Thunderbirds - To The Rescue

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The production, which had been shooting two 25-minute episodes every two weeks, [20] faced great challenges transitioning to the new format: nine episodes had already been fully or partly filmed, scripts for ten more had been written, and major rewrites would be needed to satisfy the longer running time. [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] Anderson lamented: "Our time-scale was far too drawn out. ITC's New York office insisted that they should have one show a fortnight... Everything had to move at twice the speed." [60] APF spent over seven months extending the existing episodes and filmed the new 50-minute format at a rate of two episodes every four weeks. [20] [61] As far as one can consider vehicles to be characters, various pod vehicles that appeared in only 1 episode never got a toy; only the more famous ones (the Mole, the Firefly, etc.) did. He Who Must Not Be Seen: In 30 Minutes After Noon, the main villain is not seen, and communicates with his subordinates by radio. There is also a brief scene where three British agents are discussing infiltrating the mission; we do not see the men, only their hats on the stand. The original Japanese version was produced by Kimio Ikeda, who was an avid Anderson fan. His previous project was X-Bomber (dubbed and marketed in the UK as Star Fleet), which was a Supermarionation-style show made much in the vein of Thunderbirds. Sun Probe": When those in Thunderbird 3 have to move closer to the sun than was estimated, they hope that they can stand up to the heat. There is a cut to Virgil and Brains wrapped up in warm clothing on the side of a mountain, hoping that they can stand up to the cold.

Operation Crash Dive": Gordon uses a laser to cut the engines off the sunken Fireflash aircraft, to make it float to the surface. Character Title: Let's face it, the Thunderbird machines are just as much characters in the show as the puppets themselves. Billions of Buttons: Surprisingly averted. Although the fancy equipment is capable of many things, when control panels are seen, they have relatively few buttons and dials, and often only those relevant to the plot are seen. Sometimes the equipment is operated by speaking into it. However, large panels of unlabelled lights (which are always filament lamps, rather than the LEDs they would be nowadays) are regularly seen, which flash all the time.More than 50 years after it first appeared on our screens, Thunderbirds continues to thrill and delight audiences young and old around the world! Its unique blend of high action adventure and toys-to-life magic of the ever-appealing puppets and models, makes it an almost perfect family show. Although it only ran for 32 episodes, the series has become an enduring television phenomenon, and it will no doubt continue to inspire and entertain future generations for at least another 50 years. F.A.B.! Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Sure, Jeff Tracy is a millionaire and Brains is a Gadgeteer Genius, so International Rescue certainly has the resources and the technical knowhow to set up their organization, but that still begs the question how they managed to build their entire fleet of futuristic machines, an island base filled with secret hangars to house these machines, and even a manned space station, without anyone finding out. It's hard to believe Brains could have done all that with only the Tracys' help. Unknown to either of them, though, the Hood is already en route over the desert; and he's not happy - nothing but sand! He wonders how much further it will be until he gets to that lake. It is then that he at last comes upon it, and coming to a stop on a hill above it, he cannot help but admire its beauty... The recurring villain, The Hood, was never named in dialogue or credits in the original TV episodes, only in publicity materials. Thunderbird 1: silver and blue, symbolising its bleeding-edge speed technology and airborne nature.

Hover Bike: International Rescue has several of these at its disposal for navigating around a danger zone. note In reality, they were introduced to reduce the amount of walking the puppets would otherwise have to do on screen.Adaptation Expansion: This occurred with the audio dramas adapted into tv episodes as part of the Thunderbirds 1965 project. Catchphrase: "F.A.B.", International Rescue's codeword for "yes". Fan theory is that it stands for " Fully Advised and Briefed". However, when asked what it meant, Gerry Anderson replied, in an isn't-it-obvious sort of way, "Fab..." Seeking to distinguish his proposal from APF's earlier productions, Anderson attempted to pitch the stories at a level that would appeal to both adults and children. Whereas previous series had been broadcast in late-afternoon children's timeslots, Anderson wanted Thunderbirds to be shown during the evening to attract a broader family audience. [28] Sylvia remembers that "our market had grown and a 'kidult' show... was the next step." [29] The Andersons retired to their holiday villa in Portugal to expand the premise, script the pilot episode and compose a writers' guide. [28] [30] According to Sylvia, the writing process depended on a "division of labour", whereby Gerry created the action sequences while she managed characterisation. [30] The decision to make a father and his sons the main characters was influenced by the premise of Bonanza, as well as Sylvia's belief that the use of more than one heroic character would broaden the series' appeal. [31] [32] The Tracy brothers were named after Mercury Seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Gordon Cooper and Alan Shepard. [33] Thunderbirds to the Rescue, featuring the episodes "Trapped in the Sky" and "Operation Crash-Dive".

Automated Automobile: Surprisingly averted. With all the seriously advanced tech that International Rescue possess, you'd think they'd let the computer do at least some of the work, but you never even see them put a Thunderbird on autopilot on the way home.Punk/new wave band The Rezillos released a song "Thunderbirds Are Go" in 1978, singing the praises of the series: "the TV show that's never been beat." 80s band Fuzzbox released a single called "International Rescue" as an affectionate tribute/parody of the series , which made it to number 11 in the UK charts. Also in regards to the show's presence on the music scene, Gerry Anderson co-directed the video for "Calling Elvis" by Dire Straits in 1991, where the band members appear as marionettes and footage from Thunderbirds is intercut with footage of a woman meandering around her house. John has the dubious honour of being the Communications Officer: he answers the call, passes on the message, and then his job is done.

Computers in general are shown to still be room-sized and built for one specific job, far from the miniaturised, versatile machines of today. Scott's mobile control, which he had to ask for help to unload from Thunderbird 1, could easily be replaced with a modern laptop or even tablet. A relaxing weekend vacation for the Thunderbird team is put on hold when the destruction of a Weather Control Satellite results in the deadliest typhoon on record. Its first target is Babalu Island, where Skipper and his family are staying. 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 metres (39 by 46ft) with a three-metre-high (9.8ft) ceiling. [100] [101] Bob Bell, assisted by Keith Wilson and Grenville Nott, headed the art department for Series One. [102] During the simultaneous filming of Series Two and Thunderbirds Are Go in 1966, Bell attended mainly to the film, entrusting set design for the TV series to Wilson. [103] 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". [37] During the character development and voice casting process, the Andersons' main priority was to ensure that the series had transatlantic appeal, thus increasing the chances of winning an American network deal and the higher audience figures that this market had to offer. [28] [38] Filming [ edit ] Peter Dyneley, Shane Rimmer, Sylvia Anderson, David Holliday, Matt Zimmerman, David Graham, Ray Barrett, Christine Finn, John Tate Thunderbirds Merchandise

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Lieutenant Burroughs asking where the letter was posted, and Alan discussing the upcoming operation with Jeff and start to look around, as the treasure they've heard about was meant to have been hidden in one of the larger columns inside. The Crablogger in "Path of Destruction", an atomic-powered logging machine which was going to blow up if not shut down properly, a complicated process that took upwards of five minutes. We guess a red "emergency stop" button was too simple — then anyone could have stopped it should it have been about to smash through a village or destroy a dam. It often happens that rescuees and officials call them by their surname, so they're not secret about that, either;