Stingray
When it comes to Christmas, most SF television goes into hibernation and allows fantasy and ghosts to take over. Nevertheless there are a few Christmassy episodes we can talk about. Stingray is the iconic children's television series that captured the imagination of Sixties audiences during its original airing on ITV. Created by the legendary Gerry and Sylvia Anderson for his production company AP Films, this pioneering show set new standards for their Supermarionation process, as well as being their first in colour.
The series follows the adventures of the crew aboard the futuristic submarine known as Stingray, designed for undersea exploration and defense. Led by the valiant Captain Troy Tempest, his partner Lieutenant George Lee "Phones" Sheridan, and the enigmatic Marina, a mystical undersea woman, the trio works for WASP (the World Aquatic Security Patrol) and embark on daring missions to protect the ocean and humanity from various threats. They regularly battle King Titan, ruler of the Aquaphibians, and his cunning spy X-2-Zero.
Whilst definitely a children's show, Stingray has an unusual depth of character development, largely thanks to the romantic triangle between Troy, Marina, and Atlanta, a fellow WASP officer and daughter of the WASP's leader, Commander Shore. Shore himself had an interesting back story, having been crippled and left hoverchair bound by nameless underwater aliens.
For this special Christmas edition of Very British Futures, regular guest John Isles, and his daughter Amber, join me to watch "A Christmas to Remember", written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Alan Pattillo. Troy and Atlanta try to comfort the bereaved young son of a WASP mariner, whilst a vengeful undersea warrior kidnaps Phones and forces him to lay a trap.
Stingray is available on DVD and Bluray, and can be streamed for free on ITVX in the UK