"The value of a good book is often underestimated."
Original UK broadcast: November 16th, 1969 (ATV Midlands)
Written by: Donald James
Directed by: Leo Eaton
Regular cast: Father Unwin, Matthew, The Bishop, Mrs. Appleby, Blake
Additional voice cast:
Kroner Gary Files
Mark Slater David Healy
Anne Soames Sylvia Anderson
Professor Soames Keith Alexander
Eastman Jeremy Wilkin
Controller Jeremy Wilkin
Pilot Gary Files
Professor Soames has developed a sonic rifle, capable of projecting destructive waves of ultrasonic vibration, accurate to within a centimetre over thirty feet. But three unscrupulous saboteurs intend to use Soames' rifle to bring down an experimental aircraft, holding the Professor's daughter hostage to ensure his complicity. Father Unwin is about to investigate...
Character attachment in the series for Father Unwin or anyone you don't really feel, maybe Matthew but the others aren't just the same as the characters from the earlier programs. We get a real feel of how close the bond is between Anne and Professor Soames. This episode has been proven to have been set on 24th May 1969, providing more evidence that this series is definitely set in 1969, at some point anyway. Among the returning puppets are Agent Blake, Captain Ochre as the Controller, and Captain Black as Kroner, the Mach 3 Aircraft is the same ship in detail as the XK4 fighter. At this point in the series, it hadn't even been decided to cancel the series, how many props, puppets and vehicles would have been used up again and again by the end. Captain Black was even reused in the Joe 90 episode Viva Cordova, but this time looks almost exactly like Black, if it wasn't for the late nights. A track from Joe 90's Hi-Jacked and King For A Day can be heard in the episode.
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The Secret Service: The Vault
Non-FictionThe Secret Service was a 1960s British children's TV series created by Gerry Anderson and the team of Century 21 studios in Slough, from the makers of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Space: 1999. This was the final of his television series to feat...
