If you were a kid or young adult in the United Kingdom, America and a few other lucky locations during the 1960’s and 70’s and had a TV in the house, you more likely than not saw something Gerry Anderson produced and fell head over heels for before the opening credits were done. I happened to grow up watching Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons, Thunderbirds, UFO and Space: 1999 all of which burned their share of memorable images into my brain and are still fondly remembered today. Sure, much of his output might not hold up to the scrutiny of the legions of jaded sci-fi fans that go for flashier effects, more outrageous characters and overall classier writing. Anderson’s shows were primarily geared to young boys (although his wife Sylvia certainly softened things considerably with her unique fashion sense), but there were more women in his series as time progressed, some of whom ended up a more than eye candy thanks to some fine writing and acting.

For me, however, it was all about the awesome gear. Thunderbirds had me dreaming about those ships for ages with five different main vehicles to ogle per episode, UFO’s SkyDiver, Mobiles and Interceptors were drawn up in detail more than a few times as were Space: 1999’s equally cool  Eagles and Hawks. While I grew out of the latter show around the second season, I still watched it every so often and yes, was a bit disappointed that it slid into Lost in Space “creature of the week” territory with the addition of the otherwise gorgeous Catherine Schell playing the shape-changing alien, Maya. By then, sci-fi was going through some revolutions that would in a few short years end up bringing the world Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner and a number of other jolts to the genre as well as the original Battlestar: Galactica on TV and the era of Glen Larson borrowing so much from George Lucas’ already borrowed output (as well as other cinematic and literary sources) that he was dubbed “Glen Larceny” by no less than the great Harlan Ellison.

Of all his works, UFO and the Robert Parrish directed 1969 film Doppelgänger (known here as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) made the deepest impressions on me for the longest period of time. The former was Anderson’s first live action series, a mostly serious account of a secret organization tasked with dealing with alien invaders intent on harvesting human organs to keep their race alive. The show was definitely not for kids as the very first episode showed a fairly violent (for the time) POV alien assault on a trio of humans who stumble upon a saucer that lands in the woods. There was also an alien autopsy sequence as well as other mature themes explored during the two-season run. The show also introduced a legion of young men to the lovely Gabrielle Drake, who despite having to wear (along with the other Moonbase staff) one of the lest functional uniforms on a sci-fi show, made it look absolutely stunning. She was also great on the acting front in a few of the best episodes of the show as part of a storyline that got cut off before a proper resolution. Most episodes of the show have bleak outlooks or slightly depressing themes to them, but with only 26 episodes total, the series is worth a watch just to see the Andersons’ vision of the future on display.

While Journey to the Far Side of the Sun has its own share of flaws, the outstanding special effects work and Twilight Zone style ending sequence stuck in my head for ages after I first saw the film on TV. All of Anderson’s sci-fi from the 60’s and 70’s featured some amazing visual effects and innovations on a few fronts. Those puppets in his earlier may bring chuckles today to many younger viewers, but Anderson’s effects teams and their hard work have influenced everything from Team America: World Police, Robot Chicken and a horde of creators who remake intros and sequences from old shows out of their love for those old shows.

A tiny bit of trivia for game fans: I’d have to say UFO is probably Anderson’s most influential work of all his shows, as it was one of the main inspirations for the classic PC game X-COM: UFO Defense, considered by many to be one of the greatest computer strategy games ever made. This year saw a new revival, XCOM: Enemy Unknown which garnered spectacular reviews from nearly every major website. There was supposed to be a first-person shooter also called XCOM that focused on the origins of the organization and was going to be set in a highly stylized 1950’s American setting, but development woes and fan outrage over everything from the art style, thinking the game would be another simplistic shooter and a few other factors have kept it out of the spotlight. It’s hard to say if this game will ever see the light of day, but 2K Games had a survey earlier this year asking gamers what type of game they’d prefer and it looks as if we may see something else other than the original design pop up at some point in the future.

The only other of Anderson’s other live action shows I remember smaller bits of was The Protectors, which came on here late at night Sundays (I think around 11:30 or midnight), which made it hard to catch all the time thanks to me having to pop up bright and early Mondays for school. I recall it being about a trio of wealthy crime solvers and liked all the shiny cars and tech used by the actors. Now that I think about it… it was sort of a Mission Impossible for the filthy rich crowd, so it may be fun to track down a DVD one of these days to see if the show was actually any good. As for his earlier and later works not mentioned here, I can’t speak for them other than to say I sat through and fell asleep at a very late Fireball XL-5 and Supercar marathon at a comics convention in the early 80’s. Well, it was after midnight and I’d been up for about fourteen hours beforehand and the need for a decent sleep always trumps the need for nostalgia. Well, I do have a UFO box set and Season 1 of Space: 1999 here on DVD, so perhaps I’ll so some less tired reminiscing over the weekend…