Let me take you back in time to approximately 1981. The place: Gweru, Zimbabwe and the venue: Trevor's place in a suburb in that city. The scene, a young man cowering in fear behind his chair, watching and then not watching a BBCTV series entitled
The Omega Factor, a 1979 production which is viewed these days as a precursor to
The X Files.
The effect that this truly scary TV series had on me, despite me almost wetting my pants in fear at times, is that I believe it planted the seed of a writer in my terrified brain. Not a great writer per se, but a scribbler nonetheless.
It had no spectacular fx and was made on a shoestring budget but it hammered everyone who saw it and it was a major talking point in my high school. Then, 10 episodes later, it was gone and no-one saw it for the next twenty five years until the BBC decided to release it on DVD. It can be purchased on amazon.com now and is worth every penny.
I credit the cast, crew and everyone who had a hand in making this eerily effective series ~ even though you people scared the *beep* out of me, thank you.
