Fireball XL5 (series)

Fireball XL5
Publisher:	City Magazines
Type:	TV series Comic series
Release date:	28 October 1962

You may wish to consult Fireball XL5 (disambiguation) for other, similarly-named pages.

Fireball XL5 was a science fiction series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Originally running as an animated puppet series, Fireball XL5 was also spun off into comics published in TV Century 21 alongside The Daleks.

Notably, the original televised run of the animated series spanned October 1962 to October 1963, thus ending the month prior to the beginning of Doctor Who. In the chronology of Anderson-produced series filmed in supermarionation, Fireball XL5 was preceded by Supercar and succeeded by Stingray.

Crossovers with the DWU

As the conceit of TV Century 21 was that all its series took place in a single universe, several Fireball XL5 stories from its pages crossed over freely with the DWU. This included allusions to Fireball XL5's characters and ongoing storylines in the prose "cover stories", but also Fireball XL5's involvement in a crossover event between the series of TV Century 21 which spanned multiple issues and stories, in a story arc revolving around the planet Astra, originally created by David Whitaker as part of the background of Doctor Who companion Vicki.

Additionally, the planet Kemble, appearing in various Doctor Who stories including The Daleks' Master Plan and Mission to the Unknown, debuted in the Fireball XL5 episode Space Vacation.

The following Fireball XL5 comic stories involved DWU elements and are thus covered on this Wiki:

Title	Issue	Released
The Batmen	1-5	23 January - 20 February 1965
Space Border Battle	15	1 May 1965
Ceasefire — But War Tension Mounts...	16	8 Mary 1965
President Offers Peace...	17	15 May 1965
Colonel Zodiac Disappears	18	22 May 1965
Assassination!	19	29 May 1965
Zodiac Makes An Arrest	20	5 June 1965
Army In House To House Search	21	12 June 1965
Assassins Escape!	22	19 June 1965
Zodiac Flies Out...	23	26 June 1965
XL5 Under Attack	24	3 July 1965
Revolution on Astra	25	10 July 1965
Astra's Final Battle	26	17 July 1965
The Giant Ant Invasion	27-33	24 July - 4 September 1965
Icemen of Space	34-39	11 September - 16 October 1965
Emergency Landing!	40-43	23 October - 13 November 1965
The Syntex Mystery	64-70	9 April - 21 May 1966
The Black Ship	71-78	28 May - 16 July 1966
The Reactor	87-89	17 September - 1 October 1966
Fireball XL5 1	1966 Annual	1966
The Giants of Kaptar	101-104	24 December 1966 - 14 January 1967
Fireball XL5	105-117	21 January - 15 April 1967
The Shrink Ray	118-127	22 April - 24 June 1967
Kidnap!	149-154	25 November - 30 December 1967
Flash: XL5 Crew Held on Astra	243	October 2014

Cast and crew connections

Barry Gray composed this theme song to the Century 21 Productions show of the same name. Century 21's music label issued this song on a record that also included a version of the Doctor Who theme.

Dennis Spooner wrote for two episodes of the series and Alan Fennell wrote for eleven, and David Graham, better known as a Dalek voice actor, voiced the character Lt. 90.