STAND BY FOR SHADO

This autumn marks the 50th anniversary of Gerry Anderson’s evolution from producing Supermarionation to live-action TV shows with UFO. We take a fond look back on a complex, mature series that took Century 21 Productions to new creative heights…

- FRED MCNAMARA

IDENTIFIED

In January 1969, an incredible era of British television came to an end when the puppet studios of Century 21 Productions were closed down. The final Supermarionation TV series produced by the company, The Secret Service, had a far shorter lifespan than its predecessors, lasting only 13 episodes compared to the usual 30-40 episode length from past efforts. The exact story as to why The Secret Service came to a premature end may never be known. Puppet master Gerry Anderson often told the story of showing the first finished episode to ITC’s Lew Grade, the financial backer of his work during this era, and Grade’s reaction being less than positive.

Stanley Unwin’s trademark gobbledygook language of Unwinese, utilised as part of the show’s premise, is the given reason for the show’s ultimate failure. However, one can’t help but wonder why Lew Grade would have commissioned such a series when he must have known full-well what he was signing up for. Given Gerry’s long-held ambitions during this time to move permanently away from the super marionettes that had given him great success and greater frustration, one wonders if The Secret Service’s polarising set-up was a deliberate, tactical shot in the foot made to convince Grade that the era of Supermarionation was over. It had been three years since Grade brought the axe down on