streets of London, struggling to survive in the open while unseen by those around him. He has been trying ever since to reverse the experiment, but he has other plans which involve Kemp himself...
Episode Six: The Hunting of The Invisible Man
When Griffin reveals that he intends to begin a Reign of Terror and terrorize the vicinity with his invisibility, Kemp realizes that Griffin has been driven insane and summons the police. Feeling betrayed, Griffin announces that Kemp will be the first man killed in the Reign of Terror. The police, together with Kemp, concoct a plan to stop Griffin before it is too late.
of only 49. Viewing figures declined steadily as the series progressed, with many complaining that the storyline's pacing was too slow, the episodes were too short, and that the novel was not well-suited to this form of serialization, many arguing that its faithfulness was its main weakness. A Television Audience Broadcasting Report from BARB data stated that "The series was often considered slow and boring... and unredeemed by the quality of the acting or the production". Pip Donaghy's performance, nevertheless, was described as "well-received". Despite not being particularly successful at home, the serial achieved surprising success abroad, particularly in the Soviet Union
where it was reported to have attracted over 64 million viewers. The serial was never repeated by the BBC, and remained almost forgotten until a DVD
release in 2005.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novella by H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
, screened by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in the UK throughout September and October 1984. It was produced as part of the BBC 1 Classic Serial strand, which incorporated numerous television adaptations of classic novels screened in serial form on Sunday afternoons. Starring Pip Donaghy in the title role, the series follows the same plot as the original book, of a deranged scientist who discovers a formula by which to make himself invisible
Invisibility
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
, but is driven to insanity
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
by his inability to reverse the formula and is evoked to use his invisibility to terrorize those around him. Out of all the numerous film and TV versions of H. G. Wells' book
The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Weekly in 1897, and published as a novel the same year...
, this remains to date the most faithful to the original text.
Episodes
Episode One: The Strange Man's ArrivalA sinister stranger arrives in the small, quiet village of Iping
Iping
Iping is a village in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies within the civil parish of Stedham with Iping, just off the A272 road 2 miles west of Midhurst. The village lies on the River Rother...
, where he hires a room at the local inn. The innkeepers, Mr. and Mrs. Hall, are immediately unnerved by their guest's bizarre appearance, for his head is completely wrapped up in bandages, his eyes concealed by large dark goggles, and his body wrapped in a thick black coat despite the intense summer heat. As the locals become suspicious of the strange man, who seems to be conducting some kind of scientific experiment in the inn's parlour, Mr. and Mrs. Hall begin to wonder if they have made a dreadful mistake by allowing him to stay...
Episode Two: The Unveiling of the Stranger
As the stranger's conduct becomes more and more suspicious and he falls behind with his rent, Mr. and Mrs. Hall begin to fear that his wrappings conceal a terrible secret.
Episode Three: Mr. Marvel's Visit to Iping
When Mr. and Mrs. Hall decide to finally confront the stranger, they receive a dreadful shock when he peels back his bandages and reveals he is completely invisible. Escaping from the inn, The Invisible Man enlists the services of a reluctant tramp named Thomas Marvel to help him steal his research books from the inn.
Episode Four: Dr. Kemp's Visitor
After Thomas Marvel betrays the Invisible Man, the Invisible Man attempts to kill him but winds up being wounded by a gunshot. He flees to take refuge in the house of a young doctor named Kemp played by David Gwillim
David Gwillim
David Gwillim is an English actor, best known for playing Prince Hal in the BBC Television Shakespeare Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II and the title role in Henry V which were broadcast in 1979, and John Bold in The Barchester Chronicles broadcast in 1982.- Biography :Gwillim was born in...
.
Episode Five: Certain First Principles
The Invisible Man reveals his true identity to Kemp- Griffin
Griffin (The Invisible Man)
Griffin is a fictional character, the eponym and antagonist of H. G. Wells's science fiction novel The Invisible Man, first published in 1897. Griffin is a young scientist who wants to create the ultimate humanoid by creating a race of invisible people....
, Kemp's old university colleague. Recovering from the gunshot wound, he tells Kemp the story of how after leaving university, he discovered the formula for making himself invisible, but wound up alone and stray on the streets of London, struggling to survive in the open while unseen by those around him. He has been trying ever since to reverse the experiment, but he has other plans which involve Kemp himself...
Episode Six: The Hunting of The Invisible Man
When Griffin reveals that he intends to begin a Reign of Terror and terrorize the vicinity with his invisibility, Kemp realizes that Griffin has been driven insane and summons the police. Feeling betrayed, Griffin announces that Kemp will be the first man killed in the Reign of Terror. The police, together with Kemp, concoct a plan to stop Griffin before it is too late.
Reception
Although originally intended to be screened on Sunday afternoons like the BBC's other classic serials, it was instead shown in a Tuesday evening slot after the BBC's Head of Drama declared the serial was "too frightening for a Sunday afternoon... far too horrific". The public reception to the serial was less than enthusiastic, with viewing figures averaging 7.4 million with an overall Appreciation IndexAppreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
of only 49. Viewing figures declined steadily as the series progressed, with many complaining that the storyline's pacing was too slow, the episodes were too short, and that the novel was not well-suited to this form of serialization, many arguing that its faithfulness was its main weakness. A Television Audience Broadcasting Report from BARB data stated that "The series was often considered slow and boring... and unredeemed by the quality of the acting or the production". Pip Donaghy's performance, nevertheless, was described as "well-received". Despite not being particularly successful at home, the serial achieved surprising success abroad, particularly in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
where it was reported to have attracted over 64 million viewers. The serial was never repeated by the BBC, and remained almost forgotten until a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release in 2005.
Key differences from the original text
Although the plotline of the serial is extremely close to that of Wells' original text, there are several key differences:- The novel's storyline takes place over a period of several months, beginning in mid-winter and ending in early spring. The serial reduces the timespan to only one month, and the whole story takes place in mid-summer. According to the scriptwriter James Andrew Hall this was done to emphasize the unusual nature of the Invisible Man's initial appearance, appearing completely wrapped up in spite of the summer heat.
- The village of Iping is actually situated on the border between SussexSussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
and KentKentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, which was also the case in Wells' novel, but in the serial the village is relocated to the border between SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
and DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. - An extra character is inserted into the flashback sequence in the form of Griffin's college professor, Professor Hobbema, whom the writer created for a scene in which Griffin expounds his notions of invisibility.
- Although the character of Dr. Kemp first appears at the halfway point, as in the book, the serial introduces the character at a much earlier point in a scene at the inn in which Griffin reads a paper on optical density written by Kemp and realizes he is the same man he once worked with. This was done to reduce the level of coincidence at the point in which Griffin takes refuge in Kemp's house- in the novel he is unaware that the house belongs to Kemp and stumbles into the house purely by chance.
- The epilogue sequence at the narrative's end is slightly different from the book. In the book, Thomas Marvel is revealed to have been allowed to keep the money stolen by the Invisible Man and used it to set up his own pub- itself named The Invisible Man- in which he tells customers the story of his encounter with Griffin by day, then ponders over the Invisible Man's hidden journals by night. Yet in the final scene of the serial, Marvel is still a vagrant and is shown reading Griffin's journals out in the country, conducting an imaginary conversation with a scarecrow that resembles the bandaged Invisible Man.
See also
- The Invisible Man (TV series)The Invisible Man (TV series)The Invisible Man may refer to the following TV series:*The Invisible Man , a 1958 UK series*The Invisible Man , a 1975 NBC series starring David McCallum...
- other attempts at adapting Wells' work for the small screen.