Five Star Five was a Gerry Anderson movie project which was begun in 1977, immediately after Space: 1999. The story was described as The Magnificent Seven in space. Five characters- including a talking chimp and a robot – must destroy an alien asteroid fortress that threatens a planet. Sadly in 1979, just before the production was about to start the funding was cancelled and the project abandoned.
So what is the connection to Dinky Toys? During the preproduction phase a number of spaceships were designed and initial drawings created, one of which looks as though it could have been a design inspiration for the 362 Trident Starfighter . Note also that the bad guys in this movie were called the Zargons, so could this also be linked to the Dinky Zygon fleet? An unproduced Gerry Anderson project, The Investigator, provided the templates for the 602 Armoured Command Car and the 674 Coastguard Amphibious Missile Launch so it seems possible that the creative links between Gerry and Dinky may still have been strong enough to see further collaboration.
Five Star Five is now available as a book and an audiobook. Details HERE
Dinky Toys: TV Shows, Space and Specials 
Thank-you for this post. I remember the articles mainly in Starlog magazine at the time of the film starting production, and then the disappointment of it suddenly coming to an end. It’s good to see this imaginative revival happening after all these years.
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Fortuitously the rights for Five Star Five are held by Jamie Anderson so he could exploit them. Perhaps if the book/CD does well he could raise finance for a movie or TV series!
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I’m probably stating the obvious, but there was a video presentation by Jamie Anderson and Richard James for the Five Star Five book on the Brit Sci-Fi online event over the weekend.
There is mention of the book’s use of a sub-title, making it possible for follow-on adventures if popular. There are also a couple of audio clips of Gerry Anderson talking about the financing aspects of the planned film.
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Thank you for posting this. A great video well worth watching. Cheers Kevin
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Dinky No 362, “Trident Starfighter” is a desperate Dinky bitsa,
But the main body is actually for a Sky 1, S.H.A.D.O. SkyDiver, Rocket powered Fighter from “UFO”.
It obviously never got very far.
The complexity, weight, and sharp points & edges, probably put paid to its development by Dinky.
Sky 1’s landing gear is a perfect match, for the Orange plastic one under the Trident main body.
When you get up close with 362, remove the Wings, and take the Missile out of the front, its clearly the main fuselage of Sky 1.
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Derek Meddings’, and his wonderful Magpie eye, borrowed a lot of Sky 1, from the Convair F2Y Sea Dart, supersonic seaplane Fighter.
Other parts he borrowed from,
The Air intake, English Electric P1 version of the Lightning & the North American F-100 Super Sabre. He made the intake gap narrower by using a Vacuum Cleaner Nozzle attachment, on Sky 1.
4x 20mm Cannon, around the air intake, 2 on either side of the fuselage. They bulge out a little bit more than on the, Gloster Meteor.
Cockpit and rear upper fuselage, North American X-15.
Rocket Packs, Matra SNEB 68mm. As fitted to the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm’s de Havilland Sea Vixen.
Tail Fin, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_F2Y_Sea_Dart
The Wings & under wing Rocket Packs intended for Sky 1, turned up on another bitsa, Dinky No367 “Space Battle Cruiser”.
Ironically its main body is that of the “Interceptor Unit” of the failed “Starcruiser” concept.
https://catacombs.space1999.net/main/models/w2mstarcruiserairfix.html
Dinky were in terrible trouble at this time.
They released No363 Zygon Patroller, a Sepecat Jaguar with reprofile nose, with S.H.A.D.O. Moonbase Interceptor landing Skids and the Rocket Packs attached, to where the Wings should be.
No 361 “Galactic War Chariot” is “FAB1″‘s base, with the Jet Engine from “Mac’s Car” from “Joe 90”, and “S.H.A.D.O. Mobile 2″‘s Missile launcher.
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Zygon Patroller, should have said Panavia Tornado, or was it still the MRCA ?
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Hi Steven, Dinky called this the 729 Panavia Multi Role Combat Aircraft (M.R.C.A.)so its ok to call the plane both although the full name is the most accurate. Cheers Kevin
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