The Solarnauts

Basically this is like classic Doctor Who mixed with something old school Gerry Anderson like Stingray, made by the same people behind the puppets series Torchy The Battery Boy and The Adventures Of Twizzle before Century 21 Films became a thing, this was their early attempt to break away from puppetry and into live action.

It is incredibly stylised with enormous bold sets, larger than life comic book style characters, tons of model shots and explosions and it's really groovy in every detail, from the costumes to the frenetic music.

It's a great shame it wasn't picked up for a full series, as I'm pretty sure that had it been it would be a huge cult show hit, today.

I seem to have a ability to find and watch some interesting stuff!! This is no exception, plastic, cardboard and glue were probably in short supply after this was made. Recycling and waste collection services must have been empty judging by the amount of bottles, straws and cups that were used to make set props. The script is full of strange acronyms, words and made up stuff. So much in fact that producers and writers of many police shows have coppied the idea. Many of us have watched such shows. Having watched numerous sci-fi B movies I suppose I am not shocked at how dreadful it really is. You should, if you get chance, watch it, it's a good laugh. All in all, another way to pass a rainy Saturday afternoon with a piece of viewing history.

This could have been quite good as it had a bunch of before they were famous actors in it. Most of the large sets were obviously models to a child's eye so where did it all go wrong ? In my opinion the big weakness is the soundtrack. There is way too much 60's 'alien' music in it which sounded a bit like the 'ghost' music you would hear on Scooby Doo. It tried far too hard. The bad guys look like the sort of thing you would get in an episode of Buck Rogers. With a bit of tinkering they could have made a go of this but it never got the chance as nobody picked up the pilot. For those who wish to view it, the pilot is on youtube.

Derek Fowlds became very successful on Yes Minister with his same smirk. It's worth it to wade through all the stiff, wooden models blowing up on the Solarnauts, just to see his smirk at the end of the episode. It's like he's saying "yes, I know this show is crazy, but it's awful fun too!" :-)

Too bad they didn't pick up this pilot and produce more episodes. Solarnauts would have been a fun, bonkers TV series.