The Outer Limits is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from September 16, 1963 to January 16, 1965. The series is often compared to The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction stories (rather than stories of fantasy or the supernatural matters). The Outer Limits is an anthology of self-contained episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end.

Each show would begin with either a cold open or a preview clip, followed by a “Control Voice” narration – by actor Vic Perrin – that was mainly run over visuals of an oscilloscope. Using an Orwellian theme of taking over your television, the earliest version of the narration ran as follows:

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to… The Outer Limits.

In total, 49 episodes were produced. Season 1 combined science fiction and horror, with each show featuring a monster or creature as a critical part of the story line. Season 2, however, was more focused on ‘hard science fiction’ stories, dropping the recurring “scary monster” motif of Season 1.

A few of the monsters reappeared in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek series later in the 1960s. The moving microbe beast in “The Probe” later was used as the ‘Horta’ in “The Devil in the Dark”, and operated by the same actor, Janos Prohaska. The “ion storm” seen in “The Mutant” (a projector beam shining through a container containing glitter in liquid suspension) became the transporter effect in Star Trek. The black mask from “The Duplicate Man”, is used by the character Dr. Leighton in “The Conscience of the King”. The Megasoid, from “The Duplicate Man” and the Empyrean from “Second Chance” (1964) were seen briefly near Captain Christopher Pike in other cages in the Star Trek pilot “The Cage”.

Writer Harlan Ellison contended that inspiration for James Cameron’s Terminator had come in part from Ellison’s work on The Outer Limits (“Soldier“). Cameron conceded the influence. Ellison was awarded money and an end-credits mention in The Terminator (1984), stating the creators’ wish “to acknowledge the works of Harlan Ellison”.

The series was revived in 1995.

Source: Wikipedia

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Episodes (British television broadcast order)

The Outer Limits was broadcast by BBC 2 in 1980-81, either just before midnight on a Friday or Saturday, or after midnight on a Saturday or a Sunday. All episodes were broadcast but out of order, mixing season 1 and 2. The BBC does not appear to have broadcast “ZZZZZ” (Season 1, episode 18).

Source: BBC Genome

Demon with a Glass Hand
Broadcast March 28, 1980
Season 2, episode 5 of The Outer Limits.

Keeper of the Purple Twilight
Broadcast April 5, 1980
Season 2, episode 12 of The Outer Limits.

Moonstone
Broadcast April 11, 1980
Season 1, episode 24 of The Outer Limits.

Soldier
Broadcast April 18, 1980
Season 2, episode 1 of The Outer Limits.

The Premonition
Broadcast April 26, 1980
Season 2, episode 16 of The Outer Limits.

The Hundred Days of the Dragon
Broadcast May 3, 1980
Season 1, episode 2 of The Outer Limits.

The Invisibles
Broadcast May 10, 1980
Season 1, episode 19 of The Outer Limits.

Counterweight
Broadcast May 16, 1980
Season 2, episode 14 of The Outer Limits.

The Man with the Power
Broadcast May 23, 1980
Season 1, episode 4 of The Outer Limits.

The Sixth Finger
Broadcast May 31, 1980
Season 1, episode 5 of The Outer Limits.

The Galaxy Being
Broadcast June 7, 1980
Season 1, episode 1 of The Outer Limits.

The Man Who Was Never Born
Broadcast June 14, 1980
Season 1, episode 6 of The Outer Limits.

I, Robot
Broadcast June 21, 1980
Season 2, episode 9 of The Outer Limits.

It Crawled Out of the Woodwork
Broadcast June 28, 1980
Season 1, episode 11 of The Outer Limits.

O.B.I.T.
Broadcast July 4, 1980
Season 1, episode 7 of The Outer Limits.

The Human Factor
Broadcast July 12, 1980
Season 1, episode 8 of The Outer Limits.

Nightmare
Broadcast July 19, 1980
Season 1, episode 10 of The Outer Limits.

The Zanti Misfits
Broadcast August 15, 1980
Season 1, episode 14 of The Outer Limits.

The Borderland
Broadcast August 23, 1980
Season 1, episode 12 of The Outer Limits.

Controlled Experiment
Broadcast August 30, 1980
Season 1, episode 16 of The Outer Limits.

The Mice
Broadcast September 5, 1980
Season 1, episode 15 of The Outer Limits.

Don’t Open Till Doomsday
Broadcast September 13, 1980
Season 1, episode 17 of The Outer Limits.

Second Chance
Broadcast November 23, 1980
Season 1, episode 23 of The Outer Limits.

The Children of Spider County
Broadcast November 30, 1980
Season 1, episode 21 of The Outer Limits.

Behold, Eck!
Broadcast December 7, 1980
Season 2, episode 3 of The Outer Limits.

The Architects of Fear
Broadcast December 13, 1980
Season 1, episode 3 of The Outer Limits.

The Bellero Shield
Broadcast January 11, 1981
Season 1, episode 20 of The Outer Limits.

The Mutant
Broadcast January 18, 1981
Season 1, episode 25 of The Outer Limits.

Fun and Games
Broadcast January 25, 1981
Season 1, episode 27 of The Outer Limits.

Production and Decay of Strange Particles
Broadcast February 1, 1981
Season 1, episode 30 of The Outer Limits.

The Special One
Broadcast February 7, 1981
Season 1, episode 28 of The Outer Limits.

The Chameleon
Broadcast February 15, 1981
Season 1, episode 31 of The Outer Limits.

A Feasibility Study
Broadcast February 22, 1981
Season 1, episode 29 of The Outer Limits.

The Form of Things Unknown
Broadcast March 1, 1981
Season 1, episode 32 of The Outer Limits.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart
Broadcast March 8, 1981
Season 2, episode 2 of The Outer Limits.

Corpus Earthling
Broadcast April 4, 1981
Season 1, episode 9 of The Outer Limits.

Expanding Human
Broadcast April 11, 1981
Season 2, episode 4 of The Outer Limits.

Cry of Silence
Broadcast April 24, 1981
Season 2, episode 6 of The Outer Limits.

The Invisible Enemy
Broadcast May 1, 1981
Season 2, episode 7 of The Outer Limits.

Wolf 359
Broadcast May 8, 1981
Season 2, episode 8 of The Outer Limits.

Tourist Attraction
Broadcast May 15, 1981
Season 1, episode 13 of The Outer Limits.

The Probe
Broadcast May 23, 1981
Season 2, episode 17 of The Outer Limits.

The Guests
Broadcast May 29, 1981
Season 1, episode 26 of The Outer Limits.

Specimen: Unknown
Broadcast June 5, 1981
Season 1, episode 22 of The Outer Limits.

The Inheritors, Part 1
Broadcast June 26, 1981
Season 2, episode 10 of The Outer Limits.

The Inheritors, Part 2
Broadcast July 4, 1981
Season 2, episode 11 of The Outer Limits.

The Duplicate Man
Broadcast July 11, 1981
Season 2, episode 13 of The Outer Limits.

The Brain of Colonel Barham
Broadcast July 18, 1981
Season 2, episode 15 of The Outer Limits.