THE 4400
60 Minute Drama
Science Fiction
ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION
2004 — 2007
BROADCASTER
USA
SEASONS / EPISODES
4 Seasons / 45 Episodes
First broadcast in 2004, The 4400 told the tale of 4400 people who had apparently been returned to Earth after having been systematically abducted over the previous fifty-odd years.
Upon their return, the 4440 are put under the remit of NTAC (National Threat Asessment Command) and by the end of Season One it became apparent that not only had a number of them been returned with some remarkable powers, but that they had actually been abducted by people from the future and sent back in order to avert a potential catastrophe.
Later seasons expanded on the sci-fi element with many more of the returnees developing powers and major player Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell) offering ordinary people a chance at developing their own powers — a 50-50 gamble resulting in either death or yet more trouble for NTAC.
Throughout all four seasons, NTAC's leading investigators were Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch), whose nephew Shawn Farrell was one of the returnees, and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie) whose eventual adoptive daughter Maia had been returned with the ability to see the future.
Despite being one of the most promising sci-fi series of recent years, the axe fell after the conclusion of the fourth season, leaving many plot strands unresolved. However, it was announced during 2008 that the final two of the four planned novels would conclude the storylines left dangling after cancellation.
The 4400 is largely unknown in the UK, where it became another victim of the ghettoisation of imported US action/sci-fi dramas, being available exclusively to Sky's pay TV channels and therefore permanently unavailable to any free-to-air audiences.
Original Novels
The 4400: The Vesuvius Prophecy
by
Greg Cox
Country United States
Format Paperback / eBook
Publisher Pocket Star
Publication Date June 2008
Original Price UNKNOWN
ISBN 1416543171
Back Cover Blurb
4400 taken, 4400 returned.
With no memory of where they've been.
And they haven't aged a day.
Some have returned with startling new abilities...
Eleven-year-old Maia can see the future, and she's never wrong. So when she has a vision of Mount Rainier starting to erupt, the National Threat Assessment Command takes her warning very seriously. But to track down the unknown returnee who may trigger the volcanic eruption, NTAC agents Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris must uncover the astounding truth behind one of the greatest unsolved crimes of the twentieth century...
And they've got competition. Ruthless enemies are working against them and somehow managing to keep one step ahead of the desperate agents. With the future closing in on them, Tom and Diana must foil a lethal conspiracy — before Seattle and the entire Pacific Northwest go the way of ancient Pompeii.
Notes
- The Vesuvius Prophecy is set immediately after the Season 3 episode Graduation Day.
by
Dayton Ward
and
Kevin Dilmore
Country United States
Format Paperback / eBook
Publisher Pocket Star
Publication Date October 2008
Original Price UNKNOWN
ISBN 141654321X
Back Cover Blurb
1992: For nearly a decade, the international assassin known only as "the Wraith" has eluded authorities. Political leaders, powerful heads of business, terrorists known and suspected have numbered among the many victims until — without explanation — the Wraith disappears...
2005: Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris are investigating Jordan Collier's murder, but they're pulled off the case. Washington believes the Wraith — a onetime freelance agent for the U.S. government — is active again. A high-ranking CIA officer, who oversaw the rogue operator's activities, is killed. Evidence at the scene points to the Wraith and that this highly efficient killer is now a 4400. The NTAC agents only have thirteen-year-old leads to follow an assassin who was never caught. Suddenly, the Wraith kills another returnee. Why? What does this mean? Can the mounting fears of the 4400 be right? Or is this just one returnee who has gone off the track. Baldwin and Skouris need to know — but will they find out before the Wraith completes this deadly covert objective?
Notes
- Wet Work is set between the Season 2 episodes Carrier and Rebirth.
The 4400: Welcome to Promise City
by
Greg Cox
Country United States
Format Paperback / eBook
Publisher Pocket Star
Publication Date 2009
Original Price UNKNOWN
ISBN 1416543228
Back Cover Blurb
The 4400 were only the beginning. Now anyone can become extraordinary. The rewards are great. But so are the risks...
Mere months have passed since a viral outbreak transformed Seattle. Over nine thousand people died horribly, while thousands more gained remarkable new abilities. The disaster has also left Jordan Collier, the charismatic leader of The 4400 Movement, in charge of the city, much to the dismay of the rest of the world.
To Collier's followers, the birth of "Promise City" heralds the dawn of a glorious new future that will forever change the face of humanity. But not everyone welcomes Collier's vision of tomorrow. An international conspiracy, composed of many of the world's most powerful figures, will stop at nothing to destroy the Movement, even if it means igniting an all-out war against Promise City.
NTAC agents Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris find themselves caught in the middle of a historic clash as they try to save Seattle from both Jordan Collier and his mortal enemies...with the future of the planet hanging in the balance.
The saga of The 4400 continues.
Notes
- Welcome to Promise City is set after The Great Leap Forward, the very last episode of the television series. Along with Promises Broken, it is intended to tie up the loose ends left dangling when the television series was cancelled.
The 4400: Promises Broken
by
David Mack
Country United States
Format Paperback / eBook
Publisher Pocket Star
Publication Date October 2009
Original Price UNKNOWN
ISBN 1416543236
Back Cover Blurb
4400 taken, 4400 returned. All were given startling new abilities. Now, if you are willing to risk it all, you too can be extraordinary. Is this what the future intended to ensure the survival of the human race?
Promicin — which kills half of those who dare to inject it and grants paranormal abilities to those who survive — is spreading across the globe and threatening to plunge the entire world into chaos.
One year has passed since Jordan Collier and his followers seized control of Seattle and renamed it Promise City. U.S. armed forces have surrounded Seattle, and each day brings Collier and his Promicin-Positive Movement closer to all-out war with the world's greatest military superpower.
However, the real threats are the Marked — agents from the future whose identities are encoded into body-hijacking nanites. They were sent back to thwart the efforts of the 4400. The last three surviving Marked lurk in the shadows, working in secret as they prepare to deliver a deathblow to the planet.
Caught in the crossfire are NTAC agents Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris. His son, Kyle, and her thirteen-year-old adopted daughter, Maia, are both more loyal to Jordan's movement than to them. And when the standoff between Collier and the U.S. military explodes into open conflict, Tom, Diana, and fellow agents wind up outnumbered and outgunned.
In the end, the fate of all mankind will rest in the hands of one man: Tom Baldwin.
Notes
- Promises Broken is the conclusion to The 4400.
