▁of ▁the ▁I TV ▁companies ▁were ▁im it ating ▁American ▁styles ▁of ▁production , ▁shooting ▁some ▁of ▁their ▁series ▁on ▁film ▁rather ▁than ▁in ▁the ▁multi - camera ▁electronic ▁studio ▁for ▁luc r ative ▁sales ▁in ▁the ▁' intern ational ' ▁market . ▁One ▁producer ▁who ▁was ▁keen ▁to ▁make ▁science ▁fiction ▁for ▁the ▁commercial ▁network ▁was ▁Ger ry ▁Anderson , ▁who ▁initially ▁used ▁pu ppets ▁for ▁his ▁shows . ▁His ▁science ▁fiction ▁shows ▁in ▁' Super mar ion ation ' ▁such ▁as ▁Super car ▁( 1 9 6 1 – 6 2 ), ▁Fire ball ▁X L 5 ▁( 1 9 6 2 – 6 3 ), ▁St ing ray ▁( 1 9 6 4 – 6 5 ), ▁Th under bird s ▁( 1 9 6 5 – 6 6 ), ▁Captain ▁Sc ar let ▁and ▁the ▁Myst er ons ▁( 1 9 6 7 – 6 8 ) ▁and ▁Joe ▁ 9 0 ▁( 1 9 6 8 – 6 9 ) ▁remain ▁popular ▁among ▁follow ers ▁of ▁archive ▁television . ▁ ▁Their ▁success ▁led ▁his ▁back ers ▁I TC ▁to ▁fin ance ▁the ▁live - action ▁shows ▁he ▁most ▁wanted ▁to ▁develop . ▁The ▁first ▁of ▁these ▁was ▁U FO ▁( 1 9 7 0 – 7 1 ), ▁which ▁featured ▁American ▁actor ▁Ed ▁Bishop ▁as ▁the ▁head ▁of ▁an ▁under cover ▁military ▁organisation ▁with ▁responsibility ▁for ▁comb ating ▁al iens ▁who ▁came ▁to ▁Earth ▁in ▁the ▁e pon ym ous ▁space ▁craft . ▁A ▁planned ▁second ▁season ▁was