Thunderbirds - To The Rescue

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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. The Uninvited": After Scott has crash landed in the desert, Jeff says that there is not a single solitary soul for miles. There is a cut to Scott in the desert, and the archaeologists coming across him. Later, the archaeologists say they will die without water, and there is a cut to Tintin saying "The water's lovely!" in the swimming pool at Tracy Island. Vehicle Porn: The series is a celebration of futuristic technology. As such, the Thunderbird machines are as much main characters as the Tracy family. Each episode treats us to loving, slow shots of them — at minimum — taking off and landing. The Vehicles Of The Week get similar treatment, although only to start the excitement for them to get into trouble and be rescued (or explode spectacularly) by the end of the episode.

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...

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Character Voices: Sylvia Anderson, Ray Barrett, Peter Dyneley, Christine Finn, David Graham, David Holliday, Shane Rimmer, Matt Zimmerman The second television newsflash, and Scott showing up at the Tracy Villa with his basket of farm produce

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. Epic Launch Sequence: Tracy Island seems to have been completely repurposed specifically to facilitate this trope, as each of the eponymous vehicles gets its own lengthy sequence of being moved into position every time they launch, complete with sections of the landscape moving aside. Shortly after its native cancellation, Robert Mandell was placed in charge by ITC Entertainment to adapt the series for an international market. While TechnoBoyager was a standalone production, Mandell and his team adapted it into a far(ther) future version of Thunderbirds, hoping brand recognition would make for greater sales. Now titled Thunderbirds 2086, the series was launched in 1983. Clown Car: Thunderbird 2's pods can contain any number of heavy vehicles needed for the rescue. This is most apparent in Trapped In The Sky when just one elevator car, barely fitting out the door, looks like it fills the whole pod alone; over the course of the rescue, another three will come out to join it. Are those things inflatable?To the Batpole!: The famous "rotating furniture" that took the Tracys from the house to the hangars. In City of Fire, there is also a revolving desk in a control room, which does not appear to serve much purpose. Meaningful Name: The sons of Jeff Tracy are all named after famous astronauts of the 1960s, specifically, the Mercury Seven: Alan Shepard, Virgil Grissom, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, and Scott Carpenter. Obstructive Code of Conduct: IR's policy of strict secrecy concerning their equipment when the Tracy family could possibly save thousands of lives, not mention make a spectacular profit, by licensing out the designs of their Thunderbird vehicles to the various nations and organisations wanting to augment their own emergency response forces. Presumably, this is to keep IR's equipment unique and the plot complication of keeping that secrecy. Although it's also stated that IR's technology could be used for destruction if it fell into the wrong hands.

Comm Links: Each member of the Tracy Island crew has a wristwatch that doubles as a video phone, capable of transmitting to the other side of the planet, in a world where cellphone technology does not exist. Thunderbird 4: Extremely similar to the original, being a yellow submarine, although much larger in size. 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. [41] This was coated with Bondaglass ( fibreglass mixed with resin) and enhanced with Bondapaste, a putty-like substance, to accentuate contours. [109] [119] 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. [120] Puppets known as "revamps", which had plastic heads, portrayed the supporting characters. [121] These marionettes started their working lives with only a mouth and eyes; their faces were remoulded from one episode to the next. [122] [123] Particularly striking revamp moulds were retained and, as their numbers increased, photographed to compile an internal casting directory. [124] Thunderbird 2: a green supersonic carrier aircraft that transports supporting rescue vehicles and equipment in detachable capsules called "pods". Piloted by Virgil. [13] During the opening speech for every episode, the narrator declares "Conceptions in rescue that can challenge the impossible!". This same line was previously used in ITC's trailer for To The Rescue.Against that, at the start of "Trapped in the Sky", the flight time of Fireflash's maiden commercial flight (between London and Tokyo) is given as 2 hours. That actually works out to be pretty close for a cruise altitude of 250,000 feet as given in the episode. 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.!

Later on, Tin-Tin and Brains visit Professor Blakely in the hospital, and he seems OK. Now that the world knows about their discoveries at Lake Anasta, Tin-Tin asks him how he feels about being a celebrity. He seems to take it in his stride, but then asks how the two of them are fixed up over the next few months. He has a new expedition planned already - some treasure lost in a sunken ship off the Caribbean, 400 years ago... The Master Computer on Moonbase Omega is due to be replaced. In response, the program takes over the colony and mass-produces an army of assault vehicles. IRO's efforts only make matters worse, as the runaway Computer counters their retaliation by draining the life support of its captured humans.

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Big Anime Eyes: Due to the limits of the Supermarionation technology at the time, the puppets had heads that were disproportionately large with exaggerated facial features, including this trope. This turned out to be a good thing: when they developed the ability to use realistically-proportioned puppets for Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, they found that the smaller eyes were far less emotive, and went for a middle ground in Joe 90.