As Stingray turns 60, we go behind the scenes of the classic sci-fi series that's still making a splash

"Anything can happen in the next half-hour," we were promised – and it often did. Over 39 episodes, we followed the intrepid submariners of WASP (the World Aquanaut Security Patrol) and their encounters with undersea civilisations, mechanical fish, deadly plants and even the Loch Ness Monster.

Spearheading their defence of Earth's oceans was the swift, atomic-powered combat submarine Stingray, which was designed by the show's associate producer Reg Hill.

Gerry’s son Jamie Anderson tells Radio Times that the development made production company AP Films pioneers. "For the teams responsible for making the transition from black and white to colour, it was a massive pain in the arse!"

A fact-finding mission to the States to learn from another studio working with colour resulted in the realisation, as Jamie puts it, "Oh God, we’re going to have to repaint everything, change everything!

"So it was a huge challenge, but I think it became the 'unlock' to longevity. If they had shot Stingray and Thunderbirds [1965–6] in black and white, which everybody else was doing – mainstream channels and content at the time – it wouldn’t have had its long-term wins.

"Thunderbirds wouldn’t have been designed so much around colour in terms of [the different] craft, there’s no way you’d have had Captain Scarlet – well, what’s the point in having Spectrum, it’s just in black and white! So it’s a real turning point."

This, coupled with a step-up in the Supermarionation and special effects, gave the show staying power on repeat viewings, including on BBC Two in the 1990s.

"That '90s resurgence was so key, and was such a testament to the work done by the whole team," says Jamie, 39, managing director of the Anderson Entertainment company that is building on Gerry’s legacy.

"I was a kid among other kids who were finding out about those shows for the first time. They thought that it had been made for them recently – there was no concept that they were already watching a 30-year-old piece of television!"

AP Films shot Stingray in new studios built inside a converted factory unit in Slough. After setting the preceding show in outer space, it was a conscious decision to bring the action down to earth.

"There is so much about the deep sea that is essentially a mirror to deep space that it still has the kind of mysterious elements of Fireball XL5, while still making it more on your doorstep," says Jamie.

"There’s something very distant about looking up at the stars, and yet as a kid you’ve been to the beach, you can imagine just looking out there and seeing Stingray bobbing along the horizon or a Terror Fish diving out and back in again. It brought the mystery of space but the relatability and proximity of the seas."

Setting the show in water did have its drawbacks, however. "In the early days, one of their tanks burst and flooded the studio," explains Jamie. (A cartoon from the mid-'60s drawn by special effects director Derek Meddings depicts Gerry with a cigar in the end of his snorkel, and Sylvia dressed as a mermaid.)

Wedge-shaped water tanks were built for sea-surface model shots to give a permanent ocean horizon, and both models and puppets were suspended on wires for underwater scenes, which were filmed through a tank filled with small, different-coloured fish to give the illusion that all the action was happening under the waves.

There was a greater emphasis on action. "It is all about conflict, so the stakes are raised from the opening titles onwards," says Jamie. "They were grabbing audiences and keeping them hooked in a new way."

Character dynamics were also more complex compared with previous series. There was Commander Samuel Shore, head of the WASP HQ Marineville, who had been seriously injured in a submarine crash; his loyal daughter Lieutenant Atlanta Shore; Lieutenant 'Phones' Sheridan; and the Stingray submarine captain Troy Tempest, whose affections are torn between Atlanta and Marina, a mute woman from the underwater kingdom of Titanica.

"The love triangle always surprised me because it doesn’t feel like a kids’ thing," confesses Jamie. "You’re not that interested in grown-ups being icky and 'eughhh' when you’re seven or eight years old, but it was still interesting.

"That’s the precursor to the dual-level writing of Thunderbirds, with the stuff that appeals to Mum and Dad and stuff that appeals to the kids.

"But even with the father/daughter tension between Shore and Atlanta, there’s an added element there... and again with the slightly comedic duo of [undersea king] Titan and [Surface Agent] X20, you can see in Stingray the prototype relationships that you’ll go on to see in Thunderbirds."

Some sequences, like the skating scene below for the festive special A Christmas to Remember, look impressive – and defy explanation – even today.

Jamie says that this was all part of the impetus to make the puppets more lifelike, even as Gerry and Sylvia moved toward their dominant goal, which was to make live-action series and films.

"There must be a point at which the puppeteers' drive to do amazing, lifelike things would have been approaching Dad’s desire for live action. And whether he was pulling them a bit further and pushing those boundaries, or whether it was a happy place between the two parties, I’m not sure.

"But how the hell did they do that skating sequence?! It would be tough doing it now."

Two major contributors to Stingray were composer Barry Gray and special effects maestro Derek Meddings, who, according to Jamie, tackled the show and those that followed with drama, gravitas and a serious approach.

"Neither was approaching this as a kiddies’ show, neither was trying to do stuff on the cheap — they were both well funded and supported, which really helped — but they both brought an experimental and intellectual rigour to their different roles.

"I don’t think I would take Barry’s work as seriously without the visuals and the drama that Derek brought, and Barry’s work elevates all of Derek’s as well.

"And though they probably very rarely spoke to each other except at end-of-shooting parties and stuff, they were, bizarrely, working hand in hand and pushing things forward.

"At the time, I very much doubt there was anybody else in the British film industry who was doing as much as Derek was in special effects, or as much as Barry was to elevate what was ostensibly a kids' show.

"Theoretically, having a massive soundtrack on a puppet/miniatures show could potentially make the visuals seem smaller somehow – and yet everything Barry did there was perfect, elevated every element and never made it seem small. He was an incredibly smart guy."

Stingray is still big business for Anderson Entertainment, 60 years on, with a brand new overarching story for books and audio called Stingray: Deadly Uprising, while there are comic anthologies and a tech manual in the pipeline.

But the model for such extensive promotion lies deep in the Anderson ethos – Stingray and the shows that came before and after it were promoted lavishly in TV Century 21, a comic that was loved by fans in the '60s and is still spoken of with reverence six decades on.

"We’re now talking about multi-platform trans-media projects and shared universes," says Jamie, "and, well, they were doing it from 1964 onwards!

"They got into the habit of teasing new series as they were coming up, which was an absolutely genius thing, with [merchandising mogul] Keith Shackleton and [writer/editor] Alan Fennell being ridiculously smart and avant-garde in their approach. I think that the cross-pollination was amazing."

So, does Jamie have a favourite character? "X20 as the comedy foil is so key that he has to be up there... The Peter Lorre voice, the ridiculous caricaturing and the quivering wreck to mighty Titan was such nice, light relief."

As for his top-rated episode, "Unusually, because it’s so silly, I think it’s probably The Loch Ness Monster. It’s one that I recall watching so many times as a kid and there’s something exciting about actually taking Stingray away from its usual place and ferrying it around – and then the reveal of what the monster actually is.

"There’s something really multilayered about that that I really enjoyed... I like those episodes where you slightly break the format."

But then again, Stingray was and remains a big favourite among fans. Nick Williams, chairman of appreciation society Fanderson, says, "Quite rightly, Thunderbirds is seen by many as the pinnacle of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Supermarionation productions.

"But Stingray is, in many ways, just as fantastic. The 39 half-hour adventures with Troy Tempest and crew as they tackle underwater foes were superb, perilous, but fun.

"As with all things Anderson, Stingray is a technical tour de force. Perfecting filming the models and puppets 'underwater' was a masterstroke, and, of course, being filmed in colour meant longevity that the series's predecessors wouldn’t enjoy."

Richard Farrell, editor of Andersonic magazine, adds, "A kids’ puppet series set in an extension of the early '60s Cold War, complete with underground bunkers, unprovoked missile attacks and spies lurking on an adjoining island, might on the face of it seem somewhat grim. But Stingray’s sheer elan makes it one of the Andersons’ most watchable productions.

"Its colourful action is more than enough to keep youngsters rapt, but that soundtrack and some genuine humour between such lovable characters has imbued it with a broader appeal and an enviable longevity."

In common with many other Anderson TV adventures, there was no real conclusion. But that was because the production team was always hoping to make more, explains Jamie.

"The hope was always that it would continue for another series and they’d just keep on and on – but [media mogul and financier] Lew Grade always wanted something new." In this case, the successor proved to be Thunderbirds.

Jamie adds, "Stingray is another solid bit of warm nostalgia, with action and adventure that persists, thankfully. It’s the first of the Anderson shows that maintains a ‘passing between generations’ element, where parents and grandparents share it with future generations. It’s the blend of the colour, characters, effects and music that has made that possible."

A condensed version of this feature appears in the latest issue of Radio Times.

The original series of Stingray is available on ITVX; merchandise is available at shop.gerryanderson.com; a weekly Gerry Anderson Podcast co-hosted by Jamie Anderson is released every Monday.

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