User Reviews

Buck and co on the Searcher find a life pod ( i.e. lifeboat) floating in space while navigating a dangerous asteroid field which strands the Searcher precariously in space. On the life pod, Buck finds a boy made of living gold (i.e. cheap gold paint and a cheap polyester gold disco suit). This boy apparently has the ability to manipulate matter on a molecular level and change its weight and density. Buck decides to take a shuttle to the planet below to find the boys missing companion, the Golden Man, who with his larger size can change matter at a greater level than his smaller counterpart. While there, Buck and both the Golden men are captured by the savage populace beneath who Buck and co were not aware of. The planet is a prison colony and the prisoners want the Golden men for their ability to transmute matter to other forms, turn metal to diamonds, as well as to help repair a damaged spacecraft to escape. While Buck is captured, Hawk rescues them in an amusing disguise showing off his commanding voice and presence. Needless to say, Buck, Hawk and the Golden men return to the Searcher to save the day. As the episode ends, the true nature of the relationship between the Golden men is revealed in what is supposed to shocking twist to the audience, and some more badly written comedy dialog ensures. This episode, like many others on series 2, was directed by veteran Star Trek: TOS director responsible for some of the better Star Trek episodes so it is unsurprising the series and plots continues to come off as a mediocre Star Trek clone. In an amusing and odd note, one of the female prisoners on the planet has a bad, fake English East End accent straight out of "Oliver!"- Corr Blimey!

The Golden Man (1966)

While the LIS episode lacked the better effects that 15 years of special effects progress brought, and its obvious budget limitations, I think the overall story line was better.

The Searcher is stuck on an asteroid? I know they closed the "blast doors", but are there no other navigation instruments but line of sight? The "accident" seemed more silly writing than inevitable.

Ant the solution is equally silly. Unless the asteroid is made of some really dense material, its gravitational attraction should be minimal. "Lightening" the Searcher should not have made that much of a difference.

The "reverse aging" reveal at the end was unique. While the idea may have been brought up in fiction before, I think this is the first time for it being used on TV.

Dr. Who's River Song character (the delectable Alex Kingston) first appeared in 2008, the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) was also released in 2008. I doubt either one used this episode as a reference.

Buck and the crew of The Searcher are travelling through a vast asteroid field when they chance upon a life-pod, inside which they discover a golden-skinned boy named Vellus who is capable of altering the molecular structure of metal. When Admiral Asimov becomes trapped under a heavy structure (after The Searcher crashes into an asteroid) Vellus displays his unique ability by placing his hands on the object, making it lighter, enabling it to be lifted free.

Asimov's problems are not over yet, though: his ship is stuck fast on the asteroid and a cosmic storm is on the way which could destroy it. Fortunately, Vellus has a friend, Relkos, who is much bigger than he, and has the necessary power to free The Searcher; unfortunately, Relkos was in a life-pod that landed on a nearby planet.

Buck and Vellus travel to the planet to find Relkos, unaware that their destination is a penal colony full of dangerous criminals.

By no means a particularly great episode, The Golden Man does, however, succeed in recapturing some of the camp silliness that made season one such fun. For example, I love the crazy conceit that golden people would choose to wear only clothing that matches their skin-tone. And who could keep a straight face as the angry mob chasing Relkos are outwitted when he cleverly ducks into a doorway? To top it all, Hawk provides a hilarious moment when he also visits the planet, brilliantly hiding his identity with an over-sized cloak with a huge hood—how inconspicuous!!!

The episode ends in a suitably daft fashion when it is revealed that golden people age in reverse, and that the seemingly adult Relkos is actually the five year old son of Vellus.

Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard, affable as usual) and company discover a precocious gold-skinned boy named Velis (a charming portrayal by David Hollander) who can alter the nature of metal. After the Searcher gets trapped in an asteroid, Velis suggests that both Buck and himself travel to a neighboring planet to retrieve Velis' bigger and more powerful, but simple and child-like companion Relcos (a touching and sympathetic performance by Russell Wiggins) so they can free the ship from the asteroid before a severe storm hits. However, said planet turns out to be a penal colony populated by mean and rowdy criminals. Director Vincent McEveety, working from a gloriously asinine script by Calvin Clements, Jr. and Stephen McPherson, relates the amusingly ridiculous story at a steady pace, treats the inane premise with admirable seriousness, and adds a few nice moments of intentional deadpan humor for good measure. The commendably sincere acting from the capable cast helps a lot, with especially praiseworthy work by Thom Christopher as Hawk (who walks around the prison planet wearing a very conspicuous huge flowing red cloak complete with a massive hood in order to avert detection from the inhabitants!), Anthony James as evil inmate leader Mr. Graf, and Roger Rose as kindly, compassionate farm boy Marcos. Meanwhile, Diana Chesney provides a wealth of unintentional belly laughs with her uproariously over-the-top hammy turn as a noisy old hag with a laughably ludicrous overdone Cockney accent. Moreover, the dodgy (not so) special effects, goofy make-up, and such inspired daft touches as having the gold-skinned aliens age in reverse (yep, Relcos is actually the son of Velis!) further add to the considerable campy appeal of this winningly kitschy show.

A little confusing at times, but cute. Tv shows in the eighties were less concerned about plot holes, I guess. It would have been nice if they could explain why a Golden person's powers diminish as they get older, and therefore smaller, and how the heck is a small person supposed to give birth to an adult sized infant anyway? Ah well, it's still cute. The boy acting like an adult was very good. Kids in general seem to be able to play adults well, while grown ups in general seem to have a harder time playing kids. Anyone ever notice that? But the adult golden person did a good job in this case.