"Director: Leo Eaton"

• Joe 90: The Complete Series | Blu Ray | (14/10/2019) from £36.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  PILOT! AQUANAUT! ASTRONAUT! MOST SPECIAL AGENT JOE 90 IS ALL THESE AND MORE! Joe McClaine is a normal nine-year-old boy but with his stepfather's new invention he becomes something much more! Professor McClaine's BIG RAT machine can imprint another person's brain patterns on Joe, giving him the skills to fly a jet, become an astronaut or operate on someone's brain! Recruited by the World Intelligence Network, Joe quickly becomes their Most Special Agent! Another huge hit for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Joe 90 took Century 21's popular Supermarionation productions into new territory with a star who's a nine-year-old secret agent! This entire series has been restored in High Definition by Network from the original 35mm film elements, winning the FOCAL award for Best Archive Restoration & Preservation Project.

• Joe 90 - Vol. 1 | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £9.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (60.06%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Joe 90 was Gerry Anderson's penultimate puppet show of the 1960s, following Captain Scarlet (1968) and preceding the little-known The Secret Service (1969). In 2112 professor Ian McClaine has invented the BIG RAT (Brain Impulse Galvanoscope, Record And Transfer), a machine for copying knowledge and experiences from person to person. WIN (World Intelligence Organisation) uses this to prime their top undercover agent before sending him into the field on missions which range from foiling international terrorists to recovering a nuclear weapon from beneath the polar ice. So far so good, but in perhaps the most mind-boggling concept ever to reach children's TV, that agent is McClaine's nine-year-old adopted son, Joe. Somehow even as it stays true to the Gerry Anderson techno-fantasy formula of secret organisations, gadgetry, and action-packed adventure full of spectacular explosions and violent death, Joe 90 remains blithely unconscious of its own implications. The missions are as globe-trotting as anything in Anderson's classic Thunderbirds series, and sometimes Joe does save lives, performing a risky brain operation or rescuing trapped astronauts. Yet even then his criminally irresponsible father brainwashes the lad each episode before placing him in a highly dangerous adult situation. Though the production values remain way ahead of anything else being done on British TV at the time, the question remains how did this ever seem like a good idea? On the DVD: Joe 90, Volume 1 contains the first six 25-minute episodes presented, as usual with Gerry Anderson DVDs, behind a lovingly crafted menu. As expected the 4:3 picture quality is superb and the mono sound is full, detailed and without a trace of distortion. There are also several pages of character biography and background information on the show, a photo gallery and a variety of other extras. --Gary S Dalkin

• Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons - Vol. 4 - Episodes 19 To 24 | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £4.89   |  Saving you £11.10 (226.99%)   |  RRP £15.99

  First broadcast in 1967, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons was the most grown-up of all Gerry Anderson's SuperMarionation adventures. There are gadgets and toy-friendly machines galore, of course--like the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, the Angel Aircraft and Cloudbase itself--but, unlike the colourful fantasies of Stingray and Thunderbirds, this series' concern with an implacable, vengeful enemy, conspiracies and double-agents drew its inspiration from James Bond and the Cold War spy dramas of the 1960s. Special effects whiz Derek Meddings imbues the action sequences with a truly Bondian grandeur and, like the sinister Spectre of the Bond films, the Martian Mysterons seem all the more hostile for their unseen presence, their agents infiltrating every organisation dedicated to their destruction just as it seemed the Soviets were doing at the time. The indestructible Captain Scarlet is killed then resurrected every week (though not like South Park's Kenny), and more often than not the unstoppable Mysterons emerge triumphant, and always undefeated. The varied cast of Spectrum agents and their voice characterisations also aim at verisimilitude (Captain Scarlet, voiced by Francis Matt hews, sounds like a grim Cary Grant), while the puppetry is more realistic than ever. Now with newly remastered picture and Dolby 5.1 surround sound, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons still looks and sounds like the epitome of 60s cool. --Mark Walker

• The Gerry Anderson Triple - Joe 90/Stingray/Captain Scarlet | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Titles Comprise: Joe 90: Joe 90 is the world's most audacious secret agent and he's only 9 years old! Thanks to Ian 'Mac' McClaine's machine the Brain Impulse Galvanoscope Record And Transfer (or BIG RAT) he is able to transfer the knowledge and experience of one person to Joe. BIG RAT becomes the World Intelligence Network's (W.I.N.) most guarded and secretive weapon in the organisation's missions. With the aid of a special pair of glasses Joe can now assume the knowledge of any individual and become an expert in any field of endeavour... Stingray: 2065 Marineville. The World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP) fight against the evil Titan and the Aquaphibians grotesque undersea warriors in the quest for world peace. WASP''s most powerful asset is the sleek and deadly underwater craft STINGRAY captained by intrepid Troy Tempest. Helping him are Phones the brave radio expert Commander Sam Shore his daughter Atlanta and Marina the voiceless tailless Mermaid. Captain Scarlet: Captain Scarlet is the indestructible hero of spectrum at war with the mysteron. Even though they managed to kill him with a self-made weapon the Mysterons rebuilt Scarlet as an invincible human replica to infiltrate Earth and lead their war against our planet. But Captain Scarlet's human psyche survived took control of his human body and now this indestructible hero leads the fight against the evil force.

• Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons - Vol. 5 - Episodes 25 To 32 | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £12.50   |  Saving you £3.49 (27.92%)   |  RRP £15.99

  First broadcast in 1967, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons was the most grown-up of all Gerry Anderson's SuperMarionation adventures. There are gadgets and toy-friendly machines galore, of course--like the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, the Angel Aircraft and Cloudbase itself--but, unlike the colourful fantasies of Stingray and Thunderbirds, this series' concern with an implacable, vengeful enemy, conspiracies and double-agents drew its inspiration from James Bond and the Cold War spy dramas of the 1960s. Special effects whiz Derek Meddings imbues the action sequences with a truly Bondian grandeur and, like the sinister Spectre of the Bond films, the Martian Mysterons seem all the more hostile for their unseen presence, their agents infiltrating every organisation dedicated to their destruction just as it seemed the Soviets were doing at the time. The indestructible Captain Scarlet is killed then resurrected every week (though not like South Park's Kenny), and more often than not the unstoppable Mysterons emerge triumphant, and always undefeated. The varied cast of Spectrum agents and their voice characterisations also aim at verisimilitude (Captain Scarlet, voiced by Francis Matt hews, sounds like a grim Cary Grant), while the puppetry is more realistic than ever. Now with newly remastered picture and Dolby 5.1 surround sound, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons still looks and sounds like the epitome of 60s cool. --Mark Walker

• Joe 90 - Vol. 5 - Episodes 25-30 | DVD | (27/01/2003) from £13.05   |  Saving you £2.94 (22.53%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Joe McClaine is a seemingly ordinary 9 year old boy. However his father has developed a marvellous method of transferring special brain patterns into his son's mind that allows Joe to acquire incredible skills. Soon Joe becomes an agent for the World Intelligence Network and uses his extraordinary enhancements to serve justice around the world... Another stunning Supermarionation series from the Gerry Anderson team that brought you 'Thunderbirds' 'Captain Scarlet' and 'Stingray'.

• Joe 90 - Vol. 2 | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £14.83   |  Saving you £1.16 (7.82%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Joe 90 was Gerry Anderson's penultimate puppet show of the 1960s, following Captain Scarlet (1968) and preceding the little-known The Secret Service (1969). In 2112 professor Ian McClaine has invented the BIG RAT (Brain Impulse Galvanoscope, Record and Transfer), a machine for copying knowledge and experiences from person to person. WIN (World Intelligence Organisation) uses this to prime their top undercover agent before sending him into the field on missions which range from foiling international terrorists to recovering a nuclear weapon from beneath the polar ice. So far so good, but in perhaps the most mind-boggling concept ever to reach children's TV, that agent is McClaine's nine-year-old adopted son, Joe. Somehow even as it stays true to the Gerry Anderson techno-fantasy formula of secret organisations, gadgetry, and action-packed adventure full of spectacular explosions and violent death, Joe 90 remains blithely unconscious of its own implications. The missions are as globe-trotting as anything in Anderson's classic Thunderbirds series, and sometimes Joe does save lives, performing a risky brain operation or rescuing trapped astronauts. Yet even then his criminally irresponsible father brainwashes the lad each episode before placing him in a highly dangerous adult situation. Though the production values remain way ahead of anything else being done on British TV at the time, the question remains how did this ever seem like a good idea? On the DVD: Joe 90, Volume 2 contains the second set of six 25-minute episodes presented, as usual with Gerry Anderson DVDs, behind a lovingly crafted menu. As expected the 4:3 picture quality is superb and the mono sound is full, detailed and without a trace of distortion. There are also several pages of character biography and background information on the show, a photo gallery and a variety of other extras. --Gary S Dalkin

• Joe 90 - Vol. 4 - Episodes 19 To 24 | DVD | (11/11/2002) from £14.83   |  Saving you £1.16 (7.82%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Joe McClaine is a seemingly ordinary 9 year old boy. However his father has developed a marvellous method of transferring special brain patterns into his son's mind that allows Joe to acquire incredible skills. Soon Joe becomes an agent for the World Intelligence Network and uses his extraordinary enhancements to serve justice around the world... Another stunning Supermarionation series from the Gerry Anderson team that brought you 'Thunderbirds' 'Captain Scarlet' and 'Stingray'