The Invisible Man (1958 TV series)

Cast and characters

* This is how the character is credited on the rear sleeve of the Network DVD release. Billed in on-screen closing credits as simply The Invisible Man, with no actor's name listed. Michael Goodliffe is credited in the original release promotional documentation.
** In the unaired pilot episode The Invisible Man, the character's first name was Jane, but this was changed to Diane — or "Dee", as Brady himself usually refers to her — for the series.

Production

In the unaired pilot, which bears the on-screen episode title "The Invisible Man" (but is often wrongly referred to as "Secret Experiment"), Canadian actor Robert Beatty provided the voice of Peter Brady. After Ralph Smart, the creator, saw the pilot, he realised that he could not use it. The bandaged hero could be seen bumping into doors and scenery, the strings which animated moving objects could be seen in a number of scenes. Although this Invisible Man was never transmitted, plot elements and footage from it were reused in the episodes "Secret Experiment", "Picnic with Death" and "Bank Raid". The Invisible Man pilot is included in its entirety on the Network DVD release of the series. Note: Series originally started filming in 1957.

A second pilot episode titled "Secret Experiment" was made, and was used as the opening instalment of the series. This featured Dr. Peter Brady (who is only ever seen obliquely), who is unwittingly subjected to radiation and turns invisible. While Brady searches for a cure to restore himself to normal, he also acts as an agent for the British Intelligence services. The original ITC press book states that "Secret Experiment", the second episode "The Locked Room", the fourth episode "Crisis in the Desert" and the fifth episode "Picnic with Death" should be shown first by any TV company; however, this directive was ignored by UK and US broadcasters leading to episodes in which Brady's invisibility is known about by the public, such as "Behind the Mask", being screened before its reveal in the episode "Picnic with Death". In these earlier episodes, the public does not know that Brady is invisible, and he wears bandages and sunglasses (as well as gloves) when he appears in public, but the episode "Behind the Mask" has a foreign industrialist with influence who tricks Brady into making him invisible too in an attempt to assassinate his country's new ruler. Subsequently, in "Picnic with Death", a motoring accident fully exposes Brady's invisibility, to the point that he is besieged by the Press. The same bandages Brady uses when out in public help fugitive convict Joe Green (played by Dermot Walsh) in the episode "Jailbreak" to escape the police when they thought he was Brady.

As a publicity gimmick, the actor playing the Invisible Man himself was never credited, either on-screen or in TVTimes, but Johnny Scripps played Brady without the bandages, i.e. apparently headless but otherwise dressed. Being a little person, he was able to see through the buttonholes in Brady's coat. Tim Turner provided Brady's voice, also without on-screen credit, using a transatlantic accent in order to help ITC sell the series to the United States.

The various 'actors' playing Brady's body remain unknown to this day, apart from Tim Turner whose identity was revealed in 1965 (the series was still being repeated regularly up until 1966). In later episodes, Tim Turner both played and voiced Brady — as press cast list handouts from 1959 clearly show. A number of different 'actors' portrayed Brady throughout the earlier episodes, particularly noticeable in the episode "Play to Kill" where a slim Brady changes into a stocky version in exterior scenes. Although according to Lisa Daniely: "I can't remember his name, and he wasn't really a very good actor. And they used somebody else's voice; that was the final insult — poor man. He was quite a nice looking bloke, but not a very dynamic personality."

Tim Turner himself appeared visibly in the "Man in Disguise" episode, though on this occasion he played Nick, a foreign-accented villain who impersonates Brady. Among the writers recruited for the show were Ian Stuart Black, Michael Pertwee and Brian Clemens under the pseudonym Tony O'Grady. Puppeteer Jack Whitehead, who had earlier worked on Muffin the Mule, was called in to provide the brilliant special effects of the show – such as cigarettes smoking while hanging in the air and wine being drunk by an invisible drinker (The pilot episode credits "Trick Photography" by Victor Margutti).

Stuntmen risked their lives hiding in the bottom of cars, driving the vehicle while looking from a slightly open door, or in the steering of a motorbike from a sidecar, which caused members of the public to try and stop what they thought was a runaway vehicle; they didn't realise there was actually a stuntman concealed in the sidecar, steering the motorbike with duplicate controls.

On another occasion, a motorist was surprised to see a car without a driver pull up at traffic lights alongside him. A man then rushed across to the apparently empty car, pulled open the door, and then recoiled from an invisible blow. The motorist didn't know that there was a film unit present, and the man thrown back from the driverless car was actually an actor. Fortunately, the motorist was felt not to have spoilt the take, but rather had helped it — his look of astonishment at what he had witnessed was so well displayed that he was kept in the finished scene.

In the second series, the camera often took on Brady's point of view, i.e. showing whoever and/or whatever the character himself was seeing at the time, which meant that the need for special effects could be cut down.

It has since come to light that two other actors played the voice of Peter Brady after Robert Beatty and before Tim Turner. Because Beatty's Canadian accent in The Invisible Man pilot was considered too harsh, "Secret Experiment" featured the softer American tones of Lee Patterson. Unfortunately, when the series was commissioned and went into production, Patterson was found to be committed workwise and so his place was taken by Paul Carpenter, a former band singer and B-feature leading man. However, Carpenter appeared to have a reputation for being unreliable as, from "Picnic with Death" onwards, Brady was voiced by Tim Turner.

The first series was script edited by Victor Wolfson, for the second series Ian Stuart Black took over, having written scripts for the first series. The music for the pilot was composed by Sydney John Kay, and he is credited as the musical director for series one. Assistant directors on series one were Jack Drury (2 episodes), Peter Crowhurst (2 episodes) and David Tomblin, who also worked on all series two episodes and the pilot. Casting director Harry Fine and sound supervisor Fred Turtle also worked on both series

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

Episode list

Airdates given here are for ATV London. Other ITV regions varied airdates and transmission order.

Note: The actors who provided the Voice of Peter Brady are listed only once until they change.

Series Two

First series episodes are copyright Incorporated Television Programme Co. Ltd, second series episodes are copyright Official Films Inc.

Apart from ATV London, other UK Networks – such as ABC Weekend Television – screened the series as one 26-episode run between 13 June 1959 and 19 December 1959, Tyne-Tees Television screened the series from its opening night on 15 January 1959.

DVD releases

MPI Home Video has released the entire series on DVD in North America. The discs are in NTSC format and carry no region encoding. They are available in two double-disc sets, or as a complete, four-disc set.

Network DVD has released the entire series in the UK as a four-disc set using new prints made from the original negatives. The discs are in PAL format and are encoded for Region 2.

Special Features

Other media