Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Annabel Baldwin, Janie Dee, Jack Myers, Geoffrey Aymer, Nicholas Briggs, Hannah Brown, Jesse Dunbar, John H Elson, Louise Falkner, Raj Ghatak, Helen Goldwyn, Kate O’ Rourke, Gesella Ohaka, Logan Ritchie, Arabella Smith-James, Andrew James-Spooner, Holly Spooner, Sam Stafford.
The allegories and symbols that were explicitly portrayed on the hit American television series V were so plain to the naked eye that the viewer never once had to question that the sci-fi classic was truly about the representation of war, collusion, consent by power, and the requirement of all citizens to take a stand against the evils of fascism.
It seems though in the modern age we have lost the ability to understand some signals with clarity, we might even overuse the derogative in an attempt to seize the momentum in a conversation or argument as we discredit the emotions of others; and by doing so the true modern sense of the political extreme right is grossly underestimated, it is not given the damnation it truly deserves because we no longer see with knowledge, only hearsay.
V was a masterpiece for its time, and even on re-runs 40 years after the initial showing, it packs a solid punch because it is unafraid to remind the viewer that at its beating the aliens represent everything a true thinking human being would detest, that fascism is an evil that lives by stealth, slowly coming for those who object to it and can prove the lie being spread, before indoctrinating the children.
It is a joy of storytelling that the audio drama giant of Big Finish have found a way to bring the science fiction classic to the modern ear, to adapt and allow its piercing insight to once again push the boundary of writing and give the narrative a 21st Century twist; pulling at the heart of current concerns such as climate change, and the disbelief fed by some in the war against Covid.
Some names will be instantly recognisable, such as Juliet Parish and Mike Donavon of the resistance, of Robin Maxwell who became a pawn by the visitors as the young girl became pregnant by the reptile masquerading as a human, and of course one of the finest villains to have made it to television, Diana, the one to whom the Visitors came to see as their de facto leader. The difference between the two timelines, aside from the modern period, is that London and Britain has become the setting for the action, and if looked into closely it makes more sense than the sun kissed lands of Los Angeles, the reminders of the world of literature echo wildly in memory of 1984, and of course the final hubs of opposition against Nazi Germany in Europe to be found still in the scars left by the airplanes and bombers of the Luftwaffe.
The first three-part boxset, V: Visitation, almost mirrors the events set in 1980s United States of America, the dialogue and the pace is kept in check, and even the famous line “You sure don’t look like an iguana” is readily embraced as this particular Mike Donavan is rescued by a member of the Fifth Column.
The permanent fight against fascism takes many faces and appearances, and if we need the constant reminder then so be it, and where better than in the world of science-fiction, and in the hands of Big Finish, in the appearance of one of the finest television tales of the fifty years, V is the sign of dedicated opposition.
Ian D. Hall