Fireball XL5: The Vault

36 - Beyond Fireball XL5/Trial By Robot

Although Fireball XL5 had proved hugely successful on both sides of the Atlantic, Anderson and Grade felt that continuing to make a new series was the best option for AP Films future, in the case that the next Anderson series was even bigger and better. For the next series, however, Anderson felt that AP Films had outgrown the studio and asked Grade to move to a bigger studio. Indeed, Grade bought the AP Films company for, the Pre-Covid recession equivalent of, £3 million. The studio moved to a new unit half a mile away was the new home for the company down Stirling Road. Indeed, Grade bought the AP Films company, The art department was in offices nearby down Edinburgh Avenue. The next series would essentially rework the format of Fireball XL5 underwater, but Stingray would be the first children's series in the UK to be filmed entirely in colour. Stingray was set in 2064 and followed the adventures of the super-sonic submarine and the crew of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP) based at Marineville, lead by Captain Troy Tempest battle hostile underwater threats and explore new terrains under the sea. Massively successful, and netting $3 million over in America and shown in 1964. The next series however had to be even bigger and better than before.

The proprietor of the establishment from Treasure Down Below where Troy takes Marina on a date was a puppet that was last seen in the Fireball XL5 episode Space City Special as General Rossiter, and of course goes on to become Admiral Denver in later Stingray episodes. Said puppet still has its original painted eyes from Fireball XL5, which were later replaced with glass eyes when the puppet became Denver. Several other members of the XL5 cast crew, such as Commander Zero and Professor Matic, can be seen in Countdown when the in-disguise X20 gives a speech about his "services" by giving mute people the ability to talk. The stage X20 gives his speech on was reused from the one seen from Space City Special. The brown sculpture on the top shelf can be spotted in Dr. Beaker's laboratory in Supercar (see episodes such as Phantom Piper) while that top hat was probably the same one used by Commander Zero in the Fireball XL5 episode Flying Zodiac. Those bagpipes almost certainly belonged to Jock Campbell in the episode Space City Special. This appeared in the Stingray episode Countdown also. The hideous dressing gown next to the bass used to belong to Steve Zodiac in the episode Ghosts of Space also cropped up in the same episode. The yellow sombrero on X20's makeup table might have belonged to Fernando from Four Feather Falls and/or a random extra on the Western street of the Fireball XL5 episode 1875. Steve Zodiac also returned to appear as Duke Dexter in Titan Goes Pop.

Originally titled International Rescue, the idea of the next series began when a disaster happened in Germany on Thursday 24th October 1963 when a dam collapsed and a mine was flooded by water, 79 men were recovered out of 129. "I don't think we knew that Thunderbirds was going to be such a big hit, but we certainly felt it was a great progression," said writer Alan Fennell. The most iconic of Gerry Anderson's shows, Thunderbirds told the legendary adventures of a rescue organisation set in 2065 based at Tracy Island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean with a fleet of Thunderbird crafts designed by genius Brains. The Anderson's had hit the big time here, "Thunderbirds was the high", said Gerry Anderson, "I think the sheer action and adventure of that series was unbeatable". Furthermore, the prospect of a live-action series was looking hopeful, the Andersons outlining Shockwave at the start of March 1965, intending to be the next series after Thunderbirds. It would have been filmed at Shepperton Studios where Danger Man starring Patrick McGoohan was about to start filming. Matt Zimmerman, voice artist of Alan Tracy from Thunderbirds was likely to have starred in, but the series was stalled in May 1965 as the Andersons tried to keep production on Thunderbirds on schedule. McGoohan had even suggested interest in AP Film's new Shockwave series.