The idea behind the 39 black & white episodes was simple: it told the story of a wonderful new vehicle, the 'super-car' of the future, and the adventures which befell it and the people who used it. The basic formula for the series was the same as in many others; heroes thwarting the villains. The heroes in this series were five characters who lived and worked in an isolated laboratory set deep in the heart of the Nevada desert at Black Rock - the home base of the Supercar! Two scientists, a test pilot, a small 'orphaned' boy and his mischievous pet monkey called Mitch.
It was never really made clear who the group worked for, or what they and their laboratory were doing in the desert. Nor was it made clear why the central 'star' of the series, Supercar itself, was built. It appears just to have been an experimental test craft, capable of being used for many different purposes, as the various episodes showed.
"Stingray" had Titan, "Thunderbirds" the Hood, and "Supercar", as well, had its villains - setting the formula for the following shows. In the case of "Supercar" the chief villains were Masterspy and 'friend' Zarin, who were supplemented occasionally by the likes of Jazz and Budd together with Judd and Harper.
The series, as a whole, although featuring the technological marvel of the Supercar, did not appear to exist in a futuristic environment as such, much more like the (then) present day (i.e. circa 1959) though throughout the series there were some futuristic machines. Scientist and their inventions seemed to play a key role in many of the story concepts.
The stories themselves, and thus the overall philosophy of the show, were generally somewhat juvenile. Perhaps this is why the "Supercar" strip in "TV21" was a 'comic' strip. Whereas "Fireball XL5" (and certainly the others that followed) had stories which were at least an attempt at 'honest' seriousness, the overall theme of the "Supercar" strips was one of comic action adventures; a mixture of the plainly comical (e.g. "Operation Superstork" when Mitch untied the guy-ropes of a balloon and sent himself and his friends off into a storm) and school-boyish drama - saving the world from all kinds of fiends who sought to rule it (e.g. in "Calling Charlie Queen", a mad professor plans to miniaturise everyone and take over America). It appears, then, that it was Good vs Evil in its simplest form.
Series Set in 1960 The Supercar T.V. series is set in the year of production, i.e., 1960, therefore character ages are as follows:-
Mike Mercury - 30
Professor Popkiss - 53
Doctor Beaker - 48
Jimmy Gibson - 10
Mitch
Bill Gibson - 22
Masterspy - 45
Zarin - 42
Other Characters
Jimmy's age is the only one we are told in the series. Biographical research by Martin Hutchinson and published in Century 21 No. 10, Autumn 1992.
Mike loved flying from a very early age and had ample opportunity to study aircraft as his father was a pilot in the United States Air Force.
Unfortunately, Mercury Senior was killed in the war and Mike's mother died soon afterwards in a car crash.
To try and get over his loss, young Mike enlisted in the Air Force and attempted to put the tragedy behind him. He rose swiftly through the ranks becoming noted for his fearless flying and his daring exploits.
During the 1950's he transferred to the fledgling Space Programme and trained hard but he felt there was something missing.
A meeting with a certain Professor Popkiss and Dr Beaker in 1958 at the Air Force Base where he was stationed led to Mike resigning and joining the two scientists at their Nevada laboratory where he helped in the final stages of the design and construction of Supercar.
Now he felt he would be able to help to do something to help people in trouble.
In the little spare time that he has, he keeps up his interest in flying and tutors Jimmy Gibson.
Mitch is Jimmy's pet monkey. Mitch was rescued by Jimmy's parents when its mother abandoned it. Mitch is very protective of the infant Jimmy - a bond which grew closer when the adult Gibsons perished whilst on safari in Kenya.
