Thursday, July 18, 2024

Peak Era #2

Kenneth Johnson's alien invasion mini-series V (1983) may have been an allegory for fascism and the rise of the Third Reich, but to any young lad back then, it was the rise of the third leg thanks to its villainess Diana, as played by Jane Badler. (Brits wouldn't see the show until just before V: The Final Battle (1984) premiered the following year.)

Jane Badler

The smouldering brunette was like one of Boris Vallejo's beautiful women come to life. Not even the infamous guinea pig scene could put a youngun off when she looked that fine.

Big fan of Jane Badler adopting the heavy metal, vixen big hair and tight fitting catsuits on the ongoing series of V (1984-1985). With Kenneth Johnson no longer writing, the show became a failure and was cancelled before the final episode was even filmed. It may have been awful, but it was peak era Jane Badler, in my opinion.

Badler would eventually reside and work in Australia; appearing in the completely forgotten The Highwayman (1987-1988) and the reboot of Mission: Impossible (1988-1990). Still a smokeshow on those shows.

Fast forward several decades, and she would wind up playing another Diana in the Aussie soap Neighbours (1985- ). 

Can't say I care for any of the Tubi level horror films or her singing career, in all honesty. But she can rest easy with the knowledge she was one of the sexiest woman on TV during the eighties.

4 comments:

  1. Kinda looking like a young Claire King's evil sister in the 2nd pic 😍

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  2. Claire King was one of the reasons I didn’t mind Emmerdale.

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  3. That show is dead until they bring back Meena.

    Never knew Diana Marshall from Neighbours was some bird who was in V. Literally the only thing I can remember about V is the alien birth scene.

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  4. The alien birth and the guinea pig scenes are easily the two most memorable moments. Much like Battlestar Galactica, I didn't see the noughties reboot of V.

    Didn't know about Jane Badler being in Neighbours until only a few years ago. She aged a lot, obviously.

    Not watched any Emmerdale since Meena's trial, to be honest.

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