Interster was ’n wetenskapfiksie Supermarionation-televisieprogram wat vir kinders gemaak is en in die vroeë 1980’s in Suid-Afrika vertoon is. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Uitsaaikorporasie se kinderprogramme was in daardie tyd redelik innoverend—die onmoontlikheid om Thunderbirds aan te koop het die SAUK gedwing om Interster te vervaardig. Die tegniese uitdaging het die geleentheid gebied om werklik die SAUK se kreatiewe spiere te bult.

Die hoofkomplot het ’n onderdak-planetêre verdedigingsagentskap behels wat vanaf Kaapstad onder die dekmantel van ’n interstellêre redery werk. Die vertoning weerspieël die werklike politieke kwessies van internasionale isolasie wat Apartheid Suid-Afrika in die gesig staar, met die Aarde wat as ’n galaktiese paria van die “Interplanetêre Liga” uitgebeeld word as gevolg van sy koue oorlog met die planeet “Krokon.” Die skurke in die reeks is deur prins Karnati en sy bose trawante uitgebeeld.

Die ruimteskepe wat in die skou gebruik is, is Impalas genoem na die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmagvliegtuig, die plaaslik saamgestelde Italiaanse Aermacchi MB-326M. Daar was ’n pragmatiese rede om die vliegtuig Impalas te noem—die basis van die modelle was 1:48-skaal-plastiekmodelstelle van die MB-326M, sodat dit herkenbaar sou wees vir Suid-Afrikaanse jeug.

Die SAUK het die reeks ook as “Transstar Command” en “Interster Cadets” in Engels bemark.

Interster was a science-fiction Supermarionation television show made for children and shown in South Africa in the early 1980s. The South African Broadcasting Corporation’s children’s programming was quite innovative during that time—the impossibility of purchasing Thunderbirds forced the SABC to produce Interster. The technical challenge offered the opportunity to truly flex the SABC’s creative muscles.

The main plot involved an undercover planetary defence agency operating from Cape Town under the guise of an interstellar shipping company. The show mirrored the real-world political issues of international isolation facing Apartheid South Africa, with the Earth being depicted as a galactic pariah of the “Interplanetary League” due to its cold war with the planet “Krokon.” The villains in the series were depicted by Prince Karnati and his evil henchmen.

The spaceships used in the show were called Impalas after the South African Air Force aircraft, the locally assembled Italian Aermacchi MB-326M. There was a pragmatic reason for calling the aircraft Impalas—the basis of the models were 1:48 scale plastic model kits of the MB-326M, so that they would be recognisable to South African youth.

The SABC also marketed the series as “Transstar Command” and “Interster Cadets” in English.