The Interpretaris

The three-person crew (and their mopey "computeroid" Henry) of the Starship 'Interpretaris' is assigned to return 'kidnapped (and shrunken) alien lifeforms to their home worlds after the arrest and asteroidal-confinement of Parta Beno, the evil scientist who abducted the beings for his 'collection'. Released a month after 'Star Trek', this light-weight and low-budget B/W Australian space-opera was clearly aimed at a young audience, notably in the antics of Henry the computeroid (a forerunner of 'Marvin, the Paranoid Android' in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series). The small cast included Stanley Walsh as stolid, Commander Alan De Breck, Kit Taylor as pilot David Carmichae and Lorraine Bayly as (unconvincing) Russian computer expert Vera Balovna. The Interpretaris itself is an unimpressive model replete with numerous jet-like nacelles that moves with that characteristic 'hanging on a string' swaying motion. I was only able to find the first and last entries in the six episode story-arc on-line, so missed most of the 'alien action' (to which the plot refers in the final episode). The show was popular enough to generate two sequels, 'Vega 4' (1968) and 'Phoenix Five' (1970), which using the same miniatures and set in the same 'universe' may represent the first TV 'sci-fi franchise'. Badly dated and primitive (even by mid-sixties standards) and of interest only to TV historians or sci-fi completists.