Joe 90

Joe 90 is a late-1960s British science-fiction television series concerning the adventures and exploits of nine-year-old Joe McClaine, who starts a double life as a schoolboy turned spy when his scientist father invents a pioneering machine capable of duplicating and then transferring expert knowledge and experience to another human brain. Equipped with the skills of the foremost academic and military minds, Joe enlists in the World Intelligence Network (WIN),[e 1] becoming its "Most Special Agent",[e 1] pursuing the ideal of world peace and saving human life.

Created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed at Century 21 Productions, one 30-episode series of Joe 90 was completed after the success of the earlier Anderson projects Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. First screened in the UK between September 1968[4] and April 1969[5] on the ATV network, it is the sixth and last of the Anderson productions to have been made exclusively using the form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation". The final puppet series, The Secret Service, also used this process, but in combination with extensive live-action footage. As in the case of its predecessor, Captain Scarlet, the puppets of Joe 90 are of a more naturally-proportioned design as opposed to the more caricatured appearance of the characters from Thunderbirds.

Although not as successful as Century 21's previous puppet efforts,[6][7][8][9] since its inception, Joe 90 has been praised, besides other aspects, for the characterisation of its smaller Supermarionation cast[10] and the accomplishment of its model sets and special effects.[7][11][12] Commentators read into Joe 90's spy-fi theme and the Andersons' selection of a child as the main protagonist, either proposing a "kids play Bond"[6] connection or an enshrinement of children and the powers of their imagination.[13] Criticism ranges from the violence depicted in a number of episodes[6] to the frequent absence of female characters,[14] which is viewed either as the inevitable result of Joe 90's development as a "boy's own adventure"[15] or bordering on sexism.[16]

As had been the case for its precursors, Century 21 based merchandising campaigns on Joe 90, including toy cars[17] and comic strips dedicated to the continuing missions of Joe McClaine.[18] Syndicated on its arrival in the United States in 1969,[19] re-broadcast in the UK during the 1990s[20] and released on DVD in most regions in the 2000s,[21] the concept of a live-action motion picture adaptation of Joe 90 has been considered more than once since the 1960s,[22][23] but without further development.Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Production 2.1 Filming 2.2 Design 2.3 Puppets 2.4 Music 3 Voice cast 4 Broadcasting 5 Reception 6 Adaptations 7 Merchandise 7.1 VHS and DVD 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Plot Main article: List of Joe 90 episodes

Joe 90 is set either in 2012-3[6][24] or at another point in the early 21st century,[25] or 1998, according to the official Writer's Guide.[6] Nine-year-old British schoolboy Joe McClaine is the adopted son of Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine, a renowned computer expert. On the outside, the McClaines are an ordinary father-and-son pair who live in an antiquated Elizabethan-style cottage overlooking Culver Bay, Dorset, tended by their housekeeper, Mrs Harris. However, residing in a secret underground laboratory is Mac's latest invention, the "BIG RAT" (Brain Impulse Galvanoscope Record And Transfer), a machine capable of recording knowledge and experience from leading experts in various fields and transferring it to another human brain. The central aspect of the design is the "Rat Trap", a rotating, spherical cage in which a subject is seated during the transfer of the expert "brain pattern".

Sam Loover, a secret agent for the World Intelligence Network, persuades Mac, his friend, to dedicate the BIG RAT to WIN's pursuit of world peace by permitting Joe to assume such knowledge and experience and become a WIN agent.[e 1] After the requisite skill is transferred, and provided that Joe is wearing special spectacles containing hidden electrodes storing the expertise, he is able to execute such missions as operating fighter aircraft,[e 1][e 2][e 3][e 4] blasting off into space[e 5] and performing advanced neurosurgery,[e 6] all the while appearing to be an innocent schoolboy to the enemies of WIN. Since no one would usually suspect a child of espionage, Joe is WIN's "Most Special Agent".[e 1] Reporting to the commander-in-chief of WIN's London Headquarters, Shane Weston, he is also provided with a special briefcase, which on superficial inspection appears to be a simple school case but in fact conceals an adapted handgun and WIN transceiver.[e 1] There is some inconsistency as to why Joe assumes the codename "90". Promotional information states that, in the pilot, Joe joins another 89 WIN agents based in London, becoming the 90th WIN agent.[6] However, the BIG RAT project is referred to as WIN's "File 90" in the episode "Project 90", and here (according to dialogue from Professor McClaine) Joe's designation originates from this.[e 7]

In a manner similar to other Gerry Anderson series, Joe 90 features gadgets,[e 8] rescue operations,[e 9] secret organisations,[e 7] and criminal and terrorist threats to the safety of the world.[e 3][26] One example of advanced technology demonstrated is the "Jet Air Car", a land, sea and air vehicle invented by Professor McClaine prior to the events of the series. The pun of the "WIN" acronym for the World Intelligence Network is similar to that of WASP, the abbreviated name of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol that appears in Stingray.[27] The Cold War, significant in 1968 due to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia that August[28] has ended in the futuristic universe of Joe 90.[26] Although, in the pilot, Joe is depicted stealing a new Russian fighter plane to expose its revolutionary design to the West, the story is later revealed to be a speculative scenario imagined by Shane Weston to demonstrate the kinds of espionage in which Joe may be involved if Mac consents to his son starting a second life as a secret agent.[e 1][26]

Nevertheless, the Joe 90 universe still sees the Earth's landmasses politically divided into Western and Eastern regions.[29] A recurring antagonist for WIN is the "Eastern Alliance", which dominates Asia[30] and appears in the episodes "Attack of the Tiger"[e 3] and "Mission X-41".[e 4] Meanwhile, "International Concerto",[e 10] "Business Holiday",[e 11] "Arctic Adventure"[e 12] and "The Professional"[e 8] include villains who speak with Slavic accents. "Attack of the Tiger" combines the Eastern Alliance threat with the hazards of nuclear technology.[30] In this episode, Joe must prevent an Eastern nuclear device from being launched into Earth orbit.[e 3] However, an episode showcasing the benefits of such technology is "Big Fish",[31] in which Joe struggles to remove a crippled nuclear submarine from the ocean floor when it strays into the territorial waters of a hostile Latin American police state.[e 13] The series ends on a clip show episode, "The Birthday", in which a number of Joe's missions are recalled as flashbacks when the protagonist reaches the age of ten.[e 14] [edit] Production

Following Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 was purposely conceived and developed to be a different kind of Supermarionation series, placing the narrative emphasis less on action, advanced technology and visual effects and more on characterisation[11][12][32][33] and plotlines subscribing more to the spy thriller genre than science fiction.[24][25] Co-creator Gerry Anderson explained, "The show majored on its characters, which I thought were all very good. The puppets had become so lifelike, I now strongly believed that they could carry the action without the usual massive assistance from futuristic hardware."[25][34][35] Explaining his inspiration for the series, Anderson recalls his pre-Supermarionation days when he served as an assistant editor for such films as The Wicked Lady and handled recording tape on a daily basis.[12][36] While pondering on the blanking and re-use of such tape, Anderson made a connection to the human brain's electrical activities,[12][36] explaining, "I read somewhere that the human brain is controlled by electrical impulses and how thoughts are stored electronically. I started toying with the story potential of a process that would allow the recording of brain patterns and transferring them to another brain. I was really likening it to magnetic recording, where material could be stored or transferred to another tape."[25][34] When it came to naming the lead character and, from that, the name of the new series, Anderson recalled that on his previous production, Fireball XL5, the surname "Ninety" had been an early proposal for Colonel Steve Zodiac,[6][37] and selected it for the schoolboy who would be the next protagonist.[6][37] The script for the pilot episode was written by Anderson with his wife, Sylvia,[37] as was the custom for each new puppet series that the couple developed.[37] [edit] Filming

Commissioned by ITC financier Lew Grade in the autumn of 1967,[37] with pre-production completed in October[25] while the final episodes of Captain Scarlet were still being filmed,[38] principal photography for Joe 90 ran from 13 November 1967[39][40] to mid-August 1968[6][24][41] using two puppet stages at the Century 21 Studios on the Slough Trading Estate[l 1] in Berkshire.[40] The average shooting period for each episode was two weeks, as had been the case with the previous series.[40] Since he was occupied by post-production on the second Thunderbirds feature film, Thunderbird 6, and the development of his live-action film, Doppelgänger, Gerry Anderson was unable to take on a producer role as he had done for Captain Scarlet, instead passing the responsibility down to Reg Hill and David Lane.[24][25] Lane in particular recalls that in his role as producer, he was "responsible for looking at the scripts, the effects, the puppets, the whole thing really",[39] and found support in Anderson's long-serving collaborator Desmond Saunders,[39] who directed the pilot episode[39][40] and acted as production controller for the rest of the series.[39] Other directors for Joe 90 included Leo Eaton, Alan Perry and Ken Turner, all of whom had contributed to Captain Scarlet, and Peter Anderson, who was promoted from his earlier position as assistant director to replace the outgoing Brian Burgess and Robert Lynn.[40] [edit] Design

Examples of model work for Joe 90: models of Professor McClaine's Jet Air Car (left) and Sam Loover's vehicle (right), both at 1⁄24 scale,[42] parked in front of the scale exterior of WIN Headquarters, London. Loover's car was designed to be open-top to meet the requirements of the puppet-size set that the roof include a gap for the head wires.[42] In practice, however, sequences set inside the vehicle used the "under control" variations of the puppets, which were operated from below the set with the aid of levers.[42]

Keith Wilson and Grenville Nott mostly superseded Bob Bell as heads of the art department and built the interior of Culver Bay Cottage[43] from a design by Mike Trim.[32] Anderson recalls his satisfaction with the cottage set,[34] remarking that, "the interior, with its beams and lovely soft furnishings, was really beautiful."[34] The construction of the BIG RAT model, meanwhile, was entrusted to the newly-formed incorporated company Century 21 Props[40][44] or Electronics,[45] responsible for the various technical gadgets to appear in the series and based in Bourne End in Buckinghamshire.[l 2][45]

Although also occupied with Thunderbird 6 and Doppelgänger, Derek Meddings briefly reprised his role as head of special effects to construct Professor McClaine's Jet Air Car,[32] although this concept was a disappointment to Anderson,[32] who stated that, "The car looked like no other piece of hardware we had had previously but I was wary of canning it as I feared I might be becoming stereotyped. Maybe the whole thing was becoming a bit narrow; all the ideas were becoming similar."[18] Supermarionation writer Stephen La Rivière views the Jet Air Car as an update of Supercar, the revolutionary vehicle which appeared in Anderson's 1961 series of the same name,[32] but agrees that while the Jet Air Car is the "star vehicle" of Joe 90,[32] it is visually unappealing in comparison to the "beautiful, sleek design of its predecessor."[32] [edit] Puppets See also: Supermarionation

The Supermarionation puppets featured in Joe 90 are of the more accurately proportioned kind introduced for Captain Scarlet, and which would also be used for the Andersons' final puppet series, The Secret Service. Simultaneously, the drive for enhanced realism across all major design aspects which started with the preceding series[11][12][46] continued for Joe 90.[11][12][46] Main character puppets from Captain Scarlet were re-used for Joe 90[24][25][47] with the exceptions of the Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue marionettes. Few new puppets were constructed,[24][25][47] the only notable exceptions being Professor McClaine (sculpted by Mary Turner),[38] Joe[12][24][25] (sculpted by Tim Cooksey),[38] and Mrs Harris.

The Joe puppet was the first child marionette to be made as part of the new generation of Supermarionation puppets introduced for Captain Scarlet, for which the sculpting team were careful to achieve realistic proportions for the body of a nine-year-old boy.[48] The puppets of Sam Loover and Shane Weston had each made several appearances in the previous series,[24][25] but for their regular role in the new series a variety of alternative heads were created from the "expressionless" templates—including "smilers", "frowners" and "blinkers"[38] — and the Shane Weston puppet was re-wigged.[49] Many of the recycled "revamp puppets", used to depict supporting characters for Captain Scarlet, were also duplicated with darker skin colours to portray characters from a range of ethnicities. Further to these requirements, the use of two shooting soundstages necessitated the duplication of all the "expressionless" main character puppets to avoid conflicts over resources between the two filming units.[38] As in the previous series, "under control" puppets, manipulated by levers from below as opposed to wires from a gantry above, feature in Joe 90.[38] [edit] Music

Joe 90 includes incidental music, and opening and ending theme music, composed by Barry Gray, who served as musical director for other Anderson productions. Episodes of Joe 90 either start with a cold open before the main title sequence, or enter immediately into the latter, which features Joe sitting in the BIG RAT's "Rat Trap" and receiving transferred knowledge from the machine. This sequence is accompanied by Gray's opening theme, dominated by the notes of guitarist Vic Flick,[18] who had performed lead guitar in the recording of the original "James Bond Theme" for the film Dr. No in 1962.[18] In Anderson's biography, What Made Thunderbirds Go!, the Joe 90 theme is described as a "dizzying piece of psychedelic pop art that could have been produced only in the late Sixties."[18] The closing credits, meanwhile, are superimposed over images of objects such as Joe's BIG RAT spectacles, his WIN badge, and also his briefcase, gun, and transceiver.[50] Conceptual designs of these images were photographic, but the final versions were augmented with airbrush artwork.[50]

In addition to the themes and tracks for the pilot, "The Most Special Agent",[51] Gray composed incidental music for 20 further episodes of Joe 90.[51][52] Music for the Joe 90 episodes was recorded between 18 January and 27 September 1968,[51][52] starting with the titles and the pilot in a session at the Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London[l 3][52] and finishing with work for one of the last instalments of the series, "See You Down There"[52] at London's CTS Studios.[52] Scores were also recorded at the private Barry Gray Studio at Gray's residence in Esher, Surrey.[l 4][52] A CD of the Joe 90 scores, running to 28 pieces,[53] was released by Silva Screen Records in 2006.[52][53] Offering a rating of 3.5 stars out of five,[54] Allmusic reviewer William Ruhlmann comments that the scores are "not great writing",[54] but that Gray's work was "perfectly adequate, if not inspired."[54]Joe 90 (Original Television Soundtrack) Soundtrack by Barry Gray Released 15 May 2006[52][53] Genre Pop Length 78:07[54] Label Silva Screen Records[52][53] Track list[54] No. Title Length

  1. "Century 21 Sting" 0:10
  2. "Main Titles" (Stereo. From "The Most Special Agent") 1:58
  3. "The Most Special Agent" (Stereo) 3:21
  4. "Arctic Adventure" 5:07
  5. "Operation McClaine" 2:25
  6. "The Race" 5.39
  7. "Double Agent Entertainment" (Stereo. From "Double Agent") 2:02
  8. "Jungle Fortress" (Stereo. From "The Fortress") 2:03
  9. "Dr. Darota's Alpine Clinic" (Stereo. From "Project 90") 1:38
  10. "Balloon Flight" (Stereo. From "Project 90") 4:04
  11. "Death, Love and Betrayal" (Stereo. From "Three's a Crowd") 3:32
  12. "Tragedy Aboard the U85" (Stereo. From "Big Fish") 3:19
  13. "Porto Guavan" (Stereo. From "Big Fish") 3:18
  14. "King for a Day" 5:18
  15. "The Unorthodox Shepherd" (Stereo) 2:24
  16. "Mission Tango 120" (From "Hi-jacked") 5:02
  17. "Break Sting—Version 1" (Stereo) 0:04
  18. "Lyons Maid Commercial" 0:29
  19. "Break Sting—Version 2" (Stereo) 0:07
  20. "Showdown at Colletti's Hideout" (From "Hi-jacked") 3:34
  21. "International Concerto" (Stereo) 3:47
  22. "A Piano Recital from Igor Sladek" (From "International Concerto") 1:39
  23. "Relative Danger" 3:12
  24. "Splashdown" (Stereo) 4:43
  25. "The Colonel's March" (From "Colonel McClaine") 1:35
  26. "Lone Handed 90" 4:48
  27. "End Titles" (Stereo) 1:26
  28. "Opening Titles" (Stereo) 1:23

[edit] Voice cast

Four of the Joe 90 regular character cast: (left to right) Sam Loover, Shane Weston, Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine and (in front of Mac) Joe McClaine.

In comparison to Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 features a smaller cast, voicing just five regular characters.[38] Like Captain Scarlet, the series has been viewed as more "English-sounding",[55] the Andersons abandoning their stipulation dating from the production of Thunderbirds that the puppet cast be American[48] and thus dispensing with the established format of their series' principal character being a "square-jawed, fair-skinned male with a Mid-Atlantic accent".[56] Instead, in a manner similar to the Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 focuses on the strong American supporting characters of Sam Loover and Shane Weston.[57] Len Jones as Joe McClaine, a nine-year-old adoptee who balances schoolwork with missions as a spy for the World Intelligence Network (WIN), using the aid of knowledge and experience captured by a brilliant invention, the Brain Impulse Galvanoscope Record And Transfer (BIG RAT). For realism,[15] Joe is voiced by child actor Jones rather than an actress as had usually been the case for the representation of younger characters on earlier Supermarionation series. On the subject of female casting, Gerry Anderson recalled, "... it always sounded rather odd to me. It never sounded like a real little boy ... With Joe 90, I suggested finding a British kid and making him repeat the lines parrot fashion. That's what we did with Len Jones. His performance was only adequate, but at least it sounded authentic."[18][34] Rupert Davies as Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine, Joe's adoptive father and inventor of the BIG RAT. At the time of production, Davies was well-known for acting the leading role in the 1960s TV adaptation of the Maigret novels,[11][48] and was the most distinguished actor yet to contribute to an Anderson series.[48][55] Experiencing typecasting as a result of his earlier role as the fictional French detective,[55] voice acting provided Davies with the opportunity to broaden the horizons of his career.[55] In Gerry Anderson's biography, What Made Thunderbirds Go!, Simon Archer and Marcus Hearn credit Mac's "warm yet distinguished"[55] English tones as a "perfect counterpoint"[55] to the American voices of the characters of Sam Loover and Shane Weston. Keith Alexander as Sam Loover, a long-time friend of Mac and Deputy Head of WIN's London offices, whom Joe affectionately calls "Uncle Sam". Australian actor Alexander had provided voices for the second Thunderbirds film, Thunderbird 6, as a replacement for actor Ray Barrett.[15] During the 1960s, he provided the voice for another puppet character, Topo Gigio, on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States.[11][58] David Healy as Shane Weston, the commander-in-chief of WIN's London Headquarters and Deputy Head of the international organisation, who has a penchant for feeble jokes. Healy, an American actor resident in the United Kingdom, had voiced supporting characters in Captain Scarlet, and was often contracted to play transatlantic characters in British television.[55] Sylvia Anderson as Mrs (Ada) Harris, the McClaines' long-suffering housekeeper, who is unaware that Mac and Joe are members of an intelligence organisation. Anderson, whose voice had first featured in the 1961 series Supercar, was best known for voicing the character of Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds and its two feature films.

Supporting characters were voiced by Alexander, Healy and Anderson as well as earlier Anderson contributors Gary Files, Martin King, Jeremy Wilkin, Shane Rimmer and (for one episode, "Viva Cordova") Liz Morgan. Rimmer and Morgan, however, are not credited in the closing titles.[59] Files recalls that he felt honoured to be asked to rejoin the Andersons for another production following Captain Scarlet,[60] and that he was "tickled pink"[48][60] to be performing with Davies, adding, "I hated the way that so many so-called producers wouldn't meet his eye. He was Maigret forever, you see, in their eyes."[48][60] Morgan, meanwhile, explains how she was contracted for her single voice role in Joe 90: "They needed a voice, they called around and everyone else was out shopping. So they called me in."[6] [edit] Broadcasting

In the United Kingdom, the starts of the regional broadcasts were staggered, with Joe 90 premiering on ATV Midlands and Tyne Tees in late September 1968[6][12][59] and moving on to LWT, Southern and Anglia shortly after.[12][59] The series reached the Harlech and Channel regions in November 1968[12][59] and finally Granada on Christmas Day,[59] although the first episode to air was the Christmas-themed "The Unorthodox Shepherd" rather than the pilot, "The Most Special Agent".[59] Granada was one of several regions which broadcast Joe 90 under the altered title, The Adventures of Joe 90.[1] Although the series was re-run several times in various regions during the 1970s,[1][7] it was not transmitted in the Yorkshire region until 1981,[12][59] when it was secured by ITV for a syndicated run.[1] In the United States, Joe 90 was broadcast in first-run syndication[19][61] in 1969.[19]

Joe 90 was later purchased for early-morning network transmissions on BBC1 in 1994.[20] Rights holder PolyGram cleared the programme for broadcast on the condition that the "zooming" Joe 90 logo in the title sequence be replaced with a new static version to distinguish it from the logo for the American G.I. Joe toy brand, which, PolyGram believed, appeared too similar.[62] The videotapes used for broadcast were 16 mm transfers of the 35 mm film[62] and were edited for timeslot constraints,[62] with the cold open re-arranged where applicable so that the titles now opened each episode,[62] and the closing credits minimised to permit a BBC Children's presenter to read out viewer birthday cards.[62] A separate 1994 run on Nickelodeon made none of these alterations to the 1960s material.[62] With Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, the series commenced a run on the UK Sci Fi Channel in 2009.[63][64]

For Joe 90's original run, in some regions the end of the title sequence incorporated a zoom-in shot of Joe's WIN glasses accompanied by a voice-over provided by actor Tim Turner,[24] stating, "These are Joe 90's special glasses. Without them, he's a boy. Wearing them, he's an expert."[6][24] This short speech, intended to warn child viewers not to put themselves at risk by imitating Joe's exploits,[29] has been erroneously attributed to Keith Alexander on the Joe 90 Region 2 DVD box set, on which it is a special feature.[24] [edit] Reception

I liked the idea of it all being a sort of family thing and I also liked the puppets themselves more than the ones in Captain Scarlet. They had more character and were a bit of a move back to the earlier characters. The Spectrum puppets were all sort of "pretty boys", everyone was good-looking and all the Angels were very sexy and beautiful, but in Joe 90 we had old-lady housekeepers and that sort of thing, which I personally thought was much better. David Lane (2001)[41]

In his episode guide to the Anderson television series, John Peel questioned the ethics[65] of Mac effectively "experimenting on"[66] his adopted child in his development of the BIG RAT, and on the subject of Joe as a secret agent enquires, jokingly, "Presumably there are no child labour laws in the future!"[67] The more violent style introduced in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons is occasionally evident in Joe 90. In the episode "Hi-jacked", for instance, Joe kills an enemy with a grenade.[e 15][6] Meanwhile, in "Project 90", Professor McClaine is menaced by a drill that threatens to pulverise his head.[e 7] On the subject of violence, director Desmond Saunders says, "There was an unpleasant side to it which I never really understood. There was something about it that was very strange and sinister."[6]

On the other hand, producer David Lane praises the series for its increased humour following the dark tone of Captain Scarlet[39][41] and sees Joe 90 as much more family-orientated in comparison to its forerunner,[39][41] summing up the series as "a great little programme."[39][41] Anthony Clark of the British Film Institute commends Joe 90 for more effective characterisation than Captain Scarlet,[10] and also compliments the quality of its scripts[10] and Barry Gray's musical score.[10] La Rivière underlines a connection between the child protagonist and the theme of espionage, writing, "The premise that drives Joe 90 taps into the fantasy indulged by most boys that they, even at nine years old, can be James Bond."[36] Writer John R. Cook agrees with La Rivière's points on audience self-identification, describes the series as a "wish-fulfilment fantasy"[13] and suggests that the character of Joe is a mirror image of the target child viewer.[13] Comparisons have been made to later franchises with child protagonists who are in fact operatives for intelligence agencies, such as Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids film trilogy,[46][68] released between 2001 and 2003, and the Alex Rider novels by Anthony Horowitz,[46] of which the first instalment was released in 2000.

[Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons] was too mechanical and needed humanising. And Joe 90? I think the concept was a good one, but again there was a lack of humour and a lack of feminine influence. If you ever see anything that's all male, apart from a war film, it's a bit dull, isn't it? Sylvia Anderson (1992)[14]

La Rivière noted the intimacy of the series and the predominantly male voice cast and characters, suggesting that Joe 90 is "very much a boy's own adventure."[15] Out of the 30 episodes, only ten feature appearances from female characters,[15] a fact which La Rivière attributes to the increased demands on Century 21 for its feature film productions, Thunderbird 6 and Doppelgänger.[15] Peel suggests that the female absence leaves Joe 90, with many other Anderson productions, inferior to previous Supermarionation effort Thunderbirds,[16] in which the character of Lady Penelope has a primary role in several episodes. Grouping Joe 90 with the earlier Supercar and the subsequent The Secret Service,[16] Peel concludes, "It is hardly coincidental that these tend to be the least-loved of [Anderson's] series; he had, after all, ignored half of his potential audience."[16] For Peel, this return of the "standard Anderson sexism"[16] is only one aspect of deterioration between Joe 90 and previous productions. Peel challenges La Rivière's asserted "kids play Bond" theme,[6] writing that, "being a somewhat nerdy kid with glasses and brain implants was not really thrilling."[65]

Premiered in the same year, 1968 ... Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, with its own final version of a "star child" as the embodiment of all the hopes of mankind in the coming space age, Joe 90 expressed for its child audience equivalent kinds of "golden living dreams and visions" of futuristic possibility, appropriate to the then general utopian Zeitgeist. John R. Cook (2006)[69]

Peel's view was contested by Anderson's belief that the series, with its bespectacled lead character of Joe McClaine, can raise the self-confidence of young viewers with glasses, stating,[8] "Suddenly they were proud because they had something in common with Joe 90."[34] Since the first appearance of the series in 1968, the epithet "Joe 90" has become popular as a term of endearment for such children[44] as well as adults remembered for wearing oversized spectacles,[44] such as snooker player Dennis Taylor.[44] During UK re-runs of the series in the 1990s, similarities were also drawn between Joe and contemporary British Prime Minister John Major, also known for wearing large spectacles.[70]

Cook reads further into the concept of child empowerment in Joe 90, writing that the series creates a "technological utopia"[71] around youth, remarking, "Through the character of Joe, his brain hardwired at the start of each episode into the BIG RAT supercomputer, the young are shown to be literally at one with technology."[13] He adds that the instant access to brain patterns that the BIG RAT affords to Joe may be interpreted as heralding the development of the Internet over a decade after Joe 90 was produced.[13] With his intellectual horizons broadened, Joe becomes the manifestation of homo superior,[13] yet his youthfulness grants him the power to change the fraught political world in ways that no adult could due to the limitations of their imagination.[13] In this respect, Cook holds up Joe 90 as a precursor to the 1970s television series The Tomorrow People,[69] which also concerned ideas of human transcendence in children. This idea, Cook says, was evident in the title of Joe 90 itself:[13] "no longer is he a nine-year-old boy but instead his status and capacities have been multiplied tenfold to transform him into agent 'Joe 90', his name an appealing futuristic echo of the then distant year of 1990."[13]

Joe 90 lacked some of the lustre of the earlier shows. It didn't have much success, although I was proud of the concept. Maybe the stories assumed too much importance and the inadequacies of the puppets showed through. Gerry Anderson (2002)[18]

Ultimately, Joe 90 has proven to be less successful than previous series made by Anderson.[6][7][8][9] In the Anderson-related book, Supermarionation Classics, the model work and scripts are praised, but it is conceded that the series "failed to arouse more than a passing interest with some Anderson fans."[7] Stephen Hulse refers to Joe 90 as "clearly the most child-oriented of the latter Anderson Supermarionation series"[11] and "technically accomplished",[11][12] but "one of the Anderson stable's lesser series".[11][12] However, its spy-fi theme led on to the final Supermarionation series, The Secret Service,[72] which too features an unconventional secret agent (a vicar, Father Stanley Unwin) and an intelligence organisation with a contracted name (BISHOP, an acronym for "British Intelligence Service Headquarters, Operation Priest").[9] [edit] Adaptations

In 1981,[73] a compilation film of the Joe 90 episodes "The Most Special Agent", "Splashdown", "Attack of the Tiger" and "Arctic Adventure",[73] titled The Amazing Adventures of Joe 90,[73] was created under the supervision of Robert Mandell of ITC Entertainment's New York offices.[74] Intended to boost American syndication sales,[74] The Amazing Adventures of Joe 90 is one of a number of composite films of Gerry Anderson productions, which were released both to stations and on home video under the promotional banner of "Super Space Theater".[74] Material for "The Most Special Agent" was re-edited to remove the framing sequences set at Culver Bay Cottage and WIN Headquarters London,[73] with the result that Joe's fictitious mission to steal the Russian prototype fighter[e 1] appears to be a real assignment for the nine-year-old WIN agent.[73]

From the 1980s, the distribution rights to the ITC productions belonged to PolyGram Television.[75][76] Subsequent sales were made to Carlton International in the late 1990s[75][76] and finally Granada International[75] which, through a merger with Carlton International in 2004,[76] now forms ITV Global Entertainment, a division of ITV plc.[76] During the 1990s, the possibility of a live-action film adaptation of Joe 90 was mooted by PolyGram.[77] The idea re-emerged in the 2000s,[23] when in 2003 the magazine Variety reported that a film version was in the planning stages,[22] to be produced by Disney.[68] However, to date, the film proposal remains to be developed. In 2005, Anderson said of negotiations with Granada, "We have regular meetings and although they are very polite and very nice, nothing ever happens."[78]

When I Love the '70s, '80s and '90s, three British pop culture nostalgia programmes, were broadcast on BBC Two in 2001, a set of Joe 90-themed "trailers" were filmed to precede instalments of the last of these series.[79] In each of the three previews, the character of Joe is depicted entering the BIG RAT's "Rat Trap" to receive the brain pattern of a 1990s household name,[79] from Oasis bandmember Liam Gallagher (representing 1990)[79] to comedian Vic Reeves (1991)[79] to the character of Garth (portrayed by Dana Carvey) from the 1992 film, Wayne's World.[79] On leaving the "Rat Trap", Joe has assumed the identity of each BIG RAT subject and acts and speaks using their mannerisms.[79] Edited versions of the trailers missing the BBC Two voiceovers and logos[79] are included as special feature material on the Region 2 release of the Joe 90 DVD box set.[79] [edit] Merchandise

2002 Region 2 DVD Volume One release cover, featuring the puppet of Joe McClaine.

Authentic 1960s associated media for Joe 90 included a Century 21 Toys range comprising friction-drive and battery-operated versions of Professor McClaine's Jet Air Car[17] and Sam Loover's futuristic saloon.[17] Also available were Joe's WIN briefcase (complete with replica gadgets and pistol)[17] and his WIN badge reading "Most Special Agent".[17] Joe 90 was also allotted its own weekly comic, Joe 90 Top Secret, which ran for 34 issues[18] (and included strips based on TV series The Champions and Land of the Giants).[80] In September 1969,[18] it merged with the established Anderson tie-in TV21[18] (previously titled TV Century 21), which then came to be known as TV21 and Joe 90.[18] After a further 36 issues,[18] Joe 90 strips were dropped from the comic[18] and the new title dropped in favour of the original TV21.[18]

The 1990s were marked by a considerable interest in old TV series from the 1960s and 70s — Joe 90 was one of those that was among the repeats and was also the subject of a strip series in the Funday Times section of The Sunday Times. Strips from Joe 90 Top Secret were reprinted in a new publication, Joe 90,[81] which was launched to tie in with the 1994 BBC re-runs[81] but which also, after just seven issues,[81] merged into a related comic, on this occasion Fleetway's Thunderbirds.[81] Other Joe 90 print media include 1968 and 1969 Joe 90 annuals from Century 21 Publishing[82] and two short paperback novels, Joe 90 and the Raiders (by Tod Sullivan) and Joe 90 in Revenge (by Howard Elson),[82] published by May Fair Books.[82] [edit] VHS and DVD

In the United Kingdom, the earliest home releases of Joe 90 in the 1980s were controlled by "Channel 5",[83] later re-branded as "PolyGram Video".[83] Released in an eight-volume series[83] and re-packaged in 1992,[83] the set included "The Most Special Agent", "Splashdown", "Attack of the Tiger" and "Arctic Adventure" in their re-edited forms from the 1981 compilation film The Amazing Adventures of Joe 90,[83] which itself received three video releases both in PAL and NTSC format between 1981 and 1986.[83] The 1980s and 90s VHS releases used 16 mm prints,[21] which were of a quality poorer than that of the original film.[21]

In September 2002, a DVD box set of all 30 Joe 90 episodes, sourced from a digital remaster of 35 mm film prints,[21] was released in Region 2 by Carlton.[21] The five component discs were also released individually at intervals between September 2002 and January 2003,[21] and the episodes were also marketed in a new five-volume VHS package.[21] A North American set from A&E[21] debuted in July 2003[21] before a Region 4 version appeared in October.[21] A French-language release of Joe 90 — Agent Très Spécial[21] (English: Joe 90—Very Special Agent) hit the Canadian market in 2004.[21] With these DVD releases, the component episodes of The Amazing Adventures of Joe 90 were made commercially available in their unedited form for the first time.[83]Joe 90 DVD Box Sets Title and Country[21] Region[21] Technical Specifications[21] Distributor[21] Special Features[3][21] Release Date(s)[21] Joe 90 — The Complete Series USA 1 Discs — 4 Format — NTSC Language — English Aspect Ratio — 1.33:1 A&E Home Video Commentaries: "The Most Special Agent" (with Mike Trim) "The Unorthodox Shepherd" (with Ken Turner) Character Biographies—Joe McClaine, Professor McClaine, Sam Loover, Shane Weston Information Files—WIN, Culver Bay Cottage, the BIG RAT, Mac's Jet Air Car, Joe's Briefcase Galleries 29 July 2003 Joe 90—Agent Très Spécial Canada 1 Discs — 4 Format — NTSC Language — French Aspect Ratio — 1.33:1 Imavision Character Biographies—Joe McClaine, Professor McClaine, Sam Loover, Shane Weston Gallery 25 May 2004 Joe 90 — Complete Series UK 2 Discs — 5 Format — PAL Language — English Aspect Ratio — 4:3 Carlton International (Both Regions 2 and 4) 1960s Warning Sequence (with Tim Turner) I Love the '90s Trailers Character Biographies—Joe McClaine, Professor McClaine, Sam Loover, Shane Weston Information Files—WIN, Culver Bay Cottage, the BIG RAT, Mac's Jet Air Car, Joe's Briefcase Galleries Location filming: "The Unorthodox Shepherd" Draft End Titles Original Artwork Original Merchandise Episode Photographs Production Photographs Box Set 30 September 2002 Volumes 1—30 September 2002 2—30 September 2002 3—11 November 2002 4—11 November 2002 5—27 January 2003 Joe 90 — Complete Series Australia 4 Discs — 5 Format — PAL Language — English Aspect Ratio — 1.33:1 Beyond Home Entertainment 8 October 2003

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_90

Joe 90