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= = Storyline = = |
Set between 2065 and 2067 , Thunderbirds follows the exploits of the Tracy family , headed by American ex @-@ astronaut turned multi @-@ millionaire philanthropist Jeff Tracy . He is a widower with five adult sons : Scott , John , Virgil , Gordon and Alan . The Tracys form International Rescue ( IR ) , a secret organi... |
Thunderbird 1 : a hypersonic rocket plane used for fast response and accident zone reconnaissance . Piloted by primary rescue co @-@ ordinator Scott Tracy . |
Thunderbird 2 : a supersonic carrier aircraft that transports rescue vehicles and equipment to accident zones in detachable capsules known as " Pods " . Piloted by Virgil . |
Thunderbird 3 : a single @-@ stage @-@ to @-@ orbit spacecraft . Piloted alternately by Alan and John , with Scott as co @-@ pilot . |
Thunderbird 4 : a utility submersible . Piloted by Gordon and normally launched from Thunderbird 2 . |
Thunderbird 5 : a space station that relays distress calls from around the world . Manned alternately by " Space Monitors " John and Alan . |
With the engineer Brains and Jeff 's elderly mother , as well as the Malaysian manservant Kyrano and his daughter Tin @-@ Tin , the family reside in a luxurious villa on Tracy Island , their hidden base in the South Pacific Ocean . In this location , IR is safe from criminals and spies who envy the organisation 's tec... |
Despite its humanitarian principles , some of IR 's operations are necessitated not by misadventure but deliberate sabotage motivated by greed for power and wealth . For missions that require criminal investigation , the organisation incorporates a network of undercover agents headed by English aristocrat Lady Penelop... |
= = Production = = |
Thunderbirds was the fourth Supermarionation puppet TV series to be produced by APF , which was founded by the husband @-@ and @-@ wife duo of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson with their business partners Reg Hill and John Read . Pitched in late 1963 , the series was commissioned by Lew Grade of ITC , APF 's parent company ,... |
Gerry Anderson drew inspiration for the series ' underlying concept from the West German mining disaster known as the Wunder von Lengede ( " Miracle of Lengede " ) . In October 1963 , the collapse of a nearby dam flooded an iron mine in the municipality of Lengede , killing 29 miners and trapping 21 others underground... |
Seeking to distinguish his 26 @-@ episode proposal from APF 's earlier productions , Anderson attempted to pitch stories at a level that would appeal to both adults and children . Whereas previous series had been shown during the late afternoon , Anderson wanted Thunderbirds to be broadcast in a family @-@ friendly pr... |
The series ' title was derived from a letter written by Gerry 's brother , Lionel , while he had been serving overseas as an RAF flight sergeant during World War II . While stationed in Arizona , Lionel had made reference to Thunderbird Field , a nearby United States Army Air Forces base . Drawn to the " punchiness " ... |
In the DVD documentary The Thunderbirds Companion , Anderson explained how a rise in filming costs had made overseas distribution revenue even more important and essentially caused Thunderbirds to be made " as an American show " . During the character development and voice casting process , the Andersons ' main priori... |
= = = Filming = = = |
Thunderbirds was filmed at APF 's studios on the Slough Trading Estate between 1964 and 1966 . In preparation , the number of full @-@ time crew was expanded to 100 . Shooting began in September 1964 after five months of pre @-@ production . Due to the new series ' technical complexity , this was a period longer than ... |
Alan Pattillo , a veteran scriptwriter and director for APF , was appointed the company 's first official script editor in late 1964 . This move was aimed to reduce the burden on Gerry Anderson who , while reserving his producer 's right to overall creative control , had grown weary of revising scripts himself . Direc... |
After viewing the completed 25 @-@ minute pilot , " Trapped in the Sky " , Lew Grade was so impressed by APF 's work that he instructed Anderson to double the episode length and increased the series ' budget per episode from £ 25 @,@ 000 to £ 38 @,@ 000 . As a result , Thunderbirds became not only the company 's longe... |
Tony Barwick , who had impressed Pattillo and the Andersons with an unsubmitted script that he had written for Danger Man , was recruited to assist in the writing of subplots and filler material . He found that the longer format created opportunities to strengthen the characterisation . Science @-@ fiction writer John... |
Filming of Series One was completed in December 1965 . A second series was also commissioned late that year and entered production in March 1966 . Barwick became a full @-@ time member of the writing staff and took over the role of script editor from the outgoing Pattillo . The main puppet cast and vehicles were rebui... |
Production of Thunderbirds ended in August 1966 with the completion of the sixth episode of Series Two . In February that year , it had been reported that Grade had been unable to sell the series in the United States due to disagreements over timeslots . In July , he cancelled Thunderbirds after failing in his second ... |
By the time of its cancellation , Thunderbirds had become widely popular in the UK and was being distributed extensively overseas . Grade , however , believed that without the financial boost of an American network sale , a full second series would fail to recover its production costs . He therefore asked Anderson to ... |
= = = Casting and characters = = = |
Voice @-@ recording sessions were supervised by Pattillo and the Andersons , with Sylvia Anderson in charge of casting . Dialogue was recorded once per month at a rate of two scripts per session . Supporting parts were not pre @-@ assigned , but negotiated by the cast among themselves . Two recordings would be made at... |
In the interest of transatlantic appeal , it was decided that the main characters would be mostly American and therefore actors capable of producing an appropriate accent were used . British , Canadian and Australian actors formed most of the voice cast ; the only American involved was stage actor David Holliday , who... |
British actor David Graham was among the first to be cast . He had previously voiced characters in Four Feather Falls , Supercar , Fireball XL5 and Stingray . Beyond the APF productions , he had supplied one of the original Dalek voices on Doctor Who . Cast alongside Graham was Australian actor Ray Barrett . Like Grah... |
Although Lady Penelope and Parker ( the latter voiced by Graham ) were among the first characters developed , neither was conceived as a major role . Parker 's Cockney manner was based on a waiter at a pub in Cookham that was sometimes visited by the crew . On Gerry Anderson 's recommendation , Graham dined there regu... |
As well as Jeff Tracy , English @-@ Canadian actor Peter Dyneley voiced the recurring character of Commander Norman , chief of air traffic control at London International Airport . His supporting character voices were typically those of upper @-@ class Englishmen . Shane Rimmer , the voice of Scott , was cast on the s... |
Christine Finn , known for her role in the TV serial Quatermass and the Pit , provided the voices of Tin @-@ Tin Kyrano and Grandma Tracy . With Sylvia Anderson , she was also responsible for voicing most of the female and child supporting characters . Other minor parts were voiced by Charles Tingwell , Paul Maxwell a... |
= = = Design and effects = = = |
The puppet stages used for the filming of Thunderbirds were only one @-@ fifth the size of those used for a standard live @-@ action production , typically measuring 12 by 14 by 3 metres ( 39 @.@ 4 by 45 @.@ 9 by 9 @.@ 8 ft ) in length , width and height . Bob Bell , assisted by Keith Wilson and Grenville Nott , heade... |
Since it was necessary for the art department 's interior sets to conform to the effects department 's exterior plans , each team closely monitored the other 's work . According to Sylvia Anderson , Bell 's challenge was to produce complex interiors on a limited budget while resisting the effects department 's push fo... |
While designing the Creighton @-@ Ward Mansion sets , Bell and his staff strove for authenticity , ordering miniature Tudor paintings , 1 ⁄ 3 @-@ scale Georgian- and Regency @-@ style furniture and carpeting in the shape of a polar bear skin . This realism was enhanced by adding scrap items acquired from household was... |
= = = = Puppets = = = = |
The head puppet sculptor was Christine Glanville , who also served as the lead puppeteer . Glanville 's four @-@ person team built the 13 members of the main cast in six months at a cost of between £ 250 and £ 300 per puppet ( approximately £ 4 @,@ 569 and £ 5 @,@ 483 today ) . Since pairs of episodes were being filme... |
The puppets were made up of more than 30 individual components , the most important of which was the solenoid that synchronised lip movements with the characters ' pre @-@ recorded dialogue . This device was positioned inside the head unit ; consequently , torsos and limbs appeared relatively small . The puppets ' lik... |
The appearances of the main characters were inspired by those of actors and other entertainers , who were typically selected from the show business directory Spotlight . According to Glanville , as part of a trend away from the strong caricature of previous series , APF was seeking " more natural faces " for the puppe... |
Main character heads were initially sculpted in either Plasticine or clay . Once the general aspect had been finalised , this served as the template for a silicone rubber mould . This was coated with Bondaglass ( fibreglass mixed with resin ) and enhanced with Bondapaste , a putty @-@ like substance , to accentuate co... |
Wigs were made of mohair or , in the case of the Penelope puppet , human hair . Puppet bodies were built in three sizes : " large male " ( specifically for the Tracys and the Hood ) , " small male " and " small female " . Sylvia Anderson , the head costume designer , devised the main characters ' attire . To give the ... |
Each puppet 's head was fitted with about 10 thin tungsten steel wires . During the filming , dialogue was played into the studio using modified tape recorders that converted the feed into electronic pulses . Two of the wires relayed these pulses to the internal solenoid , completing the Supermarionation process . The... |
Due to their low weight and the fact that they had only one control wire per leg , the puppets were unable to walk convincingly . Therefore , scenes involving movement were filmed from the waist up , with a puppeteer holding the legs below the level of the camera and using a " bobbing " action to simulate motion . Alt... |
= = = = Special effects = = = = |
The effects for all the APF series from Supercar to UFO were directed by Derek Meddings , who later worked on the James Bond and Superman films . Knowing that Thunderbirds would be the " biggest project [ APF ] had worked on " , Meddings found himself struggling to manage his workload with the single filming unit that... |
An addition to the effects department was Mike Trim , who served as Meddings ' assistant in designing vehicles and buildings . Meddings and Trim jointly pioneered an " organic " design technique in which the exteriors of models and sets were customised with parts from model kits and children 's toys . Models and sets ... |
One of Meddings ' first tasks was to shoot stock footage of the Thunderbird machines and the series ' main locations , Tracy Island and Creighton @-@ Ward Mansion . The finished island model was a composite of more than a dozen smaller sets that could be detached from the whole and filmed separately . The architecture... |
During the designing and filming process , Meddings ' first priorities were realism and credibility . With the exception of Thunderbird 5 , each vehicle was built in three or four scales . Meddings ' swing @-@ wing concept for Thunderbird 1 was inspired by his wish to create something " more dynamic " than a fixed @-@... |
The largest model of Thunderbird 3 , whose design was based on the Soviet Soyuz rocket , was six feet ( 1 @.@ 8 m ) tall . Thunderbird 4 was particularly difficult to film : as the scale of the model did not correspond to the water inside the shooting tank , creative camera angles and rapid editing were used to produc... |
As the puppets of Lady Penelope and Parker needed to fit inside , the largest of all the models was the seven @-@ foot FAB 1 , which cost £ 2 @,@ 500 ( approximately £ 46 @,@ 000 today ) to build . The Rolls @-@ Royce 's name and colour were both chosen by Sylvia Anderson . Rolls @-@ Royce Ltd. supervised the construc... |
Scale explosions were created using substances such as fuller 's earth , petrol gel , magnesium strips and Cordtex explosive . Originally filmed at up to 120 frames per second ( f.p.s. ) , they were slowed down to 24 f.p.s. during post @-@ production to increase their apparent magnitude and length . Gunpowder canister... |
By 1966 , Meddings ' commitments were split between Series Two and Thunderbirds Are Go . While Meddings worked on the film , camera operator Jimmy Elliott assumed the responsibility of directing the TV effects . By this stage , the basic frame of Thunderbird 2 had been damaged so many times that the model had needed t... |
Critic David Garland suggests that the challenge facing the Thunderbirds effects department was to strike a balance between the " conventional science @-@ fiction imperative of the ' futuristic ' " and the " seeping hyper @-@ realist concerns mandated by the Andersons ' approach to the puppets " . Thunderbirds has bee... |
= = = = Title sequence = = = = |
The series ' title sequence , storyboarded by Gerry Anderson , is made up of two parts . It opens with a countdown of " 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 : Thunderbirds Are Go ! " , provided by Dyneley in character as Jeff Tracy . In a departure from the style of Stingray , the Thunderbirds title sequence varies with each episode : t... |
The second part , accompanied by composer Barry Gray 's " The Thunderbirds March " , features portraits of the main puppet cast superimposed on various vehicles and settings . Peel describes this as " ostensibly a return to the ' series stars ' concept long known in TV " , while Garland considers such imagery demonstr... |
According to Daniel O 'Brien , writer of SF : UK : How British Science Fiction Changed the World , the Thunderbirds title sequence encapsulates the reasons for the series ' enduring popularity . Dyneley 's countdown is particularly well remembered and has been widely quoted . Dean Newman of the Syfy channel website ra... |
= = = Music = = = |
The score was composed by Gray , who served as musical director for all of the Anderson productions up to the first series of Space : 1999 . In response to Gerry Anderson 's request that the main theme have a " military feel " , Gray produced a brass @-@ dominated piece titled " The Thunderbirds March " , which was re... |
Peel considers " The Thunderbirds March " to be " one of the best TV themes ever written – perfect for the show and catchy when heard alone " . Morag Reavley of BBC Online argues that the piece is " up there ... in the quintessential soundtrack of the Sixties " with the James Bond films and the songs of Frank Sinatra ... |
David Huckvale identifies Wagnerian homage in both the theme music and the series ' premise . Noting that the theme 's opening string ostinato is similar in effect to a recurring motif in Ride of the Valkyries , he also likens the Thunderbird machines to Valkyries themselves : " Their function is more benevolent than ... |
To celebrate the shows anniversary , " Thunderbirds Are Go - 50 Years On " at Colston Hall , Bristol was celebrated as the theme music is brought to life , led by Charles Hazlewood and his All Star Collective . |
= = Broadcast = = |
Thunderbirds premiered on British television on 30 September 1965 on the ITV franchises ATV Midlands , Westward and Channel . Other broadcasters , including ATV London and Granada , started transmissions the following month . The Christmas @-@ themed series finale , " Give or Take a Million " , was first broadcast on ... |
Granada transmitted Thunderbirds in its original , 50 @-@ minute format for the first time with the start of repeats in 1966 . In 1968 , the franchise briefly aired episodes in three parts due to timeslot restrictions . The availability of repeats during the 1960s and 1970s varied among regions . ATV Midlands screened... |
In 1990 , 8 of the 19 audio episodes released by APF Records were converted into radio dramas , which were transmitted on BBC Radio 5 . The success of the radio series encouraged the BBC to acquire the rights to the TV episodes , which it broadcast simultaneously in all regions from September 1991 on BBC 2 . |
Since the end of the first network run , which achieved average viewing figures of more than six million , the BBC has repeated the series six times : between 1992 and 1993 ( Series One only ) , 1994 and 1995 ( nine episodes only ) , and 2000 and 2001 ( in remastered form ) , as well as in 2003 , 2005 and 2006 . Other... |
Before its UK debut , Thunderbirds was distributed to 30 other countries including the US , Canada , Australia and Japan . Pre @-@ sales revenue totalled £ 350 @,@ 000 ( approximately £ 6 million today ) . In the year following the series ' first appearance , the number of countries increased to 66 . In Japan , where ... |
= = Reception = = |
Thunderbirds is generally considered the Andersons ' most popular series and their greatest critical and commercial success . In 1966 , the show received a Royal Television Society Silver Medal for Outstanding Artistic Achievement and Gerry Anderson received an honorary fellowship of the British Kinematograph , Sound ... |
For Peel , Thunderbirds is " without a doubt the peak of the Supermarionation achievement " . Suggesting that the series is pitched at a " more adult " level than its predecessors , he adds that its sense of adventure , effective humour and " gripping and convincing " episodes ensured that " everyone in the audience f... |
In his foreword to John Marriott 's book , Thunderbirds Are Go ! , Anderson put forward several explanations for the series ' enduring popularity : it " contains elements that appeal to most children – danger , jeopardy and destruction . But because International Rescue 's mission is to save life , there is no gratuit... |
Jeff Evans , author of The Penguin TV Companion , argues that the series ' 50 @-@ minute format allows for stronger character development and " tension @-@ building " . O 'Brien is less positive in his appraisal of the writing , asserting that the plots are often " formulaic " and are sometimes " stretched to snapping... |
Noting the attention to detail of the series ' launch sequences , Jonathan Bignell argues that part of the motivation for dedicating large amounts of screen time to the Thunderbird craft is the need to compensate for the limited mobility of the puppet cast . The focus on futuristic machines has also been explored by c... |
Thomas argues that the world of Thunderbirds is similar to the 1960s to the extent that contemporary capitalism and class structures appear to have survived mostly intact . He also observes , however , that wealth and high social status are often depicted as character flaws rather than strengths . According to Thomas ... |
Various commentators – including Bignell , Cull and O 'Brien – have also discussed Thunderbirds as a product of the Cold War era . Bignell comments that the Hood 's Oriental appearance and mysterious powers draw parallels with James Bond villains and fears of China operating as " a ' third force ' antagonistic to the ... |
The presentation of smoking in Thunderbirds was the subject of a study published in the medical journal Tobacco Control in 2002 . Despite identifying examples in 26 episodes , Kate Hunt of the University of Glasgow concluded that Thunderbirds does not actively promote smoking – a view opposed by the Roy Castle Lung Ca... |
= = Merchandise = = |
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