Stingray (1964 TV series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stingray
Genre	Children's science fiction
Created by	Gerry and Sylvia Anderson
Written by	Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Alan Fennell Dennis Spooner
Directed by	David Elliott John Kelly Alan Pattillo Desmond Saunders
Voices of	Ray Barrett Robert Easton David Graham Don Mason Lois Maxwell Sylvia Anderson
Opening theme	"Stingray"
Ending theme	"Aqua Marina" (sung by Gary Miller)
Composer(s)	Barry Gray
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	39 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Gerry Anderson
Cinematography	John Read
Editor(s)	David Lane Harry MacDonald Eric Pask
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	AP Films
Distributor	ITC Entertainment
Release
Original network	ATV
Picture format	35 mm (Eastmancolor)
Audio format	Mono
Original release	4 October 1964 (1964-10-04) – 27 June 1965 (1965-06-27)
Chronology
Preceded by	Fireball XL5
Followed by	Thunderbirds

Stingray is a British children's science-fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. Filmed in 1963 using a combination of electronic marionette puppetry and scale model special effects, it was APF's sixth puppet series and the third to be produced under the banner of "Supermarionation". It premiered in October 1964 and ran for 39 half-hour episodes.

Set in the 2060s, the series follows the exploits of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP), an organisation responsible for policing the Earth's oceans. The WASP's flagship is Stingray, a combat submarine crewed by Captain Troy Tempest, navigator Lieutenant "Phones" and Marina, a mute young woman from under the sea. Stingray's adventures bring it into contact with various underwater civilisations, some friendly and others hostile, as well as strange natural phenomena.

In preparation for the series, APF acquired new, larger studios that it would continue to occupy for the remainder of the 1960s. Filmed at a cost of approximately £1 million, Stingray was the first British TV series to be made entirely in colour, a move intended to increase its appeal to the lucrative American market. The underwater sequences were filmed "dry" by shooting the sets through thin aquaria, while surface shots were filmed on water tanks incorporating lowered back walls to create artificial horizons. Stingray was the first Supermarionation series whose puppet characters had interchangeable heads showing a range of facial expressions.

Stingray' was originally broadcast on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and in syndication in North America. The series has drawn a largely positive response from commentators, some of whom have compared its premise to the Cold War.

Premise

Stingray, a nuclear-powered combat submarine, is the flagship of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP), a branch of the World Security Patrol (WSP) responsible for policing the Earth's oceans in the mid-2060s. Armed with "sting missile" torpedoes, it can travel at up to 600 knots (1,100 km/h; 690 mph) underwater and reach depths of over 36,000 feet (11 km; 6.8 mi).

The WASP is based in the self-contained city of Marineville, located several miles inland somewhere on the West Coast of North America. It is connected to the Pacific Ocean via a tunnel leading to an "ocean door", through which Stingray is launched. General quarters alerts are sounded by rapid drumbeats played over the base's public address system. In emergency situations, the entire base can be lowered into underground bunkers via giant hydraulic jacks while fighter aircraft and interceptor missiles are launched to counter threats. WASP personnel acknowledge commands with the phrase "P.W.O.R." – short for "Proceeding With Orders Received".

Stingray is piloted by the square-jawed Captain Troy Tempest. He is paired with Southern navigator Lieutenant George Lee Sheridan, nicknamed "Phones" for his secondary role as Stingray's hydrophone operator. Troy and Phones board Stingray from the Marineville stand-by lounge by sitting on twin seats that are then lowered into the submarine via injector tubes. They answer to the "hoverchair"-bound Commander Sam Shore, whose daughter, Lieutenant Atlanta Shore, works in the Marineville control tower and is enamoured of Troy.

The series begins with the WASP's discovery that the ocean floor is home to many advanced civilisations. Among these is the undersea city of Titanica, ruled by King Titan. A despot, Titan commands the Aquaphibians, a warrior race who possess a fleet of lethal submersibles called "Mechanical Fish". In the first episode, Stingray is attacked by Titan's forces and Troy and Phones are captured. They are rescued by Titan's slave, Marina, a mute young woman from the undersea city of Pacifica who can breathe underwater. Marina defects to the WASP and becomes a permanent member of the Stingray crew. Troy becomes infatuated with her, making Atlanta jealous.

Furious at Marina's betrayal, Titan swears revenge on "terraneans" (land people) in general and Troy and the WASP in particular. However, his attempts to destroy Stingray and Marineville are always thwarted, often due to the incompetence of his henchman Surface Agent X-2-Zero. Titan's spy on land, X-2-Zero operates from the Pacific island of Lemoy, where he lives in an outwardly dilapidated house whose interior conceals vast banks of sophisticated surveillance and tracking equipment. Some episodes revolve around encounters with other races living under the sea or within the Earth (some friendly and others hostile), or investigation of natural phenomena. The final episode is a clip show in which Troy is named "Aquanaut of the Year" and past missions are recounted in flashback.

Episodes

Episodes are listed in the order of original broadcast in the ATV London region.

In a first for a Supermarionation series, Stingray included a Christmas episode, "A Christmas to Remember", and a clip show finale, "Aquanaut of the Year". The latter incorporates elements from This Is Your Life, for which APF was required to obtain approval from the programme's creator, Ralph Edwards. Negotiations with Edwards were slow to progress, so work began on an alternative clip show in which the main characters watch film recordings of some of Stingray's past missions. Production on this episode was halted when APF received permission to proceed with "Aquanaut of the Year".

Special episodes

APF used the framing scenes from the abandoned clip show to create a Stingray feature presentation. Written and directed by Alan Pattillo, this comprised four complete episodes and was privately screened for visiting Japanese TV executives. It has never had a TV broadcast.

The linking material from the feature presentation was re-discovered in late 2000 or early 2001 and subsequently included on Stingray DVD releases. Several years later, BBC Wales and Granada International condensed the feature presentation to create a new Stingray clip show episode. Titled "The Reunion Party", this included material from three episodes and was broadcast on BBC Four as part of a "Gerry Anderson Night" in 2008.

ITC compilation films

In the early 1980s, two Stingray compilation films were produced by ITC New York. These were made for American TV and later released on home video. They were televised as part of an ITC package branded "Super Space Theater", which also included compilations from other Supermarionation series. Each of the Stingray films consists of re-edited versions of four of the original episodes. The second film, Invaders from the Deep, was broadcast as the first episode of movie-mocking TV comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1988.

Characters

WASP personnel and allies

• Captain Troy Tempest: pilot of the WASP's flagship submarine, Stingray.
• "Phones": a WASP lieutenant, Stingray's navigator and hydrophone operator, and Troy's best friend. His real name, George Lee Sheridan, is mentioned in the series' publicity material but never used on-screen.
• Marina: a young woman from under the sea who joins the Stingray crew. She was enslaved by King Titan of Titanica but defects to the WASP in the first episode and quickly becomes Troy's love interest. She can breathe in or out of water and is mute like the rest of her race.
• Commander Samuel Shore: head of Marineville. Unable to walk, he is confined to a hoverchair. The reason for his disability is revealed in the episode "The Ghost of the Sea": as a security agent for an ocean mining platform, he was injured when the facility was attacked by a hostile submersible.
• Lieutenant Atlanta Shore: Commander Shore's daughter, assistant controller in Marineville Tower and Marina's rival for Troy's affections.
• Sub-Lieutenant John Horatio Fisher: junior assistant controller in Marineville Tower. In "Rescue from the Skies" he is training to be an aquanaut.
• WSP Commanders: three commanders at WSP Headquarters in Washington, D.C. They appear in various episodes to brief the main characters.
• Admiral Jack Denver: president of the WASP underwater research division. He went to college with Commander Shore and enjoys debating with him.
• "Doc": Marineville's doctor, who appears in the episodes "The Master Plan" and "Invisible Enemy".
• Aphony: Marina's father, ruler of the peaceful underwater city of Pacifica. He appears in the episodes "Plant of Doom" and "Tune of Danger".
• Oink: a seal pup that becomes Marina's pet after he saves the Stingray crew from a bomb in the episode "Sea of Oil".

Recurring villains

• King Titan: the tyrannical ruler of the underwater city of Titanica who wages war on the WASP.
• Surface Agent X-2-Zero: Titan's inept agent on land, based in a dilapidated house on the island of Lemoy.
• The Aquaphibians: a race of undersea warriors who serve Titan. Their language resembles a series of gurgles.
• Teufel: Titan's pet, a large fish with supernatural powers that Titan keeps in a tank in his throne room and worships as a god.
• El Hudat and Abu: the dictator of the country of Hudatvia and his aide. They appear in the episodes "Star of the East" and "Eastern Eclipse".
• Grupa and Noctus: a pair of undersea beings who appear in the episodes "A Nut for Marineville" and "Trapped in the Depths".