Last updated 9 April 2009

PERSONAL DATA

NAME:	Shane Weston
AGE:	45
BORN:	Carson City, Nevada
POSITION:	W.I.N. Deputy Controller Supreme Commander of W.I.N. London Office
HEIGHT:	6'
HAIR:	Grey-brown
EYES:	Steel blue

As Supreme Commander of W.I.N., London office, and Deputy Head Controller of the entire W.I.N. Organisation, Shane Weston has blazed a trail as a secret agent for all to follow and emulate. For the past 20 years, he has been one of the world’s top undercover agents, operating across the face of the globe. His achievements are second-to-none!

Shane Weston was born in the United States of America, in Carson City, a small township on the edge of the great Nevada desert. The son of a small-time ranch owner whose mother was a Cherokee Indian, Shane Weston had an unhappy childhood. When he was seven, his mother died of an incurable illness and the hardship and uncertainty that ended her life affected the boy’s early life. It affected him so much in fact that he became very much a "loner", preferring to spend days on end in the wide expanse of the desert, climbing and swimming, rather than spend his time with his father, whom he had grown to dislike.

It was during his exploits in the desert, living dangerously and taking his life in his hands with every new challenge, that Shane Weston developed super-efficient senses and extremely powerful strength and ability to accept and execute the most dangerous of self-chosen assignments. His love of the rough and wild country taught the young Weston to use his wits and keep his head in any situation.

Being alone for so many days on end and so far removed from his father, Shane Weston grew so far away from his only parent that he treated him as a stranger. Both father and son were at fault in the relationship, neither wanting to accept the other. And so, at the age of 12, Shane decided that the best thing to do was leave home. With very little education behind him, save his own talents, Weston left the Nevada homestead and travelled east hoping to find the elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The next four years were spent on the road. In and out of menial jobs, he earned enough money to travel further, living rough and sleeping at the roadside. It was a tough life, which Weston accepted and thrived on: a tough training course to harden his already concrete senses with a glazed exterior.

But at the age of 16, the young Weston decided to stop running away from life, to go back and accept the convention of living in the twentieth century. And so, faced with the unenviable proposal of re-joining his father, he took the only way out he saw fit and joined the US Army as a marine, signing on for an eight year stint.

The army was the life for Weston and he revelled in the new challenges put before him. Enlisting as a private, Shane Weston was determined at this stage of his life to carve a career, picking up the remnants of his former life and moulding all his experience and super-human senses left to him from a long line of Cherokee Indians, together hoping that the end product would be good.

It was, and Shane Weston slotted easily into the jigsaw pattern of army life. But he still remained the eternal loner, preferring not to make too many close friends: to exist for himself. And Weston's flare for challenges made him set himself new and more difficult targets to achieve. He decided that he had to reach the position of Commander by the end of his eight year service, a target that he was to pass with flying colours. After his initial two years training and preliminary service, Weston was promoted to the rank of Corporal and given charge of his own platoon. With promotion came active service overseas in America’s role as "Peace Officer" of the World, so Weston and his platoon were posted to trouble spots in Asia.

It was here that Weston excelled. In the resulting minor skirmishes and occasional pitched battles in America’s voluntary peace keeping acts, Weston became the Marines' hero. His outstanding record was a credit to the service. Time after time, he was left in charge of a suicidal post for which all hope was lost, and time after time, he managed to survive the onslaughts of the enemy, reasserting the role and changing certain defeat into glorified victory. And with his heroic deeds came reward from back home. Promotion followed promotion, medal followed medal, and at the end of a three year period as war gave way to peace and the troops were returned to the States, Shane Weston stood supreme. But now it was Captain Shane Weston with the distinctive order of valour, The Purple Heart, pinned to his breast.

Back to America came the somewhat quelled character of Shane Weston, now 22 years of age. His love for campaigning had to take a back seat now that the World was nearing peace, and he had to step in line with the more conventional attitudes of an army in peace time. Reluctantly, Weston adopted these attitudes realising that he had just three years outstanding before he became a civilian, three years that passed slowly, with Shane Weston marking out time as a desk-bound Captain dealing solely with defence security, a life he didn’t cherish.

With the dawning of his release from active service, Weston realised just in time that he was not yet fit to take up a life as a civilian and so decided to seek further positions in his army career. He joined the Army Intelligence Network, thus signing himself on for a further 10 years. But with the increased service came an increase in promotion and Weston's aims had been realised, for, with the advent of accepting the post, Weston was promoted to the rank of Commander!

At last, Shane Weston had found the life for which he was suited. Though a commander in the field, Weston was assigned as an active intelligence agent, the army’s equivalent to the secret agent, and attached to the CIA. As one of the top agents for the service, Weston saw tremendous action both in the USA and abroad. He revelled in every moment of his employment, gaining outstanding recognition for his valuable services - services achieved with the help of his extraordinary supersensitive powers. For two years, Weston worked as an active field agent for the CIA, serving his country abroad. It was while on active service in Britain that he met a young English girl, Sue Denver. After completing the assignment - which ended in success with Weston smashing an enemy plot to destroy London - Weston returned to the States taking Sue Denver with him as his wife.

Now married, Weston thought of retirement from the service, but he shunned the idea and continued in the only business he knew how to handle. Times changed, and with it he saw the decline of the CIA to be co-opted into the new Intelligence Network - W.I.N. - and Weston was the immediate choice as active agent for this new network, this time attached to the United States divisional section.

For nine years, Weston worked hand in hand with W.I.N., smashing enemy infiltration on numerous occasions and gaining himself recognition for bravery throughout the underworld realms of the World's Secret Service. But then, at the age of 35, his career almost came to and abrupt and merciless end.

It was while on assignment in South America that Weston came up against Lomax Brunt, an underworld assassin employed by the enemy to deal with death. After hunting the enemy killer from town to town, the two super-men met in the Amazon jungle. The meeting was a chanced rendezvous. Both were out to kill the other, and it was only a question of who would survive. In the resulting duel, Brunt was shot three times in the heart, but still refused to die before inflicting a serious wound to Weston’s spine. Both men fell to the blood-spattered jungle carpet and when W.I.N. homed in on the position they found Brunt dead and Weston dying.

A two year spell in hospital followed the encounter, after which Weston was retired from active service to become deputy head of the American zone of W.I.N. In this new role, Weston excelled himself, planning campaigns and counter-planning to outwit the enemy, he even trained his agents to reach the peak of super-human ability. He got results and the name Shane Weston virtually took over from the W.I.N. organisation.

For five years, Weston headed the secret service files of W.I.N. - American zone, before being called to higher offices in appreciation for his inexhaustible services. Appreciation came in the form of promotion to Head of the W.I.N. office in London, and with this job came the added responsibility as Deputy Head of the W.I.N. Organisation, a great honour bestowed on a man who deserved far more.

For two years now, Shane Weston has been in charge of W.I.N. in the London office, working hand in hand with his deputy, Sam Loover. To his own active agents he is the boss - the man who knows the game and how to play it! He has the experience and know-how to back up this statement. At the age of 45, Weston knows the capabilities of his men: he trains them himself and is sure that they are the best in the world. His career with W.I.N. is at its peak now, his record will remain legend forever. One thing is certain: when Shane Weston accedes to the Number 1 position in the World Intelligence Network as Supreme Controller, peace will echo around the world for a long, long time.

Biographical details taken from the Joe 90 "writers' guide", written by series script editor Tony Barwick and scriptwriter Shane Rimmer based on the format and characters developed by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson. This information appeared somewhat truncated and slightly reworded in the 1968 Joe 90 Annual. Interestingly, the writers guide seems to give the impression that Shane's grandmother was an Indian ("The son of a small-time ranch owner whose mother was a Cherokee Indian, Shane Weston had an unhappy childhood.") but the annual has re-arranged the text to make it seem that Shane's mother was the Indian ("The son of a small-time ranch owner, Shane Weston had an unhappy childhood. His mother was a Cherokee Indian.")

The puppet of Shane Weston was not created especially for Joe 90. It began its career as revamp puppet #5 from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, making its first appearance in the pilot episode as a Spectrum guard. It is best known as Doctor Kurnitz from the episode Dangerous Rendezvous. The puppet was later re-wigged with dark brown hair to become Shane Weston, with a duplicate cast for use on the second puppet stage We can safely assume the character was named after Thunderbirds voice artist (and Joe 90 scriptwriter) Shane Rimmer.

Shane Weston's voice was supplied by American actor David Healy. Healy had already worked for the Andersons providing voices for Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, and after Joe 90 he continued voicing characters in the final Supermarionation series, The Secret Service. He later appeared in the UFO episode Ordeal as SHADO missile technician Joe Franklin. When Gerry Anderson made the pilot episode of Space Police in 1986, Healy was cast as the voice of Officer Tom. Eight years later, he provided the voice for the Creon Officer Beezle in the promotional film which finally sold the series that became Space Precinct. In the episode Protect and Survive he was the voice of Armand Loyster. David died in 1995 after a heart operation.