Remember the British “supermarionation” TV shows of the 1960s like Thunderbirds and Fireball XL-5? Of course you do. And they are back  …in a slightly different mode. The folks from Century 21 Films, who produced the original Gerry Anderson shows, have used their quarantine time to create a new supermarionation series called Nebula 75.

When the social distancing and lockdown measures of 2020 all but halted global film and television drama production, a thought occurred to the team at Century 21 Films. While more conventional dramas with human casts and vast crews now posed a logistical nightmare to all involved, the heroes of Supermarionation hold no risk of  coughing or sneezing on one another! In this very strange time, the decision was made to see what sort of “Superisolation” production could be put together under these extremely odd circumstances. The result is NEBULA-75, a short-form puppet drama that follows in the tradition of 1960s favourites while offering something brand new at the same time .

Although team members from around the world contributed remotely to pre and post production, the entirety of the filming for NEBULA-75 was undertaken by a crew of three who happened to already live together in a small flat in London. Their living room was transformed into a makeshift movie studio – with bookshelves, cardboard boxes and other household objects becoming the interior of the show’s hero spacecraft. This flat was  also fortunately home to many of the puppets, props, and costumes that have been accumulated over the course of different productions.

Follow the adventures of Commander Ray Neptune and the crew of NEBULA-75 as they explore space. Episode one is above; episode two is scheduled to debut tomorrow.

[via Boing Boing]

Tags: marionette, puppet, science fiction, space show, supermarionation