Fireball XL5 (series)
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.
The following Fireball XL5 comic stories involved DWU elements and are thus covered on this Wiki:
| Title | Issue | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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.
