Fireball XL5 (series)
- 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:
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.
