Review of Stingray: Volume 1

Introduction

Following the release of Thunderbirds on DVD, Gerry Anderson has now turned his hand to his underwater adventure – Stingray – available as five separate DVDs or one boxset (which represents a good saving over the individual purchase).

This science fiction puppet show features many of the ideas also seen in Thunderbirds and both series have a very familiar style and plot, with the only major difference being that Stingray is set underwater, and Thunderbirds is set in the sky/space.

Video

Video comes in full-frame and the digitally remastered picture is surprisingly good given the age of the program. Most shots are crisp and colourful and show a good level of detail. There is the occasional spot of dirt on the print, but there’s no evidence of grain.

In 1963, Stingray was a revelation, and 38 years on it shows its age, but doesn’t look too bad which is a testament to the high production values. The commentary track on the first episode explains how many of the shots were achieved, and why they couldn’t always hide the puppet’s wire etc.

Audio

The mono soundtrack is more than adequate and faithfully reproduces the dialogue, effects and music during the program.

James Bond fans will note that Lois Maxwell – the original Miss Moneypenny, provides the voice of Atlanta Shore.

Features

The extras consist of a “TV21 Audio Adventure”, character bios, “Memorabilia: Stingray Mini Albums” and a commentary track by Gerry Anderson during the first episode.

The “Memorabilia: Stingray Mini Albums” looks at the production of firstly 7” and then 12” vinyl albums, containing interactive Stingray adventures where gaps were left in an audio adventure, allowing fans to join in using the supplied script. One of these is included – “TV21 Audio Adventure” and the script is printed on the case insert for anyone who wishes to participate.

The character bios consist of various screens of text about the characters in the series.

Gerry Anderson’s commentary track during the first episode is good, giving away some of the secrets and at approximately 30 minutes in duration is long enough to provide good information, but short enough to remain interesting.

The menus are nicely animated in a Stingray style and easy to navigate.

The disc is packaged in a clear Amaray case and the insert contains details of the four chapter breaks per episode, the script for the extra “TV21 Audio Adventure” and details of the other Stingray DVDs that are available.

Conclusion

Overall, fans of Gerry Anderson’s work will not be disappointed, the DVD is well presented with good video, sound and extras, wrapped up with good menus and importantly the £15.99 recommended price isn’t too steep for 3 hours of entertainment.

As far as the content goes, it’s typical Gerry Anderson material with a crazy sci-fi plot, plenty of action and technology being used to save the world. Each show runs for 30 minutes, and being designed to hold children’s interest, crams plenty into the short running time.

Given the continued success of Stingray and Thunderbirds, it seems the Gerry Anderson got the balance about right, I certainly enjoyed watching Stingray again, although because of the similarity of the episodes, it’s not something to watch in one sitting. Thunderbirds is better, but Stingray still has plenty to offer.