- The real tragedy of my life is that my son, Jamie, is a Doctor Who (1963) fan.
- [on his famous puppet programs] I always used to think that they were terrible. I didn't see much on screen but the faults. I couldn't get a puppet to pick something up, or to walk. Their mouths were like letterboxes flapping open and shut. But I got to the point where I thought I'd better stop running down these pictures, because everybody in the world except me seems to like them.
- [on his reluctance to make his first puppet program, The Adventures of Twizzle (1957)] I was shattered when I learned the programmes had to be made with puppets as I'd illusions of making great pictures like Ben Hur. But there we were with no money, and an offer on the table. We had to take it.
- I've always been interested in the idea of space exploration. When I was younger it was just a dream, but the theory of rockets being able to travel through space was very much alive. I found it very exciting.
- When we made Fireball XL5 (1962), I'd never heard of NBC, and I didn't even know what American networks were. I knew that it would be wonderful if the show was successful in America, but I knew nothing about the American networks.
- [on how he was stuck making puppet films] I was thinking all the time that if I made really good puppet shows the broadcasters and the financiers would say, 'Hey this guy makes great puppet films, let's give him a live-action film.' So what happened? They said, 'Hey this guy makes great puppet films, let's give him some more!'
- Lew Grade told me to make Thunderbirds (1965) as a half an hour show, and I took the first one along and we sat in the theater and he sat there and when the lights came up, he jumped out of his seat and said, that's not a television series. And I thought, what have I done? He said, that's a feature film.
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