Thunderbirds (TV series)

Thunderbirds was filmed at APF's studios on the Slough Trading Estate between 1964 and 1966.[33] In preparation, the number of full-time crew was expanded to 100.[34] Shooting began in September 1964 after five months of pre-production.[16][35] Due to the new series' technical complexity, this was a period longer than for any of APF's earlier productions.[36] To speed up the filming, episodes were shot in pairs, at a rate of one per month, on separate stages and by separate crews (designated "A" and "B").[37] By 1964, APF was the UK's largest commercial user of colour film, consuming more than three million feet (570 miles or 910 kilometres) of stock per year.[38]

Alan Pattillo, a longtime scriptwriter and director for APF, was appointed the company's first official script editor in late 1964.[39] 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.[40][41] Direction of episodes was assigned in pairs: veterans Pattillo and David Elliott alternated with the less-experienced Desmond Saunders and newcomer David Lane for each month's filming.[39][42] Due to the difficulties of setting up takes, progress was slow: even on a productive day, it was rare for the crew to complete more than two minutes of puppet footage.[43] In a contemporary interview, Hill noted that Thunderbirds contained several times as many shots as a typical live-action series.[44] He explained that rapid editing was necessary on account of the characters' lack of facial expression, which made it difficult to sustain the viewer's interest for more than a few seconds per shot.[44]

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 (about £740,000 in 2019).[16][44][45] As a result, Thunderbirds became not only the company's longest and highest-budgeted production, but also among the most expensive TV series to have been made up to that point.[45][46] The crew, who had been filming at a rate of two 25-minute episodes per fortnight, faced great challenges transitioning to the new format: nine episodes (including the first) 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.[47][48][49][50] 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."[51] APF spent over seven months extending the existing episodes.[52]

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.[53][54] He found that the longer format created opportunities to strengthen the characterisation.[45][55] Science-fiction writer John Peel suggests that "small character touches" make the puppet cast of Thunderbirds "much more rounded" than those of earlier APF series.[56] He compares the writing favourably to that of live-action drama.[56] The new footage proved useful during the development of the first series finale, "Security Hazard": since the previous two episodes ("Attack of the Alligators!" and "The Cham-Cham") had overspent their budgets, Pattillo devised a flashback-dominated clip show containing only 17 minutes of new material to reduce costs.[57][58]

Filming of Series One was completed in December 1965.[16] A second series was also commissioned late that year and entered production in March 1966.[59] Barwick became a full-time member of the writing staff and took over the role of script editor from the outgoing Pattillo.[60][61] The main puppet cast and vehicles were rebuilt; in addition, the art department expanded some of the standing sets, including the Tracy Villa lounge and the Thunderbird 5 control room.[62][63] To accommodate the simultaneous filming of the TV series and Thunderbirds Are Go, APF purchased two more buildings on the Slough Trading Estate and converted them into new stages.[64][65] As crew and studio space were divided between the two productions, filming of the TV series progressed at half the previous speed, as APF's B crew produced one episode per month.[66] Filming on Thunderbirds Are Go was completed by June, allowing A crew to resume work on the series to shoot what would prove to be its penultimate episode, "Ricochet".[66]

Production of Thunderbirds ended in August 1966 with the completion of the sixth episode of Series Two.[16][67] 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.[68][69] In July, he cancelled Thunderbirds after failing in his second attempt to secure an American buyer.[61][67] The three major US networks of the time—NBC, CBS and ABC—had all bid for the series, with Grade repeatedly increasing the price. When NBC withdrew its offer, the other two immediately followed.[67][70]

By the time of its cancellation, Thunderbirds had become widely popular in the UK and was being distributed extensively overseas.[71][72] Grade, however, believed that without the financial boost of an American network sale, a full second series would fail to recover its production costs.[61][68] He therefore asked Anderson to devise a new concept that he hoped would stand a greater chance of winning over the profitable US market.[61][68] This became Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.[67]

Dialogue recording sessions were supervised by the Andersons and Reg Hill, with Sylvia Anderson in charge of casting.[24][73] Dialogue was recorded once per month at a rate of two scripts per session.[74] Supporting parts were not pre-assigned, but negotiated by the cast among themselves.[73] Two recordings would be made at each session: one to be converted into electronic pulses for the puppet filming, the other to be added to the soundtrack during post-production.[75] The tapes were edited at Gate Recording Theatre in Birmingham.[76]

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.[22][32] British, Canadian and Australian actors formed most of the voice cast; the only American involved was stage actor David Holliday, who was noticed in London's West End and given the part of Virgil Tracy.[74][77][78] Following the completion of the first series, Holliday returned to the US. The character was voiced by English-Canadian actor Jeremy Wilkin for Thunderbirds Are Go, Series Two and Thunderbird 6.[79]

British actor David Graham was among the first to be cast.[80] He had previously voiced characters in Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray.[78] Beyond the APF productions, he had supplied one of the original Dalek voices on Doctor Who.[78] Cast alongside Graham was Australian actor Ray Barrett.[77] Like Graham, he had worked for the Andersons before, having voiced Titan and Commander Shore in Stingray.[81] A veteran of radio drama, Barrett was skilled at performing a range of voices and accents in quick succession.[77] Villains of the week would typically be voiced by either Barrett or Graham.[78] Aware of the sensitive political climate of the Cold War and not wishing to "perpetuate the idea that Russia was the enemy with a whole generation of children watching", Gerry Anderson decided the Hood (voiced by Barrett) should be Oriental and placed his temple hideout in Malaysia to defy the viewer's expectations.[82][83][84]

Although Lady Penelope and Parker (the latter voiced by Graham) were among the first characters developed, neither was conceived as a major role.[85][86] Parker's Cockney manner was based on a waiter at a pub in Cookham that was sometimes visited by the crew.[86] On Gerry Anderson's recommendation, Graham dined there regularly to study the accent.[87] Anderson's first choice for the role of Penelope had been Fenella Fielding, but Sylvia insisted she take the part herself.[78][88] Her Penelope voice was intended to emulate Fielding and Joan Greenwood.[78] On Penelope and Parker's secondary role as comic relief, Gerry explained, "We British can laugh at ourselves, so therefore we had Penelope and Parker as this comedy team. And in America they love the British aristocracy too.'"[32]

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.[74] Shane Rimmer, the voice of Scott, was cast on the strength of his performance on the BBC soap opera Compact.[77] Meanwhile, fellow Canadian Matt Zimmerman was selected at a late stage in the process.[74] The expatriate West End actor was given the role of Alan on the recommendation of his friend, Holliday: "They were having great difficulty casting the part of Alan as they wanted a certain sound for him, being the youngest brother. David, who [was] a bit older than I am, told them that he had this friend, me, who would be great."[89]

Christine Finn, known for her role in the TV serial Quatermass and the Pit, provided the voices of Tin-Tin Kyrano and Grandma Tracy.[78] With Sylvia Anderson, she was also responsible for voicing most of the female and child supporting characters. Supporting parts were occasionally voiced by John Tate, Paul Maxwell and Charles Tingwell; the latter two joined the cast in Series Two following their contributions to Thunderbirds Are Go. None of these three actors were credited for their performances.[89][90]

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 46 ft) with a three-metre-high (9.8 ft) ceiling.[91][92] Bob Bell, assisted by Keith Wilson and Grenville Nott, headed the art department for Series One.[93] 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.[94]

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.[95] According to Sylvia Anderson, Bell's challenge was to produce complex interiors on a limited budget while resisting the effects department's push for "more extravagant" design.[95] This task was complicated by the unnatural proportions of the puppets: Bell struggled to decide whether the sets should be built to a scale proportionate to their bodies or their oversized heads and hands.[96] He used the example of FAB 1 to illustrate the problem: "As soon as we positioned [the puppets] standing alongside [the model], they looked ridiculous, as the car towered over them."[97] He ultimately adopted a "mix-and-match" approach, in which smaller items, such as tableware, were scaled to their hands and furniture to their bodies.[96]

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.[96][97] This realism was enhanced by adding scrap items acquired from household waste and electronics shops.[93] For example, a vacuum cleaner pipe serves as Virgil Tracy's launch chute.[98]

The head puppet sculptors were Christine Glanville and Mary Turner, who also served as the lead puppeteers.[99] Glanville and Turner's team built the 13 members of the main cast in six months at a cost of between £250 and £300 per puppet (about £5,100 and £6,100 in 2019).[97][100] Since pairs of episodes were being filmed simultaneously on separate stages, the characters needed to be sculpted in duplicate.[101] Facial expressions were diversified by means of replaceable heads: as well as a head with a neutral expression, each main character was given a "smiler", a "frowner" and a "blinker".[35][102] The finished puppets were about 22 inches (56 cm) tall, or ​¹⁄₃ adult human height.[91][103]

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.[104] This device was positioned inside the head unit; consequently, torsos and limbs appeared relatively small.[97] The puppets' likenesses and mechanics are remembered favourably by puppeteer Wanda Brown, who preferred the Thunderbirds marionettes over the accurately-proportioned ones that first appeared in Captain Scarlet: "The puppets were easier to operate and more enjoyable because they had more character to them ... Even some of the more normal-looking faces, such as Scott and Jeff, for me had more character than the puppets in the series that came afterwards."[100] Rimmer speaks positively of the puppets' still being "very much caricatures", since it made them "more lovable and appealing ... There was a naive quality about them and nothing too complex."[105]

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.[100] According to Glanville, as part of a trend away from the strong caricature of previous series, APF was seeking "more natural faces" for the puppets.[97] The face of Jeff Tracy was based on that of Lorne Greene,[26][35] Scott on Sean Connery,[97][100] Alan on Robert Reed,[35] John on Adam Faith and Charlton Heston,[106][107] Brains on Anthony Perkins[99] and Parker on Ben Warriss.[35][108] Sylvia Anderson brought the character of Penelope to life in likeness as well as voice: after her test moulds were rejected, sculptor Mary Turner decided to use Anderson herself as a template.[109]

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.[35] This was coated with Bondaglass (fibreglass mixed with resin) and enhanced with Bondapaste, a putty-like substance, to accentuate contours.[99][110] The Bondaglass shell was then fitted with a solenoid, leather mouth parts and plastic eyes, as well as incisor teeth—a first for a Supermarionation production.[111] Puppets known as "revamps", which had plastic heads, portrayed the supporting characters.[112] These marionettes started their working lives with only a mouth and eyes; their faces were remoulded from one episode to the next.[113][114] Particularly striking revamp moulds were retained and, as their numbers increased, photographed to compile an internal casting directory.[115]

Wigs were made of mohair or, in the case of the Penelope puppet, human hair.[35][116] Puppet bodies were built in three sizes: "large male" (specifically for the Tracys and the Hood), "small male" and "small female".[35][117] Sylvia Anderson, the head costume designer, devised the main characters' attire.[24][118] To give the puppets increased mobility, the costume department generally avoided stiff synthetic materials, instead working with cotton, silk and wool.[35] Between 1964 and 1966, the department's stock numbered more than 700 costumes.[119]

Each puppet's head was fitted with around ten thin tungsten steel wires.[116][120] During the filming, dialogue was played into the studio using modified tape recorders that converted the feed into electronic pulses.[73] Two of the wires relayed these pulses to the internal solenoid, completing the Supermarionation process.[73] The wires, which were sprayed black to reduce their visibility, were made even less noticeable through the application of powder paint that matched the background colours of the set.[101][121] Glanville explained the time-consuming nature of this process: "[The puppeteers] used to spend over half an hour on each shot getting rid of these wires, looking through the camera, puffing a bit more [paint] here, anti-flare there; and, I mean, it's very depressing when somebody will say to us, 'Of course the wires showed.'"[43] Positioned on an overhead gantry with a hand-held cruciform, the puppeteers co-ordinated movements with the help of a viewfinder-powered CCTV feedback system.[33] As filming progressed, the crew started to dispense with wires and instead manipulate the puppets from the studio floor using rods.[122][123]

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.[58][106] Alternatively, dynamic shots were eliminated altogether: in an interview with New Scientist, director of photography John Read spoke of the advantages of circumventing the lack of agility so that the puppets "appear, for example, to walk through doors (although the control wires make this impossible) or pick up a coffee cup (although their fingers are not in fact jointed)."[125] Live-action shots of human hands were inserted whenever scripts called for more dexterous actions to be performed.[126]

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.[127] 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 had produced all the effects for Stingray.[39][128] He therefore established a second unit under technician Brian Johncock, and a third exclusively for filming airborne sequences.[129] This expansion increased the number of APF crews and stages to five each.[129] A typical episode contained around 100 effects shots; Meddings' team completed up to 18 per day.[130][131][132]

An addition to the effects department was Mike Trim, who served as Meddings' assistant in designing vehicles and buildings.[39][133] 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.[134][135] Models and sets were also "dirtied down" with powder paint or pencil lead to create a used look.[136][137] Toy cars and vans were used in long shot, while scale vehicles were equipped with basic steering and suspension for added realism.[138][139] Miniature fans and Jetex pellets, which are capable of issuing air jets or chemical exhaust, were attached to the undersides to simulate dust trails.[40][139] Another of Meddings' inventions was a closed, cyclical effects stage nicknamed the "rolling road": consisting of two or more loops of canvas running at different speeds, this device allowed shots of moving vehicles to be filmed on a static set to make more efficient use of the limited studio space.[140][141] Airborne aircraft sequences were mounted against a "rolling sky", with smoke fanned across to simulate passing clouds.[33]

Stourhead House, an 18th-century Palladian building, inspired the look of Creighton-Ward Mansion.[142]

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.[143][144] The finished island model was a composite of more than a dozen smaller sets that could be detached from the whole and filmed separately.[145] The architecture of the mansion was based on that of Stourhead House, located on the Stourhead Estate in Wiltshire.[142] In the absence of head designer Reg Hill, who was serving as associate producer, Meddings was further tasked with designing the Thunderbird fleet and FAB 1.[22] Scale models for the six main vehicles were built by a contractor, Master Models of Middlesex.[28][146] Models and puppet sets combined, more than 200 versions of the Thunderbird machines were created for the series.[147]

During the designing and filming process, Meddings' first priorities were realism and credibility.[148] With the exception of Thunderbird 5, each vehicle was built in three or four scales.[149] Meddings' swing-wing concept for Thunderbird 1 was inspired by his wish to create something "more dynamic" than a fixed-wing aircraft.[150] He remained unsatisfied with the prototype of Thunderbird 2 until he inverted the wings, later commenting, "... at the time, all aircraft had swept-back wings. I only did it to be different."[28] This decision was made out of personal preference and was not informed by any expert knowledge on Meddings' part.[151][152] He described the Thunderbird 2 launch as "probably the most memorable" sequence that his team devised for an APF production.[152]

The largest model of Thunderbird 3, whose design was loosely based on the Soviet Soyuz rocket, was six feet (1.8 m) tall.[28] 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 produce a sense of realistic perspective.[153] Thunderbird 5, the most difficult vehicle for Meddings to visualise, was based on the Tracy Island Round House.[96] Since most of the space station's appearances were provided by stock footage, the model was rarely filmed.[154] Pod Vehicles were designed on an episode-by-episode basis and built from balsa wood, Jelutong wood or fibreglass.[155] To save time and costs, other minor vehicles were built in-house from radio-controlled model kits.[28][136]

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 (about £51,000 in 2019) to build.[156] The Rolls-Royce's name and colour were both chosen by Sylvia Anderson.[157] Rolls-Royce Ltd. supervised the construction of the plywood model and supplied APF with an authentic radiator grille for close-up shots of the front of the car.[158][159] In exchange for its cooperation, the company requested that a Spirit of Ecstasy be fixed to the chassis and that the characters avoid referring to the brand with abbreviations such as "Rolls".[158][160]

Some of the aircraft sound effects were created by recording the RAF's Red Arrows aerobatics display team in flight.[161]

Scale explosions were created using substances such as fuller's earth, petrol gel, magnesium strips and Cordtex explosive.[43][162] They were originally filmed at up to 120 frames per second (f.p.s.), so that when slowed down to the regular 24 f.p.s., their apparent magnitude and length would be increased.[31][163] Gunpowder canisters were ignited to create rocket jets.[52] The wires that electronically fired the rockets also allowed a member of the crew, holding a cruciform and positioned on an overhead gantry, to "fly" the model over the set.[52] By far the most unwieldy model was Thunderbird 2, which Meddings remembered as being "awful" to fly.[151][164] A combination of unreliable rockets and weak wiring frequently caused problems: should the former be slow to ignite, the current quickly caused the latter to overheat and snap, potentially damaging the model and even setting fire to the set.[151][165] Conditions above the studio floor were often dangerous due to the heat and smoke.[42] Although many of the exhaust sound effects used in the series were drawn from an audio library, some were specially recorded during a Red Arrows display at RAF Little Rissington in Gloucestershire.[161][166]

By 1966, Meddings' commitments were split between Series Two and Thunderbirds Are Go.[57] While Meddings worked on the film, camera operator Jimmy Elliott assumed the responsibility of directing the TV effects.[167] By this stage, the basic frame of Thunderbird 2 had been damaged so many times that the model had needed to be rebuilt from scratch.[168] Meddings was displeased with the result, reflecting that the replacement was "not only the wrong colour, it was a completely different shape ... I never felt our model-makers managed to recapture the look of the original."[168]

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".[169] Thunderbirds has been praised for the quality of its effects. Jim Sangster and Paul Condon, writers of Collins Telly Guide, consider the model work "uniformly impressive".[2] To Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, writers of The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, the effects are "way beyond anything seen on TV previously".[170] Impressed by their work on Thunderbirds, film director Stanley Kubrick hired several members of Meddings' staff to supervise the effects shooting for 2001: A Space Odyssey.[171][172]

Gerry Anderson planned the 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.[44] In a departure from the style of Stingray, the Thunderbirds title sequence varies with each episode: the first part consists of an action montage that serves as a preview of the plot. Simon Archer and Marcus Hearn, biographers of Gerry Anderson, compare this device favourably to a film trailer.[44]

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.[44] Peel describes this as "ostensibly a return to the 'series stars' concept long known in TV", while Garland considers such imagery demonstrative of Anderson's commitment to "incremental realism" through a convergence of human and puppet characteristics.[173][174] Essayist Jonathan Bignell suggests that the use of portraits conveys Anderson's partiality to "visual revelation of machines and physical action".[175]

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.[8] Dyneley's countdown is particularly well remembered and has been widely quoted.[9][176][177] Dean Newman of the Syfy channel website ranks Thunderbirds eighth in a list of "Top 10 TV title sequences", while Den of Geek's Martin Anderson considers the sequence the best of any TV series.[178][179]

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 recorded in December 1964 at Olympic Studios in London.[45][180] The end titles were originally to have been accompanied by "Flying High", a lyrical track sung by Gary Miller with backing by Ken Barrie.[58] Ultimately, a variation of the march was used instead.[180] Incidental music was recorded over nine months between March and December 1965.[180][181] As most of the music budget was spent on the series' earlier episodes, later instalments drew heavily on APF's ever-expanding music library.[180][181]

Peel considers "The Thunderbirds March" to be "one of the best TV themes ever written—perfect for the show and catchy when heard alone".[182] 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, Elvis and The Beatles.[183] More generally, he praises the series' "catchy, pulse-quickening tunes", as well as Gray's aptitude for "musical nuance" and the mixing of genres.[183] Heather Phares of Allmusic considers "Thunderbirds Are Go!"—the track accompanying the launch sequences of Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 3—to be a reflection of the mod aspect of 1960s British spy fiction.[184] She also highlights Gray's homage to—and divergence from—musical norms, commenting that his score "sends up the spy and action/adventure conventions of the '60s very stylishly and subtly".[184]

David Huckvale identifies Wagnerian homage in both the theme music and the series' premise.[185] 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 those warrior maidens, but they do hover over danger, death and destruction."[185] Kevin J. Donnelly of the University of Southampton acknowledges the series' "big-sounding orchestral score", which he compares to that of a live-action film.[186] He also suggests that the music serves partly to draw attention away from the physical imperfections of the puppets.[186]

The feature-length film sequels Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 were released in 1966 and 1968. The first was greenlit by Lew Grade before the TV series had started its broadcast run.[255] Written and produced by the Andersons and directed by David Lane, both films were distributed by United Artists. Neither was a critical or commercial success, and Century 21 Cinema's plans for further sequels were abandoned.[256][257]

In the early 1980s, episodes of Thunderbirds and other Supermarionation series were re-edited by ITC's New York offices to create a series of compilation films.[258] Branded "Super Space Theater", this format was mostly intended for family viewing on American cable and syndicated TV.[258] Three Thunderbirds features were produced: Thunderbirds to the Rescue, Thunderbirds in Outer Space and Countdown to Disaster.[259]

Plans for a live-action film adaptation were first announced in 1993.[260][261] These eventually culminated in the 2004 film Thunderbirds, directed by Jonathan Frakes and produced by StudioCanal and Working Title Films. It was a critical and commercial failure and was poorly received by fans of the TV series.[229][262]

The Andersons sold their intellectual and profit participation rights to Thunderbirds and their other productions in the 1970s.[263][264] As a result, they had no developmental control over subsequent adaptations of their works.[229][265] Thunderbirds was first remade for TV in the early 1980s as Thunderbirds 2086.[196][229] In this anime re-imagining, set 20 years after the original, the vastly expanded IR is based within an arcology and operates 17 Thunderbird machines.[266] It was inspired by Thunderhawks, an updated story concept by Gerry Anderson and Reg Hill that later served as the basis for Anderson's Supermacromation series Terrahawks.[267][268]

Two re-edited series, based on condensed versions of 13 of the original episodes, aired in the US in 1994.[260] The first, Thunderbirds USA, was broadcast as part of the Fox Kids programming block; the second, Turbocharged Thunderbirds, was syndicated by UPN.[269] Developed as a comedy, Turbocharged Thunderbirds moved the action to the planet "Thunder-World" and combined the original puppet footage with new live-action scenes featuring a pair of human teenagers.[270][271]

As well as Thunderhawks, Anderson developed other ideas for a remake. A 1976 concept, Inter-Galactic Rescue 4, was to have featured a variable-configuration craft capable of performing rescues on land and sea, in air and in space; Anderson pitched the idea to NBC, who rejected it.[258][272] This was followed in 1984 by another proposed updating, T-Force, which at first could not be pursued owing to a lack of funding.[273] Development resumed in 1993, when it was decided to produce the series, now titled GFI, using cel animation. But Anderson was disappointed with the results and the production was abandoned.[274]

In 2005, Anderson re-affirmed his wish to remake Thunderbirds but stated that he had been unable to secure the necessary rights from Granada Ventures.[197] His negotiations with the company and its successor, ITV plc, continued for the next few years.[197][253] In 2008, he expressed his commitment to creating an "updated" version, ideally using CGI; three years later, he announced that work on the new series had commenced.[275][276] Following Anderson's death in December 2012, it was confirmed that ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures had struck a deal to remake Thunderbirds using a combination of CGI and live-action model sets.[277][278] The new series, titled Thunderbirds Are Go, premiered in April 2015.[3]

In July 2015, to mark the series' 50th anniversary, Filmed in Supermarionation documentary director Stephen La Rivière launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to finance new Thunderbirds episodes based on the soundtracks of three of the tie-in mini-albums from the 1960s. The project, titled Thunderbirds 1965, was supported by ITV, Sylvia Anderson and the estate of Gerry Anderson. The fundraiser proved successful, raising £218,412 against its initial goal of £75,000 and stretch goal of £195,000.[279] Produced by Pod 4 Films (later Century 21 Films), the three-episode mini-series saw the return of some of the original Thunderbirds crew, including director David Elliott.[4] After a premiere screening at the BFI Southbank in August 2016,[280] the mini-series was initially made available only to its Kickstarter backers until August 2020, when the three episodes, subtitled The Anniversary Episodes, were made available for public viewing through their inclusion alongside the original series on BritBox.[281][282]

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