Action Man is an American children's animated/live-action television series, created by DIC Productions, L.P. and Bohbot Entertainment. The cartoon is based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name. The show also featured live action segments before and after the main show, which were filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida.
Setting Set in a fictional version of the post-Cold War world where the United Nations has been replaced by the World Security Council after the dissolution of the Soviet Union from which was followed then by the rapid decline of the already known political tensions between some nations and conflicts being waged around the world, leading to the rise of a steady peace in their place. However, what seems to be considered the build-up to world peace, that is slowly happening, is constantly threatened by an international paramilitary terrorist organisation since its emergence. The organisation is staffed by mercenary soldiers called "Skullmen", whose loyalty is to their leader, an evil mastermind who operates under the mysterious phantom identity of Doctor X. Doctor X is determined to achieve his ultimate goal of conquering the world and ruling it with an iron fist, but the only thing that's stopping him and his army of Skullmen from achieving world domination is the Action Team, an elite multinational military task force created by the leader of the World Security Council, Secretary General Norris, that is tasked with stopping all schemes overseen by Doctor X and have the responsibility of capturing him.
Premise The series revolves around the title character Action Man, a British national and the field leader of an elite multinational military task force called "The Action Team", who fight against the evil terrorist Dr. X and his army of Skullmen, an organisation whose goal is world domination. Before joining the Action Team, Action Man was already an enemy of Dr. X and had been pursuing his own personal mission of thwarting Dr. X's operations and trying to capture him, all while doing so without being affiliated with any law enforcement agencies or military forces. In his last mission of his solo career, Action Man fought Dr. X at a chalet in Switzerland while also crossing paths with his then future team-mates of Action Team: Natalie, Knuck and Jacques. The battle resulted in the building being set on fire, Dr. X escaping and Action Man being rescued along with Jacques by Natalie and Knuck before the chalet exploded. However Dr. X was able to shoot a brain wipe serum that made contact with Action Man's skin which caused him to have amnesia. Because his team-mates only heard Dr. X address him as "Action Man" on that night they first saw him it became his name from then on. Since then, Action Man tries to follow every lead he can to piece together the clues and recover his forgotten past whenever a random memory of his returns, all while he and Action Team stop Dr. X and his organisation from conquering the world.
Action Team are based on an orbiting space station called Space Station Extreme where travelling to and from it is by their high tech aircraft Jet Extreme, which they also use to travel to any part of the world where they are needed.
Each time a forgotten memory returns to Action Man he'll go to a secret base called "Base Paradise", which is hidden underground on an uninhabited island, where inside there is a machine that Action Man uses to undergo a virtual memory scan in which he enters a virtual simulated mindscape where he views the memory in vivid detail. The machine operates with an artificial intelligence named Vira, whose role is that of an assistant in the mindscape that provides Action Man with information and insight on unlocked memories when he's exploring them. To enter the mindscape, Action Man must wear a virtual reality suit and headset and stand inside a chamber that is a part of the machine, once inside he then gives Vira the verbal command to activate the virtual memory scan.
Action Man is a member of an elite multinational task force named the Action Team (not Action Force) who fight against the terrorist Dr. X and his evil organisation that is not called the "Council of Doom" in the TV series.
Cast Mark Griffin as Action Man / Matthew Exler Rolf Leenders as Doctor X / Dorian Exler Joely Collins as Natalie Poole Dale Wilson as Knuck Williams Iris Quinn as Vira Richard Cox as Jacques David Hay as Professor Gangrene Garry Chalk as Secretary Norris
Additional cast Nigel Bennett Lisa Bunting Christopher Gaze Chris Humphreys David Morse Colin Murdock Rick Poltaruk Simon Pidgeon William Samples Devon Sawa Paulina Gillis Andrew Francis Mark Hildreth Peter Kelamis Michael Dobson Tracey-Lee Smyth Ingrid Tesch
Episodes
Toys The show introduced several new teammates for Action Man which were then made into toys. The action figures of Natalie Poole and Knuck have become very rare collector's items. At Joecon 2010, a convention exclusive Q-Force action figure of Natalie Poole was released.
Media releases United States In November 2001, Lions Gate Home Entertainment and Trimark Home Video released two VHS tapes titled "Secret of Action Man" and "Action Man in Space", containing two episodes each. A DVD also titled Action Man in Space was also released, containing the same four episodes as the VHS tapes. None of these DVDs contain the live-action segments.
Release nameEpisodesRelease dateRunning timeAdditional information Action Man in Space (VHS) "Space Walk""Peril at Perigee" November 5, 2001 Secret of Action Man (VHS) "Space Wars""Skynap" November 5, 2001 Secret of Action Man (DVD) "Space Walk""Peril at Perigee""Space Wars""Skynap" November 5, 2001 60 Minutes
In 2003, Sterling Entertainment released a DVD called "Space Wars". It was re-released by NCircle Entertainment in 2007. As with the Lions Gate releases, this DVD doesn't feature the live-action segments either.
Release nameEpisodesRelease dateRunning timeAdditional information Action Man: Space Wars "We Come in Peace""Satellite Down""Skynap""Space Wars" 2003
In February 2015, Mill Creek Entertainment released Action Man - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 as part of their "Retro TV Toons" series.Both Seasons of the 1995 Series Come to DVD in 'The Complete Series' This marked the first time all episodes of the show had received a DVD release.
United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, the series was released on VHS by Abbey Home Entertainment/PolyGram and later Just Entertainment and Abbey Home Media.
The episodes were also released on DVD by Abbey Home Media, with two releases from Prism Leisure, but the episodes on the DVDs are in a random order, and many episodes have been released numerous times while several have not been released at all. This has caused confusion amongst many fans.
VHS VHS nameEpisodesRelease dateRunning timeAdditional information Vol. 1 - Explosive Situation "Explosive Situation""Fountain of Youth" September 23, 1996 42 minutes Vol. 2 - X-treme Action "Ancient History""Paril at Perigee" September 23, 1996 42 minutes Vol. 3 - R.A.I.D."R.A.I.D.""The X-Factor" November 4, 1996 42 minutes Vol. 4 - We Come in Peace "We Come in Peace""Hands Down" November 4, 1996 42 minutes Satellite Down "Satellite Down""Ice Age" February 10, 1997 42 minutes A Time for Action "A Time for Action" (combined)"Points of Danger" 1997 42 minutes Explosive Situation "Explosive Situation""Fountain of Youth""CyberSoldier" 2001 64 minutes Explosive Situation "Explosive Situation""Fountain of Youth" April 22, 2002 42 Minutes CyberSoldier "CyberSoldier""Hands Down" Mid-2002 42 Minutes The X Factor "The X Factor""R.A.I.D." Mid-2002 42 Minutes Space Wars "Space Wars""Satellite Down""Hands Down" June 17, 2002 63 minutes Rogue Moons "Rogue Moons""Points of Danger""Deja Vu" September 9, 2002 63 minutes The Outside Edge "The Outside Edge""Skynap""Crack of Doom" May 24, 2004 63 minutes Past Performance "Soul of Evil""We Came in Peace""Past Performance" May 24, 2004 63 minutes
DVD DVD nameEpisodesRelease dateRunning timeAdditional information Explosive Situation "Explosive Situation""Fountain of Youth""CyberSoldier" November 11, 2002 63 minutes 3 Explosive Episodes"Ice Age""Skynap""Crack of Doom" May 7, 2003 66 minutes A Time for Action "A Time For Action" (both parts combined)"The Most Dangerous Prey" 2003 63 minutes The Outside Edge "The Outside Edge""Skynap""Crack of Doom" May 24, 2004 65 minutes Past Performance "Soul of Evil""We Came in Peace""Past Performance" May 24, 2004 63 minutes Peril at Perigee "Peril at Perigee""You Can't Go Home Again" January 24, 2005 43 minutes 3 Explosive Episodes"The Red Plague""Points of View""Ancient History" April 25, 2005 63 minutes Rogue Moons "Rogue Moons""Points of Danger""Deja Vu" August 7, 2006 63 minutes
Other countries In France, Spain and The Netherlands, VHS tapes of the series were released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, once again usually containing two episodes.
References
External links
IMDb: Episode list for "Action Man" (1995) TV.com: Action Man (1995) Episode Guide