Raumpatrouille

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Raumpatrouille - Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffs Orion, colloquially also known as Raumpatrouille Orion, is the first German science fiction television series. Its seven episodes were broadcast by the ARD in 1966, with the first episode aired on Sept. 17th. It achieved audience ratings of up to 80 %. The series has since acquired cult status in Germany. Raumpatrouille translates as "Space Patrol" in English.

The special effects of the black and white series, which were spectacular at the time, now possess a certain quaint charm. Many of them, like the undersea-casino and space port, where done by means of the Schüfftan process.

The series' budget was comparatively low, but the set designers proved very creative in making the best of their limited means. Electric irons were used as part of the command console, for instance, and plastic beakers as ceiling lighting. In an interview it was claimed that the designers were getting part of their inspiration by using design cataloges. The stage designer was Rolf Zehetbauer, who later won an Academy Award for his work on Cabaret; other productions include Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen and The NeverEnding Story. Nonetheless, the considerable costs of the series led to its termination after only seven episodes. 2003 saw a movie composed of various scenes from the original series and some new footage, and 145 novels based on and continuing the series were published over the years.

The occasionally ironic series focuses on the adventures of commander Cliff Allister McLane (Dietmar Schönherr, who was the German voice of James Dean) who commands the fast cruiser Orion during a war with the alien "Frogs" and often gets in trouble with the government of Earth. His crew is of international composition, namely the Italian weapons officer Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz, German voice of Walter Matthau), Japanese astronavigator Atan Shubashi (Friedrich G. Beckhaus), Scandinavian engineer Hasso Sigbjörnson (Claus Holm), French communications officer Helga Legrelle (Ursula Lillig), and the Galactic Security Service officer, Russian Tamara Jagellovsk (Eva Pflug). In addition to the set design, the terminology of the series was memorable. Instead of using or translating English terms, the series created original German terms.

The soundtrack was composed by Peter Thomas.

As emblematic as Thomas' catchy soundtrack was the voiceover introduction, which both, like used in Star Trek of the same year, set tone and atmosphere of the series.

Voiceover introduction in German:

"Was heute noch wie ein Märchen klingt, kann morgen Wirklichkeit sein. Hier ist ein Märchen von Übermorgen: es gibt keine Nationalstaaten mehr. Es gibt nur noch die Menschheit und ihre Kolonien im Weltraum. Man siedelt auf fernen Sternen. Der Meeresboden ist als Wohnraum erschlossen. Mit heute noch unvorstellbaren Geschwindigkeiten durcheilen Raumschiffe unser Milchstraßensystem. Eins dieser Raumschiffe ist die ORION, winziger Teil eines gigantischen Sicherheitssystems, das die Erde vor Bedrohungen aus dem All schützt. Begleiten wir die ORION und ihre Besatzung bei ihrem Patrouillendienst am Rande der Unendlichkeit."

English translation:

"What may sound like a fairy tale today may be tomorrow's reality. This is a fairy tale from the day after tomorrow: There are no more countries. There is only mankind and its colonies in outer space. Mankind has settled on faraway stars. He has settled on the ocean floor. With velocities still unimaginable today, spaceships are rushing through our Milky Way. One of these spacecraft is the ORION, a minuscule part of a gigantic security system protecting the Earth from threats from outer space. We shall now accompany the ORION and her crew patrolling at the edge of infinity."

1 Episodes
2 Sources
3 External links
4 Other works with the same name

[edit] Episodes

Angriff aus dem All (Attack from Space)
Planet außer Kurs (Planet off Course)
Die Hüter des Gesetzes (Keepers of the Law)
Deserteure (Deserters)
Kampf um die Sonne (Battle for the Sun)
Die Raumfalle (The Space Trap)
Invasion (Invasion)

[edit] Sources

Josef Hilger: Raumpatrouille, 2003, ISBN 3-89602-334-9
Jörg Kastner: Raumpatrouille ORION, 1995, ISBN 3-910079-53-9
Jörg Kastner: Das große Raumschiff Orion Fanbuch, München 1991, ISBN 3-442-23642-8
Raumpatrouille Orion, Bd.1, Wuppertal 1997, ISBN 3-930646-05-6