Thunderbirds are go! I'm back to watching more Supermarionation episodes. Next in line, after Stingray, is Thunderbirds. This 1965 series, from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, had 32 fifty minute long episodes. Lew Grade commissioned the series for ITV but when he couldn't sell the show to the US market the production stopped with the 32 episodes. I know I saw it in Canada when it came out, the CBC and CTV networks carried a lot of British shows. We saw all the Anderson programs over the years. Now I'm working my way through them a disc each Sunday.
I'm watching the Blu-ray of the series so I can't do any screen caps for the posts. I'll grab a few images off the internet. The first disc had 5 episodes. They are running them in production order.
Trapped In The Sky 9-30-65
The maiden voyage of the hypersonic airliner Fireflash is threatened by a bomb in the landing gear. It was put there by a creep who wanted to see International Rescue up close, so he could get pictures of it's technology and sell it. It's either a poorly thought out plan or a poorly thought out script. Because of the hour long format the scripts are filled with stuff that slows the story down. The IR machinery seems to have a lot of mechanical problems. In the show they have just started and this rescue is the first they have done. I guess it's a way to get more out of the sets. They are bigger and better than last time. Much more elaborate miniature work.
Pit Of Peril 10-7-65
The Army is testing that goofy walking thing on the left. The ground opens up over an old abandoned mine where a fire has been smoldering for years. The critter falls in and the men can't get out because there's too much fire and heat. They are are slowly roasting to death. IR comes to the rescue with the mole, it's drills into the earth and they rescue the guys. There's plenty of explosions in this one, and fire, they use a lot of fire in this series. Hope no one got burned. Maybe they'll mention that in the documentary the packaging mentions. I haven't come to it yet.
City Of Fire 1-6-66
A 350 story tower, so tall they couldn't show the whole thing in one shot, catches fire when a rich bitch crashes her car into the basement car park. The fire destroys the entire 3000 foot tall building within hours of it's grand opening. I guess they got rid of building inspectors in 2065, that and working fire suppression gear. The International Rescue team has to drill under the car park to rescue a family trapped in a hallway because they were where they weren't supposed to be and got trapped. Their stupid kid went into a storeroom, marked stay out, and the family followed. Now they're trapped and the IR guys have to risk their lives to save them. What douche bags people are, and the most horrifying thing, that rich bitch survived the fire and is back on the street.
Sun Probe 12-9-65
A spaceship sent to the sun to get some samples gets stuck. International Rescue sends Thunderbird 3 to help them out. They get stuck. No worries, Brains will get them out of their predicament.
The Uninvited 12-2-65
Scott Tracy is heading back to base when some unknown fighter planes shoot him down. He crashes in the Sahara Desert and that leads to an underground organization of foreign speaking guys. They soon blow the shit out of that place.
Like I mentioned some of the shows seem to drag a bit but there's plenty of exciting moments and plenty of vehicles and action. Explosions and fire and danger. Woohoo! Here are some random vehicles.
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