FAB Facts: Fireball XL5 Destroyed and Robot the Robot missing?

[@richardmattocks]

I’m imagining Robert floating in space, slightly singed (Chuck Jones Style), still holding the steering wheel while the rest of the ship has exploded around him.

[@peppermintspacecapsule9898]

Yep, I like that. Made it home (as per his catchphrase), new Robert body, original Robert's head. Same guy, post-explodo!

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

"Gotta save at least one piece of the XL5!"

[@brandywell44]

I loved Zoonie and was a young child at the time and used to watch XL5 first time it was on tv with my Dad and my Poodle Mitzi, who was my Zoonie. Mom would pop in from the kitchen now and again to join the fun. Happy days.

[@steviem8466]

I am old enough to remember both Supercar and XL5. also had diecast versions of both, Plastic not available in toys back then. I can still picture in my mind Robert the Robot's catchline "On our Way Home" in a roboty sort of voice!

[@TheB49]

I'm 64 and when I was about 7 or so I got for xmas Fireball Xl5 space city in a big box,all plastic and everything from the show. What fun! I wish I still had it.

[@raymondramirez9177]

Has Anderson considered funding a new generation of toys for the series?

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Anyone remember a parachute toy Fireball XL5? I must have been about 5 or 6 years old and it was quite big to me. It launched from a vertical catapult and at the top of its flight a parachute hatch was supposed to open, it never did. Several vertical arrivals on the street followed and that was soon the end of my Fireball XL5.

[@ufoclips1]

I had that one,it was a let down as it never worked and Fireball junior was a yellow solid plastic lump instead of the hand crafted replica complete with crew i had imagined....

[@allenjones3130]

I remember the parachute toy XL5.

[@starlord2112]

There's quite an amusing explanation given of the naming of the XL ships in Alan Moore's graphic novel "The Black Dossier". The story is part of the League of Extraordinary Gentleman series and is set in an alternate timeline. In this book the two main characters visit a spaceport in Birmingham and on view is (amongst others) supercar and some Dan Dare vessels. But they spot the largest ones which are the "Extra Large" series. One is named "Pancake XL4". The characters are told that there is a tradition of naming new models after how the previous ship ended up! So there are "Mushroom Cloud XL2" & "Shrapnel XL3" etc...So after reading this headline I guess there may have been a "Smithereens XL6"...

[@tjmusa]

being born in 1961, one of the first t.v. shows i remember is FIRE BALL X L 5. and we would watch the flintstones on a week day evenings. lol. thanks for posting. good thoughts.

[@datathunderstorm]

That makes two of us - I was born in 1960. Watched Fireball XL5 as well - and all the other Anderson productions afterwards!

[@robertlowery5586]

I was born in 1958-this was my FAVORITE show on tv. Clutch Cargo was a distant 2nd.Great memories!

[@kennethholland6172]

Cool! I, too, was born in '58, and XL5 was my favorite show, as well.

[@richardmattocks]

All Anderson vehicles were made from Explodium. 🤣

[@trainlover16]

😂😂😂😂 Yep.

[@CharlieCookeActor]

Only the most refined Explodium

[@tgmccoy1556]

I keep wondering how much Elon Musk watched "Thunderbirds","XL 5," etc. As a kid.

[@epiendless1128]

I seem to remember even concrete bridges exploding from time to time. I like to refer to the 'negligent inclusion' of sodding great quantities of dynamite. (Harking back to an Alexie Sayle line about "negligent inclusion of a sodding great elephant" in a roof space.

[@tuc-dh4df]

I used to buy TV21 (or my mum did for me) the magazine would have a promotion every so often. A booklet with places to put pictures, every week four more pictures. 3 times the last weeks pictures were not in the magazine! 50 years I have waiting to tell that😓

[@cedarcam]

Aww that happened tome as well and even worse when we moved house they were all left behind I only have one left now. I do not remember this story but can remember the new Robert ii picture

[@ufoclips1]

I remember buying a small bar of chocolate to build a playing card jigsaw of the Stingray cast,i have no idea how much it actually cost my parents,but i liked the chocolate...

[@SaturnCanuck]

That's like in Thunderbird 6, FAB 1 was aboard Sky One when it was destroyed. Oh dear!

[@iandeeley9033]

Another FAB Fact: The Mole from THUNDERBIRDS was destroyed then subsequently rebuilt a few times in the TV21 Comic!

[@BeachcomberNZ]

Fireball XL5 strips also appeared in the 1971 comic book series called 'Countdown', but in black and white format. Countdown featured many Gerry Anderson creations, except for 'Supercar'. I managed to purchase nine issues of 'Countdown' on our local version of Ebay a few years ago, for the princely sum of only $25NZ - also got two issues of 'TV Action', which absorbed Countdown in 1972, as part of the sale!

[@RailRocketRicky]

Perfectly timed for a Gerry Anderson video all about Fireball XL5 because today, I watched the last three episodes, plus the behind-the-scenes documentary and colourised episode of Fireball XL5! At last, I've officially watched the adventures of the World Space Patrol from start to finish! :)

[@raymondramirez9177]

Where did you see the colorized episodes?

[@RailRocketRicky]

@@raymondramirez9177 The colourised episode of Fireball XL5 in question is called "A Day in the Life of a Space General", and it is amongst the Special Features on the Fireball XL5 DVD boxset.

[@OdeeOz]

I like to think Robert is still trying to repair the Original XL-5 Junior

[@pastaman64]

Ah yes my favorite robot, robot the robot

[@Tazzman225]

There was one episode of Fireball XL5 where Robert had the lead role and he was almost destroyed but managed to save himself.

[@robertf3479]

That would be the one titled "Robert to the rescue" of course. I forget the episode number.

[@Tazzman225]

@@robertf3479 --- You're right that is the title and it was episode 21. There was only 39 episodes made. I think the last one was Robert the Robot and a little boy who accidently launched Fireball XL5 and crashed in Space City.

[@DarkRavenProductions]

if it had been made nowadays they could have backed up Roberts memories and personality to a flash drive and installed that into the new Robert

[@ufoclips1]

It WAS nowadays in the future,which might be our past,anyway,i`m sure i saw a flash drive in his ear.

[@donnagray9579]

Does anyone remember 4 Feather Falls?

[@GerryAndersonTV]

Yes! There’s a Primer on it on our channel if you want a dose of nostalgia

[@theSonicguy001]

Well, since he’s now the upmost authority over anderverse canon, what does Jamie think? Destroyed or no?

[@alanbrown4445]

In one of the tv 21 comics in full colour fireball xl5 was attacked and nearly destroyed by its front section on the surface of a planet , have you got tnat issue ?

[@nickwebb7868]

did you know that Zero X was a stand alone comic strip in TV21 and was ran for several issues. with no connections with Thunderbirds

[@lesleycamplin1689]

Hi... I seem to recall a story, possibly in a “Stingray” annual (remember those - they used to be published around Christmas?) where some baddies (can’t remember if they were in the pay of Mighty Titan...) rigged a laser across the exit from the Ocean door, and when Stingray emerged the front of the vehicle was sliced off? I seem to recall the was a pretty dramatic colour artwork of the deed happening...

[@ryanstephenkristoferkearns1319]

I know that XL18 and XL24 were destroyed in Invasion Earth episode.

[@therondayview7684]

Two years and no one's thought to correct the typo in the title???

[@colinp2238]

Well he was obviously on our way ome!

[@johnclay7644]

Look forward to more fab facts.

[@nigelcarren]

This is great as always!!! But, can I please have an in-depth secret-service episode please? I am ever so slightly obsessed with this show. Even the concept reads like it could not POSSIBLY have happened... But I am so glad it did! Thank you and best wishes from myself and my robot-butler. 🤔🤖

[@skyserf]

Good morning.

[@occamsrayzor]

"Robot the Robot"? Did you mean Robert the Robert? ;-)

[@Signerdragon123]

Thunderbird 4 gets destroyed twice in the 2015 reboot and somehow is miraculously rebuilt from scratch in the following episodes.

[@FiveLiver]

Thankfully no one read text stories in TV21

[@Bucky749]

My guess is Robert’s main body was destroyed but knowing Matt as I do I’m guessing he backed up Robert’s computer brain and use that for the base of Robert two . As that happened to branic 5 and penny from the Rwby series .

[@aricgill1290]

They say they rebuild a new XL5, but not a new XL1 or XL2?

[@blxtothis]

“Not on our way ohm!”

[@mikesilva3868]

Love this show 😌😎

[@misolgit69]

what about the weird strip series in TV21 that had space vehicles and a semi constructed space station 'strangely similar' to those in the movie 2001?

[@BeachcomberNZ]

That strip was in the 'Countdown' comic book from 1971. Was it also in TV21, as I don't think that comic book made it to New Zealand, whereas Countdown did. The strip you are thinking of was actually called 'Countdown' in the Countdown comic books, and credits the ship designs used as coming from, quote, 'The MGM film 2001: A Space Odyssey', so I guess they had permission to do so.

[@walrus4046]

I seem to remember when I was knee high to a Zoonie watching XL4(?) blow up on take off and after that the launch sequence of XL5 made me scared! lol

[@raymondramirez9177]

Has anyone in the new Anderson company thought of colorizing the Fireball XL5 series? Hollywood has done several computer based colorization of famous movies, so I believe that the Fireball XL5 can be done, too. I suggest opening a Kickstarter project to fund this project, and all the sponsors can get a complete set of all the episodes in color. I would be one of the first to sponsor this project.

[@GerryAndersonTV]

See here: shop.gerryanderson.com/products/presented-in-supercolorisation-blu-ray

[@dogwalker666]

There is a Chanel on KZbin that has done that.

[@airzulu2733]

I expect Robert the robot to turn up sometime soon.

[@thedonttouchthatdialguy]

Poor old Robert.

[@ghostrider88jinetedelfanta31]

Like to see Fireball XL5 brought back as a new TV series, or at least a movie. They could CGI it, but copy the old SuperMarrionation animation style 😎. Maybe make it a little smoother, so that they can walk properly, so that Gerry's biggest complaint could be satisfied 🤗!!

[@Whalewraith]

All those film company's looking for a cinematic universe and the Andersonverse sits right in front of them. You can have my pilot for free, Thunderbirds save Cloudbase after an Avengers style mishap... As for Robert, pretty sure they could just download him into the new body.

[@jsl151850b]

4:02 Robert II should have a human voice.

[@stephenang499]

Penelope's FAB1 was also destroyed.

[@Trek001]

No mention of a police cruiser being destroyed in Space Precient

[@LabyrinthMike]

Wouldn't the new ship be XL6?

[@ghostrider88jinetedelfanta31]

BTW whether Robert was lost in space would depend on whether a new writer thought he could satisfy a plot hole/not! 🎥

[@petersmith862]

I seem to recall a story where aliens made many Fireball XL5,s, but they were not constructed in the same way and they literally fell apart, can anybody enlighten me?

[@DetectiveKemper]

Robot the Robot?

[@ufoclips1]

Obviously Steve never counted Venus in the fight,she would be making his dinner,don`t be a tooty.

[@michaeltaylor8835]

Im in the geek room

[@timothylyons5686]

That's what you get for stealing Disaster Area's stunt ship.

[@morgangallowglass8668]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[@dogwalker666]

This is what i disliked about the Star Trek films, They destroyed the Enterprise 😢, It felt so wrong.

[@cstoff6066]

Elon Musk captured Robert and downloaded the plans of Fireball Junior. Take a look at the photographs of the Dragon SpaceX capsule on the 'net. Just needs a better paint job. . . . .

[@gravijiga]

I hate Zuni too

[@howardkey1639]

Harsh, dumped by text.