Okay first of all 5 stars = if you are like me and skim reviews in helping you to decide about stuff you're on the fence about - I am going to explain myself ahead of time so you cannot later say "why did she say it was 5 stars":
This is NOT for everyone. It is for me. I'm by no means a uber sci-fi geek. I roll my eyes when my bf mentions Star Trek or Star Wars. I just don't care. Space shows, aliens, blah blah blah. Whatever. Most sci-fi stuff doesn't interest me at all. There are a few exceptions to the rule. I like comedic sci-fi. I like the cutesy aliens (Yoda) - hey I said I'm a she, apparently a stereotypical one. And for some reason I love love love Gerry Anderson stuff. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call his shows "campy" but they're not overly serious even when they have somewhat serious story lines for the characters in them. It's not comedic. It just is. Simple yet you can tell the people involved really put a lot of heart into it. They made sure you knew the characters, even some of the aliens (who all looked alike at first) all got very distinct looks as time went on. The romances are alway cheesy but are not the main stories.
It's not the puppets of the earlier Anderson shows (Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds, etc) but it definitely has that feel of an Anderson show. You know the feel - just a bit in the future with today's technology (well today's or lesser) but hey the vehicles are ahead of us anyway! In this case as there are actual human actors onscreen and you'll also find some of them get recycled in multiple roles. Cars that blow up soon at they bump a building just barely but the cop cars can take anything and not get a scratch.
They definitely progressed, even in a one year show. I had the advantage (or disadvantage) or watching with someone who works with software they used and does some of the types of graphics they did - but today. At first I was hearing the "Oh yeah, you can tell this was the first versions of that software and that this was the early 90s" by the end I was hearing the "Oh nice" and the "there's where the budget went" or "I'd love to tell them how much that model impressed me even today".
So would the dialog or story lines win awards? Nope, it really is just cops in space and sometimes COPS would have better dialog. But it's fun and it makes you want to keep watching. And sometimes it's even pretty.
Top reviews from other countries
Brent Peterson
Not a common Gerry and Sylvia era sci-fi series
Reviewed in Canada on July 12, 2020
Laurence Justus
Only way to see this series
Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2014MvR
Finally complete season on DVD !
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2010