Veska

Veska is a character who plays a pivotal role in the first episode of the TV series based on the film "Planet of the Apes".

Character

In the episode, titled titled "Escape From Tomorrow," Veska is the chimpanzee prefect of the ape village in which his son Arno discovers the downed spacecraft that has delivered the human protagonists to their planet. Veska is shaken by the realization that humans have constructed and flown the ship, which is considerably more advanced than the primitive level of invention on his own planet. Veska's fierce reaction to his son's declaration that the humans must have come from a superior culture introduces a core theme present throughout the franchise, that the apes fear the human astronauts will threaten their dominion over the species. "If humans could build and fly a [spaceship] like this," he tells Arno, "they'd begin to think they're as good as we are!" Veska alerts the other ape leaders to the two surviving humans' escape from the vehicle, which starts the hunt that drives almost all episodes of the short-lived series.

Portrayal

Veska is played by Woodrow Parfrey, who along with appearing in this first series episode also appeared in the first "Apes" movie, a distinction he shares only with Roddy McDowall. (Interestingly, their two characters in the series pilot are cousins.) Veska's eyepatch was a last-minute wardrobe solution to mask a visible eye infection Parfrey contracted after falling asleep while wearing the dark contact lenses that all blue-eyed actors wore to help the ape makeup appear more natural. The large patch, apparently shorn from the same material used to make his costume, enhances Veska's frightening countenance.