First Broadcast	Parts	Writer
June 9 – July, 1962	6	Robert Gould

The Big Pull (1962) is a science-fiction series concerning an alien invasion of Earth, that was broadcast on BBC Television in 1962. As of 2017, no episodes exist in the archives.

Earth comes under attack by an invisible force, which takes over humans in pairs; one disappears, one dies. The disappeared one emerges under alien control. The number of victims grows exponentially; the time between each attack halves each time, and the number of victims doubles.

Unusually for the genre, the series ends with widespread panic as it is realised that every effort has failed, the scientists are dead, that the whole population of the Earth will be gone within hours, and there is nothing that can be done.

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The story was written by Robert Gould, who also wrote an episode for the 1966 science fiction anthology series Out of the Unknown. It was directed by Terence Dudley who produced Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis’ Doomwatch and Terry Nation’s Survivors before going onto direct and write for Doctor Who in the early 1980s.

The star was William Dexter who also appeared in Emerald Soup (1963). It also featured an early appearance by Robert Fyfe (Howard in Last of the Summer Wine) who also made appearances in Survivors, and the sci-fi horror movie Xtro (1982).

Music and special effects were provided by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop.

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