Fireball XL5: The Vault

13 - Space Patrol/Space Pirates

Fireball XL5 has often been confused with another similar marionette series of planet explorers, which aired at roughly the same time as Fireball XL5. Set in 2100 and shot on 35mm film, Space Patrol, or Planet Patrol, saw Captain Dart, Slim and Husky patrol the solar system in their Galasphere 347 and 024 as part of the peace-keeping force, the United Galactic Organization. The Galasphere is shaped like a child's spinning top and has a strange sound effect noise when operational. When in flight, the crew remain in suspended animation and the ship is controlled by robot operators. The series ran for 39 episodes in a 25-minute run time, just like Fireball XL5, and placed a greater emphasis on real science than as Space Patrol's counterpart did (thanks to space consultant Colin Ronan). It is a series I have not seen much of, and have never fully watched the entire series. From what I've seen of it, it seems quite a good series but doesn't have the intensity and scale that the Anderson shows are renowned for. The series originated from Arthur Provis and Roberta Leigh, who previously worked with the Andersons up until Torchy The Battery Boy. Provis and Leigh had set up their new partnership to create Sarah and Hoppity. I find the majority of Roberta Leigh series she did to not be so appealing to a family audience, because the series they made seem to be aimed at strictly a younger audience, such as in the case of Sarah and Hoppity. 

The next Provis and Leigh series was the first National Interest/Wonderama Production which started shooting in 1962 - Space Patrol. The series was produced for Associated British's ITV contractor, ABC Television. The series was filmed in converted church buildings in Stoke Newington and later Harlesden, London. The production was completed in two blocks consisting of 26 and 13 episodes, which are considered as the first and second series. The final 13 episodes employ refurbished puppets and sets, and are copyrighted 1962 Wonderama Productions on the end credits (the first 26 episodes omitted any on-screen copyright information). Various puppets from the series were re-used in later Roberta Leigh productions including Wonderboy and Tiger and Send for Dithers. These colour films reveal the fact that the Gabblerdictum was bright pink. Other than two endpapers from the TV Comic Annual for 1966, no colour photographic materials from the series have survived. The series also cropped up in children's comic The Beezer.

Although the series was made on a much cheaper budget than that of the AP Films team, The futuristic city of the Space Patrol HQ is a vast complex structure, more so than Space City, and the puppet designs seem to be more realistic to that of the puppets of AP Films productions being shot around that time. Although they might be more correctly proportioned, the puppets often lacked expression and did not show the more caricatured expressions and characters of the various AP Films characters. The soundtracks were recorded first before the visuals were shot, as common practice for series around that time. They were scored in the converted attic of Roberta Leigh's Hampstead home by voice actors Dick Vosburgh, Libby Morris, Ronnie Stevens, Murray Kash, and Ysanne Churchman (who later used her vocal talents in 1970s Doctor Who for Alpha Centauri and the Giant Spiders). The episodes were edited by Len Walter, who previously worked with David Lane on Ghost Squad. He worked with the AP Films/Century 21 team as a supervising editor on Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet.

The impressive, and cutting-edge electronics were provided by F.C. Judd, as was the strange, electronic-sounding music which helped create a strange atmosphere for the series. Sadly, in scenes requiring build-up tension, Barry Gray trumps over Judd's scores, highlighting the enormous impact Gray's music had on the Anderson shows. The series was screened in ITV until 1970, and was exported to Australia, Malta, and the US. However, Leigh and Provis continued forward, but Space Patrol was the finest series they worked on. As already mentioned, they produced the aforementioned pilot episodes of Wonder Boy and Tiger and Send For Dithers.

A colour pilot filmed followed in 1964 called Paul Starr - the pilot I believe Provis and Leigh got the closest to being a SUPERMARIONATION episode, and their finest collaboration together. The titular character himself was voiced by none other than Ed Bishop! The series has a very memorable theme tune, I love it!

The pair almost got a live-action series off the ground with the one-off pilot The Solarnuats. Produced in 1967 on 35mm film for ABC Television Productions and funding from American International. A full series was not developed, partially because ABC ceased to exist within the ITV structure soon afterwards, the company became the dominant partner in Thames Television.

Arthur Provis continued in the film industry working on industrial and advertising films. Roberta Leigh, tiring of struggling to get her programs off the air, returned to being a writer of romantic fiction. In the meantime, Space Patrol was not seen again until, bar a handful of episodes, the rediscovery of the entire series in 1997! The rediscovery of the episodes were prints in 16mm film copies of all the episodes, found in the garage of Roberta Leigh's home. Despite their scratched and grainy condition, they were of sufficient historic interest to warrant a commercial release. Only two episodes survived in 35mm copies. The series was released on VHS in 2001, and in 2003 on DVD. This set, which went soon out of print and prices on second hand markets reached up to £300!, included the pilots for many pilots of Leigh and Provis. They include Paul Starr, Send For Dithers, The Solarnuats, Wonder Boy and Tiger, and even the only surviving episode to The Adventures Of Twizzle - directed by Gerry Anderson. These releases of Space Patrol were one of Network Distributing's first ever releases, who would go on to be renowned for their releases on cult television programs with restored HD episodes, and wonderfully packaged released - including Space Patrol and many ITC programs, including Fireball XL5. In 2018, Network rereleased the series on Blu-Ray with no special features or subtitles.

Now, new audiences are able to explore the adventures of the Space Patrol team in HD on Blu Ray and on Amazon Prime alongside the cult classic Gerry Anderson programs.

SPACE PIRATES;

Written by Anthony Marriott

Directed by Bill Harris

Original UK Airdate: 16th December 1962 (ATV London, Westward, Channel and Anglia)

Additional Voice Cast:

Captain Katt David Graham Patch John Bluthal Jock Campbell John Bluthal Jonathan Zero Sylvia Anderson Eleanor Zero Sylvia Anderson XL9 Pilot Paul Maxwell

This is the first story where we meet Jonathan and Eleanor Zero. Jonathan has a book about Supercar. Supercar Easter eggs would go on to reappear throughout the series and in Stingray. In the vast universe of travellers across space, pirates, or common crooks and freelancers, are a reality in the world of Fireball XL5. Children, and adults alike, enjoy the themes of fantasy being intertwined in various stories. What better genre are they include but science-fiction? This episode we have real pirates in space, combined with all the classic attributes of pirates such as their search for treasure, water, etc.  It is also interesting to tell a story as being told from a storybook by Venus for a children's tale about one of Zodiac's toughest challenges to date from the past. David Graham gave a fantastic performance as Captain Katt as always, and the episode comes to a high-stakes resolution with a clever ending. This episode always makes me have a drink of water, unsurprisingly.