I really enjoyed reading this. When I think back to enjoying all the Anderson series first time around I get an immediate nostalgia hit. I am old enough to remember watching Stingray and Fireball XL5 (also wasn't there an earlier series called Super Car?) sitting on the floor of my friend's house in front of an open coal fire through those proper winters of the 1960s and imagining how great the future was going to be ! The War years were still pretty recent for all the adults around us, and so were regularly discussed. We knew our generation were the luckiest in history, I think, even as pre-teens.
Personally, I loved Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet especially, but Joe 90 did definitely have a more low-key and probably sophisticated mood and structure, as far as I recall. I will definitely try and find it and give it a long watch. Thank you. Great piece!
How about reviewing Midsomer Murders, the long running drama set in the picturesque villages of England's most murderous county. Sadly, what began as quirky detective show set in remote rural villages, with colourful often odious characters has morphed into Eastenders, each episode used to start with views of the glorious English countryside, now, each episode is a countdown to see the first black character.
I don't any more. I did love the episodes when John Nettles was in the role, but after they fired the producer after his comments about the show being better without ethnic minorities, it went downhill fast. They went from having every episode with one black character, to episodes in which remote rural villages being 85% black.
There's not enough there for a dedicated essay. However, as part of a future project, I have written this short review of it:
A splendid production shot on location in rural England (the village of Avebury) during the famously hot summer of 1976. Gareth Thomas and Iain Cuthbertson reunite (from Sutherland’s Law) in a very tightly-plotted yarn about cults, astronomy and time travel. Every line of dialogue matters. The opening title sequence is deliciously eerie, pointing to a backstory which unfolds as the main plot advances - a display of expert writing craft. Good acting, good directing, a fascinating idea, and excellent writing. This is the very peak of 1970s British children’s TV drama.
Thanks. In an interview in the extras on the DVD, Thomas describes it as a kidult, aimed at children, but with adult themes. It was very definitely the peak of children's television, it is impossible to imagine anything being made today of such quality.
> outside the West there is barbarism and dictatorship, poverty and superstition. WIN’s job is to intervene in these foreign lands to keep them relatively peaceful and honest
Makes me wonder if Joe 90’s WIN influenced a young Ian Banks when creating the Special Circumstances agency of The Culture.
Banks may have been an anti-Thatcherite Scot, but perhaps the apple never falls too far from the tree?
I've been reading several books by Agatha Christie, and she often describes very well the social "formula" that you mentioned which worked so well in the old Anglosphere. Except in her stories it was occasionally interrupted by a murder of course. :-) Dame Agatha would be terribly distressed by the kinds of crime and other social disorder that we're now experiencing. She was very traditional and socially observant. Having traveled overseas a lot, she understood the strengths of Anglo culture, while also appreciating the qualities of people and cultures elsewhere.
These old books and TV programs always give me sharp pangs because of what we've lost. It's interesting how many younger people on X are intrigued by old film clips of people walking around happily in our big cities 100 years ago or so, amid beautiful architecture and gardens. It wasn't utopia, of course, but it was better.
I loved Andersons shows. The thing is, as a kid, they were great entertainment, but as a grown up, they didn't make any sense. Take Thunderbirds for example, you have the fathers, the brothers and Brains, the genius behind the thunderbird machines. Where are the engineers, the guys who actually built the Thunderbirds? When Tracey asks the governments not to follow the thunderbirds back to their base, they don't have to, hasn't he heard of radar? Even UFO, Andersons first non puppet show, little of it made any sense, a huge billion dollar organisation in total secrecy, really? Did nobody ever enquire where the hundreds of billions of dollars went? Andersons shows were great as a kid, but as an adult.
Ok, when you watch shows like the ones you listed, you have to stretch belief which mostly we accept, as long as it is not stretched beyond breaking point. I thought that of all the shows Anderson made, Thunderbirds was not the show i would have remade, Captain Scarlett would have been a better choice.
I really enjoyed reading this. When I think back to enjoying all the Anderson series first time around I get an immediate nostalgia hit. I am old enough to remember watching Stingray and Fireball XL5 (also wasn't there an earlier series called Super Car?) sitting on the floor of my friend's house in front of an open coal fire through those proper winters of the 1960s and imagining how great the future was going to be ! The War years were still pretty recent for all the adults around us, and so were regularly discussed. We knew our generation were the luckiest in history, I think, even as pre-teens.
Personally, I loved Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet especially, but Joe 90 did definitely have a more low-key and probably sophisticated mood and structure, as far as I recall. I will definitely try and find it and give it a long watch. Thank you. Great piece!
Thank you for those memories. Yes, Supercar was before Fireball XL5.
How about reviewing Midsomer Murders, the long running drama set in the picturesque villages of England's most murderous county. Sadly, what began as quirky detective show set in remote rural villages, with colourful often odious characters has morphed into Eastenders, each episode used to start with views of the glorious English countryside, now, each episode is a countdown to see the first black character.
I'm afraid I don't have any love for that programme. :(
I don't any more. I did love the episodes when John Nettles was in the role, but after they fired the producer after his comments about the show being better without ethnic minorities, it went downhill fast. They went from having every episode with one black character, to episodes in which remote rural villages being 85% black.
Any chance of doing a post on Children of the Stones?
Great suggestion; I watched it recently and was much impressed. I'm sure I'd have been disturbed by its eeriness as a child.
There's not enough there for a dedicated essay. However, as part of a future project, I have written this short review of it:
A splendid production shot on location in rural England (the village of Avebury) during the famously hot summer of 1976. Gareth Thomas and Iain Cuthbertson reunite (from Sutherland’s Law) in a very tightly-plotted yarn about cults, astronomy and time travel. Every line of dialogue matters. The opening title sequence is deliciously eerie, pointing to a backstory which unfolds as the main plot advances - a display of expert writing craft. Good acting, good directing, a fascinating idea, and excellent writing. This is the very peak of 1970s British children’s TV drama.
Thanks. In an interview in the extras on the DVD, Thomas describes it as a kidult, aimed at children, but with adult themes. It was very definitely the peak of children's television, it is impossible to imagine anything being made today of such quality.
Using an orphan boy to perform dangerous missions is morally questionable at best,
but as a young 70s boy I found it enjoyable if not as exciting as Capt Scarlet Or Thunderbirds.
The theme tune was very catchy, my grandparents recorded me attempting to sing it in 1974...
> outside the West there is barbarism and dictatorship, poverty and superstition. WIN’s job is to intervene in these foreign lands to keep them relatively peaceful and honest
Makes me wonder if Joe 90’s WIN influenced a young Ian Banks when creating the Special Circumstances agency of The Culture.
Banks may have been an anti-Thatcherite Scot, but perhaps the apple never falls too far from the tree?
Joe 90 is one of my absolute favourites. I can still hear the theme song in my head nearly 60 years later.
I've been reading several books by Agatha Christie, and she often describes very well the social "formula" that you mentioned which worked so well in the old Anglosphere. Except in her stories it was occasionally interrupted by a murder of course. :-) Dame Agatha would be terribly distressed by the kinds of crime and other social disorder that we're now experiencing. She was very traditional and socially observant. Having traveled overseas a lot, she understood the strengths of Anglo culture, while also appreciating the qualities of people and cultures elsewhere.
These old books and TV programs always give me sharp pangs because of what we've lost. It's interesting how many younger people on X are intrigued by old film clips of people walking around happily in our big cities 100 years ago or so, amid beautiful architecture and gardens. It wasn't utopia, of course, but it was better.
Is Mrs Harris a doppelganger for R. Reeves at number 11?
I loved Andersons shows. The thing is, as a kid, they were great entertainment, but as a grown up, they didn't make any sense. Take Thunderbirds for example, you have the fathers, the brothers and Brains, the genius behind the thunderbird machines. Where are the engineers, the guys who actually built the Thunderbirds? When Tracey asks the governments not to follow the thunderbirds back to their base, they don't have to, hasn't he heard of radar? Even UFO, Andersons first non puppet show, little of it made any sense, a huge billion dollar organisation in total secrecy, really? Did nobody ever enquire where the hundreds of billions of dollars went? Andersons shows were great as a kid, but as an adult.
LOL I think you just have to over-look these problems, otherwise you'll miss out on the enjoyment. :)
I know, but i have always wondered about the engineers that built the Thunderbirds, i know you can be accused of knit picking.
They were constructed using programmed robotic assembly machines - problem solved!
Come on, they made no less sense than the adult shows of the time. The Avengers? Mission Impossible? The Prisoner even?
Ok, when you watch shows like the ones you listed, you have to stretch belief which mostly we accept, as long as it is not stretched beyond breaking point. I thought that of all the shows Anderson made, Thunderbirds was not the show i would have remade, Captain Scarlett would have been a better choice.
The multi-culti harmony displayed in nearly all the Slop drama's on the major TV channels stretch credibility even further....