GERRY ANDERSON ALL SERIES CHRONOLOGY - INTRODUCTION

 

Do the TV series produced by Gerry Anderson share the same fictional universe?

That is a question to which many viewers would answer 'no' - but when one examines the facts closely the opposite response can be argued just as convincingly. The first on-screen proof of the shared universe that immediately comes to mind is the Martian Exploration Vehicle (MEV) of the revolutionary Zero X spacecraft.

One appeared in the movie Thunderbirds are Go and another in the pilot episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Further on-screen proof comes with the appearance of the World Navy in episodes of Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. The World Army is seen in episodes of Joe 90 and The Secret Service. In Fireball XL5 there is one episode in which a Supercar book is seen in the bedroom of Commander Zero's son.

The official biographies of many of the Captain Scarlet characters categorically prove the shared Anderson Universe. Captain Grey in his original identity of Bradley Holden was the first Captain of the super sub Stingray and was only succeeded by Troy Tempest after suffering an undisclosed injury that put him out of action for a while.

Lieutenant Green as Seymour Griffiths joined the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP) as a hydrophones operator and was promoted to head of communications in Marineville's control tower before being chosen for Spectrum. Captain Black (now the Mysterons' chief agent on Earth) was originally Colonel Conrad Turner of the World Space Patrol and Captain of Fireball XL3.

Rhapsody Angel's biography detailed her association with Lady Penelope (now head of the Federal Agents' Bureau) prior to joining Spectrum.

A unified Anderson Universe was promoted every week in the classic comic magazine TV Century 21 published between 1965 and 1969. Crossovers were featured between the Fireball XL5, Lady Penelope and Stingray strips and when a Captain Scarlet strip first appeared in the comic there were cameo appearances made in it by the WASP's and the World Space Patrol. In one Captain Scarlet story drawn by Jim Watson the Mysterons tricked World President T.J. Younger into disbanding Spectrum. Captains Scarlet and Blue joined the World Space Patrol and were assigned patrol duty in Fireball XL19. TV Century 21 featured a strip entitled Secret Agent 21 which was initially set twenty years prior to the 'present' of 2065 and detailed the formation of the World Government and its security forces that made up the World Security Patrol Organisation based in Washington DC.

The WSPO HQ can be seen in many episodes of Stingray when Commander Shore meets with his superior officers General Victor McCormack, Admiral Washington Beatty and General Jim Martin.

Where they exist I have taken the birth dates shown in this Chronology of the Anderson Universe from official annuals/publications and dates of events given are mainly taken from the episodes themselves or TV Century 21. Please be aware that a little 'creative continuity' was required to produce the history of the future you are now about to read.

I hope you enjoy it and that it adds to your appreciation of Gerry Anderson's wonderful puppet and live action shows.

                               

Keith Ansell (Revised 29/6/02).