The Investigator is an unaired British television pilot produced in 1973 by Gerry Anderson, who also directed it, intended to be used to pitch a new Supermarionation series to the American market. Much like Anderson's previous Supermarionation series, The Secret Service, it is a hybrid between puppetry and live-action, with a key plot point involving characters being, in-universe, transformed to the size of a Supermarionation puppet.
It follows two young Americans, John and Julie, who are recruited by the titular Investigator, an omniscient being from another galaxy, who has come to Earth to rid it of evil and corruption, who miniaturises them and gives them special knowledge and superpowers. In a Maltese cave, he gives them their first assignment, to foil Corrupt Corporate Executive Stavros Karanti's plan to steal a priceless Raphael painting from St John's Cathedral in Mdina.
Filmed largely on location in Malta, the pilot was a majorly Troubled Production, riddled with technical and logistical problems. These ranged from weather issues such as low-light, heavy rain and a storm, to situationally specific issues, such as the remote-control model used for John and Julie's car being affected by radio signals from RAF Nimrods, causing it to crash into objects or speed off in the wrong direction. Additionally, facilities were not available for Anderson and the location crew to view rushes, which were instead flown back to the UK. Eventually, the production's schedule ran out, forcing the crew to return to the UK before they had finished filming, resulting in parts being cut out and additional footage being completed in the English countryside. Anderson hated the finished product, deciding not to even try pitching it to any network, American or otherwise, and wrote the project off as a failure. It has never been aired on television anywhere, but has been released on DVD twice, in 2012 and 2015.
The Investigator provides examples of the following tropes:
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: All that's ever seen of the titular Investigator is a green flashing light, similar to the green rings of the Mysterons.
- Medium Blending: A mix of Supermarionation blended with live-action actors, sets and set-pieces. John and Julie are puppets (voiced by Shane Rimmer and Sylvia Anderson), while Stavros Karanti is played in live-action by Charles Thake.
