CELEBRATING 70 YEARS! : THE FANTASTIC JOURNEY .. COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION .. USA 1977 ..

 COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION

Presents

THE FANTASTIC JOURNEY 

Starring 
JARED MARTIN  as Varian 
CARL FRANKLIN as DR Fred Walters 
IKE EISENMANN as Scott Jordan 
KATIE SAYLOR as Liana 
RODDY MCDOWALL as Dr Jonathan Willoway

'' TURNABOUT ''

( Season 1 - Episode 8 )

Guest Stars

JOAN COLLINS as Queen Halyana 
JULIE COBB as Adrea 
PAUL MANTEE as Morgan 
BEVERLY TODD as Connell 
AMY JOYCE as Masel

Directed by Victor French

The travelers arrive in a city ruled by men, who treat women as slaves, but are governed by a female computer and a trophy Queen, Halyana. But they become embroiled in a plot to overthrow the male populace by the rebellious females and to survive there has to be a Turnabout! 

When it comes to wearing the feathers.. Joan's met her match!!

This series from 1977 only lasted ten episodes, but has since become a cult favourite.. Originally called "The Incredible Island", it was planned for the castaways to stay on the island they arrive on in the pilot. However after the pilot was filmed, it was decided to steer the series in a different direction and also to axe half the original cast members which had included Susan Howard (Dallas), Scott Brady and Leif Erickson. The premise of the show was the adventures that befall a family and the people they are sailing with, who get lost in the Bermuda Trangle and end up in a green cloud and on a strange island.  They also end up in a vortex, which casts them into different dimensions..After the pilot, most of the characters are returned to their own time and the series regular characters include Varian (Jared Martin/Dallas), a man from the 23rd century who has awesome powers and who leads the travellers including teenager Scott Jordan (Eisenmann), whose parents are returned to their own time and Dr Fred Walter (Franklin) a doctor just out of medical school.. Along the way they pick up Lianna (Saylor) and her cat, who was the daughter of an Atlantean and an extraterrestrial mother and Dr Fred Walter (McDowall) a rebel scientist who was shunned by his peers, but has great knowledge.. They travel through different time portals in a bid to get back to their own time... The series although having an interesting premise was shortlived, this may have been due to it's constant cast changes.. 

Joan with Jared Martin & Roddy McDowell

The series story editor Dorothy Fontana, who also worked on "Star Trek" commented... 

"We had many problems with the series, The pilot sold in November of 1976 and we had to start shooting January 77, which meant it was a race to get the scripts ready.. Cast changes were also a problem..After shooting the pilot, producers decided the show was to go in a different direction and we had to axe most of the original cast. But it was an interesting experience." 

Although it may have looked futuristic in the 70's, today the series looks dated, however it is still worth viewing... Joan looks as campy as she can be as the Queen, in a shimmering pink outfit and matching intergalactic ear-rings.. But she as always has her tongue firmly in her cheek!!  The series is available on dvd from ViaVision at the link below.. A new release from MediumRare was due out April 21st but no order details are available or cover art as yet!

ORDER THE FANTASTIC JOURNEY DVD SET HERE!