Fiftysomething women who were little girls in the early 1960s will probably remember Sara and Hoppity (1962-63), a 50-episode television series about a little girl and her mischievous doll with one leg shorter than the other. Men of a similar vintage will recall Space Patrol (1963, Planet Patrol in America), a 39-episode science fiction series incorporating elements of Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation techniques. It sold around the world, achieving the highest ratings of any children’s show up to that time, and even featured on the cover of Variety magazine.
Planet Patrol, as it was called in the U.S., was — still is — a trip.
When I saw it as a kid, I thought it was a Gerry Anderson production and was disappointed by the poor design. Seeing it as an adult, I marvel at how much more adult the stories were and how they tried to adhere to actual science. And the music itself, not at all like the orchestral Barry Gray, was arguably ahead of its time and had to have been influenced by Delia Derbyshire (who orchestrated the original theme for Doctor Who).
She was basically the “mother” of Gerry Anderson. He produced for TV her puppet shows well before he did his own. He’d probably argue that working for her “typecast” him. But it launched him on his legendary career and led him to create immortal TV series.
After the break, the first episode of Planet Patrol.
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