I Watch TV: Space Patrol

 

Space Patrol

It’s 2100 AD and Earth, Mars and Venus have come together and formed Space Patrol, under the United Galactic Organisation*. The crew of Galasphere 347** is made up of Captain Larry Dart (Earthman, bearded, always owed leave) with Slim, a thin faced mission-oriented Venusian, and Husky, a heavily built Martian who’s always hungry.

They’re sent on missions by Colonel Raeburn, who mostly gets things done thanks to his secretary, a Venusian woman named Marla. Her catchphrases include “With alacrity,” and she often anticipates his orders. Problems are referred to the Irish scientist Professor Haggerty and his daughter/assistant Cassiopeia; he’s always rude and hates it when Cassie refers to him as “Pops.” Rounding out the regular cast is Gabbler, a Martian Parrot who is taught to talk. Gabbler is foolish and boastful, and sometimes useful.

It's a 1960s black and white puppet show for kids! Gabbler, interestingly, is probably the most normal looking alien puppet. The creatures from the other worlds of the solar system (and beyond in a couple of episodes) tend to look quite weird. Meanwhile there’s some effort gone into the sheer size of the solar system. Many voyages to the outer planets take weeks, and the crew have to go to sleep in the freezer chamber, the Galasphere going on robot control (indicated by a robot walking down a corridor). They can be awakened by a zirgon ray from Earth if needed.

There are some recurring antagonists in the Neptunians, who have astounding mental powers and also hate work. They are constantly trying to get slaves, despite being offered robots if they stop slavery and join the United Galactic Organisation. No, they don’t like robots, they like mentally dominating other beings!

Often oddly paced, sometimes Dart and crew don’t appear for several scenes as something happens then someone reports to Raeburn and he calls other people, tries to get Professor Haggerty to make sense, and only then calling in his team. Who are always wanting to go on leave. Their motives are generally childish, Husky wanting sausages, Slim not thinking he has time to visit Venus. Meanwhile the threat from planetary environments and alien adversaries are quite serious. The seriousness with which they take the science (more accurate for the 1960s understanding than strictly necessary) and occasional clever moments of weirdness are good. The show as a whole however tends to be mixed, and the comedy and non-mission events are generally bad.

Watch This: Curiosity of a science fiction puppet show with some good ideas
Don’t Watch This: Often odd puppeteering, strange music choices, annoyingly childish characters and ridiculous plots

* The Solar System is consistently and incorrectly referred to as a galaxy in the show.

** Because of the use of stock footage from when it was Galasphere 024 in the take off sequence, it appears that the Galasphere is 024 when on the ground and 347 when in flight.