H.G. Wells' Invisible Man-British TV Series
Episode "The Man in Power" (1959)

The Plot- Peter Brady is the Invisible Man (no actor is actually credited with the part in this series but the Internet Movie Database indicates that the part was played by Johnny Scripps, physically, with the voice of the character being provided by Tim Turner). He has been made invisible due to an accident during a scientific experiment. He is now working for good while trying to find a way to become visible again.

In this episode, Professor Brady is teaching the science of invisibility at Oxford. Among his students is, President of the (Oxford) Science Society, Prince Jonetta (Gary Raymond) of the small, impoverished country, Bahrat. This country is strategically situated between the Eastern and Western powers. Prince Jonetta is hoping that science and technology will improve the financial condition of his country.

Jonetta's brother, King Rashid (Vivian Marlen) has pledged to support the West, a "sacred pact". General Shafari (Andre Morell), who commands the country's army, wants the King to sign a document agreeing to play the Eastern and Western powers off against each other in order to gain financial benefit for their bankrupt country. The King refuses and Shafari shoots and kills him. He tells his cohorts, Colonel Fayid (Derek Sidney) and the Ambassador (Ivan Grey) that they will report the murder as being committed by the rabble.

As Prince Jonetta (known to everyone as Johnny) is applauding Professor's Brady's lecture, the Ambassador arrives and advises him of his brother's death and tells him he must return to rule Bahrat. On the plane Johnny wants to send a note to the tribesmen of his country since he had expected one of them, Hassan (Andrew Keir), to accompany him on the plane and wants to make sure they are there when he arrives at the palace. Colonel Fayid will not let him send the note, saying that he and the Ambassador are under General Shafari's command and everything has been arranged by Shafari. Johnny is enraged by this since he is to be the king and feels the Colonel and Ambassador should do as he instructs. Suddenly a note floats near him in the air. It says "Take It Easy, Johnny." Professor Brady has decided to stow aboard the plane to help Johnny out.

Upon arriving at the palace, Johnny is greeted by Hassan who, when asked by Johnny why he did not escort him back to the country, states he was not made aware of the trip. Johnny also greets his sister, Princess Taina (Nadia Regin). Johnny is preparing to complete the ceremony of accepting the crown of king when General Shafari tells him he needs to sign the document that his brother had not signed. After reading it, Johnny refuses. General Shafari then tells him that his men are holding Johnny's sister and she will come to harm unless Johnny either signs the document or refuses the crown, thus putting Shafari in charge of the country. Johnny does not know what to do but Peter Brady follows the kidnappers and gets Princess Taina back so that Johnny can accept the crown.

General Shafari is desperate. He sees that King Johnny has won over the tribes who like their new king. He even suspects the loyalty of some of his own men. He decides they will have to kill Johnny but make it look like a tribesman did it. That night he laces the King's coffee with a sedative. Prince Johnny and his sister drink the coffee and Johnny, pronouncing himself very tired, heads off to bed where he falls asleep right away. Brady, who sees Princess Taina fall asleep in her chair shortly after Johnny leaves, finds the coffee has been doped. He shakes the Princess to get her to tell him where Johnny's bedroom is.

Meanwhile, Colonel Fayid goes to Johnny's room and opens the window to make it look like someone broke in. He goes to kill the King with a knife when Brady intervenes and stops him. Brady then wakes up King Johnny by throwing a glass full of water in his face. The Ambassador arrives to see what is going on and Johnny and Brady subdue and hold them both. The King wants to know who instructed them to try to kill him. Just then General Shafari shows up and declares that Colonel Fayid and the Ambassador are traitors who tried to kill the King. Seeing that they are being double crossed by the General, Fayid and the Ambassador admit that it was General Shafari who put them up to it. King Johnny has him arrested but does not kill him saying "There will be no more lawless killing in Bahrat."

This thing is camper than a row of tents. Perhaps it is the nature of the Invisible Man genre to be so unintentionally hilarious. The scenes where Brady is unseen but people are thrown across car hoods or up against walls are wonderfully absurd. It couldn't have been easy to play the characters of Johnny and Taina, having to interact with someone who isn't there. Particularly amusing are the scenes where Brady is supposed to be trying to rouse Taina and Johnny from their drug-induced stupors. This required Gary and Nadia to act like limp puppets whose strings are being pulled. Presumably this produced a unique acting challenge. Most of the acting is quite ham-handed. Shafari, Fayid and the Ambassador are caricature villains. Prince Taina, inexplicably, has a heavy Italian accent. Of the actors other than Gary, only Andrew Keir as Hassan, plays his part with dignity. So, it's pretty darn silly but fun to watch nonetheless.

Gary has an accent problem in this part. He sounds like he is going for an Indian or Middle Eastern accent but it is very much an off and on thing. Despite this he does ably convey a young Prince/King, who is a bit arrogant, being confronted with serious problems in his country and trying to handle them appropriately. He demonstrates the strength and compassion needed for the job. He is unafraid to stand up to his enemies and accept the support of his friends. His devotion to his sister borders on the incestuous but maybe that's the way they do things in Bahrat. All in all he is quite believable as a rather brash but intelligent young ruler who has won the hearts of his people.

n this show Gary has the short, straight-styled hair he also has in Suddenly Last Summer. They also have him done up in some makeup to make his skin look darker for the part of the exotic Prince/King. He wears some fabulous outfits, including his student suit at Cambridge, his ceremonial uniform with sheik headgear, and a scrumptious white dinner jacket. He looks exquisite in all of these getups. It's no wonder the people of Bahrat took to him immediately.

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