The Secret Service
North American DVD release
Genre	Fantasy-Adventure
Created by	Gerry Anderson Sylvia Anderson
Starring	Stanley Unwin
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	September 21, 1969 – December 14, 1969

• This article is about the television series. For the form of government policing, see secret service.

The Secret Service is the title of a British children's Spy-fi series produced by Gerry Anderson and Lord Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions company for ITC Entertainment in 1969 and broadcast on some ITV stations in the United Kingdom. Created by Anderson and his wife Sylvia and produced by Reg Hill, the series was the last to use Gerry Anderson's trademark Supermarionation process which made use of specialised marionettes. Image File history File links SecretServiceDVD.jpg‎ This image is of a DVD cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the DVD or the studio which produced the DVD in question. ... Gerry Anderson (MBE), born 14 April 1929, is a British producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called Supermarionation. His first television production was the 1957 Roberta Leigh childrens series The Adventures of Twizzle. ... Sylvia Anderson (née Thamm) (born 25 March 1937) is a British voice artist and producer, most notable for her collaborations with her ex-husband Gerry Anderson. ... Cover from Rock-a-bye Babel by Stanley Unwin and Roy Dewar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Because of both the secrecy of secret services and the controversial nature of the issues involved, there is some difficulty in separating the definitions of secret service, secret police, intelligence agency etc. ... Spy-fi is a fan name for television series and movies - especially those from the 1960s - that blend the espionage genre with elements of science fiction. ... Gerry Anderson (MBE), born 14 April 1929, is a British producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called Supermarionation. His first television production was the 1957 Roberta Leigh childrens series The Adventures of Twizzle. ... Lew Grade, Baron Grade (birth name Louis Winogradsky) (December 25, 1906 - December 13, 1998) was an influential showbusiness impresario and television company executive in the United Kingdom. ... Century 21 Productions was a British film and television production company of the 1960s and 1970s, best known for the hit TV series Thunderbirds. ... The ITC Entertainment logo The Incorporated Television Company (ITC) was founded by television mogul Lew Grade in 1954. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... Sylvia Anderson (née Thamm) (born 25 March 1937) is a British voice artist and producer, most notable for her collaborations with her ex-husband Gerry Anderson. ... Reg Hill was a British television producer commonly associated with the works of Gerry Anderson. ... Supermarionation (standing for super marionette animation) is a puppetry technique devised by the British production company AP Films and used extensively in its numerous action-adventure series, the most famous of which is undoubtedly Thunderbirds. ... Phillip Huber (L) and David Alexander of the Huber Marionettes perform with marionettes hand-made by Huber for scenes for the feature film Tillamook Treasure 2005 Marionette in Prague A marionette is a type of puppet moved by strings, as in a puppet show. ...

Overview

The Secret Service broke the pattern of most of the Supermarionation series that preceded it by being set in the present day (most of Anderson's other shows of the 1960s were set in the near or far future). It also made unprecedented use of live action footage, which was blended in with closeups of the Supermarionated puppets. Where in previous series, live action was limited to closeups of hands or feet, footage of real actors was often used when showing characters from a distance, driving a car, etc. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

The series followed the adventures of Father Stanley Unwin, a priest who moonlights as a secret agent for an organization called B.I.S.H.O.P. (British Intelligence Service Headquarters, Operation Priest). Answering to a man known as "The Bishop", Unwin is partnered with Matthew Harding, who works as his gardener as cover for his espionage work. A gardener is any person involved in the growing and maintenance of plants, notably in a garden. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ...

Unwin uses a device called a Minimiser to shrink Matthew so that he can better sneak into sensitive areas undetected. Father Unwin carries Matthew to wherever he is needed in a specially-designed suitcase (perhaps not unconsciously reflecting the metaphorical title of an earlier spy series, Man in a Suitcase), communicating with him by means of a miniature two-way radio - Father Unwin's earpiece is disguised as a hearing aid. A typical suitcase A suitcase is a narrow box-shaped bag, usually made of cloth or vinyl that more or less keeps its shape, has a handle at one end and is used mainly for transporting clothes and other possessions during trips. ... Man in a Suitcase was a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grades ITC Entertainment. ... Behind the ear aid For the song, see Flood (album). ...

The minimiser shrinks Matthew to a height of two feet (60 cm), which just happens to be the puppet's real height. This allows the puppet to interact with full-size sets and occasionally live actors whose faces are not seen in the same shot. The Minimizer is also often used to shrink enemy agents, literally bringing them down to Matthew's size. The actual miniaturisation effect appears to be achieved by filming the puppet in front of a blue screen, progressively reducing the size of the image in an optical printer and replacing the blue screen with a static background. The bluescreen setup. ... An optical printer with two projector heads, used in producing movie special effects. ...

In a somewhat unusual occurrence in television history, the voice and (when required) physical actions of Father Stanley Unwin was actually performed by an actor named Stanley Unwin. Unwin, a popular British comedian, was best known for speaking in a form of gibberish he called "Unwinese" or "gobbledegook", a gimmick which was utilised in the series to allow the fictional Unwin to confuse his enemies. Cover from Rock-a-bye Babel by Stanley Unwin and Roy Dewar. ... Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but has no actual meaning (such as florb grink maves rint ist slanpehed ooku uthep yongrish). This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text or gobbledygook, such as yrudnvncdkeggjsuwigdllvmbk glocktenspoildehmehktenshe, plobbottem. The common theme in...

According to the book The Complete Gerry Anderson, the decision to incorporate the real Unwin's mannerisms into the series proved to be its undoing. Lew Grade, seeking another series to sell to the United States, felt Unwin's gobbledegook would confuse overseas viewers and cancelled the series after viewing the first episode. Ultimately, 13 half-hour episodes would be produced and broadcast in the UK, but the series has rarely been seen in North America; even in Britain it was not broadcast nationally (it was only shown in the ATV, Granada and Southern regions) and has never been repeated. It must be noted though that the French-dubbed version was aired in Canada numerous times in the seventies by Radio-Canada. It was also shown in New Zealand. It is considered the least-known of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation programs. Anderson, for his part, has been quoted as calling The Secret Service his favourite puppet program. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Ultimately, The Secret Service would be Anderson's last full-scale puppet series until the 1980s; for the next decade, he would work almost exclusively on live action productions such as Space: 1999 and The Protectors. It was also the final Supermarionation series, although, in 1973, Anderson would produce an unsuccessful pilot for another Supermarionation/live action hybrid series called The Investigator. (A later series, Terrahawks, used another form of puppetry called "Supermacromation".) This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Left to right: Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell and Martin Landau from Space:1999s second season. ... The Protectors was a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson - his second TV series using live actors as opposed to animated puppets. ... Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ... North American DVD release of the series. ...

Production of the series occurred simultaneously with filming of Anderson's live-action series, UFO, and in fact Unwin's distinctive yellow 1917 Model T Ford "Gabriel" (seen illustrated on the DVD box cover, above) appeared in several UFO episodes as a prop car in a movie studio. UFO is a British television science fiction series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grades Century 21 Productions for Grades ITC Entertainment company. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... The Ford Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie and the Flivver) was an automobile produced by Henry Fords Ford Motor Company from 1908 through 1927. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...

The series has been released on DVD in Region 2 and in North America. DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

Origins

Following Joe 90, Gerry wished to make another spy series, this time using the idea of a country vicarage as a cover. To confuse the antagonists, Anderson chose Unwin specifically, as he had enjoyed listening to Unwin on the radio as a young man, and Unwin's "Unwinese" was the perfect choice for coded-messages. Joe 90 is a 1968 Sylvia and Gerry Anderson television series concerning the adventures of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, set in the years 2012-13. ...

Episodes

September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... is the 278th day of the year (279th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... November 30 is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...

Translations

• (French) : Service secret

External links

• FANDERSON - Official Gerry Anderson appreciation society
• The Secret Service - Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History