The Secret Service is a British children's espionage television series, filmed by Century 21 for ITC Entertainment and broadcast on Associated Television, Granada Television and Southern Television in 1969. Created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, and produced by David Lane and Reg Hill, it was the eighth and last Century 21 production to feature – in a manner similar to Thunderbirds and other earlier series – marionette puppet characters as part of a filming technique known as "Supermarionation". Under the direction of Gerry Anderson, who wanted to increase the realism of the Supermarionation format, The Secret Service incorporates footage of live actors for long-distance shots. Following The Secret Service, Anderson would not work with puppets again until the 1980s, when he produced Terrahawks in "Supermacromation".