Supercar blasts off from Black Rock for the very first time in the series’ pilot episode, RESCUE! Jack and Ben are all set to review the tale of how youngster Jimmy Gibson and his pet monkey, Mitch, came to join Mike Mercury and the Supercar team. How will the marvel of the age hold up all these years later?
Writer and founder of the Security Hazard blog. A lifelong fan of all things Gerry Anderson from Thunderbirds to Stingray to more obscure creations such as The Investigator and The Secret Service. I have published a book with the official Gerry Anderson store, and published many articles on the Anderson Entertainment website. Away from Anderson, I'm also a Doctor Who lover, a LEGO obsessive, and a writer of original science fiction. View more posts
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“Supercar”!! Thank you so much for this. I could write to you for days about this.
I’m male, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1957 and remember seeing “Supercar” but not likely when it was first broadcast – I’d have been to young for that.
I have faint but wonderful memories of the show and went on to enjoy all of the other Supermarionation series up to and including “Captain Scarlet”. However, it is “Supercar” that is my favorite even though “Thunderbirds” seems to be the world-wide favorite.
With “Supercar” I was was smitten, and still am, by the “one-vehicle-that-can-do-it-all” idea. No need for separate vehicles to go under water or into space or fly – “Supercar” could do it all.
You mention in your broadcast that “Supercar” was the first of the Anderson’s series to be science fiction. I believe it was also their first to have the formal name, “Supermarionation” applied to it.
As a youngster, Barry Gray’s theme music / song gave me goosebumps – and it still does. My memory is of the theme music being played at the start of every episode.
You comment how “talky” “Supercar” is, when compared to later shows. For me, this is a strength of the series. Just my opinion but “Supercar” was very interestingly deeper in the dialogue than later shows.
I have heard criticisms of “Supercar” as being hokey and, “You can see the wires!!” and other similar, unflattering comments. Of course, the shows advanced as time went on! It is completely unfair to criticize “Supercar” or belittle it in any way at all. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and everyone involved in this series cared deeply about their work and were doing their very best – even with the splice done when “Supercar” hits the water and the subsequent splash occurs. Sure you can catch the edit, sure you can see the wires, sure the heads were disproportionally large in comparison to the bodies, sure the faces were caricatures – none of that mattered because the entire series was so well crafted with models, dialogue and ideas that were just wonderfully entertaining. We ought to be able to acknowledge when this was made and be caring in how we use our critical eye.
In a nutshell, we who were children at that time and were children to come, were so profoundly lucky to have these people doing all this work. Yes, they were paid for their work. But it was clearly a passion for all involved and they were doing it for we children.
Rather than address the many things you consider in your video, I’m going to stop here. I think it is important that we measure our evaluations of what things looked like (e.g. puppets), of the filming quality (splashes, wires, etc.) and remember the time in which this series was created and the fact that it was the beginning of the Anderson’s journey into science fiction. I think they deserve this and that any current film makers or model makers or special effects people who are actually in the industry should ask themselves, “How would my work have looked back in 1960?”
Thank you for bringing “Supercar” to attention. Thank you both for all of your work creating this video and caring about the Anderson’s work.
Gerry and Silvia Anderson and all those who worked for / with them left us with true gifts to cherish.
Cam Dix
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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