
Mysterious Island is a Canadian television series based on Jules Verne's novel L'Île mystérieuse. It ran for one season in 1995. The beginning of the series is much as in the novel. A group of refugees attempting to escape the American Civil War in a balloon wind up stranded on a remote Pacific island, where they are able to improvise a comfortable living for themselves while they wait for a passing ship. As time passes, they become suspicious that some unseen force is watching and directing their movements. The main difference between the protagonists of the series and those of the novel is the addition of a female character, the wife of Pencroft. The unseen watcher, Captain Nemo, is more active and less benevolent than in the novel. Able to monitor the island through steampunk-style closed-circuit television and other advanced devices, he treats the castaways as human laboratory specimens, influencing their environment to test their behaviour under stressful conditions. As the series progresses, his tests become more extreme as their continued co-operation threatens his preferred thesis that all humans are, at base, selfish and untrustworthy. In the series finale, Nemo apparently succeeds in breaking up the group; this proves to be a ruse by the protagonists, who are now certain of Nemo's existence. After they penetrate his hideaway, Nemo admits that the 'experiment' is ruined, and offers to return the castaways to civilisation in his submarine. In a final twist, he puts out to sea without them, apparently leaving them alone on the island, without his influence for good or ill.
Streaming
Air Date: 1995-06-15
The Battle of Richmond, March 20, 1865: Captured by Confederate forces, the group escapes their captors and flees in ...
Air Date: 1995-06-22
Herbert and Neb find Captain Harding alive in the cave but he has no memory of how he got there, only of slipping bel...
Air Date: 1995-06-29
Following an earthquake, the group decides to seek shelter further inland. When a landslide strikes, Gideon becomes t...
Air Date: 1995-07-06
Neb is rescued when a vine is lowered to him, although when Captain Harding and Herbert arrive, both deny being respo...
Air Date: 1995-07-13
Jack leaps into the water to rescue his son from the unseen menace and they swim to the safety of the shore where Gid...
Air Date: 1995-07-20
While the castaways grieve for Neb, Nemo revives him and puts him into suspended animation storage. Pencroft's jealou...
Air Date: 1995-07-27
Pirate Captain Cutler and three of his crew come to the island to collect their buried treasure and seek revenge on A...
Air Date: 1995-08-03
Joanna stumbles into an underwater trap set by Nemo and the others race to free her. Shortly thereafter, Captain Cutl...
Air Date: 1995-08-10
Harding dives into Nemo's lair beneath the lake and is trapped in a chamber. Gideon is awakened by an intruder.
Air Date: 1995-08-17
A tribe of native Islanders arrive on the island in search of Nui, a young native girl they believe has special signi...
Air Date: 1995-08-24
Nemo observes Harding's feelings about Joanna, manifested in romantic dreams, as part of his research into the workin...
Air Date: 1995-08-31
Nemo intercepts a canoe and brings a wise old native woman to the island as a culture clash experience, but finds him...
Air Date: 1995-09-07
Nemo fulfills a promise to Katira to bring the rest of her people to the island, then watches with glee as the native...
Air Date: 1995-09-14
A tattooed native man arrives on the island telling the castaways that he is on a spiritual quest. Nemo is delighted ...
Air Date: 1995-09-21
Herbert realizes that it is his birthday, but decides to keep it a secret. He is angry because he thinks Joanna has f...
Air Date: 1995-09-21
When pirates bring two women to the island, Nemo uses the situation to study human mating habits. The women, meanwhil...
Air Date: 1995-09-28
Joanna argues with Herbert after a dream about a baby, and leaves the Granite House, headed for Ayrton's cabin. She h...
Air Date: 1995-10-05
Nemo's hidden camera in Granite House breaks down, so he disguises himself as a shipwrecked Englishman in order to ga...
Air Date: 1995-10-12
A series of accidents leads Harding to come face to face with the mysterious phantom, and he struggles with how to sh...
Air Date: 1995-10-19
The castaways share their experiences with the phantom and realize he may be their only hope of escaping the island.
Air Date: 1995-10-26
Nemo reveals to Harding that his need to complete his experiment is greater than his desire to help the castaways off...
Air Date: 1995-11-02
Harding carries out his part of the deal with Nemo, and the other castaways are enraged, moving from the Granite Hous...
Air Date: 1995-11-09
Harding carries out his part of the deal with Nemo, and the other castaways are enraged, moving from the Granite Hous...