Supercar

At a laboratory in the Nevada desert, an unlikely household has built an extraordinary machine. Pilot Mike Mercury, Doctor Beaker and Professor Popkiss use Supercar to travel through the air, beneath the sea and into situations that ordinary vehicles cannot reach. Young Jimmy Gibson and his pet monkey Mitch complete the group at Black Rock.

Their adventures begin with curiosity as often as an official assignment. The team undertakes rescues, investigates mysteries and encounters criminals, but there is also time for experiments, misunderstandings and life around the laboratory. This combination of engineering and companionship gives Supercar its particular warmth.

First broadcast in 1961, Supercar was AP Films’ first science-fiction television series. It followed Four Feather Falls and moved the company towards the technologically adventurous worlds for which it would become known. Two seasons produced 39 episodes.

The original idea was credited to Gerry Anderson and Reg Hill. Writers Martin and Hugh Woodhouse made a substantial contribution: the eccentric Doctor Beaker had roots in Hugh’s earlier, unproduced Beaker’s Bureau proposal. Sylvia Anderson’s work with dialogue and character also helped shape the production.

The word Supermarionation was used in promotional material for the first season, with the familiar on-screen credit appearing from the second. Explore five details from the making of Supercar.

Graydon Gould voices Mike Mercury, whose confidence as a pilot is accompanied by a dry sense of humour. David Graham’s Doctor Beaker brings scientific ingenuity and a frequently distracted manner. Professor Popkiss is the other essential member of the engineering partnership, voiced by George Murcell in the first season and Cyril Shaps in the second.

The group is small enough for its relationships to matter. Jimmy’s enthusiasm and Mitch’s mischief can turn a quiet day into a problem of their own, while Beaker may be just as interested in a new discovery as in the mission everyone else is trying to finish. The characters make the laboratory feel like a home as well as a workplace.

Reg Hill’s Supercar design gives the programme its centrepiece: a craft with a clear canopy, retractable wings and the capacity to cross environments. Engine checks, launch preparations and the opening of the laboratory roof make its departures an event in themselves.

Those repeated procedures are early examples of a pleasure that runs through later Anderson productions: watching a machine become ready for action. Barry Gray’s music and the engine sounds are part of that experience. Century 21 Tech Talk examines Supercar in more detail.

Start with Rescue, the opening adventure, to meet the machine and see how Jimmy and Mitch join the team. The ten-episode selection then offers a route through the series’ rescue stories, unusual inventions and lighter moments.

The programme’s effect extended beyond the screen. In Austin Tate’s personal recollection, a childhood fascination with Supercar becomes part of a lifelong interest in science, engineering and computer simulation. That is a personal account of influence, rather than a claim that every viewer followed the same path.

For the next step in AP Films’ development, visit Fireball XL5. The scale moves from a desert laboratory to an interplanetary patrol, while retaining the pleasure of a close-knit crew and its remarkable vehicle.

AP Films / ATV / ITC. Two seasons; 39 episodes of approximately 25 minutes. First broadcast in 1961.

Producer: Gerry Anderson
Directors: David Elliott, Alan Pattillo & Desmond Saunders
Director of Photography: John Read
Art Director: Reg Hill
Dialogue Direction: Sylvia Anderson
Special Effects: Roger Woodburn
Music Composed, Arranged & Conducted by Barry Gray
Additional Music: Edwin Astley

Voice Cast: Graydon Gould, George Murcell, David Graham, Sylvia Thamm, Cyril Shaps