Dark Skies was the epitome of a series that ended long before its story was told. And it was going to be such a good story. For the duration of a single series (1996 to 1997), viewers learnt that "History as we know it is a lie" through the eyes of a 1960s all-American married couple. Initially, these preppy heroes battled invading Greys and the shadowy government group, Majestic 12, with the help of various real-life historical figures. Then they actually joined up with the covert organisation. Once on the inside, they discovered that the Greys were, in truth, controlled by parasitical aliens called the Hive. When Jeri Ryan (in her pre-Voyager days) was added to the mix a few episodes in, the series really took off. Due to the common cause of low viewing figures, Dark Skies was cancelled before the intended end of even the first season. The last episode was a masterpiece of the unexpected that saw the female lead possessed by the Hive, her husband sneaking aboard the mothership to rescue his son, and the director of Majestic 12 being murdered. A flashforward even showed the Hive ruling a ruined Earth. As seems typical, five seasons were originally planned: each season covering a decade of history up until the final battle. There was so much that could have been done with the premise and so many questions left unanswered - for one, did the Hive win and is Earth currently secretly ruled by aliens?
Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike
