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| YEAR
OF PRODUCTION:
COMPANY: CRAETED BY: |
1959-2005
AP FILMS / CENTURY 21 / ANDERBURR / ITC GERRY & SLYVIA ANDERSON |
| BACKGROUND
For some of us of a certain age,
the works of Gerry Anderson and his Century
These shows dominated the airways
in the sixties andwere up there in style with
Anderson still works today and has
recently produced Dick Spanner, Lavender Castle
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This was Andersons first foray into the realms of science fiction.It concerned the adventures of Mike Mercury and the fantastic Supercar of the title. The vehicle can travel anywhere all over earth and even into outer space. This series was charming in it's execution and layed the template for the Supermarionation shows which followed. |
Piloted by Steve Zodiac, Fireball XL5 was the flagship of the World Space Patrol. Assigned to protect Sector 25 of the Solar System from alien invaders and make contact with new races.It had a great theme tune on the closing credits as well! This was the Anderson series that propelled his Supermarionation creations into the mainstream. Hugely popular in it's day, it was the only Anderson production to date,that was fully networked on the USA / NBC channel in 1963. See separate entry here |
Stingray was produced in 1961 hot on the hills of Fireball XL5. It was the first British television series to be produced in Colour in an attempt to appeal to the all important American market. Captain Troy Tempest commanded Stingray for the World Aquanaut Security Patrol and patroled the ocean depths battling rather bizzarre characters like King Titan and the agent X20. Of the good guys, there was Troys buddy Phones,Commander Shore and the delectable Marina (who could not speak!). At a cost of £1,000,000 for the 39 episodes, this was Anderson's most costly production to date and paved the way for his next project that secured his success...Thunderbirds! See separate entry here |
The most famous of all the Anderson shows, Thunderbirds was a triumph in every aspect from the fantastic production design to the instantly likeable characters. Concerning the heroic exploits of International Rescue, it focused on ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy who's five sons piloted the Thunderbird craft to protect people from natural or man made disasters. Scott piloted the sleak Thunderbird 1 with Virgil piloted the pod and equipment carrier Thunderbird 2 which housed the submarine Thunderbird 4. For missions in space there was Thunderbird 3 and the space station Thunderbird 5 ready to receive distress calls from below. And who can forget the incredible Lady Penelope and her loyal servent Parker who's enduring appeal have made Thunderbirds one of the best loved series of all time. See separate entry here |
This series could nearly have been the definite Anderson show with spectacular action,fantastic hardware and lifelike puppets.In the year 2068, a mission to Mars goes drastically wrong and provokes a war with the Mysterons.Captain Scarlet of the Specrum Organization is accidently made indestructable by the Mysterons on their first attack on Earth. So begins an ongoing battle to protect the planet from these hostile invaders.A superbly attractive looking series,the production design was at it's peek and the music of Barry Gray added that extra dimension that made it a firm favourite with fans. See separate entry here |
With this series, a move was made to pull away from heavy gadgetry and hardware that had been so widely used in Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds. It concerned a 9 year old boy called Joe McClaine who could perform amazing feats by wearing special glasses that had been tuned in to Big Rat (Brain Impulse Galvanascope, Record and Transfer).Young Joe would come to work for WIN (World Intelligence Network) and use his skills to protect world security. It was a great series in it's own right but failed to capture the audience of his earlier productions. See separate entry here |
If ever Anderson had an experimental phase, then this was it! It was a blend of live action and puppetry that told the adventures of Father Unwin who secretly worked for BISHOP (British Intelligence Secret Headquarters,Operation Priest). Unwin had a special case that could reduce any object to one third of it's original size. An odd series but utterly charming with the vocal talents of Stanley Unwin adding to the weirdness. Sir Lew Grade was so confused by the whole thing that he pulled the plug and only 13 Episodes of the show were made and seldom seen. |
Gerry Anderson's first foray into live action on tv (he had just made the science fiction film Doppleganger a.k.a Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) and a show that now is considered one of the best of it's kind. The series focused on the activities of SHADO (Supreme Headquarters, Alien Defence Organisation) who defended the Earth against an alien threat to rob humans of body parts for their survival. Commander Ed Straker ran SHADO from the bottom of a film studio in England and was responsible for a fleet of craft that were Earths defence against the invaders. A fast paced show that also addressed many adult themes such as bereavement and drug usage. Unfortunately, the ITV network were unsure who the audience was it catered for and stuck it away in late schedules. A second series did start to enter production called UFO:1999 which of course materialised into Space:1999. See separate entry here |
A departure from the science fiction themes of the past with this adventure series about three experts who came together to fight crime where needed. Robert Vaughn played Harry Rule,the leader of the group with Lady Caroline di Contini and Paul Buchet completing the line up. The series focused mainly on action with little or no character development to interest the viewer. At only 30 minutes an episode you can see why. It did however boast a great theme song Avenues and Alleywayswhich was a chart hit for Tony Christie in 1973. See separate entry here |
| THE INVESTIGATOR
An alien investigator shrinks two humans to miniature size to prevent the defiling of significant artifacts in this unsold pilot; combination of live-action and puppetry; puppets resurfaced in a Jif commercial, the last Supermarionation production. |
Gerry Andersons third outing into live action with his biggest show to date and the most expensive tv show in the world until Battlestar Galactica came along in 1978. Commander John Koenig joined Moonbase Alpha in the first episode to invesigate a strange virus and supervise a deep space expedition to Meta but a freak nuclear accident on the far side of the base blasts the moon out of Earths orbit and into outer space. Some of the scripts were less than impressive (most notably in Year 2) but the production design and Brian Johnsons effects work more than makes up for it with yet another rousing score from Barry Gray. With the American producer Fred Freiberger on board for Year 2 it was the nail in the coffin as he didn't understand the concepts that could have been achieved and it plummetted into second rate space opera. A pity as the first season is still a classic now. See separate entry here |
| THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (aka
INTO INFINITY)
NBC Special Treat episode, about two spacefaring families who are en route to Alpha Centauri; intended as a pilot but not picked up; shot between seasons of Space 1999 and costarred three Space 1999 players; narrated by Ed Bishop (UFO's Ed Straker). |
Fourteen years after the semi disaster that was The Secret Service, Gerry Anderson contacted all his old mates to create an up to date,brand new puppet show that brought a new word to it's technical achievment called SuperMacromation.These new marionettes had no strings and were operated from beneath which they hoped would give more expression on their faces and bodies. The series relied to much on Anderson's previous TV hits (right down to having a Rolls Royce that talked called Hudson!) and it did not take off as everyone had hoped. A brave experiment that tried a little to hard to be the new Thunderbirds...and ultimatly failed! See separate entry here |
| DICK SPANNER P.I.
Mild-mannered robot private detective Dick Spanner wisecracks his way through impossible-to-follow sight- gag-filled plots; series of shorts for Channel 4's NETWORK SEVEN series, later condensed into two hour-long shows for Channel 4; characters animated by stop-action animation puppetry rather than Supermarionation or Supermacromation. |
At $36 million, this was Anderson's most expensive series to date. Taking over 10 years to make it to the small screen,Space Precinct followed the actions of Lt.Patrick Brogan who is reassigned from the NYPD to Demeter City,the crime capital of the Galaxy.Filmed at Pinewood Studio's with a budget of $1.5 million an episode, the series was premiered in America with the usual fanfare that is awarded a show of this type.But the series was given awful scheduling and it never achieved the ratings that Anderson had hoped for and was cancelled after just one season. See separate entry here |
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| Gerry Anderson |
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