A dead
parishioner wills a device to Father Stanley Unwin, his parish
priest, that can shrink a man to 1/6th his normal size. Father
Unwin and his gardener Matthew subsequently go to work for the
British Intelligence Service as undercover agents, using the
'Minimizer' to facilitate their espionage missions. This is the
basic premise of The Secret Service, the Anderson's 7th
Supermarionation television series. In many respects the most
peculiar Supermarionation series, ever produced, The Secret
Service presented a strange mixture of live action and puppets.
Basically, real human beings and objects were used in long shots
while puppets and models were used in close up shots. Indeed,
British comedian Stanley Unwin had the unique experience of
playing himself in this 1969 Supermarionation series! The bizarre
combination of filming techniques did not please Lew Grade of ITC
who ordered production of The Secret Service cancelled after only
13 episodes had been completed. However, the experience gained
with live action and miniature photography was quickly put to
good use in the Anderson's next television series, UFO.
Here is the real
live Stanley Unwin as he appears in the titles of The
Secret Service. This program was unlike anything else
done by the Andersons. The Secret Service attempted to
'trump' Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 by freely mixing live
shots with standard Supermarionation puppet and model
shots. Did it work? Well, reviews are mixed! It certainly
did not please ITC's Lew Grade who ordered the series
cancelled after 13 episodes, telling Gerry Anderson that
'The Americans will never understand it'.
Here is the puppet
Stanley Unwin. Normally, the puppet Unwin was used in
close up shots like this and the real live Stanley Unwin
was photographed in long shots. Stanley Unwin was a
popular South African born English comedian during the
1960s who used a strange nonsense-speak called
'Unwineese' in his act. Unwin's strange Unwineese is used
liberally throughout The Secret Service and reportedly
this was a major factor in Lew Grade's decision to cancel
the series!
This is a 'live
insert', a close-up shot of a pair of actual hands
manipulating a full scale 'Minimizer' prop hidden in
Father Unwin's bible. The Minimizer can shrink a person
down to 1/6th normal size, in other words, down to
Supermarionation puppet size! Live inserts such as this
were used from the very beginning of Supermarionation. In
the early days, however, rubber gloves were often worn to
make the hands look 'puppet like'. The introduction of
realistically proportioned puppets in Captain Scarlet and
Joe 90 made such gloves unnecessary.
Here is Matthew,
Father Unwin's gardener and fellow spy, about to be
shrunk down to 'puppet size' by the Minimizer device.
This interesting trick shot shows the Matthew puppet
optically enlarged to actual human size and matted into a
live action set which represents Father Unwin's study.
Here is the
Matthew puppet after being shrunk down to 'normal'
Supermarionation puppet size by the Minimizer ray. This
is the actual size of the Matthew puppet in this live
action set!
Here is another
interesting shot. Father Unwin transports the shrunk-down
Matthew to and from spy missions in a modified suitcase.
Here is the Matthew puppet in his suit case next to the
real Stanley Unwin.
Father Unwin (the
live actor) drives a Model T Ford called 'Gabriel'. Like
Supercar, The Secret Service took place in the 'present'
day of 1969, thus, live action surroundings and vehicles
could be used without much difficulty. There were at
least three different versions of the 'Gabriel' Model T
Ford automobile. The real one shown here, a puppet sized
one (which was radio controlled), and a small 1/24th
scale version which was used on miniature sets and the
'rolling road'.
Here is the puppet
Stanley Unwin behind the wheel of the puppet sized Model
T Ford. This model vehicle was made by the Space Models
Company, a company which made models and props on a
contract basis for the Andersons for many years. Note the
rear projection screen behind the puppet and car to
provide the illusion of motion. This model was also
electrically powered and capable of radio controlled
operation for use (in a 'Minimized' state of course) on
actual roadways.
Here is a model of
the Dreisenberg embassador's aircraft in a model hangar.
This model is odd in that it is one of the very few
propeller driven aircraft to appear in a Supermarionation
program.
Here is a shot of
the outside of the Dreisenberg hangar. This was a live
action shot of course. Note that the configuration of the
miniature hangar interior set closely matched the shape
of the full sized hangar even though both things only
appeared on the television screen for a brief moment of
time!
Mrs Appleby is
Father Stanley Unwin's housekeeper. This puppet's facial
features were supposedly modeled on chief puppeteer
Christine Glanville's mother!
This should be a
familiar face. It's Macy the truck driver from the
Captain Scarlet episode 'Big Ben Strikes Again'. Many of
the puppets seen in The Secret Service, like this one
here, were recycled from Captain Scarlet and Joe 90. This
particular puppet was a minor guest character in many
episodes of Captain Scarlet and Joe 90.
This Dreisenberg
airline pilot should look very familiar. In an earlier
life he was Captain Ochre of Spectrum in the Captain
Scarlet series! Nearly every puppet made for Captain
Scarlet, including the 'star' Captain Scarlet puppet,
appeared in Joe 90 and later on in The Secret Service.
Different
television series but the exact same job! This air
traffic controller character in The Secret Service was
also an air traffic controller in the Captain Scarlet
episode 'Winged Assasin'.
Here is the
Dreisenberg airliner model on wires suspended in front of
the old 'rolling sky' developed by Derek Meddings for
Thunderbirds. Allegedly, Derek Meddings used the rolling
sky and road from the APF/Century 21 studios in some of
the James Bond films that he worked on.
Here is a standard
Supermarionation shot. This is the 1/24th scale 'Gabriel'
Model T Ford on a miniature airport set next to a large
scale model of the Dreisenberg diplomatic airliner. For
all the technical sophistication of the combined live
action and puppet shots, the old standbys like this were
the backbone of The Secret Service.
This is truly a
very unusual shot! What we have here are two 'normal'
sized puppets standing in the Dreisenberg aircraft's
doorway with a 'Minimized' puppet character standing
between them. In other words, the puppet in the center
has been optically reduced to the size a Supermarionation
puppet would actually be in relation to the other puppet
characters!
2003 Archive 
