“Visitors from Beyond the Stars” is episode eighteen of season one of The Time Tunnel.
At the end of the previous episode, “Kill Two by Two”, Doug and Tony had arrived in a futuristic place. This episode opens with a lot more material than was included in the ending clip. Doug and Tony were looking at the technology and decided it was 300 years more advanced. Two silver-skinned humanoids appear and briefly paralyse them, then speak gibberish (words played backwards by the sounds if it). They direct Doug and Tony into a chamber so that that the humanoids could speak to them – in a halting, and very annoying manner.
The aliens didn’t know that they had teleportation; Doug explains it’s time travel and they arrived by accident. The aliens test them against their remote data to confirm the match. They claim to be from Alpha One and are doing a test raid against primitive planet One Six – Earth. Their landing is imminent. Resistance is… impossible. Doug and Tony are put under restraint and the main alien starts speaking in a far less irritating manner, without the big pauses between words.
The alien claims that the protein on their planet was exhausted long ago and they raid other planets for protein to extract it. This comes under the list of daft reasons for aliens to invade. Especially as the claim that their protein is exhausted is coming from a walking lump of protein. If necessary, the aliens will leave a dead planet behind them.
Tik-Toc is confirming that yes, that is a spaceship and Doug and Tony are on it, though they haven’t got a time. General Kirk says there have been reports of UFOs all the way back to the Bible, but no-one has been able to prove they exist – until now. The ship is landing in Arizona.
The alien tells Doug and Tony that there are three alternatives. Some willing cooperated, others are turned into creatures that can be controlled and those that can’t be controlled are destroyed. They land in 1885 and a rancher comes out and demands to know who they are. Tony stops them from destroying him, telling the aliens that if they start by killing, people will destroy everything. The aliens demonstrate their power by setting a barrel on fire, then extinguishing it. The rancher doesn’t appreciate being told he is a prisoner and that he should hand his protein over, most of which he’s lost already. Tony knocks him down before the aliens can kill him.
They want Tony to head in to the nearest town, Mullins, and bring back a delegation of the leaders. Meet within one hour, or part of Mullins will be destroyed. If Tony is not back in two hours, the humans here will be destroyed. Tony rides into town, spotting a Native American on the way. The sheriff is trying to organise a defence against the Apaches and doesn’t believe Tony’s story. Not a surprise.
Tik-Toc has got the location and Ann has UFO reports. None from Mullins, though. Tony, having failed with the sheriff, heads to the saloon and asks for help. Then there’s an explosion and part of the town catches fire. The sheriff arrests Tony when he sees him; after all, Tony did say that part of the town would be destroyed which does make him a prime suspect.
Doug thinks that a device the aliens have is the source of their power and tries to get the rancher to help him destroy it. That doesn’t work. Ann has discovered that Mullins is a ghost town. Abandoned in 1885, and no-one knows the reason why. Alien attack appears to be the likely reason.