Series Description

The Invisible Man TV show was a 30 minute British fantasy series that aired on ITV in the United Kingdom and on CBS in the U.S. It was about a scientist (Dr. Peter Brady) who was attempting to develop a potion that would turn a person invisible when everything went very wrong! The good news was that the potion worked and it caused Dr. Brady to disappear from sight! The bad news was that there was no way to reverse the potion and become visible again! Dr. Brady was locked up by his government as a security risk until he convinced them to allow him to continue looking for a cure. He obtained their co-operation by using his invisibility to spy for the British Secret Service.

The Invisible Man Cast

Tim Turner .... Dr. Peter Brady (Voice Of The Invisible Man)
Lisa Daniely .... Diane Brady
Deborah Watling .... Sally Brady
Ernest Clark .... Sir Charles Anderson

The Invisible Man Opening Narrative

"My name is Peter Brady. For some time now I have been engaged in a highly secret experiment designed to bring about a giant step forward in the conquest of space and matter. Here in my lab, working day and night, I've been prying into the mysteries of the future. Only a few hours ago, I felt that there were secrets that would never be known to us here on Earth. And then suddenly in the midst of a routine experiment, a strange and unpredictable event took place. Whether a mistake or the natural conclusion of the experiment, I cannot say. I can say that what happened is one of the most fantastic experiences in our modern day."

The Invisible Man Trivia

The Invisible Man TV show was inspired by the novel of the same name that was written by legendary author, "H.G. Wells".

As of 2008, there have been three Invisible Man TV shows. There was this 1958 version, a 1975 version, and a 2000 version. There was also a TV "serial" (what we Americans would call a miniseries) in 1984.

There was a pilot episode that was produced but never broadcast. Series creator, "Ralph Smart" refused to air it because of really lousy special effects. The Invisible Man was constantly bumping into everything, presumably because he couldn't see due to the bandages on his face. Strings were used to levitate objects that the Invisible Man was supposedly holding or moving while invisible. The strings were easily visible in the finished film! The pilot does still exist to this day, however, and has been included as an special feature on this series' dvd release.

For a series from the 1950s, The Invisible Man had some pretty fine special effects! Stunt men would drive Peter Brady's car while crouched over in the seat and watching the road from a slightly opened door so it would appear that the Invisible Man was driving! Cigarette hanging in mid-air and would appear to be being smoked by the Invisible Man! Glasses would be tipped and the liquid within them slowly disappear as if an invisible man was drinking from the glass! On one occasion, passerbys tried to stop what appeared to them to be a runaway motorcycle, not realizing that they were witnessing the filming of a TV show! There was actually a stunt man hidden in the sidecar who was driving the motorcycle. These special effects might seem lame to today's audiences but they were pretty amazing to viewers in 1958!

In the second season, the producers saved money by changing the scenes from showing what the invisible man was doing to showing what the invisible man was seeing. That eliminated most of the expensive special effects.

The original H.G. Wells novel postulated that if you could change a person's refraction of light index to that of water that light would pass right through them and the person would become invisible. In this 1958 version of the Invisible Man TV show, the theory was that if you could change a person's refraction of light so that light waves would "bend around" a person's body, then no one would be able to see them.

In the United Kingdom, this series was titled, "H.G.Wells' Invisible Man" and in canceled, it was titled, "Invisible Man: The Original Series"

Several of the Invisible Man's writers went on to write for another "spy" series titled, "Secret Agent".

In the first episode, it was stated that Diane and Sally were Peter Brady's widowed sister and his niece. In future episodes, it was stated that they shared his last name, "Brady". The only way that both could be possible is if Peter's sister took back her maiden name and changed her daughter's last name too! Not likely!