Raumpatrouille - Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion

The series was shown on TV before Star Trek had appeared. If you compare the special effects of Raumpatrouille to those of the first Star Trek pilot (which had not been aired until the early 90s), they were very much alike. Of course, today most people just laugh at such effects. But unlike Star Trek, the plot of Raumpatrouille and its political contents was far more symbolic and, I think, more interesting. Unfortunately, the series never evolved any further and stopped after the seventh episode for some reason. The German TV station Pro7 announced a continuation of Raumpatrouille in the 90s, but I doubt that it will ever be finished. And if it was, it will most probably not have the same taste as the original series.

Having now watched all 7 episodes, I have to say I am quite impressed! I guess that it must be compared to its contemporary, Star Trek, the original series. It was made far more cheaply and it shows.

TOS had similar constraints, but the quality of the background paintings and costumes was better. Of course STTOS was shot in color and Raumpatrouille really should have been. Maybe someday a colorized version of the episodes will be released. I don't think the series has a region 1 DVD release as of yet, but more people in America need to see it. It's original air dates make TOS being a major influence unlikely, but like TOS, I think the creators were looking closely at Forbidden Planet.

This show showed *much* more equality of women than STTOS. At least one was a general in command of a starship. On the other hand, there was not a black or brown face to be seen. They never give a year for when the action is taking place, but it is a time in the future when nations no longer exist. The names of the crew members of Orion indicate they are at least from all over Europe. The assigned security officer, Tamara Jagellovsk, seems to be Russian. The Captain, Cliff McLane, is possibly supposed to be American. The Female general is apparently Dutch, but nobody is African, Chinese, Indian, Arab or any other non white, non-European type. I guess all of them are minding the store on Earth. So they have different blind spots from those of Gene Roddenberry.

The series ended after a mere seven episode at least partially because it couldn't sell to international markets like the USA and Japan because it was in black and white, but it did spawn a few dozen spin off novels that have never been translated into English.

I would urge *anyone* who has even a passing interest in SF TV to catch up with this series.

Brilliant "space patrol" series complemented by Peter Thomas' famous soundtrack.

Incredibly, even today (2020) the special effects and sci-fi environment - though dated and in 60s style - don't seem absurd and are still fairly convincing. This speaks for the visionary achievement of the series' creators at the time of production during the "space race" years, ahead of the 1969 moon landing.

Raumpatrouille and the Orion's rebellious commander Cliff Mc Lane are obvious templates later copied to create StarTrek and captain Kirk. The series is a genre-defining masterpiece with quirky dialogues and enjoyable plots. Highly recommended for sci-fi fans!

"Raumpatrouille" was the very first sci-fi series I had the pleasure to watch. My elder brother and me sat in the living room, watching Dietmar Schönherr, Eva Pflug and all the other noble astronauts battling the "Frogs" or renegade robots on a b/w screen.

I was 9 years old, and the whole thing struck me completely. Oh, how i envied a classmate of my brother, who owned Peter Thomas's movie theme on a 12", starting with that unique metallic countdown. For a year I was painting spaceships and foreign planets. Not that i wanted to become an astronaut, but a normal family life with a normal wife, normal kids and a normal job on a normal spacestation would do just fine.

Now that most of us have taken the red pill, passing the outer rims of the known universe in cryosleep, side by side with sigourney, to the proverbial hell and back, the poetry and twinkling of the first days are almost gone.

I got me the series on video, but i can't get back that incredibly "involved" feeling. It was part of the times, i guess. This kind of future really belongs to the past. Yet, none of it's successors made me feel like "orion" again. No, wait: the first "Star Wars" episode (or Episode Four, aargh...) had a comparable impact back in 1977.

This series is fun. Released before Star Trek it has a great storyline about the future of mankind. But as usual it was canceled by the german TV despite of its success. Rumor has it, that there are plans to relaunch the series with Roland Emmerich as producer. Lets hope and see!!