Presented in Supercolorisation

We all know and love Gerry Anderson’s thrilling and colourful puppet action series such as ‘Thunderbirds’, ‘Stingray’ and ‘Captain Scarlet’ to name but a few. But before these exciting Supermarionation adventures bounced upon an enthusiastic audience, Anderson produced three series in b/w. Now, thanks to a colourisation process from HD re-masters using state-of-the-art software, key episodes of ‘Four Feather Falls’, ‘Supercar’ and ‘Fireball XL5 have been colourised and are presented on Disc 1 of this 2-disc extravaganza. As for Disc 2… well, some mighty surprises are in store!

DISC 1:
We start with the episode ‘First Train Through’ of FOUR FEATHER FALLS’ – Gerry Anderson’s third puppet show for Granada TV (now ITV) from 1960. The entire series was the brainchild of British musician and composer Barry Gray (who also wrote the show’s ditties). The series is set in 19th century Kansas, to be precise in the fictional town of Four Feather Falls in which our hero, Sheriff Tex Tucker, has a tough time keeping law and order – just like in any western worth its salt. In this episode, Sheriff Tucker has to find those responsible for sabotaging the train tracks after a railroad finally comes to town connecting it to Dallas. Incidentally, Tucker always wears four magical feathers on his hat – given to him by Chief Kalamakooya for saving his grandchild. Although it all sounds rather serious the show is in fact quite whimsical thanks to Tucker’s horse Rocky and his dog Dusty (both speak in human language).

Then it’s on to two episodes of SUPERCAR from 1961, in which Mike Mercury, test pilot for the almighty Supercar, is assisted by Professor Popkiss and Dr. Horatio Beaker (the co-inventors of Supercar) in his fight against all sorts of villains. Also part of the team is little Jimmy Gibson and his naughty pet monkey Mitch. The episodes are ‘Pirate Plunder’ and ‘Take One’ and it all looks glorious in colour.
The same can be said for FIREBALL XL5 (1962-63) – a spaceship commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol. His crew is composed of space medicine expert Dr. Venus, engineer and navigator Professor Matic and co-pilot Robert – a robot. Here, three coloured episodes have been selected for our viewing pleasure which are ‘The Sun Temple’, ‘The Granatoid Tanks’ and ‘A Day in the Life of a Space General’. In ‘The Sun Temple’, Dr. Venus falls prey to pagan sun worshippers who plan to sacrifice her to their sun god and in ‘A Day in the Life…’ cocky Lt. Ninety finds himself promoted to a Space General but thanks to his inexperience and incompetence everything ends in disaster when the entire base is destroyed by enemies… Thankfully it turns out to be a nightmare.

DISC 2:
Here then we have some real and truly rare treasures: who has ever heard (let alone seen) of a very early Gerry Anderson series called YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THESE? Well, no one really because this fascinating b/w series from 1955 has never really been shown on TV… until now, and god knows how the production team managed to dig up some of these episodes from 1955 which, by the way, is not a puppet show but features presenter Pete Collins (who looks like a stuffy bank manager) in his pursuit of strangle people who do strange things – with encounters in the UK but also in Europe. Gerry Anderson, who produced and filmed the series, travelled with him. First we are invited to the charming little village of Bray in which the weirdest restaurant called ‘The Hovel’ leaves visitors and guests gobsmacked thanks to its eclectic décor and collection of unusual artefacts from all over the world which make the Inn look like more like the Old Curiosity Shop. Or how about Bibiche – the French musical dog who plays piano and barks a melody. We stay in France with a young lady who can change into 25 different costumes and characters within the space of five minutes before we meet a lady in Italy who re-creates masterpieces of art (like the Mona Lisa) simply by using her typewriter! If this doesn’t leave you gobsmacked enough we also have performing cats and two English gentlemen with equally unusual hobbies: while one creates furniture and other objects using thousands and thousands of matches (!), the other gentleman creates little sculptures carved of coal!
By the way, all the episodes are presented by Dr. Horatio Beaker and Professor Matic thanks to their ‘Retro Vision Machine’.

The second part, simply called SPACE CITY SPECIALS, goes into more detail and demonstrates (via split screen) how some of the b/w puppet shows have been colourised, with Dr. Beaker and Professor Matic trying to outdo themselves when it comes to technical know-how. We are treated to some more episodes (although most of them are already on Disc 1) and get a peep behind the scenes when puppeteers bring Sheriff Tucker to life.

This 2-disc Blu-ray set is an incredible treat for all fans of Gerry Anderson and the perfect Christmas gift for all those who appreciate a trip down memory lane. The indicated running time of 143 minutes only applies to Disc 1, we have several moe hours of entertainment on Disc 2 and as an added bonus, there’s an exclusive 16-page SuperColorising book!