Please help me identify a tv show or mini-series that aired in the early to mid-eighties, it may have been a made for tv movie and it aired in parts spanning over a few nights. Unfortunately I have a vague recalling of it but this has bothered me for so many many years! I don't recall the station, nor the actors, (sorry) and my memory tells me I was around 6 yrs old at the time (so 1982-83?)... Anyway the details I do remember: It was a space show and a group of humans on a ship find an abandoned space station with a prisoner on it. This prisoner is someone they thought was dead and he turns out to be their leader or captain. He looks filthy, with long hair and a long beard. Then the doctors check him and he enters what looks like a sonic shower where he is quickly healed, cleaned, given a nice hair-cut and a trim beard - all by these magic rays or something. And now he looks pretty cool, the stereotypical leader type. Later this same man enters a circular ring and has to fight some dude or something, can't recall if he fought an alien or some other big dude. If I recall correctly (and this part for me is very grey almost like I made it up lol) they had electric bracelets and during the fight were using it to 'shock' each other...or something??? So does this sound familiar!? Please help help me ID what this was, anyone, someone! Thanks! p.s. Shows I've already eliminated are the old V miniseries, old BSG, any Trek, old Lost in Space...
^Wow never heard of this show before, and looked like a good candidate but I loomed over some of the episodes and there were some movies after the series aired (they were just episodes re-cut). None of the storylines seem to fit. Neither do the images of the actors ring a bell, etc. Also seems to be too old (late 70's production). Thanks though! Any other possibilities? I can't be the only one to remember a scene about finding a man captive being all bearded out and then the healing shower? More info, at the time I was living in Montreal (no cable tv) so it must have aired on CTV or CBC (for those Canadian bbs'ers). And I'm certain it was not a British or Canadian production, but an American one...
Could it have been Earthstar Voyager, a 2 part mini series, backdoor pilot for a tv series, produced by Disney? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Star_Voyager It's the only obscure space based, live action, non kids show/mini series from the mid to late 80s that hasn't been mentioned. Plus the Duncan Regehr part matches the thought you were dead/scruffy looking part. See if the pictures on that German dvd cover looks familiar.
"Blake's 7"? He was on a prison space station and then was broken out and they stole a ship which he captains. That was late 70's/early 80's.
From the wiki: "Along the way to Demeter, they pick up the long lost astronaut Jacob 'Jake' Brown, while stopping at an abandoned station to make some repairs." You got it! That's it! Wow, awesome thanks so much. You magnificent bast@#d! Sorry for the outburst but it's a huge weight off me man! Looks like my assumptions were a little off lol, and my memory is terrible lol. It was 1988 not 1982 so I was 12 not 6! And it was filmed entirely in Canada, it was a Disney production, shown over two Sundays (Disney movie nights, remember those?)...ah the good ol' days. Gonna have to get a copy of this and watch it again! Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJz6WnXyUWE In the trailer, note the bearded dude (Duncan Regehr - thanks cylkoth!) and notice the electric braclet death match! Ha! Trekbbs never disappoints! /end over-excitement -
Darn, Earth Star Voyager was the first thing that occurred to me, but I wasn't sure enough to suggest it.
It's Youtube that never disappoints...I should have known to look there first. The mini is not out on dvd here in the US, and I don't know if that German dvd is the complete version, or an edited 2hr version that was shown several years after it's debut. Someone's uploaded the latter in segments found in the column in your link to the trailer, so we can at least get a peek at it. The first 9 minutes look interesting, but from what little I can remember, it gets a little cheesier as it goes along.