Roberta Leigh

Roberta Leigh was an assumed name for Rita Lewin (née Shulman) (22 December 1926 – 19 December 2014) who was a British author, artist, composer and television producer. She wrote romance fiction and children's stories under the pseudonyms Roberta Leigh, Rachel Lindsay, Janey Scott and Rozella Lake.

She published her first novel in 1950 and was still actively working on new titles until a year before her death. In addition, she wrote and produced the children's puppet television series Sara and Hoppity, Torchy the Battery Boy, Wonder Boy and Tiger, Send for Dithers and Space Patrol.

Best known as Roberta Leigh, she was born Rita Shulman in London to sometimes-poor Jewish parents who had emigrated from Russia. In 1948, she married Michael Lewin, with whom she had one son, and was widowed in 1981. She died age 87 on 19 December 2014.

Leigh wrote her first romantic fiction at age 14, while still a schoolgirl at St Mary's convent in Rhyl. She published a romance in 1950 as Roberta Leigh, the first of over 160 novels. She also published children's books and romances under the pseudonyms Janey Scott, Rachel Lindsay, and Rozella Lake. Following the death of her husband, she stopped writing romance novels but continued to produce serious fiction and children's books while developing various television and film projects. She made a total of 275 cinematic works, becoming the first woman producer in Britain to have her own film company.

She created eight puppet TV series, including The Adventures Of Twizzle (1957), Torchy the Battery Boy (1958), Sara and Hoppity (1962), Wonder Boy and Tiger, Send for Dithers, and Space Patrol (1962). The latter - syndicated around the globe and achieving the highest ratings of any children's show up to that time - chronicled the year 2100 adventures of Captain Larry Dart of the spaceship Galasphere 347. This was followed by Paul Starr (1964) and a live-action colour space adventure series, The Solarnauts (1967). For these two later series, however, only the pilot episodes were filmed.

Leigh developed a keen interest in music during childhood, and was credited as the composer for most of her shows. However, most of her compositions were simply hummed into a tape recorder and translated into a score by a composer. She did, however, tinker with electronic equipment to create the opening theme for Space Patrol, after asking a shop clerk for something that made interesting sounds. In addition to collaborations on Twizzle and Torchy, Leigh teamed with Barry Gray for three musical compositions (Riding My Bike, Sleeping Time and Why?) featured on Vera Lynn's 1955 album "Songs for Children." Her surname appears as Lee on the record, but the proper spelling is featured on the sheet music. In addition to two tie-in albums for Twizzle, Leigh also reinterpreted the popular stories Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk with original songs, plus she wrote and narrated The Wonderful Story of How You Were Born, a frank spoken-word sex education record.

Paul Starr

Though made in 1964, Paul Starr appeared to be a decade ahead of Space Patrol. A 25-minute marionette puppet series in the same vein as Space Patrol, it was produced in colour. Agent Paul Starr and his crewman, Lightning, work for the Space Bureau of Investigation (SBI). They have a squat rocket, SBI-5, which can travel through space, in air and underwater (SBI uses an undersea base). While jets propel the craft through the air, in space it is powered by "solar energy". It is armed with various weapons, including nuclear missiles. The robots of Paul Starr appear to be more developed and fans of Space Patrol will notice the similar sound effects used. The movements of the puppet characters are "less wooden" and there is no sign of strings.

The puppets were made by Martin and Heather Granger who, with Joan Garrick, also operated them. Realistic mouth movements were used long before the arrival of Gerry Anderson's Terrahawks in the 1980s. Actor Edward Bishop provided the voice of Paul Starr; other voices were provided by Patricia English, Dick Vosburgh and Peter Reeves. Besides creating and scripting the series, Leigh also wrote the title song and lyrics (sung by Jerry Dane). Arthur Provis served as director of photography and co-producer.

In this adventure, Starr's boss sends him to Mars where five atomic power stations (used to pump water) have been destroyed by fire. Starr and Lightning work as security guards to try to uncover the cause. The chief suspect is General Darynx. The Martians are shown as non-human fish people.

The Solarnauts

This was a colour live-action space adventure TV series, produced in 1967. Like Paul Starr, its filmed material survives.