In 1998, just prior to the release of the Space Patrol videos, Cult TV maestro Alex J Geairns spoke to Tim Beddows about the series, and his crusade to find film prints which ultimately resulted to their discovery - in Roberta Leigh's garage!


Alex J Geairns talks to a TV fan who has made it his goal to release classic television that's still locked in dusty old archives!.

Space Patrol

Okay, I admit it. I’m 33 years old. As far as most media moguls are concerned, that means I’m past it, with opinions that are no longer valid. New TV schedules and Video Releases are not designed for the likes of me anymore. Or at least that’s what I thought. Now, Tim Beddows of Network Video is proving that Black and White no longer just means the sort of thinking that you can never put together after a pint of Guinness. Good old B&W means archive TV programmes, ones made before colour was affordable and the norm - ones thought distant memories never to be seen again.

‘I remember Robinson Crusoe very cleariy from my childhood - the music, the images, they stay with you’ remarks Tim as we settle to discuss the course of events that have lead to him being in the imminent position of releasing marionette classic ‘Space Patrol’ on video to an unsuspecting world.

I’ve been a TV fan for years - I went to the first convention for The Prisoner back in 1977. Recently, I’ve loved revisiting my childhood watching the likes of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Thunderbirds, but they’ve been repeated far too much now.’ Tim has been dealing with TV companies for years, doing research on the background to many a classic series, and it was access to this web of contacts which made him wonder what else could be accessed from the archives.

So it was that about two years ago that Tim decided to locate Robinson Crusoe. a staple diet of BBC summer holiday programming during the 1970s. ‘I started with the BBC, who were extremely helpful. They put me on to a company called Teledis in Paris, who confirmed they had the series and owned the rights to it’. A few months ago, Tim found himself in the enviable position of being asked to set up a video label by one of his former employers, a music company that wanted to branch out into the visual media. Having already done the legwork, he immediately bought the rights to Crusoe. and the series is now in all good video shops, spread over four volumes. Tim even found the original star of the show. Robert Hoffmann, and brought him over to the UK to promote the video.

Tim’s next target was one that had been a personal crusade for over 12 years - Space Patrol. ‘Every couple of years, I’d make another concerted effort to find the series, normally spurred on by Martin Cater, a fellow enthusiast’. All avenues appeared to be cul-de-sacs, and for a long time it looked to Tim that the only prints in existence of the 39 episode series would be the handful of abridged Super 8 home movies released in the 1960s. ‘I tried again last May, this time by working my way through the names on the end credits of the series. I tried film labs involved with the series, overseas distributors for the show (it was very popular in America where it was called 'Planet Patrol') - there was no good news'.

After many enquiries, Tim finally traced the writer and creator of the series, Roberta Leigh. 'I eventually got to talk to her, and we arranged to meet in person. When she realised my serious intentions, she allowed me access to her complete library, stored, as rumoured, in her garage'.

Sure enough, the garage was indeed a temple of TV riches. Not only were there 16mm prints of all episodes of 'Space Patrol' in remarkably pristine condition, but also two little known series, 'Wonder Boy and Tiger' and 'Send for Dithers', that were shown only in the Southern and Westward regions respectively. There was also the only known surviving episode of Sara and Hoppity, plus two unscreened pilots - 'Paul Starr' (done around 1964, and starring the voice of Ed Bishop), and live action 'The| Solarnauts', shot around 1969, starring Derek Fowlds and featuring Jan Leeming as an extra!

The prints of 'Space Patrol' are being cleaned up and enhanced by the BBC at present, an extra sheen that will give the videos extreme collectability. 'Fans will be delighted at the results' enthuses Tim. Not only will the video releases begin early in the new year, but a couple of broadcasters have shown an interest. 'Initially, there was resistance to buying in a black and white TV series from the likes of HMV, Virgin Megastores, WH Smiths, John Menzies, Our Price and others, but suddenly they seem to be having a change of heart'. With the exile of almost all things monochrome by the likes of UK Gold and Bravo, it is also a refreshing change to hear that there are still broadcasters who appreciate that Black and White is not an audience turn-off (after all, the likes of 'Citizen Kane' and 'Casablanca' were made before colour was the watchword, and no-one denies THEIR quality!).

The plot of Space Patrol follows the adventures of the Galasphere 347, a spaceship shaped like a spinning top, and its valiant Captain, Larry Dart. Earthman Larry is accompanied by crew-members from all over the Solar System - Husky the Martian, the brawn of the outfit (and a regular eating machine), and the Venusian known as Slim, a prototype for Mr Spock from Star Trek, with his ever-so-correct speech and attention to detail.

The crew are sent on their missions by the United Galactic Organisation, and in particular Colonel Raeburn, the usual granite-carved boss, whose only weakness is for the plants he keeps in his window box. He has a secretary, Marla, (a Venusian, who has an incredible memory, like all folk from Venus, apparently), and a scientific genius on-call called Aloysius O'Rourke O'Brien Haggerty, who in turn has a daughter called Cassie. I mustn't forget to mention the Gabblerdictum Bird, a huge space parrot, who ends up being Husky's pet. Initially speaking in whistles, Professor Haggerty eventually teaches it to talk, which is unfortunately a mistake as it doesn't know when to stop gabbling (hence the name!)

The trouble in the solar system comes mainly from the outer reaches, primarily from Neptune, but sometimes from Saturn. Larry Dart and his crew end up foiling their diabolical plans one way or another, but interestingly via scientific possibilities of the time. Travel through space is realistically slow, with missions taking months - but don't think that this means the shows aren't fast paced! One episode even dealt with 'the floats', a muscle-wasting disease caused by low gravity - a problem that NASA was looking at prior to the Apollo missions.

Comedy, action and fantasy - 'Space Patrol' has it all. One well-known fan of the series is the creator, writer and producer of BABYLON 5, J Michael Straczynski. He has gone on record as saying that it was his 'favourite show as a kid, bar none'. No doubt B5 fans will be looking for influences in 'Space Patrol' on the evolving adventures of Channel 4's far-out space station.

A whole new generation is about to discover 'Space Patrol' once more. Makes you kind of proud to have been there first time around!



Article copyright Alex J Geairns and reproduced with permission.
For further details about Cult TV - The Official Magazine, please visit their website at http://www.CultTV.net

Back to Original Features