Fans of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Joe 90 will be thrilled to hear that Gerry Anderson's series FIREBALL XL5 featuring the indomitable Steve Zodiac will be released on 20th October 2003. Featuring all 39 episodes of the classic black and white series, this 5 disc DVD set is released just in time for the Christmas market.

Produced in 1962 but set in the year 2062, FIREBALL XL5 charts the interplanetary adventures of a spacecraft and its crew - handsome blonde pilot Steve Zodiac and the glamorous blonde space doctor Venus, a maths genius and a robot!

Fireball XL5 was part of a World Space Fleet based at Space City, an island in the Pacific Ocean, run by Commander Zero and and Lieutenant Ninety. Its mission to patrol sector 25 of the universe, beyond the solar system. The biggest craft of its kind, the 300 long XL5 had a detachable nose cone called Fireball Junior, used for landings while the mothership was in orbit.

Colonel Steve Zodiac, the handsome and dynamic pilot of Fireball XL5 is ably assisted by Professor Mathew 'Matt' Mattic, XL5's bespectacled navigator and scientific officer, Venus, the crew's medical expert and Steve's romantic interest, Zoonie, a strange looking creature called a Lazoon who is Venus' pet, Robert the Robot, interestingly voiced by Gerry Anderson himself, the transparent mechanical companion and co-pilot to Steve, Commander Zero, the head of Space City, XL5's base and co-ordinates all Fireball missions and Lieutenant Ninety who assists Commander Zero in Star City.

FIREBALL XL5 marked the beginning of a trend that Gerry Anderson developed in following series, a trend which in many ways is a trademark of Anderson productions. Aside from hardware, FIREBALL XL5, also introduced audiences to the idea of organisations, with uniforms and symbols. In many ways, FIREBALL XL5 was a blueprint for Anderson's other shows.

The series, conceived whilst Supercar was still in production and as Anderson comments "I knew we had to follow with another series if we were to survive, and so I was using every spare moment to get the basic idea." Once Anderson had devised the new series he had to find a buyer. He approached Lew Grade who had provided the all-important backing to Supercar, his puppet animation debut and once again Grade liked it and bought it thereby creating a platform for future successes such as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Joe 90 which enjoy a resurgence of interest with each decade.

This exciting new DVD release is packaged in a specially designed collector's box set.