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I don't remember 'Supercar', the first of the 'Supermarionation' sci-fi puppet shows written and produced for children by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. I would only have been 4 years old when it started and 6 when it finished, so maybe I've just forgotten. Their subsequent creations, though, were compulsory TV for me: Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, taking me from childhood to teenager and, over that time, becoming more complex, challenging and dark

The complexity of the plots and depth of characterisation were way ahead of most of the rest of children's TV. Building on the zeitgeist of the space race and the optimism around science and technology, they hit the spot with a young mind just opening to scientific ideas

Another dimension was their enthusiastic embrace of merchandising - then a relatively new idea in TV. I remember building 'Airfix' kits of Fireball XL5 and playing with a die-cast model of Lady Penelope's car. I'm sure there was more. This went to a whole new, innovative level with the launch of 'TV Century 21', the children's magazine that blended new, comic-strip stories about the characters from the various series with other materiel - including a comic-strip Dr Who. The first edition was over-subscribed and sold out its 450,000 copies! 

Captain Scarlet was conceived in the shadow of the cold war. An erroneous 'first strike' by Earth against Mars had precipitated a conflict with the Martian Mysterons, in which the covert activities of the eponymous Captain, and their secret, cutting-edge technology, were a necessary part of protecting the population against the vengeful enemy. Geddit? 

Subscribers to the magazine, like me, could get the membership card of Captain Scarlet's 'Spectrum' organization and become a 'Shade' to participate in the defence of earth. I expect it involved a stamped, addressed envelope. I don't seem to have been a keen enough member to fill in my card or provide photo-id. The stick-on lapel badge of the magazine probably arrived the same way 

I found these forgotten things because I'm attending a college reunion, and discovered them in the same dusty draw-bottom as the plastic card at the top, when I found I needed it to register. It's a miracle it was not lost, as I've never needed it before. The Spectrum Official Pass must have been more cherished to have survived so long