Fireball XL5: World Space Patrol Technical Operations Manual by Chris Thompson & Andew Clements (book review).
Before I sit down for a serious read of books of this sort, the first thing I do is have a look through the pages at the art and anything that draws my attention, especially if I know something about the subject. I saw ‘Fireball XL5’ when it first appeared on TV and have seen it many times since, so I know more than most.
Here were the names of characters that we’ve never seen and spotting their in-jokes, more so if you know your British 60s television shows. It does note Conrad Turner as a pilot of XL3, which is part of the Spectrum captain’s history, even if it is contradictory that Earth in his time period had only reached Mars, so he might be a forebear relative. The other is specifically from what I know about the show, specifically the oxygen pills, so they don’t have to have the complicated issue on a 60s TV puppet show of how to put strings or wires through the space helmet. I’m not entirely convinced that swallowing a pill that releases oxygen into the stomach to reach the bloodstream is the most likely way to get flatulence. Then again, you burp and breathe it in, which might work. I’m less sure about XL5 yielding a field to protect against vacuum because they travel beyond it.
Another specific I was interested in was would there be any acknowledgement to the TV21 stories and the Astrans have a prominent position, so the authors are paying attention to them and SOFRAM and Bereznik, although I did wonder about the organisation Damocles. The planets Uraniture and Vulkan are a further note to the TV21 stories.
The history of the World Space Patrol began after World War III. Space City is located on the island of Atoll off Chile. The reason much of the land is empty is because so much of it is underground. A safety precaution if ever there is a crash, although rescue vehicles can take off at short notice. The hanger for the XL spacecraft is massive, but, then, so are the rockets themselves. Even the TV21 strip shows how big the crane is to but XL5 on the launch pad. As much as I like Space Tower rotating, I do wonder about the patients in the medical facility. Seeing the surroundings rotate around them might make them a little giddy. Then again, Commander Zero and Lt. Ninety would only be able to see the launch site a couple times in rotation. I suspect if it were built today, I would advocate having their control room or top of the tower be capable of stopping its rotation when they need to focus on something outside the building.
When it comes to the Fireball XL5 itself, the connection between Junior and the main rocket uses the traditional design with a doorway but does not explain the photos with no doorway but rockets in the centre. There is no indication as to whether Fireball Junior gets a regular overhaul or replacement, and one model might be different from the other. I tended to think the one with central rockets could rotate up to conceal the access port for better protection in space and landing. It isn’t like they use it on another planet.
Going back to the various XL crews, regardless of their ranks, some of which are lieutenants, all commanders of any vessel are essentially captains. They are also being very coy about the actual dimensions of the spacecraft, mostly because I suspect it is classified, although not difficult to work out based on the size of the human figure. As to the speed they travel, that is only hinted at going beyond light speed. The same is true with the space sector map. Of course, back in the 1960s, holograms and the dimensionality of space hadn’t been thought of. The other space sectors must be quiet compared to the trouble XL5’s crew gets into. There has to be a balance between then and 60 years to the present, even to 2061. Even so, equipping the jetmobiles with anti-grav is a serious mistake when they are powerful enough to rise on their own. If anti-gravity technology existed, it would be used throughout Earth technology and just as a cop-out here.
That’s not to say that a great deal of research hasn’t been done on this book. Probably the only thing really missing is the root to Steve Zodiac’s surname, and that came from a TV21 when, after being in the past, he met his namesake, but he explained his family name was originally Kalinski.
A lot of this book is a balancing act of the original TV series with what we know today about space travel and communication. Equally, how it’s placed in the overall reality of the 21st century, which hasn’t reached Mars. World War Three might have resolved much of that, but when it was originally created, the time line for the TV series hadn’t really been thought through.
With ‘Fireball XL5’ currently on British TV’s Channel 82 at the moment, this is an ideal time to get this book. There are loads of photos in colour from the series and a few that weren’t, and they make a great companion piece to the ‘Fireball XL5 Anthology’ book they also have on sale, so buy from the source link rather than the long river site.
GF Willmetts
March 2024
(pub: Anderson Entertainment, 2024. 111 page illustrated oblong hardback. Price: £29.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-914522-32-1).
check out website: www.gerryanderson.com – you can get it now direct from them.
