the series' off-beat tone, defending the inclusion of Unwinese as "an attempt to add a new dimension to the puppet field ... It was a bit bizarre, but then aren't many new ideas a little odd at first?" He also said that the series was perhaps "a little bit before its time". Media historian Nicholas J. Cull, who views The Secret Service as the Andersons' "one flop", calls it an "idiosyncratically British product", adding that through BISHOP the series reflected "the 1960s vogue for stories set in secret organisations with extravagant acronyms". He considers The Secret Service to be one of several Anderson series that "unashamedly capitalised on the Cold War cult of the secret agent whose skills defend the home from enemies unknown", noting that Sakov in "The Cure" is a hostile Russian agent. Reviewing the episode "Recall to Service" for the fanzine Andersonic, Paul O'Brien describes the plot about the AquaTank – a military robot gone rogue – as "an obvious allegory about the hazards of complete automation". He adds that the pivotal moment comes when Harding returns the AquaTank to manual control: "in other words, the machinery is now subordinate to its creator once again, as it should stay." On the series generally, O'Brien is critical of the puppet cast, noting the persistent absence of female characters and commenting that only female regular, Mrs Appleby, "contributes precisely nil to the plot." Other media Two novels based on the series – The Destroyer and The VIP, both written by John William Jennison under the pseudonym "John Theydon" – were published in 1969. In the early 1970s, the weekly children's title Countdown printed a number of Secret Service comic strips, including an origin story. The series was released on Region 1 DVD in December 2003 by A&E Home Video. This featured digitally-remastered picture and sound as well as bonus materials including an audio commentary by producer David Lane for the first episode, "A Case for the Bishop". The AllMovie website gives the release a feature rating of three-and-a-half stars out of five. Network DVD followed with a Region 2 DVD in June 2005. Special features on this release included audio commentaries by Gerry Anderson and PDF transfers of original production documents. References Works cited Further reading External links "A Case for the Bishop" – still photo gallery with production information The Gerry Anderson Title Sequences – includes The Secret