Gerry Anderson had attemped to get a science-fiction police drama series off the ground since at least 1986, when Anderson and his business partner Christopher Burr produced the pilot film
Space Police, a hybrid of live-action and 'Supermacromation', the puppeteering technique utilized in Anderson's previous series
Terrahawks.
The
Space Police pilot film was enough to impress Jim Henson, who offered to produce a series via his own company Henson International Television (now HIT Entertainment), but this ended thanks to a buyout. Anderson kept searching for prospective backers, and so in 1991 had the pilot film be altered into a five minute test trailer,
Space Police Reloaded.
This new trailer kept some of the puppet sequences from the original pilot, but with new live-action footage with prosthetic aliens, one designed by Neill Gorton in one of his first television gigs. The fish-like Beezle's design would eventually become the Creons in Space Precinct itself; similar to the final Creon masks, Beezle was a combination of an animatronic headpiece and prosthetic appliance worn on the actor's jaw.
Fredo, the other alien police officer in the trailer, was realized as a full-face prosthetic makeup with an animatronic third eye that could open and light up; Fredo's design was otherwise markedly different to the Tarn aliens in
Space Precinct.
Meanwhile the ogre-like alien gangster was a fully animatronic headpiece worn with a chest prosthetic and gloves.
The gangster alien's animatronic head was later reused in
Space Precinct itself, albeit with a new paintjob.
When
Space Precinct was finally greenlit (the title had been changed from 'Space Police' to 'Space Precinct' in order to avoid a potential lawsuit from Lego over their toyline of the same name!), Gorton returned as prosthetic makeup designer, though two main alien races, the Tarn and Creons, were realized by Richard Gregory and his team.
This was partly thanks to the amount of aliens that would be featured in the series; it was too much for a solo team. The Tarns were realized as heavy prosthetic masks with animatronics installed for the eyes and lip movements; mask was cut around the performer's mouth (in order to allow them to speak), which had prosthetics applied to blend with the mask. Several different masks were designed with different skin colourations, wrinkles, head shapes, in order to make the aliens seem like individuals.
The Creons were also a combination of prosthetic makeup and animatronics, with the 'hammerhead' part of the mask (which contained the animatronics to blink and swivel the eyes) being worn over the actors face; the lower half of their face would have the prosthetics applied. Similarly to the Tarn masks, each Creon mask was sculpted as an individual design, with different skin colourations, wrinkles, and so on.
The series' various other aliens were handled by Gorton's team; one recurring alien, Brogan's family pet Zil, was realized as a puppet.
The Melazoid in 'Protect and Survive' was realized as a performer in an animatronic mask, sculpted to resemble a frog and given a blue paintjob, with matching latex gloves.
The Xyronites (that also appeared in 'Hate Street') were full-face prosthetic makeups, with flattened noses and no ears.
The alien gangster in the episode was realized as a skull-like mask fitted with animatronics.
A prosthetic appliance was made for Jade Punt as Vala in 'Enforcer', blended with a paintjob on the sides of her face and forehead.
The true form of Aleesha in 'Double Duty' was a xenomorph-inspired monster, realized as a rubber suit and headpiece fitted with animatronics and lights in the eyes.
A prosthetic appliance was also made for Lana Citron and worn on her back; this rubber piece was designed to resemble her monstrous true form, and painted to blend with her skin.
Facial prosthetics were made for Matyelock Gibbs as the 'Bad Lady', as well as the performers playing her retainers; similar to many 1990s
Star Trek aliens, the prosthetics were mostly on the nose, forehead and ears.
The titular alien criminal of 'The Snake' was a prosthetic makeup worn on the face and chest; of course, the makeup was designed to resemble a snake, with frills shaped like those of a cobra's hood. The look was enhanced with prosthetics for the tongue and teeth, as well as contact lenses.
The Clyben aliens in 'Deadline' were masks with animatronics installed for the bulbous eyes, with prosthetics on the lower half of the performer's face to blend with the mask. Extra prop hands were also attached to imply the Clyben had two sets of arms.
The Omera alien in 'Seek and Destroy' was a heavy prosthetic makeup, sculpted to give it a slightly reptilian appearance with no ears and a flattened nose.
A more subtle prosthetic makeup was applied on David Burke as the alien Vachel, with a curved nose giving him a slightly animalistic appearance.
A baby Tarn was seen in 'Divided We Stand', realized as a small puppet.
The alien serial killer Enil Kmada in 'Predator and Prey' was a prosthetic makeup applied on actor Richard James; a classic 'big cranium' design that was sculpted with a more sunken and ghoulish appearance around the face, evoking Count Orlok in
Nosferatu or Barlowe in
Salem's Lot.
Also in the episode was the ape-like alien realized as a performer in more or less a spin on the classic 'gorilla suit', with the mask sculpted to have ears.
The Sentran in 'The Witness' was a performer in prosthetic makeups, with no ears, a bulbous head and protruding, slightly snout-like face with multiple nostrils.
A prosthetic appliance was also made for Kate Harper as the alien journalist Iona Datch, designed to have an enlarged cranium and finished with a colourful paintjob.
The episode also required several other alien masks to be worn by background extras; a lot of these are not seen clearly in the episode itself, though one of these background makeups appeared in 'Protect and Survive' on a screen.
The cyberspace avatar of the criminal hackers in 'Friends' was a prosthetic makeup designed to have a metallic, geometrical appearance.
The hulking alien Morgo in 'Flash' was a headpiece fitted with animatronics to control the lip and eye movements, and was sculpted with a wide neck and chest; for the story's purpose this was to imply the monster's strength, but in the real world it was so it would fit the performer easily!
Several rat-like lizerette puppets were also fabricated for the episode; in most shots they are lying on their side.
Another puppet was made for the triple-headed serpent in 'The Fire Within', shot in extreme close-up to make it appear larger.
A prosthetic makeup was designed and applied for Constantine Gregory as the alien gangster Amory Wolf in 'The Forever Beetle', the makeup having a flat nose, pointed ears and furrowed brow.
The prosthetic makeup made for Anne Kristen as the alien granny Bertha Fluss in 'Deathwatch' was sculpted to have a long nose and drooping cheeks.
Another alien makeup was designed for the unlucky alien offed early in the episode, designed to have drooping ears and finished with a spotty paintjob.
Sources:
- SpacePrecinct.com Photo Galleries
