STINGRAY
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Listen to the theme song
| Series Overview of Stingray
| "Stingray" is one of Gerry Anderson's super marionation efforts, much like "Thunderbirds." However, instead of incredible flying machines, the title craft is a highly advanced submarine. Every episode, Troy and Phones are put up against various nefarious seagoing enemies. It is not unusual for Merina to accompany the two friends on their dangerous missions, but Atlanta and Commander Shore are usually safe back at base.
A fun thing about the series was how ludicrous some of the maritime tie-ins were. There are villains who develop weapons that cause islands to sink under the waves and even a whole society that worships a goggle-eyed fish.
Characters are placed in mortal danger and some people are obviously killed when a submarine or ship is sunk, but we never see a marionette screaming in pain as blood squirts from its shattered arm (that might be a bit much). It is thrilling, without being too brutal. What more could a kid want?
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Members of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol
 | Troy Tempest
| | Our square-jawed (this is nearly a given, because he is a marionette) hero and captain of the Stingray, an advanced submarine. He has a small woman problem. On one hand is Atlanta, the redheaded radio operator from the operations center and daughter of Commander Shore. On the other fin is Merina, a lovely mermaid princess who often accompanies the crew of Stingray on dangerous missions. Troy is enjoying the romantic equivalent of a surf and turf dinner.
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 | Phones
| | The submarine's sonar operator and second in command by default. Since there are two officers assigned to the submarine, Phones is the lowest man on the totem pole. Guess who probably gets assigned all the additional duties that nobody (meaning Troy) wants. My guess is that Phones is the voting officer, chief messman, postal officer, and the member of the crew most likely to be assigned to toilet repair detail. He does not appear to have any desires or drives of his own and simply supports anything that Troy wants. Pretty much an emotional doppelganger, but one heck of a sonar operator.
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 | Cmdr. Shore
| | The Commanding Officer of the science patrol has a knack for knowing when somebody is in trouble and also knowing if searching for them will be dangerous. Most of the time his job is easy: tell Hayata to do anything requiring independent action, regulate Ide and Arashi to something less important, and keep Fuji updated back at headquarters (Fuji does not get out much).
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 | Atlanta
| | Considering the fact that her father named her after a landlocked city, then insisted upon her joining the maritime service, and her boyfriend spends a lot of time swimming with a certain finned hussy, I would say she displays an astonishing amount of restraint.
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 | Merina
| | She is royalty, completely incapable of speech, a graceful swimmer, and not afraid of killer sharks, aqua-villains, or being slapped with a jellyfish. Could this be the perfect woman? (I think that I could overlook the webbed feet, all things considered.) She even has a Theme Song!
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The Villains
 | Titan
| | This megalomaniac rules the underwater city of Titanica and is always trying to kill, capture, or otherwise inconvenience the WASPs. The opportunity to eliminate his enemies always takes a backseat to gloating, so Titan is a classic villain in that he keeps letting Troy Tempest and the Stingray slip through his fingers.
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Little girls will happily substitute a big, ugly toad for a doll. 