THE TIME TUNNEL
INVASION
Writers-Wanda and Bob Duncan
Dir-Jerry Briskin
The narration goes on as we see and hear the same music--but it continues to be interesting and isn't boring at all--it is some visual and auditory treat. Tony and Doug land in the middle of several night attacks on an installation. It appears to be some time during WWII as one of the men at the installation who is attacked (and killed?) is wearing a Nazi swastika. Things blow up and men shoot. Tony and Doug run, are spotted and shot at, and end up going up steps to a closed steel like door--which is locked tight. They cannot get in and so turn to leave but are surrounded by men in the street--men with guns. They put their hands up. In the recap of last week's cliffhanger it seems to make more sense--I'm not sure it is edited differently or not but it looks as if an attack on the warehouse or a prison is being done by resistance fighters. Men were hiding, spotlights shone, there were trucks, fighters shoot guards on a tower and throw bombs. There is machine gun fire. Nazis run out, French men run away. Tony and Doug hide behind boxes as the French truck passes. They come out but another vehicle, an open car, comes riding up. Nazis soldiers get out and chase them. The music used in the teaser differs slightly from the music used in the same scenes in the last week cliffhanger. The boys find a dead end at a warehouse door. They put their hands up. The car drives them back to Headquarters--to Germans. A Major Hoffman feels an invasion of the coast is not likely due to the bad weather. He makes them sit and tells them not to make a mistake--the room is soft but the Gestapo is not, "You will cooperate." Tony tells him their true names. Hoffman sees that they are well educated and believes they were brought from America to help the French underground. A general calls Hoffman on the phone. They all overhear his conversation about some schedule--it is June 4th, 1944--and a calendar confirms this. June 6th--a day after tomorrow, will be an invasion. Tony says, "We're right in the middle of one of the biggest invasions in history." Doug adds they are in Cherbourg, France on the Cherbourg peninsula just 48 hours before Doomsday! The theme song included the narrator at the end saying, "THE TIME TUNNEL," which adds to the fascination and excitement of the show.
ACT ONE
The time tunnel staff-mainly Ann, Ray, and General Kirk watch the image projector. The German Major Hoffman is on the phone telling a General he will drive up with him. Kirk paces. Then we see the titles--huge white lettering like giant letters-thick and big! June 4th, 1944-Cherbourg and they don't have much time. Ray wonders if they are in the city of Cherbourg but Kirk says, "No, I've been in Cherbourg--it must be one of the smaller villages. He asks for photos, maps, and info from the computer of French villages and areas--DeLongue, Laurange, Montberg, San Marglese. The pre invasion barrage will start at midnight on June 5th. Kirk says, "Unless we can get them out in time, I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for their chances of staying alive."
Hoffman slaps Tony and comments on their American loyalty. A craggy faced, thin mustached man, Dr. Hanz Klienemann watches through a one way mirror-window. Berlin's orders are for Klienemann to have whatever he wants from Hoffman and the scientist tells Hoffman he will obey them since he, too, has been conditioned to obey Berlin. "Of course, you've been conditioned to. I will recondition one of those men to kill the other in cold blood without a moment's hesitation." He wants to prove his technique and demands Tony be allowed to escape but to be followed. Hoffman takes Doug to a room where Klienemann takes photos of him. Doug won't change into a gown so Hoffman hits him down. Tony uses an ashtray or vase on a guard and as the two leaders of the operation watch through a one way window, Klienemann figures Tony's every move. Tony won't leave without Doug and tries to get into the room the three are in. Kleinemann tells Hoffman to sound the alarm. Tony has to run out now--to get help. Klienemann tells Hoffman, "His emotions are conditioned." A French man follows Tony and they fight briefly.
Ann found out that Klienemann's first name is Hans or Hanz and most of the people he experimented on died. Ann tells them the village may be La San Maralgese but there are no comparative location for where the Gestapo HQ was or the building Tony is taken to by the French man. Ray asks even if they do get the location--how will they decide which one to transfer. Kirk says, "I don't know. I honestly don't know."
Two French men question Tony. Another comes in and says an SS man tailed Tony but they lost him. Tony wanted their help to get Doug out. Among the French resistance is frumpy Mirebeau who wears a cap; Verlaine, the youngest and brashest; and the leader Duchamps (and the least developed character-wise). Verlaine pushes to kill Tony. It time for the BBC announcements about storms and a low pressure center moving in. There are no "personal" messages this time--the messages being coded instructions to the underground. Kleinemann has Doug in a gown and tells him he is his only friend. He needs to reach Doug's subconscious, open it, and uses drugs to do so. His voice is the only one he makes Doug respond to until he tells him otherwise. He will only answer Klienemann's questions. Doug tells his true name, nationality, and then about Allied invasion plans, resisting a bit but not able to hold out long. He tells them D-Day is June 6th and the Germans are defeated. He has been conditioned to say this by his superiors, Klienemann tells Hoffman, the Major not having time for this "psychological gymnastics." The doctor puts on a light and tells Doug to open his eyes. He uses a photo of Doug and switches back and forth between that and a photo of Doug dressed in Nazi gear and uniform. He tells Doug his name is now and has always been Hernich Kraiger, an SS officer. Doug resists saying the false name but does say his real name. Klienemann says, "Another 2 or 3 hours, you will know exactly who you are and the man you were will be quite dead."
ACT TWO
News comes in on the BBC--the fox is on the loose, maple trees are green, Mary has a brother named Christopher, the long sobs of autumn...something like wound my heart, the road makes an S curve, the dog has blue eyes. Tony tells them that soon the invasion will occur using the word "was" and when they wonder, he corrects himself, "is." Tony tells the French he and Doug were put here by mistake--he has no papers, no ID. They claim he may be a spy but Tony claims they could be a unit of the Gestapo posing as the underground. One of the French men says, "Touche." Tony tells them his specialty is electronics. The leader tells him they must stay away from the Gestapo HQ until the signal for the main invasion--but until then, they will attack whatever they can such as what they did to the prison tonight. They need to hit German refineries. There is one near a gas tank. So that there is no information leak, they will all stay in the room they are hiding out in tonight. They will leave at 20 hundred hours. The time tunnel staff watch. The leader asked Tony his name again (a nice touch).
Ann has found the location of Doug: 74 Ruddalamaire, a doctor's office converted into a HQ of the Germans. Ray gets to work on the coordinates and they lock on Doug's signal. Doug's life as a child, Kleinemann tells him, was not a happy one, not pleasant. He uses a photo of where Doug--Henreich grew up--a small mountain town. He tells him Tony, the man in the photo was responsible for Heinreichs' father's death last year. The doctor tells Doug to kill this man if he sees him. There are ear phones on Doug. Frenchmen and Tony are in a truck. Tony is left out near some German or French writing on a sign over a building. He hits a guard. French in Nazi uniforms go to deliver a "consignment"---just a ruse. The guard is stabbed in the back. Verlaine climbs up the gas tank and sets explosives. Tony runs out of the German building--the refinery (?). The tank blows up and we stock footage of more explosions that go off--massive infernos. Tony runs down a street we saw in SECRET WEAPON. A guard grabs his foot and trips him! I find it difficult to believe a man can grab another's foot from a lying position and trip the other when the other is standing up and in full flight! Anyhow, they fight. Verlaine arrives and shoots the machine gun which riddles the area, killing the German soldier and throwing Tony against the wall. Tony yells at Verlaine, "Were you trying to kill the German or me?" Klienemann calls in Hoffman to see Doug, dressed in full Nazi regalia. Kirk looks from 1968, "Kleinemann did what he said he would do." Doug heils Hitler. He is told he belong to the 74th division (what is it with 74 in this episode?) and his name is Krugar. He takes out a pistol and shoots the face in half--the face of Tony on a large life sized poster of the man. (This was made in a short time.) Also, this episode has taken on the life of two other, earlier VOYAGE episodes---both of which are more entertaining than INVASION. These two are THE SABOTEUR and THE ENEMIES, both from VOYAGE's first season and both with writer being William Reed Woodfield (later of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE's excellent writing team). THE SABOTEUR was written by George Reed also. In THE SABOTEUR Capt. Crane, brainwashed, shoots a life size photo of Admiral Nelson and is brainwashed to kill him. There is also a planted spy on Seaview to make sure the mission goes all right--although he was brainwashed also. In the other episode, Nelson and Crane's behavior is analyzed by a scientist who is calm and records their conditioned behaviors and responses and also monitored by an impatient commanding officer--both seemingly Chinese. Sound familiar?
ACT THREE
Hoffman gets news of the raid on the refinery and gets an address of the ones who blew it up from an informant. He tells Doug to take it and go to the address and get them--alive if possible, dead if necessary. Doug takes Hoffman's car and some men (two). The French plan while Doug and one soldier go to the front, another to the back. Ann watching, "I think he's completely brainwashed." Ray wonders if he is faking. Doug is speaking with a German accent (or if the tunnel is translating for us and the tunnel staff in German itself; no proof the tunnel is translating--but it's nice idea). The French men get away. Verlaine is shooting a machine gun out the back and goes. Doug tries to kill a shocked Tony, who is confused but manages to divert Doug's arm and get the gun. Doug takes out a knife and tries to shove it in Tony's face over the rifle he has. Tony tells him, "No, don't!" Doug says, "You cannot shoot a man in the face but you shot my father in the back." Verlaine returns and starts to shoot at Doug but Tony fights him, the bullets deflect and hit the other German who is coming back to the front. Tony pushes Doug away from Verlaine and they get away. They all round up at a new hideout. Tony sticks up for Doug, saying he was pretending (yeah, right). Tony yells that Verlaine tried to kill him after the raid and he has a lot more to answer for. Verlaine gets mad when Duchamp seems to side with Tony against him but this is not so. A personal message starts on the radio: the fox is angry, the spring in Mexico is very warm, the dice are on the table, the long sobs of autumn wound my heart with monotonous lingo or something. The French now must cut the communication lines at the Gestapo HQ. Verlaine continues to push for killing Tony but the older leader tells him it was just a series of coincidences that Tony appeared to help the Germans (huh?). "If we cannot trust each other...the job is impossible." Verlaine will set the explosives. Mirabeau will scout the HQ. Doug asks Hoffman to take 20 men to "root them out of the district by searching the town house by house and destroy the pigs one by one." Hoffman wants to but cannot spare the men: most of them are on field maneuvers in Wren. The informant comes in--Mirabeau! He wants English money--5000 pounds of English money for telling them of the invasion and of the signal on the BBC between here and Merveur. The Major tells him no--the American forces will not land in this weather. He can deliver the leaders of the French resistance for 1000 pounds with 500 in advance. He tells of the French orders to blow up the communication cable under the HQ. In 30 minutes, a command car will be stolen from the Redel La Mayer by the resistance who will come dressed as an Inspection Team (inspecting what? and from who--Hitler?). The informant is to provide the tools and be a lookout. He tells plans of rendezvous. Klienemann interrupts to have Doug kill Tony--the one who poses as an American. Tony covers the French leader Duchamp who tells Tony if the guard doesn't accept his pass and orders, he will have to kill him. The guard does accept Duchamp's phony cover as a Capt. Krauss. Doug shows up and shoots at the two. The French leader kills the guard with a gun and shoots at Doug. Doug grabs at his head and falls. Tony turns around and sees this, "Doug!" Doug falls to the pavement before Tony's startled eyes.
ACT FOUR
Duchamps steals the car anyway but Tony yells at him to help him--several times--he won't leave Doug. They take him into the car and leave just as Germans rush out of the building and start shooting at them. At the hiding place (who's got the hiding place?--Sorry.), Mirabeau pushes to kill Doug but Duchamps stops this. They will wait for their doctor--a Dr. Shumate (is he German or French? I say French). The Doc comes in and is only a small village doctor--the only one around but he told them he would be helping them if there were other doctors who could help the town people. He seems to be like Ainsley in END OF THE WORLD, or Althea in RENDEZVOUS WITH YESTERDAY, and many others--a genuinely nice person who offsets the evil minded people. Tony and Doug encounter both the dregs of society but also the well meaning, kind people. He looks at Doug who points out the informant, wanting the man to tell them he is Henreich. He tells him, "You...you saw me at Gestapo HQ." The informant Mirabeau claims it is a conspiracy to kill him. He grabs a gun, "Cut the pretenses" and he gets to the phone to get paid. He used Tony as a shield but Tony breaks free and Verlaine stabs Mirabeau in the back. Verlaine apologizes to Tony, "It is easy to make mistakes in this business, mona me." Tony tells him, "I'm sure I would have thought the same thing in your place."
The doc tells them he is only a country doctor and they might need a psychiatrist from the city or maybe Paris but as far as he can tell, only Klienemann can give Doug back his real identity. Tony tells them they have to get Klienemann but Duchamps says the raid comes first. A direct assault is out but they will get the German doctor if they can. After they plant the bomb at 10:46, they will get Klienemann out. They will raid the HQ from behind and they figure Klienemann is at the HQ since a man like Mirabeau doesn't lie when there is a large amount of money at stake and he told them Klienemann was there. In the cellar of the HQ Tony cuts the electric wires, Verlaine will finish planting the explosives. Tony asks for how long he will have to get Klienemann---3 minutes. They tell Tony, who has never seen Klienemann--what he looks like--"a man in his 60s with moustache and craggy face." Tony and Duchamps go upstairs. Duchamps shoots guards. Tony wants Klienemann to get the antidote for Doug and gives him 30 seconds. Hoffman tries to stop Tony but Tony hits him down. Klienemann comes out of his office and tells Tony he has it and, "I'm a scientist, don't expect any heroic gestures from me." Tony takes him out and the HQ explodes totally.
TAG
Tony and Duchamps thank Dr. Shumate and he goes. Klienemann tells Doug to listen to him and puts back Doug's real identity, "What has happened will seem like a dream." A bad one. Tony yells at Klienemann that it is not working--yelling loudly. They give it time and Doug awakens--feeling fresh and relaxed, better than he ever felt after Klienmann's count of three. Klienemann feels his own eyes--tired? Doug knows Tony. They hear planes and sirens. It is the beginning of the invasion. Duchamps takes Klienemann for questioning and info--wanting to leave him for the mercy of the bombers. The French take him to a shelter (were there shelters that were safe from the Germans and the bombs?). The time tunnel people view the planes, the landing on Normandy beaches by the troops in boats and sea tanks which came out of larger ships. This all looks like real footage which is quite interesting. Ann finds the tracking is ready. Kirk tells her to hold it until he gives the word. Tony and Doug go outside and look up. They see planes flying between the buildings. Doug tells him they better get to the shelters. Doug and Tony vanish. The ships and troops land on the beaches.
NOTE: Most likely there was little or no French resistance at all. All accounts of the landing from all perspectives prove that it was one of the greatest achievements in military history or in history itself. There is a great deal of first hand accounts from both sides, all of them interesting and fascinating, if more than a bit scary. A German private's view told of how they really weren't expecting the invasion--the weather was full of strong wind and a thick cloud cover. At first, they thought the planes were just destroying some factory or something. Gliders, parachuters came in. Advanced observation posts were overwhelmed. A group of Polish infantry men, on the German side, went over to the American side waving and shouting. Fighter bombers stopped any aide forces sent to help the Germans. A British paratrooper and others from the forces went to a farmhouse to look for directions and were greeted with open arms. The family there told about the occupation. The five beach head landings was code named Operation Overlord and was so huge it defies description...and it had to be done.