Supercar is a British children's science fiction television series produced by Gerry Anderson and Arthur Provis' AP Films (APF) for Associated Television and ITC Entertainment.The Complete Gerry Anderson Episode Guide, A. Pirani, Titan Books, 1989. Two series totalling 39 episodes were filmed between September 1960 and January 1962. Budgeted at £2,000 per episode, it was Anderson's first half-hour series, as well as his first science fiction production.
The series uses Supermarionation puppetry and scale model special effects. Anderson would later claim that the whole point of having a series based on a vehicle was to minimise having to show the marionettes walking, an action which he felt never looked convincing. Though the series' creation was credited to Gerry Anderson and Reg Hill, it also incorporates elements of Beaker's Bureau, an unmade series that scriptwriter Hugh Woodhouse had pitched to the BBC. The music was composed and conducted by Barry Gray. For the first series, the opening and closing theme song vocalist was Mike Sammes; for the second series, Sammes' vocal group The Mike Sammes Singers re-recorded the theme.Archer and Hearn, p. 69.
In the UK, the series premiered on 28 January 1961 in the London area and was later shown on other regional franchises of the ITV network.La Rivière 2014, p. 92. It was repeated in various regions until 1968, and again by Granada Television between 1971 and 1973.Fryer 2016, p. 60. In Canada, it aired on CBC, and in the U.S. in syndication (the first Anderson series to be shown overseas), debuting in 1962. It eventually aired in more than 40 countries.
The series is available on DVD in the United Kingdom, Australia, and North America, where it has been issued twice. It was released on Blu-ray in 2021, its 60th anniversary year.
Premise
The star of the series was Supercar, a multi-environment craft invented by Professor Rudolph Popkiss and Doctor Horatio Beaker, and piloted by Mike Mercury. Airbreathing jet engines and retractable wings in the rear allowed it to fly like a vertical-takeoff-and-landing aeroplane; retrorockets on the side slowed it. On land it rode on a cushion of air rather than wheels. Non-airbreathing rocket engines allowed it to travel underwater like a submarine and fly in outer space. Its navigation system contained "Clear-Vu" to allow the pilot to see through fog and smoke. It was housed in and supported from a laboratory at Black Rock, Nevada.
In the first episode, "Rescue", the Supercar's mission is to save passengers of a downed private plane. Two of the rescued, young Jimmy Gibson and his pet monkey Mitch, are invited to live at the facility and share in subsequent adventures.
The series inaugurated what became an Anderson trademark: the launch sequence. With the exception of The Secret Service, all of his series until Terrahawks included these – in Supercars case, the charging and firing of port and starboard engines, the activation of an interlock, the opening of (overhead) hangar doors, and finally the vertical take-off.
Characters Protagonists Mike Mercury: test pilot of Supercar; voiced by Graydon Gould Professor Rudolph Popkiss: co-inventor of Supercar; voiced by George Murcell in series 1 and Cyril Shaps in series 2 Doctor Horatio Beaker: co-inventor of Supercar; voiced by David Graham. Jimmy Gibson: kid brother of Mike's pilot friend Bill Gibson, saved by Mike in episode 1; voiced by Sylvia Anderson Mitch: Jimmy's pet monkey; voiced by David Graham.
Recurring villains Masterspy and Zarin: a foreign spy and his henchman, who are obsessed with stealing Supercar. Masterspy was voiced by George Murcell in series 1 and Cyril Shaps in series 2; Zarin was voiced by David Graham in both series. According to John Peel, the duo are "very reminiscent" of Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre as Gutman and Cairo in The Maltese Falcon. Mr Harper: a posh English criminal; voiced by George Murcell. Ben Judd: a lower-class Cockney criminal; voiced by David Graham.
Other recurring characters Bill Gibson: Jimmy's elder brother, Mike Mercury's pilot friend who owns a shipping business; voiced by David Graham Felicity Beaker: Doctor Beaker's cousin, who owns an estate in Malaysia; voiced by Sylvia Anderson
Production After Granada Television declined to order a second series of Four Feather Falls, its creator Gerry Anderson approached Lew Grade of ATV with the idea for Supercar. Anderson proposed a budget of £3,000 per episode, which Grade demanded be cut in half. After working through the night, Anderson returned the next morning with the budget reduced by only a third. However, Grade still commissioned the series.Archer and Hearn, p. 61.
Anderson always claimed that he invented a futuristic vehicle as an excuse to reduce the amount of walking the marionettes had to do, which could never be made to look realistic. This was taken to its conclusion in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, in which the marionette puppets are almost never seen walking.
Scriptwriter brothers Hugh and Martin Woodhouse devised supporting characters Dr Beaker, Masterspy and Zarin to expand on Anderson's original concept, which featured only Mike Mercury, Jimmy and Mitch. Before partnering with Anderson, the Woodhouses had been developing their own series about the Beaker character under the working title Beaker's Bureau.La Rivière 2014, p. 70. The brothers wrote one complete "shooting (camera-ready) script" per week to accommodate Anderson's (and Grade's) cost and production schedule.
There were several working models of Supercar, which was designed by art director Reg Hill.Archer and Hearn, p. 62. The larger "hero" model was about long and cost £1,000 to build. Made of lightweight wood and Perspex, it was constructed by Laurie Barr of Aeronautical and General Modelmakers (now Mastermodels). A mid-sized model, around long and sculpted by Slough craftsman Bill James, as well as a smaller model, about , were used for the titles. One of the smaller models, used in distance shots, was about in length and was also sculpted by Bill James. John Peel likens Supercar's appearance to that of the 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty.
Voice casting The cast for Supercar was put together weeks before shooting was to commence.La Rivière 2009, p. 57. The lines were recorded in the rushes theatre, which was transformed into a recording studio. Lines were recorded on a Sunday once a month, because the studio was on a trading estate, meaning that Sundays were the quietest days of the week. The recording sessions typically took place between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., during which time the cast, along with the sound engineers, would try to work through at least three scripts.
Despite never auditioning for the series, Canadian actor Robert Graydon Gould (The Forest Rangers) was hired as the voice of Mike Mercury. At the time of his casting, the 23-year-old had been working in radio and television plays. In an interview, Gould recalled that because he had no car, travelling to Slough to record dialogue was difficult because "Sunday transport is about half of what it normally is"; however, as he had a wife, a two-year-old child and a three-bedroom apartment, he was grateful for the money. Voice director Sylvia Anderson (credited as Sylvia Thamm on series 1) helped Gould with his accent. As Gould remembered: "She would point out when my Canadian accent was slipping through".
David Graham voiced three characters for the series: Doctor Beaker, Zarin, and Mitch the Monkey. He also voiced recurring character Bill Gibson. He had previously worked on the series Four Feather FallsMarriott 60 where he had shown his ability to provide a variety of different voices. Graham based his voice for Dr Beaker on veteran actor Felix Aylmer. He also spent a day at London Zoo watching monkeys, trying get a good interpretation as to how Mitch should sound.La Rivière 2014, p. 86.
George Murcell voiced Professor Popkiss and Masterspy for the first series. He had previously worked for AP Films when playing the character Diamond in the low-budget B-Movie Crossroads to Crime alongside David Graham. Graham believes that because of his voice quality, Gerry Anderson thought he would make a good Masterspy, while Gould remembers Murcell doing "all the European voices". Murcell left the series after 24 episodes, and as such Popkiss does not appear in the last two episodes of the first series.Bentley, 47.
Sylvia Anderson voiced Jimmy Gibson and all the female characters. However she did not receive a cast credit for the first series.Bentley, 38. Originally Sylvia was not to voice Jimmy, but she was given the opportunity when Gerry was not happy with the original voice of Jimmy that had already been recorded. This marked Sylvia's first involvement in voice acting.
Filming Principal photography on the first 26 episodes began in September 1960, with the production filming at a rate of one episode every two weeks.La Rivière 2014, p. 88. By the end of December, 13 episodes had been completed; the 26th was finished in April 1961.La Rivière 2014, pp. 91; 96. During production, Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Thamm married. After a brief midday wedding, the couple returned to the studio to help complete the opening title sequence.Archer and Hearn, p. 66–68.La Rivière 2014, p. 89.
The series' scale model aerial photography effects were created by filming the miniatures in front of rear-projected footage of a cloud-filled sky, shot from an Airspeed Oxford flying at . This marked APF's first use of rear-projection effects.Archer and Hearn, pp. 64–65. Background footage for driving scenes was filmed on the M1 motorway.La Rivière 2014, pp. 84–85. The shots of Supercar entering and exiting the sea were filmed on a shallow outdoor pool. The dive shot was achieved by splicing the footage of the model with a splash from a rock. To film the exit, the crew yanked the submerged model out of the water on a fishing line.La Rivière 2014, pp. 88–89.Archer and Hearn, p. 65.
Other effects scenes were filmed using miniature models or painted backdrops. To create underwater sequences, a thin aquarium containing tiny fish was placed between the camera and the set; as the Supercar model was flown across the set on wires, the underwater effect was completed by connecting an air-line to the aquarium to produce bubble jets, and splashing the water to scatter the studio lighting and simulate refracted sunlight.Meddings 1993, pp. 16–17.La Rivière 2014, p. 91. Model sets featuring vegetation used cuttings from real trees for greater realism.Archer and Hearn, p. 64.
Series 2 After Grade ordered a further 13 episodes, filming on a second production block began in October 1961. For this second block, production time was shortened by splitting the crew into two units and filming episodes in pairs based on overlapping schedules, allowing two episodes to be completed in as many weeks. It also saw the introduction of a dedicated special effects unit (led by Derek Meddings and Brian Johnson).La Rivière 2014, pp. 98–99.
With the departure of Murcell, Cyril Shaps was brought in to voice Professor Popkiss and Masterspy. David Graham was a friend of Shaps and suggested him for the part. At the time Shaps was performing in the West End play The Tenth Man, which Graham and the Andersons went to see.La Rivière 2009, p. 65.
Regarded as "Series 2" of Supercar, the final 13 episodes were the first APF productions to be credited as "Filmed in Supermarionation".Archer and Hearn, pp. 68–69. Production ended in December 1961.
U.S. syndication