Top Five Outer Limits Episodes from the first half of season 1.

 "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image; make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly, and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to THE OUTER LIMITS."

With this monologue from an unseen narrator, thus began the first transmitted episode of 'The Outer Limits' on 16th September 1963 on America's ABC television network. The show was an hour long and every week it featured a different story, following an anthology format with different characters and settings every week, as opposed to an ongoing cast and storyline. The show was often compared to 'The Twilight Zone', however 'The Outer Limits' was of a consistently darker and more horrifying tone than Rod Serling's classic series.

In recent weeks, I've been re-watching the first series of 'The Outer Limits'. Here then, are my top five episodes from the first half of that inaugural series. The top five for the second half of the series will come later, when I've got round to watching them...

5 - THE HUNDRED DAYS OF THE DRAGON 

This episode is a brilliant slice of Cold War paranoia. An assassin (Sidney Blackmer) from an un-named foreign power bloc has his features transformed via a serum to resemble those of the U.S. president. He kills the president and takes his place, he then starts weakening the U.S. from within - both diplomatically and financially with the long term aim of bringing the country to its knees. It's classic 'reds under the bed' stuff. I find the make-up work brilliant in this. People's faces being squished like clay into a different form gives this one an element of body horror that is satisfying to watch. It's an atypical episode too, as you will see, many episodes of 'The Outer Limits' feature a 'monster of the week', this one doesn't. Here instead we get a human threat, worse, a human threat hiding behind a friendly and benevolent guise. In an era rife with paranoia this episode must have really hit home where it hurts on it's first viewing.

4 - THE GALAXY BEING

Here we have the series pilot episode and it gets things off to a good start. A radio station owner and scientist (played by Cliff Robertson) has invented a new type of radio transmitter that picks up signals from the Andromeda galaxy. Soon he comes into contact with an alien being via the transmitter. However, the being is accidentally transported to Earth and ends up going on an unintentional but deadly rampage. The creature effects are incredibly effective in this episode, its essentially a man in a rubber suit being filmed in negative but it works really well and gives off an unsettling vibe. The story and acting are both top notch too. It's little wonder that the series became a hit with this as it's opener. 

3 - THE ARCHITECTS OF FEAR

The U.S. government decides that the only way to bring about world peace is to manufacture a foe for the human race to unite against. By injecting military scientist Alan Layton (Robert Culp) with alien D.N.A. they hope to achieve this. Layton slowly and agonisingly begins to transform into an alien Thetan...

This is a story of loss weighed against duty. Culp is brilliant in this as he plays the tortured Layton. We see him lose everything in his life that he once held dear, the scene where he says goodbye to his beloved wife for the final time is especially affecting. Culp also seems to become more desperate, verging on schizophrenia at points as the alien influence starts to take him over body and soul. It's an electrifying performance and is central to the entire story and thankfully Culp brings in his A game.

The Thetan alien is less effective. It hasn't aged as well as some of the other creatures in the series, falling firmly into the 'bug eyed monster' category. However, it probably looked great at the time and despite it's goofiness, it somehow still manages to exude a sense of tragedy and pathos in the final scenes. A heart rending mini-masterpiece.

2 - THE SIXTH FINGER

A scientist (Edward Mulhare), living in a Welsh mining village, invents a machine that speeds up human evolution. Needing a test subject, he selects a disillusioned young miner (David McCallum) who is eager to do anything after losing his job at the mine. However, the young miner is angry and resentful towards the local community. Despising all around him. As the experiment progresses, the young miner is transformed into a hyper evolved being with Godlike mental powers. The problem is, his resentment hasn't left him and now he has the means to destroy the village and all those who oppose him...

This episode is effectively the dark mirror of  'The Architects of Fear', where that episode was a tale of losing the best elements of one's own humanity, this episode is a story about retaining the worst elements of human nature. The fact that 'The Sixth Finger' was aired the following week after 'The Architects of Fear' seems to cement this intention of the stories being two halfs of the same coin.

David McCallum is great in this. He's always been an actor that's been particularly good at playing cold, scathing characters, whether that be Illya Kuryakin in 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' or the pragmatic and unearthly Steel in 'Sapphire and Steel'. This predilection for being cast as cynical and calculating individuals puts him in good stead for this episode. Here, McCallum veers from seething resentment in his normal human form and transforms into cold, arrogant indifference to the lower lifeforms that he now perceives human beings to be. Unlike Robert Culp's character in 'Architects' who was a throughly decent and brave character from the outset, McCallum's character, in contrast, seems to have been quite an unpleasant man to begin with. He allows his anger and resentment to get the better of him, even though he should have outgrown these qualities in his evolved state. The implication being that mankind will never outgrow the dark side of its own nature.

This episode is a darkly cynical offering that is only let down by the terrible attempts at Welsh accents by all concerned. Seriously, If you can't afford accent coaches why not just set your story in America instead, so that the actors aren't forced to speak in silly voices. Even McCallum (who is English) mangles the Welsh accent, sounding more like he's from 'oop North' than being a Welshman. This is only a minor thing though and the episode is still great.

1 - The Zanti Misfits

'The Zanti Misfits' is probably my favourite episode of  'The Outer Limits ' full stop. The story of a race of pacifist aliens who dump thier criminals onto our planet, knowing that mankind is ruthless and violent enough to deal with them in a way that the Zanti are unwilling or unable to do themselves.

Everything about this episode is brilliant, the acting, the setting and the overall atmosphere. The setting of an abandoned desert ghost town occupied by the military (with the brilliant name of 'Morgue') has a creepy ambience. The desert around the town seems to exude a sense of isolated menace that recalls similar settings in the classic sci-fi movie 'Them !' (1954).

The best thing of all though are the Zanti Misfits themselves. Little stop motion ant creatures with the faces of mad children. They are nightmarish in thier design and memorably effective when they are crawling all over thier unfortunate victims, killing them in the process with thier venom. Anybody who is given a case of the horrors from creepy crawlies is advised to give this episode a miss.

'The Zanti Misfits' is a much faster paced episode than is the norm for this series, ending with an action packed battle scene between the military and the Zanti. The episode is no less cerebral though, once more it comments upon the dark side of human nature, a theme that underscores many of the series finest episodes.

I hope you've all enjoyed this excursion into 'The Outer Limits'. We will return there again soon when I've watched the rest of the first season. Until then - what are your favourite episodes of 'The Outer Limits' ?