As promised in my last post, here’s another vintage action figure found at a flea market on my recent trip back to the UK, and like the Doctor Who collectible featured last time, this is a piece of UK television memorabilia from another cult show – Captain Troy Tempest, James Garner lookalike and the dashing hero of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s marionette masterpiece Stingray. The voice actors may have all been American – a ploy to ease overseas sales of the show – but the rest of the production was entirely British.
Set in the year 2065 at the headquarters of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP) in Marineville, the ‘Stingray’ of the title was actually a state of the art submarine piloted by none other than our Troy here. First transmitted on ITV way back in 1964 and 1965, it may be hard for the younger generation of kids who have known nothing but CGI, to really appreciate the impact of those shows.