Occupied by "Thunderbird 6" and his live-action film "Doppelgänger", Gerry Anderson was unable to serve as producer as he had on "Captain Scarlet". The role was assumed by Reg Hill and David Lane. Lane remembered that as producer he was responsible for "looking at the scripts, the effects, the puppets, the whole thing really". He found support in Anderson's long-serving collaborator Desmond Saunders, who directed the first episode and stayed on as production manager for the rest of the series. "Joe 90"s other directors included Leo Eaton, Alan Perry and Ken Turner, all of whom had directed episodes of "Captain Scarlet", and Peter Anderson, who was promoted from assistant director to replace Brian Burgess and Robert Lynn.