Viper is a crime-fighting car of the future. “It prowls the streets in the pursuit of justice. It is the perfect weapon for an imperfect future.”
The Viper – a 1992 red Dodge Viper RT/10 Roadster in the original NBC series, and then a stock 1990 Dodge blue Viper GTS Coupe when the series was syndicated – morphs into the indestructible silver Defender (a pursuit and capture vehicle) at the touch of a button.
Julian Wilkes (Dorian Harewood) created the car as a secret project for the Chicago Police Department. Delia Thorne (Lee Chamberlain), a commander with Metropole Police, funded the project as a weapon to fight a sinister criminal organisation called “the Outfit”.
At this same time, master thief Michael Peyton (James McCaffrey) is seriously injured in a high-speed car crash while attempting to escape from a robbery. Peyton is taken to County General Hospital and unknowingly becomes part of the Viper Project.
Delia believes Peyton’s skills as a thief and driver make him the perfect candidate to drive Viper.
Peyton’s memory is surgically altered to create the identity of Joe Astor, a police officer who was a former racing champion. A chip is implanted in Michael’s brain to suppress his memories and create his new identity (to cover their tracks, the police department releases a statement saying Michael Peyton died in a mysterious blast).
Before the Viper Project can be launched, though, it is scrapped due to corruption in the police department. In an attempt to save the project, Joe and Julian steal the Viper and set up a secret headquarters in an abandoned power station they call “The Batcave.”
They are assisted by Franklin “Frankie” Xavier Waters (Joe Nipote), the police department motor pool mechanic who works as their inside man. Believing she can accomplish more away from the department, Delia quits and joins the Consortium, a group of people who work with honest cops to stop the Outfit.
In the syndicated Version (1997 – 2000), the setting changed to Metro City and the FBI is now in charge of the Viper Project – which is now housed in a secret headquarters called “The Viper Complex.”
When Joe objects to the way the government run the project, he quits. Thomas Cole (Jeff Kaake), a former maverick CIA operative turned FBI Special Investigator, is assigned as Viper’s new driver.
Cameron Westlake (Heather Medway) is a patrol car officer with the Metro City Police Department. Her father, a captain, and her two law enforcement officer brothers have gold shields for outstanding work. Cameron demonstrates the same potential and is promoted to detective.
She is assigned to the Viper Project as Cole’s assistant and becomes the liaison between Viper and the police department. Frankie is transferred from the police department to the Viper Complex as the chief mechanic.
Dr Allie Farrow (Dawn Stern) is the engineer responsible for Viper’s computer and weapons systems and maintaining the complex’s “nerve centre,” the computer base of operations.
Viper is destroyed in an explosion in the final season as Cole decides to leave to pursue other career opportunities. Allie also leaves to join a government think tank in Portugal.
Frankie becomes the new computer expert (and mechanic) as the FBI commissions Julian Wilkes to create a new Viper (the 1990 Dodge). Julian, wheelchair-bound in the NBC version, is now able to walk due to a morphing device he invented that is implanted in his spine.
When Joe Astor is asked to return and drive Viper (and assist Cameron), Julian leaves for “a job at NASA” that he can’t refuse. FBI agent Sherman Catlett (J. Downing) becomes the liaison between the new Viper team and the FBI.
Large parts of the series were filmed in Calgary, Alberta.
James McCaffrey died from multiple myeloma at his home in Larchmont, New York, on 17 December 2023, at the age of 65.
Michael Peyton/Joe Astor James McCaffrey Julian Wilkes
Dorian Harewood Delia Thorne
Lee Chamberlain Franklin “Frankie” Xavier Waters
Joe Nipote Agent Thomas Cole
Jeff Kaake Detective Cameron Westlake
Heather Medway Dr Allie Farrow
Dawn Stern Sherman Catlett
J. Downing Mara Wilkes
Fay Hauser Ronnie Wilkes
Dawn-Lyen Gardner Lucy Wilkes
Camille Winbush
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Peyton’s memory is surgically altered to create the identity of Joe Astor, a police officer who was a former racing champion. A chip is implanted in Michael’s brain to suppress his memories and create his new identity (to cover their tracks, the police department releases a statement saying Michael Peyton died in a mysterious blast).
