Interster (partially found puppet TV series; 1982-1986)

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Interster-cover.png

Cover to the South African "Interster" Volume 1 DVD.

Status: Partially Found

Interster (English translation: Interstellar) was a South African science-fiction puppet television series shown in the early 1980s by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The series only ever existed in the Afrikaans language and has never been dubbed for any other country.

Genesis

Interster was created mostly as South Africa's answer to Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds, due to their inability to complete its dub at the time due to the restrictions brought from apartheid. The series was created by Dirk de Villiers and written by Dr. Johann Beukes. The show premiered on July 20, 1982, with the last episode shown on April 26, 1986.

Premise

Set in the year 2500 (other sources have stated 2013), the series involved an undercover planetary defense agency operating out of Cape Town under the guise of an interstellar shipping company. Earth is engrossed in a bitter intergalactic struggle against the inhabitants of the hostile planet Krokon whose evil ruler, Crown Prince Karnati, aided and financed by the treacherous Dr. Gorman, is intent on taking over the Earth.

Head of "Interster" is Professor Zed, a gruff old man who hides his affection for his personnel. His top spacecraft crew consists of Captain Buks de la Rey and Lieutenant Adam Buys, two brave young men assisted by a robot named Pikkie. Pikkie is extremely proud of his status as the most advanced robot yet developed. Lieutenant Lida de Villiers, runs the control-room from her desk at "Interster" headquarters.[1]

Availability

The TV series slid into obscurity once SABC stopped airing the series, becoming fairly forgotten.

In 2009, the South African Broadcasting Corporation released two DVD volumes of the series, consisting of episodes 1-13. The series, however, consisted of 2 seasons made of 37 episodes.

Given that it's been 10 years since the release of the DVDs, it's unlikely that the other 24 episodes will be given a release, and TV recordings do not seem to exist. Apparently, VHS tapes were released as well in the 80s, but if any further episodes were present on them is unknown.

In 2009, an English comedy redub of the series was planned. However, as of 2010, it was scrapped. It would have been "Interstar Airlines", with a preview being shown utilizing an episode not present on either DVD, meaning that masters probably still do exist.

Missing Episodes

Though the airdates are known, the titles don't seem to be. [2]

Season 1

# Episode Title Air Date Status
14 Unknown Oct 19, 1982 Lost
15 Unknown Nov 2, 1982 Lost
16 Unknown Nov 9, 1982 Lost
17 Unknown Nov 16, 1982 Lost
18 Unknown Nov 16, 1982 Lost
19 Unknown Nov 19, 1982 Lost
20 Unknown Dec 7, 1982 Lost
21 Unknown Dec 14, 1982 Lost
22 Unknown Dec 21, 1982 Lost
23 Unknown Dec 28, 1982 Lost
24 Unknown Jan 4, 1983 Lost
25 Unknown Jan 11, 1983 Lost
26 Unknown Jan 18, 1983 Lost

Season 2

# Episode Title Air Date Status
27 Unknown Feb 15, 1986 Lost
28 Unknown Feb 22, 1986 Lost
29 Unknown Mar 1, 1986 Lost
30 Unknown Mar 8, 1986 Lost
31 Unknown Mar 15, 1986 Lost
32 Unknown Mar 22, 1986 Lost
33 Unknown Mar 29, 1986 Lost
34 Unknown April 5, 1986 Lost
35 Unknown April 12, 1986 Lost
36 Unknown April 19, 1986 Lost
37 Unknown April 26, 1986 Lost

Gallery

Teaser for one of the lost episodes.

External Links

References