Gerry Anderson Associated Television (ATV) boss who offered to buy the show. This began a long friendship and a very successful professional association between the two men. The new series, "Supercar", (1960–61) was developed by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson and Reg Hill based on a story written by Sylvia Anderson and marked several important advances for APF. Sylvia Anderson took on a larger role and became a partner in the company. The series was also the official debut of Supermarionation, the electronic system that made the marionettes more lifelike and convincing on screen. The system used the audio signal from pre-recorded tapes
Space Patrol (1962 TV series) sometimes the shadow of a puppet could be seen behind a "TV Screen" before the communication device was supposedly turned on —the show rated strongly with young audiences in many regions (including New York City) and garnered a huge following. "Babylon 5" creator J. Michael Straczynski said that it was his favourite TV show as a child. Leigh had previously worked with Gerry Anderson on children's puppet series, and there are some obvious similarities between "Space Patrol" and Anderson's "Fireball XL5", although "Space Patrol" was made on a lower budget. Arthur Provis, Anderson's former business partner in AP Films was