2002 Dan Dare TV Series Who's Who
Here is a "Who's Who" providing detailed
and illustrated biographies of all the major characters (not just Dan
Dare and The Mekon) that featured in the 2002 "Dan Dare, Pilot
of the Future" CGI cartoon TV series. It was mirrored here (with
minor modifications and corrections) from the Official
Dan Dare Website.
THE MEKON is the autocratic evil leader
of the Treens. He is super intelligent, condescending, dangerous
and without emotion, save that of revenge. His character is the
exact antithesis of Dan Dare's. He has become the Earth's and
the Solar System's most implacable enemy. Alongside him, millions
of armed men bow to his spoken command. He is continually devising
new and more deadly schemes in his attempt to gain control of
planets and eventually the total Universe. He thinks nothing of
using nuclear or biological weapons and economic blockades to
the same ends.
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DAN DARE is the true super English hero.
A cool, suave, sophisticated man with a lively satirical wit.
A brilliant pilot and true adventurer, ruthlessly dedicated to
his profession - cross him at your peril. He will always rely
on common sense and determination to prevail but if it does not,
there is no escaping his sheer dedication to succeed. Having been
the No.1 pilot in the World Council's elite Spacefleet Command,
he has now become the Solar System's most accomplished spy, conveniently
operating in a breathtaking scientific Universe.
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DIGBY, affectionately known as "Dig", is the always-reliable
co pilot, who sits in the No.2 seat. An ace flyer, dedicated to his
leader Dan Dare, he's proved highly effective in watching his Commander's
tail, both in the air and on hostile ground. He's comically dedicated
to finding the path of least resistance on any mission. He's a firm
believer in conserving energy and limiting exposure to dangerous situations,
but when needed, he's always right there, in the mix.
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SIR HUBERT GUEST is the Oxford educated
father figure of Spacefleet Command. Sir Hubert was Dan Dare's
mentor at flying school. He pioneered deep space travel and was
the Commander of the first manned landing on Mars. He has proved
himself to be as sharp and agile as a man many years his junior
and is totally respected by those who have had the privilege to
serve under him. His new role is as Head of the Global Intelligence
Agency - the supreme super spy!
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PROFESSOR JOCELYN PEABODY, known as "the
Prof", makes Lara Croft looks tame! The brilliant solar scientist,
linguist and kick boxing fanatic is begrudgingly accepted on high-risk
missions by sceptical Spacefleet male colleagues. Very early in
her high-rise solar career, she struck a blow for full equality
for the female sex. She has a total admiration for Dan Dare but
for professional reasons, knows that's as far as it will ever
go.
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HANK HOGAN hails from cattle country,
having been raised on the family's cattle ranch in Abilene, Texas.
He's a rough shot, highly talented pilot with a hatred of red
tape. He's known for his love of informal dress, his natural optimistic
outlook to life and his rebellious nature. He has a tendency to
call it like he sees it and, as such, he can be a bit insufferable.
But when the going gets tough, Hank really gets going!
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PIERRE LAFAYETTE, born in Paris, has become one of France's greatest
test pilots. He is a great philosopher, a thinker, a romancer and the
quietest member of Dan's team. He's very close to Hank and the two characters
complement each other perfectly, one lively and loud and the other quiet,
cool and sophisticated...
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SONDAR is a Treen from the Planet Venus
and was therefore a supporter of the evil Mekon. However, he openly
began to question the actions of The Mekon and as a result he
was instantly diagnosed to have a major brain malfunction. After
being exposed to the philosophy of the Earthmen he began, slowly,
to realise that the totally scientific life that he had been leading
in the service of The Mekon was very wrong. Dan saved his life
on a solar mission and as a result, Sondar has dedicated his loyalty
to the super hero. Being an "Earthling" now, he has
developed a sense of humour, which causes him to emit a strange
mechanical laugh.
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STRIPEY is a highly intelligent baby elephant and nobody really knows
how or why he adopted Dan and his team, let alone how he got to accompany
them on their solar missions. That being said, he has proven to be a
loyal and invaluable member of the team. His "second sense"
to smell danger is simply remarkable and his commitment to protect Dan
and the team in deadly situations is never failing.
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RETRO is the little-seen but often-heard
"gabber" that has declared himself "The Voice of
the Solar System", and he plays an eclectic mixture of legendary
rock music combined with his own solar fast patter and commentary.
He's a wild man, having commandeered an escape pod from a Spacefleet
ship in Saturn orbit, to create his own orbital space radio station
and he's constantly swimming in a floating sea of zero-gee records.
From his orbital vantage point, with a few dilapidated, yet powerful
telescopes, he sees all, both below and in space and what he doesn't
see his loyal listeners call up and tell him about. He has occasionally
spotted an impending disaster before anybody else, but generally
Dan Dare and his team find him somewhat annoying.
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ARES was born on the outer rings of Saturn and is a tough, aristocratic
individual. He is brilliant but unbalanced with a Napoleonic complex.
He's always concerned about his distorted visual appearance yet he still
believes he is destined for global greatness and ultimate rule. After
leading an insurrection aboard one of the earliest "deep survey"
ships he accidentally stumbled upon alien artefacts of great power and
worth in the Asteroid Belt. He then formed and took command of a gang
of terrifying space pirates. Their role was to attack, steal and destroy
solar shipping and crews at whatever cost. Total galactic piracy...
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KAFKA was born on Mars into a wealthy
evil family of solar oil barons. He was quick to realise the huge
potential of a newly discovered non-polluting super fuel, Metahelium,
on the huge plains of Mars. He soon gained a ruthless near monopoly,
shipping the fuel to planet Earth. Competition, when it appeared,
was simply removed. However, he personally suffered serious burns
to his face and body in a horrific explosion at one of the Martian
well heads. He's a billionaire many times over and his company,
Meta Inc., has a solar fleet of huge mining and explorer spacecraft,
across the Universe. Where Kafka goes, evil follows.
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Click
on the following link to find out more about the TV series - including
an episode listing and the lyrics to Elton John's closing title song,
plus playable MPEG movie clips and MP3 music - at one of DanDare.org.uk's
"sister" sites, Dan-Dare.net: Dan
Dare TV Series
For
a detailed and illustrated profile of all the major characters that
featured in the original 1950's and 60's "Dan Dare, Pilot of the
Future" stories, go to my "1950's
and 60's Who's Who" page.
For
a complete listing of the weekly adventures of Dan Dare and The Mekon
(and the rest of the cast of characters) that appeared in the 1950's
and 60's "Eagle", plus details of all the other weekly stories
they starred in - including the TV series - go to my "Weekly
Comic-Strip Serials Listing" page.
For
more detailed information on the Treens, including how they evolved
on Venus and how they created The Mekon, go to my pages about "The
Treen Dynasty".
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