Joe 90 - Production

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 and plotlines subscribing more to the spy thriller genre than science fiction. 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." 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. While pondering on the blanking and re-use of such tape, Anderson made a connection to the human brain's electrical activities, 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." 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, and selected it for the schoolboy who would be the next protagonist. The script for the pilot episode was written by Anderson with his wife, Sylvia, as was the custom for each new puppet series that the couple developed.