- [Announcer] Fireball XL5 first aired in 1962,
and was the second series to carry the words
"Filmed in Supermarionation".
- Okay, Venus?
- Okay, Steve.
- Right! Let's go!
- [Announcer] Set 100 years into the future,
the series would continue to develop
the traditional Anderson formats and tropes
that had begun with Supercar.
- That's right.
- [Announcer] Across 39 action-packed episodes,
the heroic Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol
took the controls of Fireball XL5,
one of a fleet of XL rocket ships based at Space City.
- Don't you think you should take the Professor
and Venus on this mission?
- [Announcer] Steve's crew consisted
of the scientific genius Professor Matthew Matic.
- Help!
- [Announcer] The beautiful doctor of space medicine, Venus.
- I gathered by the compliments, Steve,
you want something to eat.
- [Announcer] And, robotic co-pilot Robert.
- On our way out.
- [Announcer] In charge of Space City itself
was the lovably cantankerous Commander Zero.
- This is World Space Patrol Headquarters, not a circus!
- With his eager assistant, Lieutenant Ninety,
often finding himself used as a sounding board
for Zero's frustrations.
- But sir! - There you go again!
- [Announcer] While Scottish Chief Engineer Jock Campbell
was responsible for keeping the XL fleet running smoothly.
- Leave it to me!
- [Announcer] Also along for the ride,
usually causing trouble wherever he went,
was Venus' pet Lazoon, Zoonie.
- Howdy, folks!
- [Announcer] Tasked with keeping the peace in Sector 25,
while also occasionally going where no man had gone before,
the Fireball XL5 crew regularly faced such villains
as the Subterrains of planet 46.
- The vengeance of the Subterrains has begun.
- [Announcer] And, Boris and Griselda,
aka Mr. and Mrs. Space Spy.
- Steve Zodiac is coming!
- Zodiac!
- [Announcer] Other memorable horrors lurking out in space
included Granatoid tanks, plant men, space monsters,
and further terrors, both large and small.
- (giggling) Ooh!
- [Announcer] The heroic tones of Steve Zodiac
were provided by actor Paul Maxwell,
who would later be heard and seen
in other Anderson productions.
- I can't let that call go unanswered.
- [Announcer] David Graham returned, once again,
this time playing Professor Matic,
Lieutenant Ninety, and Zoonie.
- Hmm, I'm glad about that.
- [Announcer] While John Bluthal,
in his only association with any Anderson production,
provided the voices of Commander Zero and Jock.
- Is that an order, Commander?
- No, Jock, just a suggestion.
- [Announcer] Sylvia Anderson was to take
the roles of Venus, Commander Zero's wife Eleanor,
and their son Jonathan.
- I wish Mom hadn't gone away.
- Yeah, you can say that again.
- [Announcer] While Jerry Anderson, himself,
voiced Robert the Robot and all the show's other robots
using an artificial larynx.
- Robots of the jury, how do you find the prisoners, sir?
Fireball XL5 saw the AP Films team
drastically expand the scope of their storytelling,
from the contemporary every day world of Supercar,
to the almost limitless possibilities of outer space.
- Wonderful style!
- [Announcer] And, the production team
rose to the challenge expertly.
The puppet department were now producing human characters
that were slightly easier on the eye
than some of those seen in Supercar.
Well, most of the time, anyway.
- Ah, shut up!
- Yeah, shut up!
- [Announcer] While the show's sci-fi setting
also allowed them the chance to create a varied mix
of strange alien lifeforms.
- What do you say to that, pink people?
- [Announcer] On the model front,
we move from the lone desert laboratory of Black Rock
and only occasional guest vehicle of Supercar,
to the bustling and futuristic Space City,
plus a whole universe full of exciting new vehicles.
The Fireball XL5 launch sequence,
which opened every single episode,
proved to be one of the most memorable parts of the show,
even if the series never did answer the question
on every young fan's mind,
"Who has to go and rescue that trolley
"after every launch?"
- Ah, this is getting monotonous.
- [Announcer] Fireball XL5 began airing
just as The Space Race was beginning to heat up
and found favour with an audience
whose imaginations had been fired
by the seemingly very real possibility
that mankind could be living on the moon
in just a few short years.
- Well, it's no use daydreaming about it, lad.
We've got work to do.
- [Announcer] The AP Films team embraced that expectation
and ran with it to the extent that human beings
in Fireball XL5 are perfectly able to survive
and even speak in the vacuum of space,
provided they remember to take their oxygen pills
before stepping out.
- Take this.
It's an oxygen pill.
It'll enable you to live in space.
- [Announcer] Fireball XL5 ran for just one season,
and several of the final episodes to be produced
featured the on-screen destruction of its star vehicle
and major location models.
- I'm afraid it couldn't be saved, Venus.
I'm sorry.
- [Announcer] It seemed that the AP Films team
were anxious to be finished with the series
and on to the next project.
- Oh, what do you know about that?
- [Announcer] However, eagle-eyed viewers
of the next Anderson series, Stingray,
might just spot Commander Zero, while Steve Zodiac himself
played the self-absorbed movie star,
Johnny Swoonara in the episode,
Stand By For Action.
- I don't have to put up with this.
It's not in my contract.
- [Announcer] Despite the often questionable science,
and some even more questionable sexism.
- They may electronic dishwashers, but women,
they haven't changed one bit since the 1960's.
- [Announcer] The success of Fireball XL5
helped to cement the reputation of AP Films
as a production company that was going places,
culminating in Lew Grade's eventual purchase
of the company from the Andersons.
- Millions and millions of dollars for us!
- [Announcer] The show also holds the unique distinction
of being the only Anderson series to be networked
in the United States.
- That can only mean one thing.
- [Announcer] While his other shows aired in syndication,
despite all efforts to get a network deal,
Fireball XL5 aired in NBC's Saturday morning schedules
from 1963 to 1965.
- And, if you could arrange for the Earth to be invaded
while we're on the air,
we'd sure appreciate it.
- [Announcer] By this time, Fireball XL5
was already a lucrative merchandising success,
with a variety of books, toys, and games
based on the series,
still highly sought after even today.
- Your Fireball is very impressive.
- [Announcer] And, Don Spencer's classic end title song
proving to be one of the most enduring elements
of the show.
- It sure is a cool number.
- [Announcer] When the classic TV Century 21 comic
was first published in 1965,
Fireball XL5 fans had new weekly adventures to enjoy
with the show's characters now able to do things
their puppet counterparts would never be able to achieve.
And, this time, in full colour.
Sadly, the fact that Fireball XL5 the television series
was produced in black and white
is almost certainly the reason it hasn't enjoyed
as much repeat exposure over the years
as the colour series that came after it.
- [Voice On Radio] Yeah, now, now, Robert,
it's no need to get all steamed up.
- [Announcer] While its characters can seem
more than a little dim at times,
even for a children's show--
- We're making no progress at all.
- [Announcer] And, their would-be trendy dialogue
makes them sound more like inhabitants of the 1950's
than the 2060's,
- Gee, I'm sorry, I'm a tooty.
- We're your boss, Venus.
- [Announcer] The show still has all the same elements
of action and excitement that made the likes
of Stingray and Thunderbirds so successful.
- I think the programmes are of an amazingly high standard.
- [Announcer] And, it still has the ability
to entertain a child audience if they can get to see it.
More importantly, Fireball XL5 established
a successful format that many subsequent series
would develop still further.
With almost weekly alien threats to Earth being rappelled
by operatives of a world security organisation
and their amazing vehicles.
- I guess I know now why they call you
the greatest astronaut on Space Patrol.
- I think you're cute, too.
- [Announcer] Fireball XL5 may, at times,
seem like a forgotten series,
but its legacy would cast a long shadow
over the next decade of Gerry Anderson's output.
(theme music)