Set in the year 2063, Fireball XL5 stands by to launch from Space City. The entire skyscraper in the background rotated. The show was a simile to the space race between the United States and the USSR. The show was broadcast “100 years earlier” in the 1960s when peoples’ imaginations were fired up by the possibilities in space and the space race itself between the U.S. and Russia mirrored tensions on the ground. The show was created by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson who went on to do Stingray and Thunderbirds using the “Supermarionation” process (a nice way of saying ‘puppets’) but are best known for the live actor Space 1999 series. Steve Zodiac’s partner was named Venus, which helps you understand the last line of the show’s theme:
I wish I was a space man.
The fastest guy alive.
I’d fly you round the universe,
In Fireball XL-5.
Way out in space together,
Compass of the sky,
My heart would be a fireball,
A fireball,
Everytime I gazed into your starry eyes.
We’d take the path to Jupiter,
And maybe very soon.
We’d cruise along the Milky Way,
And land upon the moon.
To our wonderland of stardust,
We’ll zoom our way to Mars,
My heart would be a fireball,
A fireball,
If you would be my Venus of the stars
FAB!!!
Comment by Mark R — October 29, 2008 @ 5:50 pm