AustLit

A web series that began as a short-run series on Melbourne community television, Damon Dark follows the titular character, an agent with secret government organisation Department 6, which tracks and defeats alien incursions on Earth.

An independent sicence-fiction production, Damon Dark first aired on Channel 31, a community television station in Melbourne (and also home to nightmare-themed television program Fever Dreams). Five episodes aired on Channel 31 in late 1999.

In 2000, with funding from Screen Australia, a thirty-minute 'pilot' episode was produced, with a view to professional television sales. Though the script was produced by Adrian Sherlock, he was replaced as Damon Dark by established television actor Bruce Hughes. The episode was directed by Chris Langman and James Kalisch.

When the series was not picked up by networks, Sherlock revived it in 2006 as a web series, which aired largely on one of two YouTube channels.

Damon Dark is part of a complicated network of science-fiction web-series. For example:

• Oliver McNeil (a British actor and script-writer behind the independent web series Barry the Demon Hunter) crossed over into Damon Dark as an antagonist (a 'time meddler') in the episodes 'The Cosmic Magician' and 'Revenge of the Magician'.

• Damon Dark's antoganist Vincent Kosmos was spun off into his own eponymous web series (produced by an Italian production company) after his appearances in Damon Dark.

• British script-writer Brett Gerry wrote several adventures involving Damon Dark (see list of episodes below).

• A spin-off series called The Young Adventures of Damon Dark also runs as a web series on YouTube.

Various episodes of Damon Dark can be seen on the dedicated YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheDamonDarkChannel (Sighted 20/4/2012).

The Young Adventures of Damon Dark (which is a separate production) can be seen on a separate YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/j3pfilms