Supermarionation "Thunderbirds", who closely resembled Sylvia Anderson, and Captain Blue in "Captain Scarlet", who looked like Ed Bishop (the similarity was reportedly coincidental). Other characters were based on well-known film actors: Troy Tempest of "Stingray" was based on James Garner, Scott Tracy of "Thunderbirds" on Sean Connery and Captain Scarlet on Cary Grant. "Stingray" also featured the only non-speaking Supermarionation puppet: the water-breathing woman Marina. Occasionally, close-ups of a live actor's hand would be inserted to show actions such as turning keys and pressing buttons. This was affectionately parodied in the 2004 live-action feature film "Thunderbirds", with a brief shot of
Stingray (1964 TV series) approximately 21 minutes and featuring the voice cast from the TV series, are included as special features on the UK "Stingray" DVD box set. "Marina Speaks" reveals that Marina is in fact not mute at all. In fact, her race has been cursed by Titan – should any one of them speak, another will die. They are not certain that this is true, but none of them dares find out; thus, for years they have lived in complicit silence. Media historian Marcus Hearn argues that "Stingray" essentially "[transfers] the format of "Fireball XL5" to an underwater setting." Writing in 2006,