The Invisible Man, Series 1 (Box Set 1) [DVD]

The Invisible Man first appeared on American TV just a couple of months in advance of Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man in 2000. But unlike the rather overly serious movie, the idea of this series was to have as much fun with the concept as possible. Thief and con man Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca) is apprehended and offered the choice of either being imprisoned or becoming a guinea pig in a scientific experiment run by his own brother. The result is the successful insertion of a Quicksilver Gland in his head, a device that secretes a substance able to bend light, causing him to become invisible at will. Unfortunately it also starts to send him insane. The mysterious Official and his Agency offer a solution. They can regularly administer an antidote, so long as he agrees to work for them in secret.

Thus the series begins to explore the possibilities: Fawkes poses as a child's imaginary friend to get information; he stalks a stalker; and, of course, he does a lot of spying. In the background of the individual stories is a constant build-up of tension as both the audience and Fawkes wonder where the Agency's loyalties lie and what the constant use of the Quicksilver may do to him. At the midway point of the first series, the show adds an even weirder twist when a suspected additional Invisible Man turns out to be Fawkes himself, channelling the memories and violent temperament of the first test subject to have hosted the gland. Unpredictable and engaging, this is a show that deserved to go beyond the mere two years it managed before cancellation.

On the DVD: The Invisible Man comes to DVD in a four-disc box set containing the first half of Series 1. Some weblinks and scripts of shows are accessible as DVD-ROM features, but the real score for the DVD's producers is an hour-long interview with cast members Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor and Michael McCafferty. Much more is promised for the next box set comprising the second half of the series. --Paul Tonks

Episodes:
The Pilot (Parts 1 & 2)
The Catevari
Ralph
Tiresias
Impetus
The Devil You Know
Liberty and Larceny
The Value of Secrets
Separation Anxiety
It Hurts When You Do This
The Other Invisible Man

Interview with Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor and Mike McCafferty

Episode trivia notes

Scripts as DVD ROM content