Fireball XL5

Fireball XL5 is a science fiction children's television series that follows the adventures of the spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol. The show was produced in 1962 by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson through their company APF, in association with ATV for ITC Entertainment. Inspired by the name of a motor oil—Castrol XL—Anderson found the name interesting and adapted it phonetically to create "Fireball XL," adding the "-5" to give the title more weight. The show utilized the Andersons' Supermarionation, a puppetry technique first introduced in Four Feather Falls and Supercar, and later used in Stingray and Captain Scarlet. Fireball XL5 consists of thirty-nine black-and-white half-hour episodes produced on 35mm film, marking the last Anderson series to be made in black and white, as all subsequent productions were in color. Fireball XL5 is unique among the Anderson series in that it was broadcast on a US network. NBC aired the series in its Saturday morning children's lineup from 1963 until September 1965. A program often mistaken for Fireball XL5 is Space Patrol, created by Arthur Provis, Gerry Anderson's former business partner and co-founder of AP Films, due to their shared themes and settings.

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