Greenflame
Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture, photography and faith from the Aotearoa New Zealand
Category: Science Fiction
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I remember watching both of these shows, though not with any real recollection. Certainly, Planet of the Apes was repeated at some point, and I can remember eating the orange-chocolate ice creams that came with the Planet of the Apes stickers (See Childhood Science Fiction: Ice Cream). Ark II was just some sort of filler in…
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When we moved to NZ we didn’t have a TV (apart from a rental during the Commonwealth Games when they were in Christchurch), so I’d often be around at my friends houses watching TV with them. These are three of the shows that I remember from that time, though I kept watching them when we…
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Two more shows today. One a classic and the other somewhat more obscure. Battlestar Galactica (1978-1981) There’s this thing called Star Wars, they said. We want one, they said. And not just a film, but a TV series. And so we got Battlestar Galactica from Glen A. Larson and ABC. It was everything kids who’d…
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The 1970s were a time when every cool science fiction show had an ice cream or ice block (lolly). There were stickers and games associated with them too. Here are a few I remember.
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Having cut their teeth on the Supermarionation of Thunderbirds, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet, and Stingray, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson turned their attention to live-action science fiction with the TV series – UFO and Space 1999, as well as the action-adventure show, The Protectors, featuring Robert Vaughan.
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This particular post is dedicated to the shows developed by Gerry Anderson and his team. My earliest recollection of these is watching Captain Scarlet in black and white, followed a few years later by Thunderbirds, Stingray and Joe 90. I have no recollection of ever watching Supercar, The Secret Service, or Fireball XL5, but…
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A few more of the science fiction television influence in my preteen years. This time around we encounter invisible men and secret agents with superpowers. The Invisible Man (1975) This was my first encounter with the actor, David McCallum, having been a little two young to see him reprise his role as Russian agent, Illya…
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More bionic and psychic abilities today. Does anyone remember Max(imillion) the Bionic Dog? The Tomorrow People (1973-1979) One of the highlights of my childhood science fiction watching, The Tomorrow People introduced the scenario of children hitting puberty developing psychic powers. These included teleportation, telekinesis, telepathy, and some other psychic traits, as well as an inability to…
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Inspired by the latest Doctor Who episode, we venture into film and television which have featured our favourite(?) eight-legged arthropods. Of course, arthropods includes crustaceans, so your favourite arthropod might be lobster served with garlic butter or the classic shrimp cocktail, but then you might be interested in a deep-fried tarantula on a stick instead.…
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This instalment is a smorgasbord of television shows that filled in some of the gaps of childhood viewing but with some pertinent life lessons for the younger viewer. Things I learned from these shows: Don’t ever get in a boat; If you end up in a boat, you will most likely be: Eaten by a…