| Series: | The Outer Limits |
| Season: | 1 |
| Episode: | 3 |
| Director: | Byron Haskin |
| Photographer: | Conrad Hall |
| Production: | 5 |
| Guests: |
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| Prev: | The Hundred Days of the Dragon |
| Next: | The Man with the Power |
| Episode List: | List of The Outer Limits (1963 TV series) episodes |
"The Architects of Fear" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on September 30, 1963, during the first season.
Certain that the Cold War will lead to mankind's destruction, a cabal of scientists decide that they must act to save the world. A film of a nuclear missile attack with people running for shelter is shown before the plot.
The world has entered a Cold War-like setting in which nuclear holocaust appears imminent. In the hope of staving off an apocalyptic military confrontation between nations, an idealistic group of scientists working at United Labs plans to stage a fake alien invasion of Earth in an effort to unite all humanity against a perceived common enemy. The scientists have managed to study the planetary conditions on the planet Theta. They draw lots, and physicist Dr. Allen Leighton is chosen to undergo radical surgical procedures that will transform him into an inhabitant from the planet Theta. Leighton's death is faked, and the bizarre series of transplants and modifications to his body proceed. His wife, Yvette, persists in not believing he is dead; she even feels sympathetic pain as Allen suffers on the operating table. Complications arise when the effects of Leighton's transformation extend beyond his physical appearance and begin to affect his mind, a situation compounded by the scientist's strong emotional connection with his now-pregnant wife.
The scientists' plan is for Dr. Leighton, as the Thetan creature equipped with an energy weapon and spaceship, to land at the United Nations in an effort to create initial panic. This panic, in theory, will be resolved as the world unites to fight the invader. Leighton, now a perfect simulation of an inhabitant of the planet Theta, is launched into orbit as a weather satellite, but the mission goes awry when the spaceship comes down off course and lands in a wooded area near the United Labs facility. After disintegrating their station wagon with his laser pistol, Allen is severely wounded by three armed hunters as he emerges from the underbrush. With nowhere else to go, Allen stumbles back to the lab. Yvette, sensing trouble, hurries to the lab looking for her husband. She arrives as Allen, now hideously transformed, enters and collapses to the floor. Before dying of mortal wounds, Allen makes a sign in the air with his hand—a sign familiar to his wife—and she then realizes the horrifying truth that the alien is, in fact, her husband.
The "bear" in this episode, the monstrously altered Allen Leighton, was judged by some of ABC's local affiliate stations to be so frightening that they broadcast a black screen during the Thetan's appearances, effectively censoring most of the show's last act. In other parts of the United States, the Thetan footage was tape-delayed until after the 11pm/10c news. In others, it was not shown at all. Unlike today, when film series are transferred to videotape for transmission, even until the mid-1980s, film series were broadcast live from the film print via telecine.[1]
The sequence involving the Thetan's encounter with the duck hunters was shot at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Backlot #3.[2]