Joe 90 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joe 90
Genre	Science fiction
Created by	Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Voices of	Keith Alexander Sylvia Anderson Rupert Davies Gary Files Len Jones Martin King David Healy Jeremy Wilkin Liz Morgan Shane Rimmer
Composer(s)	Barry Gray
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	30 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Reg Hill
Producer(s)	David Lane
Cinematography	Julien Lugrin Paddy Seale
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Century 21 Television Productions
Distributor	ITC Entertainment
Release
Original network	ATV
Picture format	35 mm film
Audio format	Mono
Original release	29 September 1968 (1968-09-29) – 20 April 1969 (1969-04-20)
Chronology
Preceded by	Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Followed by	The Secret Service

Joe 90 is a British science-fiction TV show from 1968-1969. It was made by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their company, Century 21. The show is about a nine-year-old schoolboy named Joe McClaine. He becomes a spy because his adoptive dad invents a machine. This machine can record what smart people know and then put it into someone else's brain. With the knowledge of top scientists and military experts, Joe joins the World Intelligence Network (WIN). He becomes their "Most Special Agent".

The series had 30 episodes and was first shown on ITV in the UK. It was the last show by the Andersons that mainly used special puppets called "Supermarionation". These puppets looked more like real people than the ones in Thunderbirds.

Even though Joe 90 was not as famous as some earlier shows, people liked its characters and amazing special effects. Many think the spy theme and having a boy as the main hero is like a "kids-play-Bond" idea. It also shows how important children's imagination can be. Some people have pointed out that the show did not have many female characters.

Just like with their other shows, Century 21 made many products related to Joe 90. These included comic books and toy cars. The show was also shown in the United States in 1969. It was repeated in the UK in the 1990s and released on DVD in the 2000s. There have been talks about making a live-action movie of Joe 90, but it has not happened yet.

What is Joe 90 About?

Joe 90 is set in the near future. Some people think it's around 2012 or 2013, but one guide said 1998. The show focuses on Joe, a nine-year-old schoolboy. He lives with his adoptive father, Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine, who is a computer expert. They live in a cottage by the Dorset coast.

In the basement of their cottage, Mac has a secret lab. There, he keeps his newest invention, the Brain Impulse Galvanoscope Record And Transfer machine. They call it the "BIG RAT" for short. This amazing machine can record a person's knowledge and skills. Then, it can transfer them into someone else's mind. The BIG RAT has a special spinning cage called the "Rat Trap." This is where the "brain patterns" are uploaded to the person.

Joe Becomes a Spy

Mac's friend, Sam Loover, works for the World Intelligence Network (WIN). Sam sees how useful Joe and the BIG RAT could be. He convinces Mac to let them help WIN. With the BIG RAT, Joe becomes a unique spy. He can take on the brain patterns of expert adults. This gives him the skills he needs for dangerous missions. Because he is a child, enemies usually do not suspect him.

Joe wears special glasses that hold the transferred brain patterns. As long as he wears them, he can do many things. He can fly fighter jets, perform surgery, or play the piano. Joe 90 is known as WIN's "Most Special Agent." He reports to Shane Weston, the head of WIN in London. Joe carries a special school case. It has a radio and a powerful handgun hidden inside. The series ends with an episode about Joe's 10th birthday. In it, his past missions are remembered through flashbacks during a surprise party.

Technology and Global Peace

Like other Supermarionation shows, Joe 90 features secret groups and advanced technology. Mac invented the "Jet Air Car," which can travel on land, sea, and air. It is the main way he and Joe get around. WIN is a global organization, just like WASP in Stingray.

In the world of Joe 90, the Cold War has ended. A world government has been formed. WIN took over from other spy groups like the Secret Intelligence Service and the Central Intelligence Agency. They all joined together to create this new global spy network. In the first episode, Joe seems to steal a Russian fighter jet. But it turns out this was just a story made up by Weston. It was to show Joe the kinds of spy missions he would do. This twist also reveals that Russia and the West are now friends. This idea was praised for being very forward-thinking.

However, even with a world government, some parts of the world are still divided. There are still "Western" and "Eastern" groups. The show still uses the idea of secret agents protecting their homes from unknown enemies. Bad groups include the Eastern Alliance, which controls Asia. They appear in episodes like "Attack of the Tiger." Some episodes, like "Arctic Adventure," combine threats from the East with dangerous nuclear technology. But "Big Fish" shows nuclear power used for good. In that episode, Joe flies a damaged nuclear submarine out of a police state's waters.

Meet the Voice Actors

Four of the regular Joe 90 characters: (left to right) Sam Loover, Shane Weston, Mac and (in front of Mac) Joe.

Joe 90 has a smaller main cast than Captain Scarlet, with only five regular characters. The show has more "English-sounding" voices than Thunderbirds. The creators did not want the main character to have a specific American accent. Instead, Joe 90 focuses on the strong American characters Sam Loover and Shane Weston.

• Len Jones as Joe McClaine: A real boy actor, Len Jones, voiced Joe. This was different from earlier shows where women often voiced child characters. Gerry Anderson wanted Joe to sound like a "real little boy."
• Rupert Davies as Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine: Rupert Davies was famous for playing Maigret in a TV show. He was a very respected actor to work on an Anderson series. His warm English voice was a great match for Sam Loover and Shane Weston.
• Keith Alexander as Sam Loover: Keith Alexander had also voiced characters in Thunderbird 6. He also voiced the puppet Topo Gigio on a US TV show.
• David Healy as Shane Weston: David Healy was an American actor living in the UK. He often played American characters in British TV shows.
• Sylvia Anderson as Mrs Harris: Sylvia Anderson voiced Mrs Harris, the McClaines' housekeeper. Mrs Harris does not know that Joe and Mac work for WIN. Sylvia Anderson was well known for voicing Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds.

Other voice actors like Gary Files, Martin King, Jeremy Wilkin, Shane Rimmer, and Liz Morgan voiced supporting characters.

Where and When Joe 90 Aired

Joe 90 first appeared on TV in late September 1968 in parts of the UK. Other areas started showing it soon after. Some TV channels, like Granada Television, called the show The Adventures of Joe 90. In the US, Joe 90 was shown for the first time in 1969.

The show was repeated several times in the UK during the 1970s. Some channels used a different opening for the show. It started with a close-up of Joe's special glasses. A voice said, "These are Joe 90's special glasses. Without them, he's a boy. Wearing them, he's an expert." This was to remind young viewers not to try dangerous things like Joe.

In 1994, Joe 90 was shown on BBC1. The company that owned the rights made sure the Joe 90 logo was changed. This was to make it look different from the G.I. Joe toys logo. The episodes were also edited a bit for timing. For example, the opening scenes were moved so every episode started with the title sequence. The end credits were made smaller so a CBBC presenter could read birthday cards. Another channel, Nickelodeon, showed the episodes in their original form. In 2009, the show aired on the UK Sci Fi Channel.

Other Joe 90 Adventures

In 1981, a Joe 90 movie was released in the US. It was called The Amazing Adventures of Joe 90. This movie combined four episodes: "The Most Special Agent", "Splashdown", "Attack of the Tiger", and "Arctic Adventure". It was meant to help sell the show to more TV channels in the US. The first episode was changed to make it seem like Joe's mission was real, not just a story.

In 2001, short "trailers" about Joe 90 were made for a BBC show. These trailers showed Joe using the BIG RAT to get the brain patterns of famous people from the 1990s. These trailers are included on the Joe 90 DVD box set.

There have been ideas for a live-action Joe 90 movie. In the 1990s, PolyGram suggested it. In 2003, there were reports that Disney might produce a film version. But the movie has not been made yet.

Joe 90 Toys and Comics

Many products were made for Joe 90. Century 21 Toys sold toy versions of Mac's Jet Air Car and Sam Loover's car. You could also buy Joe's WIN briefcase, which came with toy gadgets and a pistol. There was also a WIN badge that said "Most Special Agent."

Joe 90 also had its own weekly comic book called Joe 90 Top Secret. It ran for 34 issues and turned the TV episodes into comic strips. It also included strips based on other TV shows. Later, Joe 90 Top Secret joined with another comic, TV21. After a while, the Joe 90 strips were removed, and the comic went back to being just TV21. There were also Joe 90 annual books and two short novels.

In the 1990s, Joe 90 comic strips appeared in the Funday Times newspaper. Old strips from Joe 90 Top Secret were reprinted in a new comic called Joe 90. This was released when the BBC started showing the repeats in 1994. After seven issues, this comic joined with the Thunderbirds comic.

Home Video Releases

In the 1980s, Joe 90 was released on video in the UK. This set included the four episodes from The Amazing Adventures of Joe 90 movie. These were the edited versions. The video quality was not as good as the original films.

In 2002, a five-disc DVD box set of Joe 90 was released. It was made from new digital copies of the original films. This was the first time the unedited episodes from the movie were available for sale. DVD and Blu-ray sets have been released in different regions since then.

DVD releases:

Blu-ray releases (UK):

Images for kids

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  Examples of model work for Joe 90: Mac's Jet Air Car (left) and Sam Loover's vehicle (right), both at 1⁄24 scale, parked in front of WIN Headquarters. Loover's car was made open-top to accommodate the puppets' head wires. In the end, scenes set inside the car used "under-control" versions of the puppets that were operated from beneath the set.

See also

In Spanish: Joe 90 para niños