PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Science Fiction Sunday 369

There's 8 more episodes of Fireball XL5 on the 3rd disc of the 5 disc set. Here's an image from one of the Fireball XL5 Annuals.

Wings of Danger  February 3 1963

The Subterraneanians from Planet 46 have built a remote control spaceship that fires radioactive bullets. They blast Steve and Dr Venus has to operate to save his life. Once Steve is better he goes to Planet 46 to put those underground creeps in their place.

The Triads  January 27 1963

 

The Fireball XL5 team meets some friendly giants and helps them with their rocket program by remaking their spaceship fuel.

Sabotage  October 20 1963

Some creeps plant a Neutroni bomb on the Fireball XL5's navigation component and kidnaps the screw.

Prisoner on the Lost Planet  March 3 1963

 

Steve follows a radio signal past known space to a planet where an Amazonian Queen is a prisoner. She knocks Steve out and holds the Fireball Jr hostage. Steve kicks her ass. Dr Venus sleeps in a round bed in her Fireball XL5 cabin.

Flight to Danger  February 23 1963

When Lt. Ninety takes his a solo orbit of the moon to win his astronaut's wings his ship's power supply explodes blasting him into space. He floats until the Fireball XL5 chances onto him.

Space Vacation  February 17 1963

On the way to vacation the Fireball Team helps the citizens of Olympus stop a space feud.

Mystery of the TA2  March 31 1963

A derelict spaceship, lost nearly 50 years, leads Steve and pals to Arctan where the missing spaceman has been living as their king.

Robert to the Rescue  March 17 1963

 

The Fireball team is held captive by some aliens in their metal planet and Robert the robot comes to help. He blasts the wall out of the planet and saves everyone.

The stories have their limitations and it's all pretty stilly at times but I got a laugh. Here's a few color stills from the Bonus Feature section of the disc.

  

Science Fiction Sunday 368

Disc 2 of the 5 disc set that makes up the complete Fireball XL5 series has 8 more B&W episodes. There's plenty of travel to other planets and exciting rescues.

Space Monster  January 6 1963

Fireball XL2 has crashed on a planet and the crew of two are trapped in a cave by a giant brontosaurus like critter. Steve and Venus get trapped too. Professor Matic brings the Fireball down to search for them. He gets trapped in the cave too. Then Steve breaks his leg. Not the best space heroes this episode. Venus's pet Zoonie the Lazoon saves them.

Flying Zodiac  December 23 1962

Dr Venus has a dream that everyone's part of a space circus. There's an evil plot  headed by the fortune teller going on. Some space gypsies, the Nomadians, are planning to steal the land around Space City to make their own permanent home.

Spy In Space  November 25 1962

While at a refueling station the Fireball XL5 team runs into Mr and Mrs Space Spy. Dr Venus will need to get rescued after the spy couple kidnap her. Don't worry Steve Zodiac will fix those two spies with the help of Professor Matic.

XL5 To H₂O  December 9 1962

That Aquaphibian is attacking the people of the planet Zofeit. Only two of the Zofeitians have survived and they're in an underground bunker. He's got a poisonous gas gun that also shoots projectiles. He shoots at the Fireball Jr and causes damage. Steve and the professor figure out how to defeat his weapon and rescue the two guys.

Space Pirates December 16 1962

Steve uses a fake space freighter to lure some Space Pirates into a trap. He gets caught but gets out of that predicament.

The Last of the Zanadus  January 13 1963

The evil Kudos, the last inhabitant of the planet Zanadu, has an evil plot to destroy all Lazoons with a deadly virus. He really hates the little monkey like critters. He hypnotizes a space explorer headed for Earth to spread the disease to kill the critters. Steve soon puts things to right.

Space Pen  December 30 1962

The professor installs a goofy burglar alarm on the door to Steve's new apartment. It blows up. After it's left off some burglars steal Steve's ID papers, some uniforms and valuable isotopes. Fireball XL5 follows and they find Mr and Mrs Space Spy are behind the theft. Steve Zodiac will soon cause their space ship to crash.

Convict in Space  February 10 1963

Steve's transporting a criminal in the Fireball XL5. They respond to an emergency call from a stranded spaceship. Steve and Venus find they've been tricked by Mr and Mrs Space Spy and the Professor is being held captive. They want to exchange the professor for the criminal. The criminal damages the XL5 and leaves the professor and the Space Spies stranded on a planet filled with volcanos.

Not a bad bunch of episodes, there's a bit of danger, some comedy and the sets are getting better. The stories mostly work, sometimes they are goofy in what they do.

Science Fiction Sunday 367

I'm watching the first disc of Fireball XL5 today. The series had one season of 39 episodes and 8 of them are included on the first disc. They are in production order on the disc, not air date order, just like the Supercar series was.

That's Colonel Steve Zodiac, Dr Venus and Professor Matthew "Matt" Matic above. Even though they live in 2062 they have pretty much 1950's attitudes. There's really not much Imagineering going on in the series. They have some vague idea of how space works but they don't worry about knowing anything. They make up stuff like air pills which allow one to breathe in space without a space suit. No mention on how anyone would survive the cold or decompression. Still, little kids aren't ever going to get that, so who am I to complain. The stories are more ambitious than the Supercar stories and we do get to see a lot of different planets and aliens. Here's one now.

Planet 46  October 28 1962

Bad news, there's a planotmic missile headed for earth, Good news, they blow it up. Steve, with Doctor Venus and Professor Matic, takes the Fireball Xl-5 on a mission to investigate the planet the missile came from. They find some underground dwelling folk who want to blow up the Earth for no good reason, other than they're dicks. 

 

That's one of the aliens on the left and Robert the robot on the right. He can blow his top. Must be steam powered. Steve and his team get caught when they arrive and Dr Venus is put on a second missile headed for Earth. Steve will soon kick some alien ass and save the Earth.

Hypnotic Sphere  October 13 1963

An alien brain critter has a special glowing globe that hypnotizes people. He hypnotizes space fuel transporter crews and steals their fuel to power more of the globes so he can conquer the universe. His plan is doomed for failure once Steve Zodiac gets on his trail.

Planet Of Platonia  January 20 1963

There's intrigue in the court of the Plantium Planet and Steve comes to the rescue. That's the King on the left and his aide Volvo on the right.

Volvo turns out to be a spy for the usurper to the throne. The Fireball Team will catch Volvo in the act and save the King.

Space Magnet  October 27 1963

The Solar's are stealing the moon because they don't have one. Luckily Gerry and Sylvia didn't remember that the moon affects the tides and the like. I don't think they have the budget for that sort of effect. Fireball XL5 heads to the alien's planet and they get the moon back.

The Doomed Planet  November 4 1962

The Fireball XL5 team have to blow up a planet that's broken out of it's orbit and headed for another planet that's defenseless.

Plant Man From Space  November 18 1962

Dr Rootes wants to conqueror the Earth. Since he's a plant scientist he uses an invasive species of vine to smother everything. It's not a well thought out plan and Professor Matic has a herbicide to fix things up.

The Sun Temple  December 2 1962

These aliens kidnap Doctor Venus and plan to sacrifice her to their sun god. Steve comes along and blows up their temple.

Space Immigrants  November 11 1962

Those are the Lillispatians. They're pretty much jerks and in much need of being ass kicked.

I liked the stories more as I went along but they just aren't quite as much fun as Supercar. I was hoping I'd like them more than I do. That's the way it goes. 

Science Fiction Sunday 366

The last disc of the Supercar series has 7 episodes on it. That wraps up the 2nd Gerry and Sylvia Anderson series. They would go onto do Fireball XL5 next. I have that coming from Netflix next week.

The Sky's the Limit  April 1 1962

Masterspy has been counterfeiting money and he wants to buy Supercar with it but the Professor and company give him a big nope. He attacks the base with his toady Zarin. Dr Beaker has made a new paint that turn things invisible. They use it to hide Supercar and trick Masterspy into leaving. They then knock his plane down with the invisible Supercar.

70-B-Lo  March 25 1962

Professor Popkiss is sick, he needs a transfusion, and the only person with the same blood is another scientist who's at the North Pole. Mike heads there to pick up the scientist only to run into a problem. Another scientist has decided to steal the knowledge of a big uranium find and sell it to the highest bidder. Mike will soon clean that guy's clock and get the scientist to Black Rock for a transfusion. Yay, the professor is OK.

Atomic Witch Hunt  March 18 1962

Some guys are planting atomic bombs around the country and the Supercar team get investigating. They soon sort it out. There's plenty of underwater scenes when they find the enemy submarine.

Jail Break  April 8 1962

A criminal kidnaps a helicopter pilot and forces him to break another criminal out of prison. They stop at Black Rock to force Mike to take the prisoner to Mexico. Mike will figure out how to put them under wraps for the police.

The Day that Time Stood Still  April 15 1962

That's an alien, he shows up on Mike's birthday and gives Mike a fancy flying belt. Turns out to be a dream.  

Transatlantic Cable  April 22 1962

Masterspy has a new company, he's selling info that he's stolen from the Transatlantic Phone Cable. Mike and Jimmy take Supercar into the ocean to inspect the cable. They find a sunken ship near the cable and Jimmy thinks he's seen a light but it's off when they look again. Masterspy's henchmen have made a base in the sunken ship and they are stealing info. Dr Beaker puts a drill on the front of Supercar to flush the men out with their hideout. 

King Kool  April 29 1962

A big monkey plays drums on TV so Jimmy teaches Mitch how to play the drums. There's some goofy stuff happening, eventually everyone one gets together for a jam session. That big monkey is kind of creepy.

Well, that's the series. I got some laughs following the Supercar team. I'm not going to bother buying them but I did enjoy the shows.

Science Fiction Sunday 365

The fourth disc of Supercar has another 8 episodes, two from the first series and the rest from series two. There's plenty of globe trotting adventure in the stories this week.

The White Line  August 6 1961

Some crooks from the US are in the UK robbing people by making their cars crash. Supercar is called in by Scotland Yard to help catch the crooks.

Supercar "Take One"  July 1 1961

Dr Beaker gets a film camera to document his lab work. They get a film back that leads them to a spy ring.

The Runaway Train  February 2 1962

A new atomic engine in a train is sabotaged by Masterspy and the train can't be slowed down. Except by Supercar and Mike Mercury.

Precious Cargo  February 11 1962

A young French girl smuggles herself into the US by hiding in a box of wine bound for Professor Popkiss at Supercar base in Black Rock Nevada. They find her a nice home with Jimmy's Aunt.

Operation Superstork  February 18 1962

That idiot Mitch sets Dr Beaker's balloon a drift with Dr Beaker, Jimmy and Mike aboard. The balloon hasn't been finished yet, it needs a valve for the gas bag to let it descend. Mike takes the only parachute and jumps out. He gets Supercar to rescue them. Dr Beaker wants to throw him out but Mitch makes him some pudding and he forgets to be mad. I would have tossed Mitch out ages ago.

Hi-Jack  February  25 1962

Jimmy's brother Bill is training a pilot on the Boeing 707 plane when it's hijacked. Jimmy and Dr Beaker are on the plane for the training run. Mike to the rescue.

Calling Charlie Queen  March 4 1962

Black Rock base gets a radio message from a man who's in trouble. They head over there and fins a mad scientist who has a shrinking formula. He makes Mitch, Dr Beaker and Mike tiny. Dr Beaker makes an antidote to get them back to normal. Occasionally it's good to have a science guy around.

Space For Mitch  March 11 1962

Mitch steals the rocket that Bill was supposed to be testing. Now everyone has to rescue Mitch. I'd have let him fall into space. Good riddance.

A mixed bag of stories, some a bit better than others. After this many episodes I'm pretty much glad I didn't actually buy this. It's somewhat entertaining but I find myself bored with some of the repetitive material.

Science Fiction Sunday 364

Disc three of Supercar has another 7 episodes. This disc nearly ends the first series or 26 episodes.

Flight Of Fancy  May 6 1961

Jimmy dreams he and Mitch take Supercar to a European country to rescue a princess. There's a castle with a dungeon and a torture room filled with treasure. It was pretty silly but Mitch did help more than hinder. Too bad it was only a dream.

Hostage  May 20 1961

   

British criminals Judd and Harper kidnap the young daughter of an inn keeper. Dr Beaker was staying at the Inn and calls for help. Mike comes with Supercar, but falls into a trap. Mike manages to warn Professor Popkiss who retrieves the vehicle. The Professor returns with Mitch to save the day.

The Sunken Temple  May 27 1961

Everyone's off to search for a sunken temple in the Mediterranean. Of course there's trouble. Still, Mike will see it put to rest.

Trapped In The Depths  June 10 1961

 

Another underwater adventure. The Navy sends two men down in a bathysphere and there's trouble. Supercar comes to help and attacked by a giant fish. Don't worry, Dr Beaker thought a head and brought the new laser cannon. They rescue the men and everything is A-OK.

Crash Landing  July 8 1961

Supercar crashes in Africa.. Everyone is ok. They came out at night while Mitch stands guard. He disappears in the middle of the night. Dr Beaker works on repairs while Mike and Jimmy search for Mitch. Elephants nearly stampede the camp but the Professor operates Supercar remotely to scare them off.

The Dragon Of Ho Meng  June 17 1961

Mike, Jimmy and Mitch are out cruising about when they run into a bad storm. They decide to land Supercar on a small island. They meet a Chinese priest and his daughter who mistake Supercar for a dragon. A bandit is going to destroy the temple because he thinks there's treasure in the walls. Mike will soon take care of that creep.

The Lost City  June 3 1961

 

On way to the South Pole Supercar is bring forced down remotely by some baddies. They find them selves near some South American ruins where they meet the man who took control. It's Professor Watkins, a man from Dr Beaker's past, who disappeared 10 years earlier. He's got a lab under the ruins and a gang of robots. He's going to attack Washington DC with atomic bombs. Jimmy and Mitch remain uncaught and have control of Supercar. Mike and Dr Beaker escape and use Supercar to divert the missile and radio interference to get it to crash. 

The Magic Carpet  June 24 1961

Dr Beaker has created a hand held remote to control Supercar. Professor Popkiss sends the gang on a trip to Asia to help a sick King. There are people in the kingdom that want the King dead so they can be in control. 

All in all another fun bunch of stories with Mike and the crew. A nice way to spend the morning.

Science Fiction Sunday 363

Today I'm watching the second disc of Supercar. There are 8 more episodes and they all aired back in 1961. The episodes are black and white but look pretty good. All the images in this post are captured from the discs with VLC Player.

High Tension  March 25 1961

Dr Beaker gets kidnapped by Masterspy and Zarin. They want to trade him for Supercar. Of course Mike is smarter than Masterspy and he can easily rescue Dr Beaker.

A Little Art  April 29 1961

Dr Beaker buys a painting that turns out to be a clue to a forger's counterfeit money plates that he'd buried in the desert. Some bad guys steal it so they can find the plates first. Mike goes after them in Supercar. The bad men can't find the place the plates are buried because the cactus in the painting is gone after 30 years. Dr Beaker uses science to figure out where the plates are.

Ice-Fall  April 8 1961

Dr Beaker takes everyone a half mile underground. Of course Mitch causes a cave in and Dr Beaker is trapped. Mitch also picked up the string Dr Beaker used to mark his trail. Sadly Mitch survives the cave in but he does redeem himself by leading the rescue party to Dr Beaker.

Island Incident  April 1 1961

The deposed leader of a small South American country asks Mike Mercury if he can help get his country back from his brother. That's the brother above, Mike will soon clean his clock and put the nice guy back in power

The Tracking of Masterspy  July 15 1961

 

Masterspy makes an appearance at the Supercar lab and steals some stuff. Mike chases after him in Supercar. Of course he can find him really easily, one of the things that Masterspy stole had a radio transmitter which leads Mike right to him.

Phantom Piper  April 15 1961

  

Mike takes Supercar to Scotland to help Dr Beaker's cousin Felicity with her haunted castle. A ghostly piper makes a midnight appearance. Mike finds evidence that there are shenanigans going on and he scares the pants off the ghost. Turns out to be the guys who stole stuff from a previous episode.

Deep Seven  May 13 1961

Supercar is on some deep undersea tests and it gets tuck on an old mine cable. With some help from Bill, it gets out just fine.

Pirate Plunder  April 22 1961

  

There are pirates in the south pacific. Mike takes Supercar out to capture him.

Most of the stories were about the same as the previous disc. There's a bit of danger and some humor. I get a laugh and Mitch hardly screwed up anything in this batch of stories.

Science Fiction Sunday 362

I've decided to watch the Supercar series Sunday mornings. I'll be watching a disc each week for the next 5 weeks. I haven't seen the series in years and thought it might be time to see them again. There are 39 episodes produced in two series. The first series started airing January 28 1961.

The DVD set has 8 shows per disc and the episodes are in production order on the DVD. They were not shown in production order when originally broadcast. The first 8 shows were written by Martin and Hugh Woodhouse and directed by Producer Gerry Anderson, Alan Pattillo and David Elliot. Supercar was designed by Reg Hill and the car you see in the sets with the puppets is about 5 feet long.

Rescue  January 28 1961

 

That's Jimmy Gibson and his brother Bill. They're in that small plane when they ditch into the ocean. It's foggy and they're about 30 miles out into the ocean in a life raft with Jimmy's pet monkey Mitch. The Navy can't find them so it looks like a good chance to test out Supercar and their Clear Vu equipment.

It allows Supercar pilot Mike Mercury to see through smoke and fog. That's Mike above with Professor Rudolph Popkiss at the control station in the lab in Black Rock Nevada. The professor and Dr Horatio Beaker invented the car.

  

Jimmy, Bill and Mitch get rescued and everything is great. Supercar works fine. For some reason Jimmy and Mitch get to live with Mike and the scientists. I guess they figured they needed some comic relief. I just find that Mitch is a bit of an ass, always screwing things up. In the life raft he threw away the only food and water. Sylvia Anderson said in the commentary on the episode that Jimmy was there to represent the kids watching and the monkey was there because her parents had a monkey when she was a kid. She thinks they're funny. 

Amazonian Adventure  February 25 1961

    

Mitch takes sick and Dr Beaker thinks that the only cure is a leaf from the Amazon. He jumps into Supercar with Mike and they set off for South America. They get there without any trouble but on the ground it's another story.

  

The local witch doctor captures the two men and locks them up. I really like the mask on the witch doctor, at least, I hope it's a mask. Mike slips out and uses Supercar to terrify the natives. Dr Beaker finds the leaves and they get back to make Mitch feel better. Not sure why, he's just going to cause some trouble before you know it.

The Talisman of Sargon  February 11 1961

    

This is the episode we get to meet Masterspy and his henchman Zarin. They're after the Talisman of Sargon but a monkey outwits them. Masterspy has plenty of plots but his execution is pretty poor. He will return in future episodes. Zarin has a cigarette in his mouth and at times you can see smoke curl up out of it. I love the Zarin puppet, he looks like he was dragged feet first through a  cat.

  

Mike and Dr Beaker travel to Egypt to search for the Talisman and Masterspy traps them in the tomb. Luckily for everyone Jimmy and Mitch stowed away in Supercar and the monkey lets them out. Masterspy is thwarted again.

False Alarm  February 4 1961

  

Masterspy sets up a fake distress call and Supercar heads to the rescue. Masterspy ties up Mike and Dr Beaker after he knocks them out with ether while they slept. The guys wake up to find that Supercar has been stolen.

  

Masterspy and Zarin are escaping in Supercar and they accidentally turn on the radio. Mitch hears them and being alone he starts screwing with the remote controls. Masterspy and Zarin are quickly broken and Supercar is returned to Mike and Dr Beaker. Masterspy and Zarin have to walk the 15 miles to the nearest town. Masterspy could afford to loose a few pounds.

What Goes Up  February 18 1961

  

Dr Beaker and Professor Popkiss are helping another scientist. His fuel filled balloon capsule didn't self destruct. He worried that the balloon might give out and the fuel filled capsule will become a bomb. Professor Popkiss and Dr Beaker fit Supercar with a canon to shoot the balloon down. Supercar hasn't been tested in the upper atmosphere but it A-OK. BOOM!!

Keep it Cool  March 11 1961 

  

Dr Beaker hires a trucker driver to carry his liquid fuel. It needs to stay cold so they packed it into a refrigerated cooler and are travelling at night through the desert. Masterspy has arranged a trap for them. The truck crashes and Masterspy and Zarin steal the fuel.

Trouble with that fuel is it becomes unstable when heated and Masterspy hasn't got a cooled storage. Lucky for them they survived the explosion and Mike rescued Dr Beaker and his truck driver. 

Grounded  March4  1961

  

Mike and Dr Beaker have taken Supercar to England to have some circuit boards made. An employee of the company steals the circuits and plans to sell them for big money. They catch him before him and his henchman get out of the country. He wasn't a very good thief. 

Jungle Hazard   March 18 1961

  

Masterspy has a plan to steal the plantation of Dr Beaker's cousin. Mike and Dr Beaker come to the rescue.

All told, I enjoyed the episodes more than I thought I would. I like Mike and the scientists quite a bit. Mike has a nice droll sense of humor, the Professor is a nice grandfatherly figure and Dr Beaker is peculiar. I'm not sure that Jimmy and Mitch add much to the mix. I like the models and the sets and the stories are pretty good too. More next week. 

Science Fiction Sunday 361

20 Years After is a 2008 post apocalypse movie. It's directed by Jim Torres and written by him and Ron Harris. The only members of the cast I recognize is Azura Skye and Reg E Cathey. Azura's the only survivor that's gotten pregnant in the 20 years since the bombs ruined everything. She holds up in a basement with her mother. Reg is an ex-professor that used to live in the house that they live in. They are running out of water. The women join Reg to go looking for others with water. A guy named Michael has a radio show. He heads out to try to find another voice heard on the radio. He runs into Azure and her party and they al wind up in a cave based community. David is part of a gang of looters run by a crazy woman. They attack the cave where he finds his sister Azura and mother. Reg seems to have some mental powers giving people visions of their past or something. It's not explained. Azura wants to leave the caves and go past the unexplained corridor. You've seen it all before, people making stupid decisions, fighting amongst themselves, blah, blah, blah. Glad I watched it on YouTube and didn't waste a Netflix choice on it. I wouldn't bother watching it if I were you. Occasionally the sound cuts out on the version on YouTube. It didn't seem to matter.

 

Five is a 1951 post-apocalypse film produced, written and directed by Arch Oboler. It's the first of the post-apocalypse films and the title comes from the five people hold up in a Frank Lloyd Wright house, owned by Oboler, and the events that happen to them. Both films have a pregnant woman but that's about the only similarity. The script is more entertaining, Arch was a prolific radio script writer, and he has a nice way with characters. There's a nice mix of them and that creates some tension. It's a not a great movie but a decent one. It gets a 6.5 on the IMDb and it's about right. Even at that the score is double 20 Years After. You might give it a chance. You can see it in the link in the title.

Science Fiction Sunday 360

Caltiki - The Immortal Monster is a 1959 Italian movie set in Mexico. An archeologist returns to camp, he's all screwed up and needs some medical attention. They wonder where his partner is and set out to the ruins to look for him. They find a cave with a giant statue of Caltiki and a deep pool of water. In the water they find a treasure of gold. The diver's second dive proves fatal as the blob monster makes an appearance. The party escapes but one man has some blob on his arm. The blob monster is destroyed by fire and the group returns to Mexico City. Doctors remove the bit of blob from the man's arm and scientists discover radiation makes it grow. A radioactive comet happens by and the blob grows and attacks. The man who got the blob on his arm goes nuts and kills some women before he's digested by the newly formed blob. There's a lot of reacting to so-so effects which are typical of the time. Lucky it's a short movie, only 75 minutes, and it's over quickly. Riccardo Freda is credited as the director, under the name Robert Hamton in the US version, but the Wikipedia says that an uncredited Mario Bava also directed. This is before his first credited feature Black Sunday. The version on YouTube in the link in the title is watchable but a bit fuzzy. It's not worth watching unless you're like me and want to see all the monster movies there are.

Amphibian Man is a 1962 Russian film that's set in Argentina but filmed in Baku Azerbaijan. There's trouble with the pearl divers, a strange monster has been terrorizing the divers, their boss is a mean dick who doesn't believe them until the creature rescues the woman he wants to marry from a shark. The woman doesn't want to marry him but her father is forcing her to do it so he can be rich too. The boss wants to capture the sea creature, which turns out to be a human with shark gills, and eventually he does. The scientist who created the sea creature wants to lead the human race into the water to escape their oppressive masters. He has a cool underground cave with a giant window to the sea. There's a bit of romance between the daughter and the sea creature but that ends sadly. I hadn't heard of it before but I thought I'd take a chance and it turned out to be a more interesting film than the first one I watched. It's well made and the copy on YouTube looks pretty good. I'd recommend it.