The Rat Patrol

Background

The show was inspired by David Stirling's British Special Air Service and Popski's Private Army, though the American military did not deploy deep-penetration commando units in sustained operations behind enemy lines in North Africa. The title refers to nicknames given to British Commonwealth forces in the North African campaign, such as the Rats of Tobruk or the British Desert Rats. Many British, Australian, and New Zealand viewers took offense at the majority of American characters, leading the BBC to pull the show after six episodes.

In Australia, it was moved to a Saturday afternoon timeslot, where its main audience became children unfamiliar with World War II history. The opening episode presented three American actors outnumbering the token British sergeant, Jack Moffitt. The show modeled parts of the movie The Desert Rats (1953).

Despite historical inconsistencies, the series achieved successful ratings at a time when military shows were in decline due to public disaffection with the Vietnam War. In its first US season, it siphoned about a million viewers from The Lucy Show, placing in the top 30 and earning a second season. During the 1967–68 season, it faced competition from Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The series remains highly popular.

Production

Fifty-eight half-hour episodes of the series were made by Mirisch-Rich Television Productions, which became Mirisch T.V. Inc. after Lee Rich left during the second season, working alongside Tom Gries Productions Inc. (later Tom Gries, Inc.). Every episode title contained the word "Raid," examples being "The Do or Die Raid" and "Mask-A-Raid." The first season was partly shot in Almería, Spain, with the remainder filmed in the United States. The three-episode storyline "The Last Harbor Raid" was shown in some theaters under the name "Massacre Harbor." During the filming of episode 27, a jeep carrying an M2 Browning overturned on actors Christopher George and Gary Raymond, giving George a heart contusion and Raymond a broken ankle; George's injury was a factor in his death in 1983. Substitute equipment stood in for authentic gear: German armored vehicles were actually American Patton tanks, M7 Priest self-propelled guns, and M3 Half-tracks, all painted desert sand.

In US-shot episodes, M35 2-1/2 ton cargo trucks took the place of more realistic vehicles, and some jeeps used by minor characters are obviously post-war models. The most iconic image is a jeep leaping over a sand dune, featured in the opening credits. The squad initially used Spanish Star Z-45 submachine guns with fixed wooden stocks, later swapping to Thompson submachine guns when those became available.

Books

Five books were released by Paperback Library: The Rat Patrol by Norman Daniels, and four by David King—The Rat Patrol #2 in Desert Danger, #3 in The Trojan Tank Affair, #4 in The Two Faced Enemy, #5 in Target For Tonight, and #6 in Desert Masquerade. Whitman released one book, The Rat Patrol, The Iron Monster Raid, by I G Edmonds. A coloring book was issued by Saalfield in 1966. Topps Chewing Gum published a series of 66 trading cards in 1966 for Mirisch-Rich Television Productions, with still shots on the fronts and text on the backs, along with parts of nine picture puzzles showing main characters.

Soundtrack

The Rat Patrol was one of the few primetime dramatic series of the era to use a library of music instead of scoring each episode. Dominic Frontiere wrote the series theme and music library, conducting the Graunke Symphony Orchestra, after Alex North was fired during post-production of the pilot. La-La Land Records issued a limited edition album of Frontiere's music in 2011, and a second volume in 2014 featuring more Frontiere music and North's unused score for the pilot. Many tracks from the library were first composed by Frontiere for The Outer Limits (1963 TV series).

The soundtrack includes tracks such as 'The Rat Patrol Main Title', 'Another Day, Another Mission', 'Convoy', 'Desert Action', and 'The Rat Patrol End Credits'. Alex North's unused score for 'The Chase of Fire Raid' comprises tracks 21-28 on the second volume. Additional tracks include 'The Rat Patrol Overture', 'The Germans on the Move', 'Before the War', and 'Lili Marlene' by Norbert Schultze.

Did You Know?

• During the second season, Justin Tarr was unavailable for four episodes, and three different characters—Andy, Peterson, and Bo Randall—rounded out the Patrol until Tully returned.
• Punk rock band Naked Raygun led off their album Throb Throb with a song called 'Rat Patrol' whose lyrics refer to the show.