Gabblings: What The Fans Remember...

Thought long lost, Space Patrol remained a faint memory for those who watched it on its initial screenings. Here are some of those reminiscings, now reaching far and wide over the world it seems...

Nick (London, UK)
"I stumbled across your site this evening, and was amazed to recall associations with comics & books I
read as a child ~35 years ago. (I never saw any TV episodes as a result of my parents' antipathy towards television).
However I would like to add my opinion concerning the Space Patrol annual. I'm convinced that at least one existed - not least as I recall being given 2 SP books that my father bought from a second hand bookshop (one being The Secret Weapon - I remember the cover & the space helmets). The second was definitely an annual - I can't remember much except it had a 1960s year on the front of it & mainly had text stories & illustrations with perhaps 4 sides of cartoon strips. The other thing I remember (there being a number of distinct stories/picture items in it) was the references to 'martian sausage' in at least 2 different stories which the engineer allegedly ate. I think that there were also 'in a hundred years time' types of features, but It's a long time ago.
Anyway, congratulations on your site - the city night scene & flickering space ships rate special mention."

John Karpiscak (US)
"Wow! For the first time in years, when I stumbled on your site, my jaw dropped.
I'm an avid sci-fi fan and just about gave up hope of ever finding any reference to this show anywhere. Not in books, magazines- nothing. No one knows about this show- I mean no one; and I've been asking for years on end at sci-fi cons and via the WWW. I had almost come to the point where this show (called Planet Patrol here in the US), almost seemed like a fuzzy dream I had.
I'm amazed and impressed.
I saw this show in suburban New Jersey in 1964-1965 on an independant TV station (Channel 11- WPIX New York) and as a 7-8 year old kid was fascintated by the show. It got me interested in sci-fi, drawing (the ships and buildings) and in space things in general."

John Hewlett (UK)
"Hi to the creator of this web site.
I am pleased to say that I used to see this programme when it first came out in 1962/3. A sad state of affairs...but wait a minute I remember a lot of the episodes, even the "yobber rays on" and "gammer rays on" I have been using these comments for years...and now we have the site so all my "anorak friends" can see I am completely MAD.
KEEP IT UP - for ever!"

Robert.Connolly (Cyberspace)
"What a labour of love your website is!
I've only had a chance to look at your guide to the first two episodes (reading it at work!) but I am impressed. I have very hazy memories of watching Space Patrol first time round as a youngster of <cough cough> four or five, and thinking "That's a spaceship? It doesn't look like one!" and trying to draw it. And it's out on DVD? Hmm. Better start dropping hints about Christmas presents, then."

Tom (US)
"I was about 6 years old, living in New York, and I remember watching "Planet Patrol" I think on WCBS-TV 2 on Saturday mornings. Until now, I could not find any information on the show, even on IMDB, and was beginning to think my forty year old memories were cracked!."

Martin Wiggins (UK)
"Your website refers to the possibility of the 1965 Space Patrol sweet cigs. being reissued c. 1970. You seem doubtful of this. Well, I can't guarantee the year, but I certainly remember the SP ciggies, and may even still have some of the cards somewhere in the attic. (How disappointing, as you say, that they were science fact.) Now, here's the rub: I was born in 1961, and I am *sure* my memories of the confectionary don't date from when I was four years old; so I'd guess that around 1970 is approximately correct. One influencing factor could have been the screening of the last handful of episodes in the ATV region in 1968, which I also remember. (It was around the time of the 'Wheel in Space' Doctor Who serial as I recall, and I was intrigued by the title Grass of Saturn.)"

Lucio A. Junior (Brazil)
"I saw Space Patrol here in Brasil, in 1970, in Globo Television Channel. It was an strange series, about an spinning spaceship with a venusian named Marla and a bearded Captain that I don´t remember the name (the episodes where dubbed in portuguese). I am looking for any episodes of the series, even in English to remember my childish age . Do you know where I can find it? Can you suggest any place to obtain any episodes in Divx? Pal video doesn't work here, so I cannot use directly from buying England tapes. It was a pleasure to find a place that has comments about that lovely series. Continue your marvelous work!!!"

Robin Evans (UK)
"Firstly, I have to say how much I've enjoyed visiting the site, especially as I've recently been wallowing in childhood memories, having purchased a little stack of the Space Patrol videos.
I watched some of these with one of my few contemporaries who remembers the series (without confusing it with Fireball XL5). We sat and roared with laughter at the absurdities, but this didn't mar our genuine enjoyment of revisiting this strange, dreamlike show, whose fascination is not dissapated by being viewed through now adult (all right, middle-aged) eyes.
I was around eight when Space Patrol came on...I knew nothing about it until the credits came up. I was a nervous little kid, and I'd already had the bejabbers scared out of me by Pathfinders to Mars (the few minutes of it that I could bear to watch), and a few film clips from The Invisible Boy, featuring Robby the Robot. Although I'd been fine with XL5, probably because it was so slick and 'pop', the sight of the Galasphere droning past Saturn, and the demented ice-cream chime send a shudder through me. I was edging toward the door, when I realised it was going to be puppets. That did make it a lot safer. It certainly became my favourite programme, and I rated it far above XL5. Funny how the repeated shots and sequences were not only accepted, but looked forward to. In those pre-home video days, that was the only way to see your favourite bits over and again."



Space Patrol, like a lot of children's shows at that time, was popular, because it was imitable. You could act out your own adventures in the garden or around the house with your friends. I don't know if kids do play-act these days. They seem to need computers through which to play their make-believe games. Nothing wrong with that, I'm sure...but we always seemed to be charging around exploring planets (the planets on Space Patrol often had the look of an overgrown garden), or battling with invisible monsters. I remember we always had to make the sound effects with our mouths somehow. The hum of the Galasphere wasn't too difficult, nor was its eerie tonal effect, but the hoverjets were a problem (I can do the sound effect now, funnily enough, but it's not a thing I go around telling everyone). The limited cast of the series helped if there were only three or four of us playing. We all took turns at being Dart or Husky, or an alien, or whatever. Memories of details beyond that are pretty much buried. They'll probably emerge when I'm in the old folks' home!"

(SP-TW Note - Robin is also a talented professional artist, and has contributed some very nice renders of a Galasphere - you can visit his website by clicking on the images. Thanks Robin!)

Daniel L. Brooks (US)
"I was thrilled to find this website featuring one of the most beloved television series of my youth. Now I'm 50 years old, and believe me when I say, that I still remember this series fondly, having watched it when I lived in New Jersey (when I was 11 years). I especially loved the Galasphere 347 (I even remembered the '347' , even after 39 years.) and, later, when I became a 'Trekker' (of course, at the time, a Trekkie), I couldn't help but wonder if Gene Roddenberry was influenced just a little bit by some of the concepts of 'Space Patrol' (When I watched it, of course, it was 'Planet Patrol'). Realistically, I'd be surprised if Roddenberry had even seen it, but at that time, I still wondered. Looking back, of course, some of the concepts on 'Space Patrol', as well as 'Star Trek', seem absurd and admittedly, laughable. But it was great science fiction, and that's what counts in my book.
I've always been a fan of vintage TV (not just because I grew up with it, but because, in my humble opinion, I think it was far superior to what's on nowadays (although there are exceptions, of course). Anyway, I was equally thrilled to learn through your fabulous site that the series wasn't lost, and that Roberta Leigh still had copies of each episode. This, of course, is a collection I must have and plan to get. I've been going over your website now, reading everything on it, for the past 2 hours. And, although I remember reading that any attempts at rendering a detailed schematic or layout of a Galasphere would be futile, I sure would love for someone to try it anyway. I just thought that the ship was cool, and was visually impressive when traveling through space. I just loved that energy bubble that enveloped the ship, and the way it flickered.
Thank you for, not only honoring one of the most enjoyable TV shows of my childhood with this website, but also for bringing such dignity to it. After all, it was only a TV show aimed at kids, but your website obviously gives it the respect that an adult, who is still a kid at heart, can appreciate and enjoy."

Will Doran (UK)
"I had a memory from when I was ten of some gyroscopes flying through space to the sound "doo-dee-doo-doo". Fifteen years later it bugged me what the name of the series was. Then one day I met a person who remembered the sound, the spacesphips, the robots and even the series name: "Space Patrol". I thought I would never see it again. For another quarter of a century I have driven my collegues mad; sitting at my terminal and humming the Galasphere's noise. None of them knew the series. Now thanks to a chance "Google" I saw your brilliant site and I immediately logged into Amazon to order a video. Not being a druggy I can't make comparisons but I'm now riding high on Nostalgia. The show is even better than I expected from memory: The fight scene in "The Swamps of Jupiter" must be one of the most entertaining scenes in TV puppetry."

"A few words for Trekkies: Check out Slim's pointed ears and note his Venusian logic."

Mitchell Goodstein (US)
(pictured on right with Robby the Robot)
"My brother and I used to be regular viewers of "Planet Patrol" each Saturday morning in Queens, NY. Back in the early 1960's, we only had black and white television, so we assumed it wasn't in color either. The futuristic city was everything I could have wanted in a landscape of tomorrow: clear-domed buildings connected by glass pneumatic tubes along with the rhythmic thumping, enhanced by the occasional whooshing of a bullet car speeding from one structure to another (never mind that in one shot, we could see the edge of the tabletop!)
Your analogy of the spaceship as a gyroscope was exactly right. That is what I compared it to. In fact, I had a toy metal gyroscope that I used to play with, imagining it was that ship. I also recall that the space-farers used hovercraft scooters to get around after landing on other planets. The comparisions to vehicles that Steve Zodiac of Fireball XL-5 used were inevitable.
I remember a race of strange-looking aliens that would glow when each one would speak. They also abhored the idea of work... "

Tony Warot (Cyberspace)
" I remember the entire series back in the early 60's, I thought it was as good as anything made by Gerry Anderson. Even the theme tune(actually, it was 'tuneless') was unique, and the characters and various inter-planetary creatures that were created were exclusive. i.e. Gabbler (the gabbler bird) as the name suggests, talks a lot!!! Husky. "Who's stolen my sausages", Gamma rays on, Yobba rays on. In fact, all of them were "one-offs" The GALASPHERE 347 and the hover-jets were way ahead of anything that FIREBALL XL5 had to offer. Despite the occasional puppet string getting in the way, it out-shines a lot of todays SCI-FI shows by sheer imagination. "THAT WAS A CLOSE HAIRCUT CAPTAIN"(a husky-ism) he had an entire library of descriptive words and phrases unique to him that meant nothing similar to anyone else."
"Thanks for making me act like a little boy again, love the site."

Mark Bolton (Australia)
"I am so thrilled to see the site you have put together in celebration of Space Patrol ... I am 42 and saw Space Patrol in Australia as a pre teen but I hasten to add I am not putting together some bullshit "things aint what they used to be coz I know they never bloody were" retro smooch list.
Space Patrol worked for me because it had a gentleness and a sence of Universal Order that tied in with the Sci Fi social hypotheticals penned by Heinlien and Asimov that populated my 12 yo mind . Every one seems to patronizingly smirk at the low budget shows like Space Patrol but this misses the ENTIRE POINT ... we as nerdy kids knew the science .... We knew the Sci Fi ..we built the rockets bombs model planes ... we pestered our Korean War vet comms radio owners to let us tune into the Ionosphere on those rigs and "bugger me" it was just like the intro to Space Patrol ...
We felt we owned such programs because we were inspired to copy and repeat and reinvent such narratives with homemade puppets ..... and roll yer own scripts ... It was possible to write your own stories - to get your mates to come over and run your own plays - I honestly think that because Space Patrol was so creativity intensive and so techs ho hum ... we as kids were inspired to do our own plays .. we weren't competing with George Lucas ....
I hope I am not coming across like some curmudgeonly old dick head here, I was just throwing in a salad of observations consequent on programs that really set my soul free as a little takker ."

Mike Johnson (UK)
"For years Ive been asking people if they remembered Space Patrol, and most of them looked at me as if Id just got out of a flying saucer.
I was 5 in 1962, just old enough that I can remember the series.
Ive sent shortcuts to your web site to all my doubters - That'll teach 'em!
Thanks for putting me out of my misery!"

John Middlebrooks (US)
"Let me congratulate you on your fine site. I had begun to doubt if this show ever existed. If memory serves Space Patrol came on WOR TV 9 on Sat evenings between 5:00pm & 7:00pm. It didn't seem as though it was on for a long period of time. I remember being disappointed when I could no longer watch it. Again congratulations on your web site."

David Nightingale - Engale Marketing/Star Trader
"I can still remember being very unsettled whenever those robots walked past the end of the corridor when automatic piloting was engaged. They were very spooky to a seven or eight year-old - yes, I was there at the time ! Sunday tea-times. Being impressed they wore helmets and didn't use the XL5 cop-out of oxygen pills (though, as you may know, I am a BIG Anderson fan). The noise of the Galasphere (everyone but everyone recalls this !) and the sweet cigarettes. There certainly wasn't the huge merchandising push whichyou saw with Gerry's stuff and, more up to date, I've been surprised how "dark" and, indeed, violent the show is. The fist fight at the end of the first episode is amazing...and what's all this about being so keen to go out and shoot these alien fluffy creatures !!!??? You really wouldn't get away with it now, would you ?"

Phil Hughes (UK)
"Congratulations on an absolutely wonderful website! I've been describing Space Patrol to baffled and unbelieving friends and family for years and years, and now I've been vindicated!! I was entranced by Space Patrol as a small child, and particularly remember the eerie music, and the sequences of the city, with vehicles whizzing through the transparent tubes. The Galasphere was an endless source of fascination too, especially the way the tripod opened at the base to allow it to land, and I was always trying (unsuccessfully!) to build it! Did Space Patrol appear in a childrens comic of the time? I vaguely remember seeing the characters in colour (Slim with blue skin and Husky with green skin), and, of course ,this was the era of black and white TV!"

Kids/TVMan (US)
"I remember:"Planet Patrol".The show was seen weekday afternoons on WPIX TV Ch.ll here in NYC around l963 or l964.The series was exciting as "Capt.Larry Dart"and his fellow:"GalloSphere Patrollers": "Husky"and a Venusian (His name escapes me right now?) travel to other planets to prevent evil despots and creatures from attacking the earth and other planets.Which had become earth's allies in maintaining intergalatic peace.The show was reruned on WOR TV Ch.9 in NYC during the l970's. Before the series dropped one more time. "Planet Patroll" has not been seen on in this country or outside of the USA since... "

Keith Ansell (UK)
"I remember the robots - they really scared me as a kid. The electronic opening and closing themes were unnerving too but I loved them along with the unearthly sound the Galasphere made as it flew through space
I remember having mixed feelings when Space Patrol replaced Supercar as the colour centre spread in TV Comic. I felt cheated that it wasn't Fireball XL5 (which remained in b/w) but I soon got over it. If only I had saved those comics - what great collectors items they would make for a Space Patrol fan today.
I never thought I would own the whole series on home video one day. Just shows dreams can come true."

Bill Baverstock - 3D Computer Artist
"I had not seen any episodes since they aired as "Planet Patrol" in the New York area. I remember being somewhat frightened of the robots, but fascinated with all the controls in the Galasphere.
One year for Christmas I was given a cardboard gas station big enough for a child to play in. In short order with the help of a magic marker and assorted coffee cans and jars as templates I converted the interior to that of my own Galasphere with gauges and buttons plastered all over the inside.
Also, I wonder how many young fans played with there own Galasphere models made out of an empty roll of toilet tissue and aluminum foil?
I have since seen a few of the episodes and think I was pretty close, except that I thought the thing that rotated around the ship was a permanent fixture and not produced by the yoba ray (or whatever)"

(SP-TW Note - Bill has a very nice CGI render of a Galasphere on his site, and has allowed us to reproduce it here. You can see a larger version by clicking on the image. Thanks Bill!)

Ken Ross (UK)
"Many moons & miles ago I was a youngster and life was simpler and the telly used a turret tuner to change channels . i've only got the one video of Space Patrol - Vol 1 , and when i watched it for the first time when i got it home up came the episode ' Dark Planet' ... ohmygawd! They've used a real exterior shot of a building. i know it !. It's the naval building down in Earls Court / West Brompton also called the 'Empress State Building' , ( i think the 190 bus has it on it destination blinds) next door to Earls Court exhibition place. Larry Dart's world is a more dangerous place than Steve Zodiac's..."

Richard Bell (Australia)
"Love the website - fantastic effort. I have fond memories of watching the show - the unsettling music/sound effects while the robot was walking . . . "

Robin Day (UK)
"I watched the original screening in the U.K. I found it a bit scary at the time. The soundtrack was very spooky. The opening scene with the close up of the Sun and then the Galasphere flying through space always held me riveted to the screen. I liked the robots. They could be quite frightening too. I remember thinking that Slim was a girl. I loved the planet-side scenes - the swamps and stuff. The Galasphere was a very different sort of spaceship. I used to make Galaspheres using Plasticine and matchsticks. Then of course, Space Patrol disappeared without trace. I could not find anyone who remembered it. I often wondered if I'd see the show again.
About ten years ago I found a Space Patrol annual! I was delighted. From that I found the show was by Roberta Leigh, of Torchy and Twizzle fame. At least I could then convince my wife I had not imagined the series. Now it's out on DVD and video - unbelievable after such a long time had passed with few people remembering it. Seeing it again, I don't remember any of the episodes. I think it's a great show."

Mel (Hawaii)
"When I was a kid I used to be a big fan of "Fireball XL5", "Thunderbirds" and "Captain Scarlett." All aired locally in Hawaii on either KHON Channel 2 (at the time KONA TV) and KGMB Channel 9 on the "Checkers and Pogo" show.
That said, after looking at some of the photos regarding "Planet Patrol," all I can say is that I vaguely remember this one being shown early mornings on one of our TV stations here. Other than the puppet characters,the only other thing I remember was that the Planet Patrol crew roamed space in some kind of flying saucer like spacecraft.. .. but then again, I could be wrong... It has been eons since I last seen this show or even thought about it...
"Fireball XL5", and "Thunderbirds" were vastly more popular than "Planet Patrol," though none of these puppet TV series lasted for more than 2 years I believe."

Steve Grimes (UK)
"As no-one I know had ever heard of it, I thought I'd imagined the series called Space Patrol - all I could remember was the shape of the spacecraft, a martian saying 'yobba rays on' and a bearded space commander. "

Julio (Jay) Santos (US)
"Where can i get some of the videos of your show, i watched that when i was a child, i loved every minute of it !! I wanted to become an Astronaut because of your show !!
Go Planet Patrol, boy that brings back memories !! "

Coderedlion (South Devon - UK)
"I think that ITV must have been repeating this show for a few years after 1962 (the year I was born!) as I seem to have vague childhood memories of it. I think that I recall a very odd theme tune (if you could call it a tune... I'm thinking more of a 'pulsating' sound effect), so I don't know if I'm on the right lines.
Excellent web-site by the way. "

Tony Porzio (New Mexico)
"...I was able to obtain a few episodes from the UK, and it did bring back many memories.
Every SCI FI series has its ups and downs. As far as I know, Space Patrol was the first series to feature a ship that had a field-effect drive...very nice. I also thought the use of the robots were interesting, as well as the idea of a "gravity freezer". All in all, a very good show for the kids.
Although the budget was limited, it is obvious that Roberta Leigh had a lot of heart and inner motivation - that means more than any budget."

Mike Stockwell (UK)
"...It was the first thing I can remember watching on TV, that & Popeye. Later I went on to take a real interest in the Space Race "as was then" now I'm Dr MichaelStockwell. Space Observatory Team UK. (Advanced Propulsion Systems.) But along the way I collected a few things re-Space Patrol, plus a video with a number of the shows on?
As for Space Travel, we are far in advance of Ion drive, & are now in a World where anything is poss.? All we have to do is learn to make it, & new Worlds a good & safe place to live, (not just for us but our kids)? Space Patrol taught me that 40yrs ago, maybe we should show them again??? Good luck with what your doing. Just wanted to say you have a great site - take care..."

Peter Wright (Australia)
"So, I'll admit I remember the series, but wasn't Yoba rays spelt with one "b"? I'm sure I recall its being run very recently here (Western Australia) either very early in the morning or on one of the strange "community access" TV channels. Perhaps even on cable. I'll keep an eye out for it.
I specifically remember only one episode - where the Saturnians were infected with the common cold, and being terrified of some other episodes..."

Nigel Horne (UK)
"Great website you have there! Brought back fond memories for me. I have been looking for information on Space Patrol for years and have just managed to get hold of 6 episodes on DVD. Keep up the good work... "

Alan Holmes (UK) - On his Space Patrol inspired venue...
"The Galasphere 347 Lounge is indeed a kind of venue for live music, although its location moves around the universe much Captain Larry Dart and his intrepid crew's spacecraft of the same name.
The Galasphere was last reported in an upstairs room in Gloucester's Guildhall during the Ochre 7 festival last November. On that occasion it served as a venue for mostly Welsh acts (Parking Non-Stop, Rheinallt H Rowlands, Nixon & Jarvis, The Groceries and Ann-a-logue) as well as local group Oobe. Who knows where in the cosmos the Galasphere will next appear, or indeed when. When it does, though, I'm sure the contents will be worth checking out. Recordings made there during Ochre 7 will probably be released in the future on Ochre, starting with the Rheinallt H Rowlands set.
Is there any suitable landing place in your area (wherever that may be) for the Galasphere? It is always in search of new civilisations to extend the hand of friendship to."


Space Patrol - The Website would love to hear of any other fan memories or reminisences - old or new - for inclusion in Gabblings. Please contact us if you would like to contribute.