samkydd

My earliest recollection of watching a TV show on a regular basis was Fireball XL5 with Steve Zodiac and Venus. I absolutely loved it and I remember getting Steve and Venus string puppets one birthday, and also a small Steve on his hover bike, plus a Fireball XL5 rocket which you could fire with a catapult (not all on the same birthday I might add.). There's a mint original XL5 rocket the same as the one I had on E-Bay boxed with a starting bid £120. I also recently saw DVD boxed sets of the series available, but I'm in two minds whether I'd enjoy seeing it again or it may be harmful to fond childhood memories.



Later series (or repeats of earlier ones) I remember along similar lines were Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Joe 90 and Captain Scarlett

Arguably the most popular one was Thunderbirds, which has had a merchandising resurgence since the flesh and blood film version. I was in a model shop the other day and as well as Thunderbirds you can now buy quite large scale replica die-cast Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray models, but at £40 each a little bit steep. On E-Bay the same ones have been seen for around £30 brand new.

Which was your favourite Gerry Anderson puppet series and why?

Automotivehistorian

It seems that SUPERCAR is still "big" in the States! I had no idea that it sold there but of course it did. I can still remember the Fireball theme! I can just about remember TWIZZLE, although it was really STINGRAY that we woke up to, and then there was the big hype on TV for THUNDERBIRDS in advance of it reaching the small screen. I do think though that JOE 90 was one that you always forget about!

Nick Dando

What about The Secret Service? Almost completely forgotten about these days.

Nick

Windthrop

That's my favorite - plenty of live action in that one and Stanley Unwin. Apparantly during the filming of the series Lew Grade watched a screening and shouted 'stop filming - the Americans won't understand it !' and that was the end of his interest in promoting it.

Thats the joke that killed the Music Hall !

samkydd

Possibly because at school there was this "Walter" image (from Dennis the Menace) attached to all school boys who wore glasses, and the sterotype was studious, brainy, teacher's pet and so they were constantly being picked on or laughed at by non-ocularly challenged colleagues.

So Joe 90 was not an easy "hero" to admire unless you happened to be one of those four-eyed kids, and there seemed far less of them around then compared with today. Other GA puppets seemed to mirror chisel-jawed Hollywood actors of the 50s and 60s, and the female ones were very glamorous. Was Lady Penelope modelled on Joan Greenwood?

(I've just realised that on the previous XL5 image Steve is parachuting from the rocket into Outer Space! (Sack the scientific advisor)).

Steve Crook

No, on Gerry's missus, Sylvia Anderson
(Maybe a somewhat idealised version)

Steve

samkydd

Even if it wasn't 100% accurate he was a very lucky man

"STOP PRESS middle-aged man samkydd found in compromising position with a plastic Lady Penelope puppet!"

Had they made a flesh and blood film version in the 60s Joan Greenwood would have been perfect.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

mariocki

Fireball XL5 is £14:99 at Play at the moment and the same price at Amazon:

Play.com (UK) : Fireball XL5 - The Complete Series (Box Set) : DVD - Free Delivery

samkydd

It's very tempting!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Cooper S

Sylvia Anderson is very keen to promote the idea that Lady Penelope was modelled on her, but the character's sculptor, Mary Turner, has suggested that Penelope was also inspired by someone she saw in a TV commercial.

Venus in Fireball XL5 is unquestionably based on Sylvia though. Puppeteer Christine Glanville couldn't come up with a face for the character that Sylvia - as character supervisor - liked. In desperation Christine took advice from her father, who suggested basing the character on Sylvia - and Sylvia immediately approved the result !


Joan Greenwood's name is often mentioned by both Sylvia and Gerry as inspiration for the vocal interpretation of Lady Penelope, and if you watch the Robert Hamer Father Brown film, Greenwood appears playing a character very similar to Penelope, with Sid James playing her chauffeur. The plot of the film also has similarities to the Thunderbirds episode Perils of Penelope.

It's a pity that Joe 90 is given such a hard time by audiences - technically, it's one of the best puppet shows the Andersons produced, and has some very intelligent scripts for a 'kids' show. It probably wasn't a success because it was too serious.

'I've only got one spare'

'Well, borrow one !'

PaulPlowman

You forgot Terrahawks!

<- Insert witty comment here ->
ukonscreen.com

batman

Go for it Sam! I have loads of Fireball episodes on VHS and they are fantastic.

The Boy Wonder and I regularly have 'Anderson Afternoons' when we watch our favourite, Captain Scarlet, and most of the others. He finds Stingray a bit scary but loves Fireball, Supercar and Four Feather Falls. The theme from Fireball was the first record I ever owned and I've still got it! I want to introduce Joe 90 into our afternoons soon as well.

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

Steve Crook

Bad news for all you fans of the Andersons' work.
I was channel surfing as I grabbed a cup of coffee and I stumbled across Captain Scarlet (2005).
I could see that the opening titles weren't the same as the real thing, but then they flashed up a sign saying that it was filmed in Supermarionation, so I stuck with it for a while.

But it's a nasty CGI remake. Not a puppet to be seen. And it's at the low end of the range of CGI with not very realistic movements - but that still doesn't make them look like puppets

Steve

Dame Starry

I am a stickler for authenticity - strings are a must with puppets for me! It has to be the original or nothing. The kids of today wouldn't know a proper puppet if it bit 'em on the bottom; I had a little Dutch girl that my poor Dad was forever un-knotting for me!
(Twizzle was my first TV favourite with regards to children's programmes - although there wasn't a lot of kids' TV in the 19..............er, well, in those days!)

Wasn't the 'Supermarionation' where the puppets were wired up so that their mouths moved with the actor/puppeteer - and that they suffered continual electric shocks as they spoke (the actors/puppeteers that is)?
Now, THAT'S showbusiness!

YDSL x.

The Christmas countdown has begun - don't leave it all until the last minute!

Steve Crook

Supermarionation (a blend of "super", "marionette" and "animation"), used marionettes suspended and controlled by thin wires. The fine metal filaments doubled as both suspension-control wires for puppet movement, and as electrical cables that took the control signals to the electronic components concealed in the marionettes' heads.

Maybe the "handlers" did get some shocks. But I would have though it would be very low power so it probably wouldn't kill them

Steve