# Space Patrol (1966)

> A German space crew of the starship Orion battles mysterious alien threats on the frontier of the galaxy in the first German science fiction television series.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/12893

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 7
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, adventure
- Created by: Hans Gottschalk, Rolf Honold
- Network: Das Erste
- Cast: Dietmar Schönherr, Eva Pflug, Wolfgang Völz, Charlotte Kerr, Claus Holm, Friedrich G. Beckhaus, Ursula Lillig, Benno Sterzenbach
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061289/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: earnest, nostalgic, campy, sincere, adventurous

## Synopsis

Space Patrol (1966) is a German national-television science fiction series created by Hans Gottschalk and Rolf Honold for Das Erste. This limited run of seven hour-long episodes was the first German science fiction series on television, broadcast six years before Star Trek reached West Germany. Major Cliff Allister McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) commands the starship Orion, a crew of officers including Leutnant Tamara Jagellovsk (Eva Pflug) and Leutnant Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz), who are demoted from exploration duty to routine patrols along a remote frontier. Each episode is built around a self-contained mission, from a silent border outpost to encounters with alien threats that ordinary weapons cannot stop, with the crew relying on teamwork and improvised problem solving. The series has a sincere, earnest, and slightly stagey register, with modest sets and rough effects giving it a handmade charm. Its atmosphere is that of an optimistic postwar European imagination of space, shaped by the cold war space race. Fans of Star Trek, Doctor Who and Lost in Space will find resonance in its episodic frontier adventures, retro production look, and ensemble crew dynamics, and the show has earned a lasting cult following in Germany.

## Shows like Space Patrol

- [The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/31471)
- [Another Life (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/68177)
- [The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986)](https://ember.film/tv/301)
- [Captain Future (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/21207)
- [Outlaw Star (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/32302)
- [Once Upon a Time… Space (1982)](https://ember.film/tv/4497)
- [Martian Successor Nadesico (1996)](https://ember.film/tv/32691)
- [Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/29205)
- [Space Battleship Yamato (1974)](https://ember.film/tv/12444)
- [Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)](https://ember.film/tv/297)

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