Fireball XL5
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| Fireball XL5 | |
|---|---|
 British DVD release |
|
| Genre | Supermarionation Science Fiction Adventure |
| Creator(s) | Gerry Anderson |
| Starring | Paul Maxwell |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 39 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | October 28, 1962 – October 27, 1963 |
Fireball XL5 was a science fiction-themed children's television show produced in Britain in 1962 by the husband and wife team of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson through their company APF in association with ATV for ITC Entertainment.
The show featured the Anderson's Supermarionation marionettes, a form of puppetry first introduced in Four Feather Falls (1960), and later used in shows such as Supercar (1961-1962), Stingray (1964-1965), Thunderbirds (1965-1966), Captain Scarlet (1967-1968), and finally, Joe 90 (1968-1969). Special effects in Fireball XL5 were by Derek Meddings, with music by Barry Gray.
Thirty-nine black and white half-hour episodes were made on 35mm: all future Anderson series would be produced in color.
A very similar program often confused with Fireball XL5 is Planet Patrol (aka Space Patrol in the UK) due to a number of similarities and settings. Many people over time have come to confuse the two and think that there was only Fireball .
The show was a major success for the Andersons, being the first of their marionette shows to be sold to a US TV network (NBC), a rarity for British programmes at the time.
Contents |
Set in the years 2062/63 the series features the spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol. Also aboard as part of the crew were the glamorous Doctor Venus, middle-aged navigator and engineer Professor Matthew Matic, and Zodiac's co-pilot Robert the Robot, notable for being transparent. Robert was also unique as the only character in an Anderson series that was actually voiced by Gerry Anderson himself, albeit with the aid of an artificial larynx.
Fireball XL5 is based at Space City, located on an unnamed island in the South Pacific Ocean, headquarters of the World Space Patrol headed by Commander Zero. Zero is assisted by Lieutenant Ninety (whose name was later to inspire the name of another Anderson character, Joe 90). For some unspecified reason the headquarters is based in a rotating control tower. Fireball XL5 takes off along a mile-long launch rail ending in a 40 degree incline, or sky ramp, which Anderson claims was inspired by an old Soviet design, although it had also been used in the movie When Worlds Collide.
The ship itself was in two sections. The winged nose section, known as Fireball Junior contained the cockpit and was detached from the main body to land on planets. The rest of the ship contained a laboratory, and fuel and rockets for interplanetary journeys. The crew never wore space suits. Instead they took "oxygen pills" to survive in vacuum, moving in zero gravity with the aid of rocket belts or hover-bikes.
Fireball XL5 was noteworthy as the only Anderson series run on a U.S. network. NBC (the National Broadcasting Company) ran the series at 10:30 am (Eastern) in its Saturday morning children's block from 1963 through September, 1965.
[edit] Theme song and merchandising
Fireball XL5 had both an opening and a closing theme song - the latter of which, Fireball written by Barry Gray and sung by Don Spencer, would become a minor hit in Britain. Barry Gray would have a long relationship with the Anderson's productions, writing the themes for such series as Thunderbirds and Space:1999. Don Spencer would become Australia's premier children's entertainer, and founder of the Australian Children's Music Foundation.
In addition to the hit theme song, the series spawned a number of other successful licensed merchandising spinoffs including toys, model kits and books. In Britain four Fireball XL5 annuals were printed, while in the United States Gold Key Comics printed a single issue comic book.
[edit] Cast of characters
- Colonel Steve Zodiac, pilot and commanding officer of Fireball XL5 (voiced by Paul Maxwell)
- Doctor Venus, Doctor of Space Medicine, 5 years of service on the XL5 crew (voiced by Sylvia Anderson)
- Professor Matthew Matic, engineer, navigator and scientist of XL5 (voiced by David Graham)
- Robert the Robot, co-pilot of XL5, invented by Professor Matic (voiced by Gerry Anderson)
- Zoonie the Lazoon, lazy semi-telepathic pet of Dr. Venus from planet Colevio (voiced by David Graham)
- Commander Wilbur Zero, World Space Patrol Commander and Space City's Chief Controller (voiced by John Bluthal)
- Lieutenant Ninety, Assistant Space City Controller (voiced by David Graham)
- Jonathan Zero, Commander Zero's young son
- Jock Campbell, Space City's Chief Engineer
- Eleanor Zero, Commander Zero's wife
[edit] Episode list
[edit] In other media
- The theme song from Fireball XL5 was sung by Sean Pertwee in the 2000 London gangster film Love, Honour and Obey in a Karaoke scene.
- Outside of the various spin-off titles, Fireball XL5 gained some minor recognition when it appeared in Marvel Comics, as one of the TV shows Meggan used to watch prior to meeting Captain Britain.
- Some scenes from Fireball XL5 are shown in the Tom Hanks movie That Thing You Do, watched by Lenny and James on the TVs in Guy's father's appliance store.
- Elements of Fireball XL5 are shown in an episode of Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, entitled "Mercury Falling".
- British Heavy Metal musician Steve Zodiac borrows the name of the Fireball XL5's space hero.
- A spin-off comic book series was planned by Gold Key Comics, Steve Zodiac and the Fireball XL5, but only one issue was published in the series before it was abandoned.
[edit] Translations
- (French) : Fusée XL5
[edit] External links
- Fireball XL5 at the Internet Movie Database
- Gerry Anderson's Fireball XL5 (fansite)
- Fireball XL5 (fansite)
| Gerry Anderson |
|---|
| Television |
| The Adventures of Twizzle | Torchy the Battery Boy | Four Feather Falls | Supercar | Fireball XL5 | Stingray | Thunderbirds | Captain Scarlet | Joe 90 | The Secret Service | UFO | The Protectors | Space: 1999 | Terrahawks | Dick Spanner, P.I. | Space Precinct | Lavender Castle | New Captain Scarlet |
| Feature Films |
| Crossroads to Crime | Thunderbirds Are GO | Thunderbird 6 | Doppelgänger |
| Companies/Techniques |
| AP Films | Century 21 Productions | Supermarionation |
| Notable Collaborators |
| Sylvia Anderson | David Lane | Barry Gray | Reg Hill | Derek Meddings | John Read | Shane Rimmer |
