The Phoenix (1982 TV series)

The Phoenix is an American science fiction television series starring Judson Scott which was on ABC for about one month. The series was premiered on March 19, 1982. The plot revolved around an ancient extraterrestrial named Bennu of the Golden Light, who is discovered in a sarcophagus in Peru and awakened in the 20th Century. The series was preceded by a TV movie on April 26, 1981.[1]

The Phoenix
Title card
GenreScience fiction
StarringJudson Scott
E. G. Marshall
Richard Lynch
ComposerArthur B. Rubinstein
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes5
Production
Executive producerMark Carliner
Running time60 minutes (including commercials)
Production companyMark Carliner Productions
DistributorWarner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseMarch 19 (1982-03-19) –
April 16, 1982 (1982-04-16)

Characters
  • Bennu of the Golden Light (played by Judson Scott), the protagonist, is an alien who possesses special abilities including physical levitation, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, astral projection and telekinesis. Some of these are made possible or amplified by his Phoenix Amulet, which draws power from the Sun. The planet Bennu hailed from was originally called Aurica, but this was changed to Eldebran for broadcast.
  • Yago is another being from the planet Eldebran. He is evil and Bennu's primary opponent. Yago is connected to the Moon, as Bennu is to the Sun. The series bible explicitly compares Yago to Lucifer and Dracula. He wears a bracelet called "The Bells of Thon" around his right wrist, which has the power to deafen. He also carries a musical instrument called "The Black Moonball", which can alter his appearance or teleport him to another location. In the series bible Yago was named Aiwaz, presumably after the alleged being who dictated The Book of the Law to Aleister Crowley.
  • Mira (played by Sheila Frazier) is another being from the planet Eldebran. 40,000 years ago she was placed on Earth as Bennu's companion, and when the series begins he is searching for her.
  • Justin Preminger (played by Richard Lynch) is the recurring human antagonist of the story, a tough, cynical and relentless former P.O.W. in Vietnam turned government agent obsessed with capturing Bennu who, despite what his superiors say, he believes to be nothing more than some sort of New Age con man. He is generally only one step behind his alien quarry.
  • Dr. Ward Frazier (played by E. G. Marshall) is a scientist sympathetic to Bennu and his goals.

Sources and influences
  • The series bible mentions Erich von Däniken's books Chariots of the Gods? (1968) and Gods from Outer Space (1970) as the source of the idea that aliens may have visited the Earth roughly 40,000 years ago.
  • Yago's ability to create illusions using the power of the Moon was, according to the series bible, "implied in the Lunacy (sic) Act of 1842".
  • Bennu is the Egyptian word for the mythological phoenix bird.[2]

Episode list

Only a 90-minute pilot and four regular episodes were broadcast. Four additional episodes were scripted, but never filmed nor broadcast.

  1. "The Phoenix" – April 26, 1981
  2. "In Search of Mira" – March 26, 1982
  3. "One of Them" – April 2, 1982
  4. "A Presence of Evil" – April 9, 1982
  5. "The Fire Within" – April 16, 1982
  6. "Trial by Fire" – Unaired
  7. "Deadly Cargo" – Unaired
  8. "Dark Hunter" – Unaired
  9. "The Star Needle" – Unaired

References
  1. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 935. ISBN 0345455428.
  2. Hart, George, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Second Edition, 2005. pp. 48–49
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