Captain Z-ro

[Nigel]

I just discovered this little gem on The Unexplained Channel. It's a black and white American series from the fifties, an educational history programme masquerading as science fiction.

It's about Captain Z-ro, his boy assistant and their time machine, which they use to view historical events. The sci fi sequences involve lots of "standby to activate the so-and-so" and pulling of levers.

The episode I saw was about William Tell, full of dodgy mid-European accents - apart from Tell's son who had a good old fashioned "golly gee" American accent - and dodgy dialogue full of "thee" and "thou".

Captain Z-ro himself isn't averse to interfering with history, using his time machine and ray gun in this episode to rescue Tell from prison. He travels to his destination using a pre-Trek transporter.

There's a lot of information on Captain Z-ro available via Google.

It's actually very reminiscent of the historical tales in early Doctor Who.

[Deleted]

That name rings a bell. Either I've seen clips of it on Sumo TV having the p*ss taken out of it or I've seen clips of it that people are watching in films or other TV shows.

[The Doctor]

The Unexplained Channel is amazing.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

Yes it is. It gave us The Freakmaker.

Andy

[Nigel]

I'm hoping it's on every day. I want it to be my regular lunch time viewing.

[Andy Turnbull]

It's not, I think you get it two or three times a week. They cycle through a lot of US serials such as The Clutching Hand, Flash Gordon, The Return of Chandu and sundry others.

Andy

[Nigel]

Yeah, it's just Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

I watched a programme on the History Channel instead, about the UK government's UFO investigations. Or rather, half of it. I don't like taking an hour for lunch so I watch one half of a documentary then record the rest for the next day. It's hard to find half-hour programmes at that time except sitcoms, which are the same episodes cycled over and over. That's why I hoped to watch Captain Z-ro every day. It's nicer to have something regular to look forward to.

[Deleted]

Captain Z-Ro asks his fans to send their name and address to his lab via the unconventional method of guided missile!

[Nigel]

Today, Jet was stranded in King John's castle.

[The Doctor]

The Unexplained Channel is now gone.

-Ralph

[Deleted]

I was looking for it myself last week but couldn't find it. I was so much looking forward to the good captains adventures as well!

[Andy Turnbull]

It's become Showcase now and has lots of the psychic pish on it. Most of the programming is gone, some of the serials are still there but no Captain Z-Ro.

I weep.

Andy