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Terrahawks

MORE OR less the only Gerryatrics of note from the 80s and the only outing for, ahem, Supermacromation aka glorified glove puppetry. Everything else was the same as before: a band of bow-legged brothers, each with wacky names, defending the world and making it back in time for a pithy pay-off in the drawing room before the closing credits. Except it was set in 2020, with bug-eyed monsters threatening the planet. On the side of Good: leader Dr. “Tiger” Ninestein (there were nine of him, in case one died, which was handy when you have the nasty habit of getting killed off by your arch enemy); Dr. Mary Falconer, Hudson, (a talking Rolls that could change colour to suite its mood), “Stew Dapples”, a DJ bloke, and the bouncy ball-bearing like Zeriods, led by Sergeant O, with voice of WINDSOR DAVIES, who could “increase in mass”, plus a Japanese Thunderbird Five-alike stuck in a space station. This demented crew fought the dastardly Martian Zelda, complete with idiot punky son and Sram, a frozen monster thing. Always “reclaimed her own” at the end. Had cube things which played noughts and crosses with the Zeriods over the end credits. Each zeroid had a number and an individual personality and the attitude of Zero towards some of them was a sly glance at, inevitably, IT AIN’T HALF HOT MUM, with the addition of extra flavours such as 18, a French zeroid who insisted he was to be called Dix-Huit. And if you followed all that, you were paying too much attention. It was only a kids show, for fuck’s sake.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. THX 1139

    November 14, 2012 at 6:59 pm

    You could tell this was a British show because it was absolutely obsessed with accents. Another sitcom connection to go along with Windsor Davies was the way Kate Kestrel’s hair would be a different colour each episode, much like Mrs Slocombe’s in Are You Being Served?

    The best episode is meant to be the one which concentrates on Stu alone, where he sees a UFO, romances Kate and puts his domineering mother in her place, but every episode is still enjoyable for a joke here or nice bit of model work there. Cystar (who kept saying “Wonderful!” and dislodging her wig) had a baby later on (how?!) which was half female (little girl voice) half male (guttural German accent) and quite the schemer.

    Worth hearing the theme tune, not only because it was great as in all Anderson shows, but to listen how it keeps getting higher in pitch until it’s a veritable squeal.

  2. Terry

    March 28, 2015 at 11:28 am

    I got sent to the headmistress at school for putting a toy Zeriod on the end of my pencil. Apparently my teacher wasn’t a fan.

  3. Richardpd

    August 28, 2023 at 10:45 am

    Lots of puns with episode titles & character names, not to mention the various pen-names for Tony Barwick.

    For years after it was shown it wasn’t popular, but seems to have had a revival in recent years.

    One of Zelda’s minions used to speak like he had a throat full of phlegm!

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