A children's television show with a science fiction setting and a focus on the adventures of the starship Fireball XL5, which is led by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol, can be found under the name Fireball XL5. In1962, husband-and-wife team Gerry and Sylvia Anderson worked together to produce the show through their company, APF, for ITC Entertainment. The show was produced in association with ATV. While Anderson was working on the concept for his new program, he came across a motor oil brand called Castrol XL and thought the name sounded unique. The name "Fireball XL" was derived from a phonetic modification, and the"-5" was appended because the title sounded a little empty without the numeral. The Andersons' Supermarionation, a kind of puppetry that had its debut in Four Feather Falls and Supercar and was later utilised in the Andersons' subsequent projects such as Stingray and Captain Scarlet, was used in the show. On 35mm film, 39 half-hour episodes of the black-and-white series Fireball XL5 were produced; however, all subsequent series produced by Anderson were in color. Although several Anderson programs have been broadcast in the United States via syndication, Fireball XL5 is the only Anderson series that has ever been broadcast on a network in the United States. Beginning in 1963 and continuing all the way until September1965, NBC aired the series during the children's block on Saturday mornings. Space Patrol, which was produced by Gerry Anderson's former business partner and co-founder of AP Films, Arthur Provis, is a show that is frequently confused with Fireball XL5. This is because the two shows share a lot of similarities, including their locales.