Series Description

Taken was a fifteen hour (not counting commercials) sci-fi miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel that covered five decades and centered on four generations of three families affected by alien abductions. This was perhaps the finest production to date that appeared on the Sci Fi channel! It was produced by Dreamworks Productions in conjunction with aclaimed producer/director Steven Spielberg. If you're a sci-fi fan and you haven't seen this get it at your library today or buy the dvds! You won't be sorry!

Taken Miniseries Cast

Dakota Fanning .... Allie Keys / Narrator
Matt Frewer .... Dr. Chet Wakeman
Emily Bergl .... Lisa Clarke as an Adult
Heather Donahue .... Mary Crawford as an Adult
John Hawkes .... Marty Erickson
Joel Gretsch .... Owen Crawford
Ryan Hurst .... Tom Clarke as an Adult
Adam Kaufman .... Charlie Keys as an Adult
Camille Sullivan .... Nina Toth as an Adult
Eric Close .... John the Alien
Chad Morgan .... Becky Clarke
Andy Powers .... Eric Crawford
James McDaniel .... General Beers
Bob Wilde .... Carny
Steve Burton .... Captain Russell Keys
Jason Gray-Stanford .... Howard Bowen
Catherine Dent .... Sally Clarke
Julie Ann Emery .... Amelia Keys
Desmond Harrington .... Jesse Keys as an Adult
Brian Markinson .... Ray Morrison
Emily Holmes .... Julie Crawford
Tina Holmes .... Anne Crawford
Roger R. Cross .... Captain Walker
Nathaniel DeVeaux .... Dale Watson
Linda Ko .... Cynthia
Ben Cotton .... Denny

Taken Miniseries Trivia

Celine Du Tertre ("Mystic River") was hired to play the lead role as Allie Keys on the Taken miniseries. She actually shot scenes for several weeks when Dreamwork's original choice, Dakota Fanning, who had previously turned down the role due to other commitments suddenly became available. It must have been very disappointing to Celine as that would have been her first significant role and it was a super role, dominating the cast of Taken!

Dakota Fanning scored several guest starring bit parts on TV series before being cast in the 2001 movie, "I Am Sam" where her amazing talent for such a young actress became unmistakable. She immediately went to the top of many producers' wanted lists and landed parts in three more films in 2002 when her role in Taken as a part alien - part human child with extraordinary powers quickened her rise to stardom! Her performance was so great that TV Guide named her character as the sixteenth greatest sci-fi legend of all time in 2004!

Joel Gretsch must have enjoyed his role on Taken. He went on to appear in starring roles on "The 4400" and on the 2009 version of the "V TV Series".

At the time of production, Taken was the most costly project ever filmed in Richmond, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver.

Many of the abduction events as shown in the miniseries were based on descriptions of abductions and sightings from real life people over the years.

In the third episode of the Taken miniseries, a photo of a married couple is seen who were supposedly abducted by aliens. That photo was actually of Barney and Betty Hill who alleged that they were abducted by aliens on September 19, 1961. They became the poster couple for ufo believers when their memories allegedly returned during hypnotherapy in the 1970s. Their case was often referred to as proof positive that aliens were abducting Earthlings because they drew a star map that they claimed to have seen while on the UFO. That map supposedly included a star that wasn't discovered until years later, proving that they could only know about it if they had been on a UFO. Scientist quickly debunked that theory because the stars were locations were ridiculously far apart for them to be on the same map. It would be like having a map showing California and Vermont with no other states included. It made no sense. Plus the fact that with 100 billion plus stars in our galaxy alone, the odds of randomly drawing a map of stars that matches an unknown star was not unlikely. Rather it was almost certain. Despite those facts, UFO believers continue to quote the Hill case as proof of alien visitors to this day.

When getting his role on Taken, Eric Close was no stranger to sci-fi series. He had previously starred on "Dark Skies" and "Now and Again".

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

1. Beyond the Sky (12/2/2002)
2. Jacob and Jesse (12/3/2002)
3. High Hopes (12/4/2002)
4. Acid Test (12/5/2002)
5. Maintenance (12/6/2002)
6. Charlie and Lisa (12/9/2002)
7. God's Equation (12/10/2002)
8. Dropping the Dishes (12/11/2002)
9. John (12/12/2002)
10. Taken (12/13/2002)