Supercar (TV series) series proposed to the BBC by Hugh Woodhouse that was never produced. Anderson would later claim that the whole point of having a series based on a vehicle was to minimize having to show the marionettes walking, an action which he felt never looked convincing. The plot of the show consisted of Supercar, a vertical takeoff and landing craft invented by Prof. Rudolph Popkiss and Dr. Horatio Beaker, and piloted by Mike Mercury. On land it rode on a cushion of air rather than wheels. Jets in the rear allowed it to fly like a jet and retractable wings were
Gerry Anderson space adventure "Fireball XL5" (1962). At the time it was the company's biggest success, garnering the honour of being the first Anderson series sold to an American TV network, NBC-TV. Around this time, Anderson also saw his Supermarionation style attract imitators—most notably "Space Patrol", which used similar techniques and was made by several former employees and associates of Anderson, including Arthur Provis and Roberta Leigh. After the completion of "Fireball XL5", Lew Grade offered to buy AP Films. Although Anderson was initially reluctant, the deal eventually went ahead, with Grade becoming the managing director, and the Andersons, Hill, and Read