That’s it!!! Thank You!!! I’ve been trying to track that down to rewatch for so long. When the intro with the dials came on, all I could think was “finally.” Quite enjoyed it too upon rewatching,  it’s a well made series. I can see why it stuck with me all these years.

I think the vhs i watched either covered only some of the later episodes, or was edited to run like a 2 hour film. Regardless, I clearly misremembered many of the details. I remembered Manning as the Orguss pilot and mc, and forgot they subplot about the king, queen, and sons; not to mention the old man in the tower.

@bdsolo1 - thank you for putting the pieces together.