Amazonian Adventure
Supercar TM and (C) 1959 and 2001 Carlton International Media Limited.
Credits: Producer-Gerry Anderson, Director - David Elliot, Dirctor of Photography-John Read, Art Director-Reg Hill, Dialogue Direction - Sylvia Thamm, Story - Martin & Hugh Woodhouse (from an original idea by Gerry Anderson & Reg Hill), Music - Barry Gray, Editor - Gordon Davie, Sound Editor - Archie Ludski, Camera Operator - Juien Lugrin, Character Voices - David Graham, George Murcell, Graydon Gould, Aviation Facilities - Fim Aviation Services LTD, Puppets made and operated by Christine Ganville, Mary Turner, Roger Woodburn, Second Unit Operator - Cecil Stavordale.
Plot: Bill and Jimmy Gibson (with Mitch the Monkey have to ditch in the ocean, leaving them stranded in the ocean with little hope of rescue because of poor visability. Enter Mike Mercury, Prof. Rudolph Popkiss and Doctor Horatio Beaker, creators of the fantastic vehicle Supercar. Mike is hot to rescue the Gibsons with Supercar, but Popkiss is reluctant. Supercar has not been fully tested yet. Finally he relents and Mike takes off, and using Dr. Beakers new ClearVu device, is able to make the rescue. Jimmy wakes up to find he was not dreaming about fantastic aircrafts rescuing him, and never leaves the show. Mitch wreaks havoc.
Review:“There she is, Mike . . . Supercar!”
Any beginning of a new television series involves risk. The producers want to hook new viewers while simultaneously spending time introducing the characters, settings and situations. It’s a gamble that only works at best on an occasional basis. If luck is with a series the viewers will be convinced to stay for at least a few more episodes and become involved in the story. At worst the series will join the graveyard littered with good intentioned efforts.
For the debut of Supercar, writers Martin and Hugh Woodhouse took an idea from Gerry Anderson and Reg Hill and provided the new viewer with a taste of the direction the series would travel. Early on we meet Mike Mercury, Doctor Beaker and Professor Popkiss and, within five minutes, their basic characteristics are established. Popkiss is the cautious yet sympathetic engineer, Mike is the eager yet sensible test pilot, and Beaker the occasionally befuddled yet wholly brilliant scientist. Our heroes are introduced to what will soon become a standard element: someone in trouble and requiring help which only Supercar can provide. Not to mention, for this debut, the initial flight of the title vehicle itself.
In this day of over-loaded hour-long dramatic television episodes it becomes easy to forget that, once upon a time, the medium was the home to finely crafted twenty-minute stories. Not that every episode of Supercar would prove to be an example of excellence, but the series would start with a simple yet effective adventure that would easily set the stage for the following stories. A situation would arise . . . the characters would climb into the titular vehicle and, after a narrow escape or two, the day would be saved. The work performed in producing this and other episodes of Supercar would provide the Anderson team with the experience needed on later efforts such as Thunderbirds and Space: 1999.
Credit must be given to episode director David Elliott for managing to lighten the episode with well-timed bits of mild humor. A laboratory test of a ceramic sample becomes an opportunity to demonstrate the sort of low-keyed comedy possible with puppet actors (and showed how useful Mike Mercury could be as a straight man to Beaker). In the midst of a tense rescue situation Popkiss and Beaker engage in an argument concerning gyro-stabilization . . . not only defusing what might’ve turned into an overly-drama weighted moment, but also allowing the rescue to take place “offscreen” (and avoiding a realization of how limited the puppet actors were in their movement). All of this taking place among Reg Hill’s clever set design and prop placement. The episode also brings in the distinctive music of Barry Gray; providing opportunities for all the leit-motifs which would come to signify the series. Not that the episode entirely lacks problems. The pilot of a rescue helicopter seems incapable of moving his lips. And the ending scene was part Wizard Of Oz denouement, part tacked-on “didn’t know how to end the story” shtick. But the viewer who made it all the way to the ending was, by this time, probably convinced that future episodes of Supercar would be worth following. The future of Anderson and his team was established with this and, after the work done on Torchy and Four Feather Falls, the distinctive “Anderson style” would be firmly carved in stone with the debut tale of “the marvel of the age”.