The marvel of the age has arrived on Talking Pictures TV! Supercar is the latest of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's classic Supermarionation TV series to begin airing on the much-loved retro TV channel. The series first took to the airwaves on British TV in 1961 and has now returned to them via TPTV this Saturday just gone (April 26th). 

In celebration of Supercar's return to British television, we're counting down ten of its best episodes!

10. Island Incident

David Graham excels in this politically-charged adventure as the overzealous dictator Colonel Humberto LaGuava of the Pelota islands in the Pacific. Humberto snatches leadership of the islands from his more generous brother, Sebastian, who in turn calls upon Supercar's assistance. Island Incident offers up a relatively rare solo adventure for Mike Mercury as he journeys to answer this call for help alone. The episode relies more on comical character performances than outlandish special effects, yet we're given ambitious underwater sequences and a thrillingly filmed shoot-out between Mercury and Humberto. 

9. Trapped in the Depths

Trapped in the Depths carries distinct future echoes of two key Supermarionation series in a deep sea adventure for Mike Mercury and Doctor Beaker. The pair take Supercar deep into New Zealand waters to withstand incredible underwater pressures when a navy bathyscape accidentally plunges toward certain doom when attempting to make the world's deepest ocean dive. The claustrophobic underwater setting throws forward to Stingray while the rescue operation anticipates Thunderbirds, right down to Supercar's elusive, unknown nature mirroring International Rescue's security set-up. The intrusion of a monstrous deep-water fish during Supercar's rescue of the bathyscape adds a welcome dash of terror in this superb aquatic adventure.

8. Hostage

Following on from their debut in Grounded, former electronics worker Harper is now an irreversible path of the criminal, aided by his easy-going, safecracking sidekick Judd. When the pair kidnap the daughter of a pub landlord in Ireland, they hatch another and knottier scheme to capture Supercar, who comes to the rescue. Harper and Judd are often portrayed as comically ineffective against the smarts of the Supercar gang, but in a pleasing change of pace, Hostage portrays them with cunning and menace. A closely coordinated battle of wits between hero and villain takes hold, with an explosive fate risking Supercar!

7. The White Line

The Supercar crew turns detective when Scotland Yard calls them in to assist with armed robberies. Perpetrators Joe and Maxie Hoyle make for an appealing pair of stereotypical Chicago gangsters operating on foreign soil, their dangerous presence adds a thrilling energy to this slick crime caper. Violent shoot-outs and deadly highway traps give The White Line a crackling energy, while the wonderful mobster stylings of the Hoyle brothers hark back to any number of classic Hollywood crime movies.

6. The Phantom Piper

Doctor Beaker's cousin, Felicity Farnsworth, makes her second appearance in Supercar following her debut in Jungle Hazard. Fresh from her experiences at being rescued from the clutches of Masterspy and Zarin, she calls in the Supercar crew to help unravel the mystery of the Phantom Piper, a ghostly presence who haunts Castle McCrail. The Phantom Piper begins a recurring trend in Supermarionation productions of having at Scotland-based episode involving a desolate castle, and this episode embraces the charged atmosphere of some ill omen who stalks the castle walls. However, the mystery behind the Phantom Piper may not be as haunting as it appears...

5. Ice Fall

Ice Fall boasts some subtle yet still impressive practical effects brought to effective life by Supercar's means of being filmed in black-and-white. Doctor Beaker's explorations of an underground network of caves falls into jeopardy when Mitch the Monkey unwittingly ruins his method of retracing his steps. The subterranean location helps to craft an oppressive atmosphere, enforced by the cave-in that risks entombing Beaker!

4. Pirate Plunder

Pirate Plunder is one of Supercar's episodes that leans heavily into the vigilante nature of the Black Rock gang when the Supercar crew volunteers to put a stop to the menace of Black Morgan's terrorising of the seas. Pirate Plunder blends numerous ambitious special effects sequences, including tense underwater sequences as Mike lies in wait for Black Morgan to take the bait that the Supercar crew have prepared, before a riotous finale as Morgan and Supercar engage in aerial combat.

3. 70 - B - LO

70-B-LO is quite an intense and straight-faced episode from Supercar's second series, which was written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson themselves. Following on from Martin and Huge Woodhouse's creative dominance over the first series, Gerry and Sylvia's storylines pushed Supercar into more fanciful territory, with episodes focusing on dream sequences and alien abductions! 70-B-LO, however, marries a sombre premise with deadly pacing. A blood transfusion needed for an ill Professor Popkiss goes awry when the only other compatible donor is isolated on a top secret mission near the North Pole. Mike and Beaker's hazardous mission to the blizzard-swept base is thrown into further jeopardy when Professor Karzinsky's assistant, Jason, has his own villainous plans afoot. 70-B-LO is one of Gerry and Sylvia's sharpest Supercar scripts that ripples with tense drama and exciting action.

2. Jungle Hazard

Jungle Hazard introduces us to Felicity, a woman who Masterpy and Zarin learn the hard way not to trifle with! There's some brilliant comedy at work in their plan to snatch her rubber plantation from her becoming overwrought when having to tolerate her familiar eccentricities. Adding to the humour is the running gag of Masterspy using barely effective aliases as a disguise, but Zarin remains totally uncloaked. Mercury and Beaker must endure a desperate race through treacherous jungle terrain to stop the villainous pair's intentions to permanently do away with Felicity!

1. Supercar "Take One"

Supercar's droll sense of humour shines in this later gem from its first series. A simple case of misplaced film sends the Supercar crew into a dangerous den of industrial espionage. Supercar "Take One" may not be as thrilling or intense as the more special effects-driven episodes on this list, but it neatly balances the series' playful humour, warm characterisation and sense of adventure. It's also perhaps the closest we come to visualising how the series' embryonic Beaker's Bureau concept may have panned out, given how much of a central role Beaker plays in the episode. Beaker's Bureau would have depicted Beaker dabbling against crimefighting in his own eccentric yet scientific style, which Supercar "Take One" prioritises when Beaker's enthusiasm for amateur film-making results in him being captured by an international spy ring. Easily one of the Woodhouse brother's wittiest and inventive premises for Supercar.

Be sure to tune into Supercar on Talking Pictures TV every Saturday at 10 AM to enjoy the marvel of the age in action!

Sign up to the Anderson Entertainment newsletter to receive all the latest Gerry Anderson news, exclusive releases and more transmitted direct to your inbox!