Space Patrol (UK puppet TV series)
Space Patrol was a puppet TV series from the United Kingdom, made in 1962, written and produced by Roberta Leigh in association with the Associated British Corporation It featured the vocal talents of Dick Vosburgh, Ronnie Stevens, Libby Morris, Murray Kash and Ysanne Churchman, and comprised 39 half-hour episodes. This series is also known by its US title Planet Patrol to avoid confusion with a U.S. series of the same name.
It concerned an interplanetary police force in the year 2100, and focused on the crew of Galasphere 347 under the command of Captain Larry Dart.
Leigh had previously worked with Gerry Anderson on chilldren's puppet series, and there are some obvious similarities between Space Patrol and Anderson's Fireball XL5, although Space Patrol was made on a lower budget. For many years it was believed that all but a handful of episodes had been destroyed, until a complete cache of 16mm prints was discovered. Despite their scratched and grainy condition, they were of sufficient historic interest to warrant a DVD release. Selected episodes were issued on DVD in 2001, and the complete series was released in 2003. These are on region 0 discs and can therefore be viewed internationally.
Other works with the same name
At least two other science fiction series have had the name Space Patrol – see the disambiguation page for details.
External links
Categories: Science fiction television series | ITV television programmes