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) Robert Sellers described "Stingray" as the "first truly classic Anderson show", whose special effects "have stood the test of time remarkably well." Daniel O'Brien, author of "SF:UK: How British Science Fiction Changed the World", considers it to be "perhaps the archetypal Gerry Anderson series". Reviewing the DVD box set in 2001, Mike Fillis of "TV Zone" magazine conceded that "Stingray" was less "ambitious" than its immediate follow-up, "Thunderbirds", but compared its "self-awareness" and "looseness" favourably to the "po-faced rigidity" of "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons". He also praised the series' "well-drawn" characters and described its water-based special effects sequences as