It has been 40 years since the Adam 84 expedition, led by academic Richard, traveled into the past to save planet Earth. Although her mission turned out differently than everyone imagined, and humanity was threatened not so much by an unknown body traveling through space as by a fault in the Central Brain of Mankind (CML), the adventures of the Visitors lived and continue to live on for generations of television viewers. The legendary series entered the screens on November 5, 1983. What do you know about it?
Visitors in rather outdated firemen’s uniforms. From left, Josef Dvořák, Dagmar Patrasová, Josef Bláha and Jiří Datel Novotný.
| Photo: courtesy of Czech Television
In 2484, the CML causes an alarm about an unknown object that is heading straight for Earth and may deflect it towards The sun, or from him, which can have disastrous consequences. Therefore, a world council is called to consider the next course of action.
The solution will be offered by academician Richard, who is a specialist in history humanity. It will bring to mind the figure of the great scholar of the 20th century, Adam Bernau, who, as a small boy, discovered the principle enabling the movement of continents and recorded it in his school notebooks. Finding them would undoubtedly save life on the endangered planet Earth. And so on scientific expedition Adam 84 embarks on a journey back in time.
QUIZ: Do you know the cult Czech films and series of the 90s? Try it for full points
In 1984, members of a secret expedition pretend to be geometers. They even go grocery shopping with geodesic rods, despite the fact that their credo is the phrase: Most discreetly!
It was filmed in Pelhřimov and Harderwijk
Screenwriter Ota Hofman and director Jindřich Polák started working on the script for the series as early as 1977. Hofman wrote the main roles for specific actors. They were Josef Bláha (academician Jan Richard), Dagmar Patrasova (Emilia Fernandez alias Káťa Jandová), Josef Dvořák (Leo Kane and Emil Karas respectively) a Jiří Datel Novotný (Dr. Jacques Michell pretending to be Michal Noll). The creators cast Viktor Král (Adam Bernau) and young Klára Pollertová (Ali’s classmate) as the main children’s roles. At that time, over three hundred children applied for the audition.
It was filmed in many places in what was then Czechoslovakia. For example, Pelhřimov turned into the small town of Kamenice. The rooms of the hotel where the Visitors stayed were built in studios in Barrandová. The Bernau house was located in Žabovřesky in Brno. The cottage of teacher Drchlík (Vlastimil Brodský) stood in the village of Podlesí. The return of the expedition from the past took place on an East German beach, and the scenes in which Dagmar Patras swims with dolphins were created in a dolphinarium in Harderwijk, the Netherlands.
Without hair, but with amaroons
Humanity in 2484 abounds in a number of interesting things. According to the theory that human hair will most likely disappear in the future, these are completely hairless. But it does not mean that he is not ashamed of his baldness. On the contrary, they chastely hide their bald heads under wigs. On the other hand, nudity does not cause them wrinkles. By the way, the mentioned baldness was produced in the make-up shop for three hours and its shelf life was also three hours. Increased sweating, frowning and other grimaces significantly shortened her lifespan.
Visitors in clothes of the future.Source: with the permission of Czech Television
The visitors humidified, whatever we mean by that term (the authors never explained what the verb humidified meant), were excessively hygienic, and at first ate exclusively amaroons. The author of this food of the future was none other than Jan Svankmajer, who was inspired by the diet of cosmonauts during his “cooking”. As tempting as the preparation of amarouns looked and the resulting gelatin was literally inviting to bite into, the actors themselves let it be known that its taste was disgusting. It didn’t help that the props were trying to season the orange sulc with vinegar, much like a crush.
Pištěk, Svoboda and Lada Niva
He created the costumes for the series as well as the designs of the flying machines of the future Theodor Pištěk Jr.whose name appeared in the credits of the Oscar-winning director Amadeo a year after the premiere of Visitors Miloš Forman. He composed brilliant music Karel Svobodawho also incorporated part of his song Return Of Gemini into it, which he created earlier as a tribute to American astronauts.
At last it came in the night is a clever Czech comedy
Few people know that the Visitors were originally supposed to travel in a Škoda 120. However, the domestic car company was not interested in such promotion. The authors, on the other hand, did not like the German cars offered by foreign production, so in the end the Soviet ones won Lady Niva in the version intended for the western market.
The academic ended up in court
In 1989, there was an unexpected problem, due to which even the Visitors disappeared from the screens for a while. The character played by Josef Bláha was originally the academic Filip. The widow of professor Jan Filip, an archaeologist and historian, did not like this, and she sued the television. Everything was finally resolved by renaming the academician to Richard and dubbing dialogues in which his name appeared. This way, the legendary series can bring joy to more and more generations of viewers. You can currently see it on iVyslínia Czech Television.
