Review of Fireball XL5, The Complete Series

Introduction

Fireball XL5 was the second of Gerry Anderson`s Supermarionation series for Lew Grade`s ITC, and Carlton the current owners of the rights have just released the entire 1963 series in a block.

Thirty-nine twenty-five minute episodes of Fireball XL5 were made by Anderson`s production team which even at that early point included many of the technicians (not least the late, great effects maestro Derek Meddings) who would go on to bring Thunderbirds and Anderson`s more famous series to the screen. Made in black and white, it was the last show not to be produced in colour as Lew Grade had his sights on the US market and plans were afoot to launch colour television in the States.

The premise of Fireball XL5 was that the ship was part of a fleet of rocket-shuttlecraft called the World Space Patrol, an organisation that protected the Earth from alien attack. Fireball XL5 patrolled Sector 25 of the Solar System under the command of square-jawed hero Colonel Steve Zodiac. He was assisted by his medical officer and romantic interest Venus (who bore a startling resemblance to Forbidden Planet`s Anne Francis); scientific officer Professor "Matt" Matic and co-pilot Robert the Robot. They received orders from Commander Zero and his sidekick Lieutenant 90, and their primary opponents were "Mr and Mrs Space Spy".

Launched from a railway-tracked ramp into orbit (shades of When Worlds Collide), Fireball XL5 could split into a control pod capable of independent landing and a booster section. Included in the hardware on board were hover-scooters which enabled the characters to get about with the minimum of bouncy perambulation.

The voices for the series were provided by Paul Maxwell as Steve Zodiac (Maxwell was one of a band of American, Canadian and Australian actors living in London in the late fifties to early seventies who made a comfortable living performing in British tv series. His main claim to fame was being Elsie Tanner`s first husband on Coronation Street.) Sylvia Anderson voiced Dr Venus while Professor Matt Matic and most other voices were provided by Parker-to-be David Graham. Commander Zero was supplied by frequent Milligan supporter John Bluthal. Gerry Anderson provided the voice (via an artificial larynx device) of Robert the Robot, a transparent Bender lookalike, who even had his own catchphrase "Onourwayome" (On our way home).

With cheesy storylines and caricature-styled puppets complete with extremely visible strings, the Anderson team moved swiftly on to the more sophisticated marionettes used in Stingray and Thunderbirds.

Video

Presented in the original monochrome 1.33:1, the episodes show a rough-and-readiness. From a technical standpoint, the episodes look wonderfully clean for their age and Carlton has obvious put some renovation work in.

Audio

The series was made in mono, and that`s what you get, reproduced in DD2.0.

Features

Sadly Carlton have not seen fit to add anything more than full subtitling, but for something as off-the-beaten-track as this, it`s hardly surprising.

Conclusion

A monochrome slice of sixties childhood. After three - "I wanna be a space man, the fastest guy alive...."