German broadcasting group WDR is traveling back in time with the newly restored 1983 cult sci-fi series “The Visitors.”
The Czechoslovakian show is set in 2484, a utopian future in which humanity is united under one common government, advised in all decisions by a computer known as “the central thinker,” and where hunger, disease and war have been eradicated. When Earth finds itself suddenly threatened by an imminent collision with a comet, however, leading academic Filip and three comrades travel back to 1984 in a contemporary-looking Lada Niva in search of a lost formula that enables the shifting of planets, which could save Earth.
Created by Ota Hofman and Jindřich Polák, the team behind the classic 1970s Czechoslovak children’s series “Pan Tau,” “The Visitors” was known domestically as “Návštěvníci,” “Die Besucher” in West Germany and “Expedition Adam 84” in East Germany.
The series also boasts costumes and props designed by Theodor Pištěk, who won an Oscar in 1985 for his costume design work on Miloš Forman’s “Amadeus.”
“The Visitors” was co-produced by Ceskoslovenska Televize, West Germany’s WDR and BR, Swiss broadcaster SRG and France’s Revcom Television.
WDR’s home entertainment division, Release Company, is releasing the series under the German title “Die Besucher” as a DVD and Blu-ray Collector’s Edition on Nov. 4. In addition to the complete series, digitally restored in HD, the collector’s edition includes a 30-minute bonus making-of film and a trailer show of Czechoslovakian children’s classics.
The Release Company distributes content from WDR and other affiliate broadcasters of the ARD group, including current new productions and archive titles going back nearly 70 years.
