TV: Take 'Baywatch,' add aliens and salt

Think about the aliens' side of the story. Conquering another world a long way from home takes masses of energy and resources. The extraterrestrials can't afford a botch-up.

"Invasion is a massive and costly endeavour," says Chris Brancato, creator of First Wave, a new science fiction series starting tonight (TV3, 9.30 pm).

This other-worldly perspective makes First Wave different from all those other shows about invaders from outer space, says Brancato on the phone from home in Los Angeles.

The show's title refers to the predictions of destruction of Earth by beings from above made by that prophet beloved of sci-fi writers, Nostradamus.

"The premise of the series is that the first wave has already begun and it's an exploratory mission of aliens who have come to our planet and used genetic technology to adopt a human form."

His alien vanguard aren't hot-heads but creatures who believe in doing plenty of homework. Their reconnaissance mission is one big class in experimental human psychology 101.

"They're not little green men who take over the world with ease. Their purpose here is that of an invading force of spies: they want to test human beings, they want to test their will, behaviour, they want to see what makes us tick."

The aliens are pretty happy with the results of their experiments into the human capacity for resistance until they come up against the series hero, Cade Foster.

But before they can ... yikes! ... dissect him to discover just what it is that makes this guy so dangerous, Foster (Sebastian Spence) escapes and the show starts in earnest.

If they're not green and small, what do these strangers look like?

"They're so hideous I can't even describe them to you," Bran-cato says. "But we will get a glimpse as the series moves along as to what they look like in their true form."

Fortunately for viewers, the aliens have already figured out how daft we are about good looks. They grow genetically engineered "human husks" to wear on Earth and ensure these are attractive.

"It's a version of sexy sci-fi," he says. "But it's an organic part of the show - the fact that aliens have an understanding of the human weakness for exterior beauty and use that to their advantage. They have slept their way to the top in some instances."

That indictment of our superficiality sounds like a perfectly good reason to have a lot of good-looking people in the cast. "Well, yes, it is, call that the Baywatch factor."

But there's more to the aliens and their experiments than anatomy, he says. "What makes this series unique is that their mission here is to examine us, so that every episode provides a glimpse into what makes human beings tick. So it allows an examination of human behaviour which really is the goal of science fiction."

Brancato has the credentials for writing television shows set beyond drab reality. He started out 10 years ago on Aaron Spelling's show, Beverly Hills 90210. "Those are beautiful aliens right there. I have lots of experience writing for beautiful aliens."

He has also written feature films: Hoodlum (starring Lau-rence Fishburne, Andy Garcia and Tim Roth), and Species 2.

His television writing credits include episodes of Outer Limits and an episode of the X-Files titled "Eve."

Brancato won backing for First Wave from Francis Ford Coppola, who is one of the show's three producers. Although the series is compared to the X-Files, its closest relative is the Twilight Zone, he says.

"We really aim to tell these stories that kind of leave you with a queasy feeling that we have tried to tap into the heart of what is wonderful and terrible about human beings."

Back on the alien side of the equation, however, there's some terrible problems behind the pretty faces. Life on Earth has some hidden traps, which makes them vulnerable to those who know how to exploit them.

"Iodised salt for them is like a drug, it's like heroin. The fact is, there have become amongst the alien invasion force a whole crop of salt addicts."

And the table-salt trafficking trade isn't the worst of it. "On their planet sex is not a recreational habit, it's done only for procreation and it's extremely painful.

"Now that they're down here in our bodies, sex is suddenly pleasurable, so there is also a core who are having some problems controlling this newfound lust."

So are we on to a sure thing if we come across an extremely attractive person snorting the salt cellar? A word of warning from the man who knows the ways and wiles of these aliens the best: "Turn and run as fast as you can." - Frances Grant