Classic SciFi On British TV...For Children

A brief history of children's television SciFi before I was born

The first British television science fiction for children was The Lost Planet, 1954. Originally written for radio by Angus MacVicar in 1952, it was followed by Return To The Lost Planet the following year. Both were novelised and then MacVicar adapted his stories for television. The latter was broadcast in 1955.

ABC Weekend TV broadcast a children's science fiction serial, Target Luna, in 1960, written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice, and produced by Sydney Newman. The serial featured Frank Finlay as Conway Henderson and Michael Craze as Geoffrey Wedgwood. Its success led to the commissioning of a trilogy of serials, Pathfinders In Space (1960), Pathfinders To Mars (1960-61) and Pathfinders To Venus (1961). They starred Gerald Flood and Stewart Guidotti in the recast roles, as Henderson and Geoffrey respectively. Flood and Guidotti were reunited as journalist Mark Bannerman and photographer Peter Blake in Plateau Of Fear (1961), City Beneath The Sea (1962) and Secret Beneath The Sea (1963).

Gerry Anderson produced his first science fiction show, Supercar, in 1961 for ATV, using puppets, and saw the introduction of Supermarionation. The following year, Fireball XL5 debuted, as did Space Patrol, which was created by Roberta Leigh with whom Anderson worked on The Adventures Of Twizzle (1957-59) and Torchy The Battery Boy in 1959.

1963 saw the debut of Doctor Who, which became the longest running science fiction television series in the world. It began during the middle of the run of ABC's Emerald Soup, which found its original success flounder as a result.

The following year, Gerry Anderson returned with Stingray, and he continued with Thunderbirds (1965-66), Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons (1967-68), Joe 90 (1968-69), and his final series using puppets, The Secret Service (1969). That same year, Anderson realised his dream of making a live-action feature film in Journey To The Far Side Of the Sun. He quickly followed this with his first fully live-action series, UFO (1970-71). Broadcasters were confused as to whether it was aimed at children or adults. Considering it touched upon some distinctly adult themes, it will not be listed below.

ATV, for whom Anderson was producing his shows, introduced a new live-action children's science fiction series, Timeslip, in 1970.

Children's television SciFi broadcast between 1972 and 1991