This is the voice of the Mysterons.....

I didn't have dinner with Dad Sunday lunchtime instead we had it at night. I arrived just as the afternoon film was ending and it was followed by a compilation of episodes of Stingray.

Hang on Stingray? Ruddy 'ell that's my childhood!! Actually I was never a big stingray fan but shortly after it there was a programme about the creator of Stingray Gerry Anderson and his work.

For those who don't know Anderson was best known for a series of puppet shows for Children in the sixties. The two works I remember, with much affection, are Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. I had a Dinky model of Thunderbird 2 and a Captain Scarlet SPV !!

In this age of CGI Anderson "Supermarination" puppets might seem old hat but that is a little unfair. Anderson's "heroes" are a follow on from the 1950's comic book hero Dan Dare.

Thunderbirds tell the story of International Rescue an organisation created to help people in grave danger using hi-tech machinery. It has lots of bangs, flashes, rockets and excitement and yes it is excitement. They showed an episode of Thunderbirds immediately after and very enjoyable it was.

To see an example. Frightenly I remember this!!

Captain Scarlet is darker and in my view the better work. A team of explorers accidentally destroys an alien base on Mars. The Mysterons threaten terrible revenge. As they have the ability to replicate and then control any person or object they first kill or destroy, through their power of "retro-metabolism", they use it to conduct a war of terror on the Earth. Captain Scarlet is killed by the Mysterons and replicated however when the replicate falls to "its" death he doesn't die and the original personality restablishes itself. The replicate body can repair itself and can sense the Mysterons.



There have been remakes of both but neither were as good as the originals.

Yes I know i'm 40ahem and I still read comics and enjoy this sort of thing. Why not? I guess todays kids find it all terribly dated but this old fogey thinks its great fun.