UFO
Kidnapped, a pilot for a proposed kids' science
fiction series, was written and produced by Roger Price
and starred many of the kids from You Can't Do
That On Television as well as Les Lye. In 1983,
when YCDTOTV had been increased to airing on Nickelodeon
three times a week, Roger Price proposed this science-fiction
series, which was obviously drawn from his previous work
on The Tomorrow People series.
The
pilot starred Alasdair Gillis, Kevin Kubusheskie, Les Lye,
Klea Scott, Vanessa Lindores, Doug Ptolemy, Tony Lefebvre,
and Rodney Helal from YCDTOTV. The pilot begins with Les
Lye as a crook named Sam trying to crack a safe in a mansion.
However, he sets off an alarm and eventually breaks the
window to leap out onto the ground below. Once outside,
a UFO hovers over the house and then gives chase to Les.
Les is engulfed in a giant green ball of energy and lifted
up inside the UFO. Alasdair and Kevin, brothers camping
out in the woods, are soon captured by the UFO in the same
manner as they and their dog are lifted up via the giant
green ball of energy into the UFO.
At
the next moment, Alasdair and Kevin are in their bedroom.
But, it is actually a recreation on the spaceship. They
are soon joined by a humaniod alien played by Klea and little
bear-like aliens played by Doug and Vanessa. Klea tells
the boys to use their mental powers to suspend reality.
The result is Alasdair being able to walk through a closed
door, and them both to be wearing street clothes as opposed
to pajamas. The five walk from the "bedroom" to the helm
of the ship, which is captained by two aliens. One of the
aliens is played by Tony Lefebvre.
Les,
as the crook Sam, is brought from a prison cell on the ship
to the helm where the ship is soon prepared for landing
on an alien planet. Once on the planet, the alien captains
attempt to sell Les and Kevin to alien masters. However,
with help of the horned boy, alien prisoner Rodney Helal,
the group manages to get back on the UFO and leave *without*
the alien helmsmen. The alien helmsmen borrow a ship and
board it, eventually giving chase. However, captained by
Alasdair, the heroes manage to lose the aliens in a black
hole. The pilot ends with them coming upon a planet that
looks like Earth, however, Les utters "...or is it?".
Unfortunately,
Nickelodeon did not purchase the UFO Kidnapped
series so only the pilot was produced. One can only
speculate as to where the storyline would have gone. One
could speculate as to whether other YCDTOTV cast members
would have been brought in and what types of characters
they would have played on the series. Alasdair Gillis made
a very strong showing with his performance in the pilot.
One can also speculate on how far Alasdair would have gone
with the series. If the pilot is any indication, Alasdair
would have been nothing short of excellent in the expanded
role afforded him by UFO Kidnapped.
