| 2 | "Pit of Peril" | Desmond Saunders | Alan Fennell | 7 October 1965 | 2 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A 500-ton U.S. Army walker, Sidewinder, falls into a pit during testing and International Rescue are called to save the crew trapped inside. | ||||||
Thunderbirds is a British science-fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, made by their production company AP Films, and distributed by ITC Entertainment. Filmed between 1964 and 1966, it was produced using marionette puppetry combined with scale-model special effects sequences in a hybrid filming technique dubbed "Supermarionation". Two series and thirty-two 50-minute episodes were filmed; production ended after the Andersons' financial backer, Lew Grade, failed in his bid to sell the programme to American network television.
A follow-up to the earlier Supermarionation productions Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray,Thunderbirds is set in 2065. It concerns the exploits of International Rescue (IR), a life-saving organisation aided in its humanitarian mission by technologically advanced land, sea, air and space rescue vehicles; these are led by the Thunderbird machines and launched from a secret base – Tracy Island – in the South Pacific Ocean. The main characters are IR's founder, the ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, and his five adult sons, who pilot the Thunderbird machines.
Thunderbirds debuted in the UK on ATV's franchises in 1965, and has since been broadcast in at least 66 other countries.[5] Periodically repeated by the BBC and other networks, the series was adapted for radio in the early 1990s and has influenced numerous TV programmes (including a Japanese remake) and other media. It has also entailed several merchandising campaigns, and has been followed by three feature-length films and a mimed stage adaptation. A volunteer organisation, the International Rescue Corps, takes its name from the series.
Widely considered the most popular and commercially successful series created by the Andersons,[6][7]Thunderbirds has been particularly highly praised for its effects (directed by Derek Meddings) and musical score (composed by Barry Gray).[2][8] The series is also well remembered for its title sequence, which opens with an often-quoted countdown by voice actor Peter Dyneley: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1: Thunderbirds Are Go!" A part-live action, part-CGI remake, Thunderbirds Are Go!, will be broadcast on CITV in 2015, the 50th anniversary year of the original.
Thunderbirds follows the adventures of the Tracy family, headed by Jeff Tracy, an American multi-millionaire philanthropist. Jeff is a widower whose five adult sons – Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan[Note 1] – are named after Mercury Seven astronauts (Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Gordon Cooper and Alan Shepard).[10] Unknown to the rest of the world, the Tracys are the force behind International Rescue (IR): a top-secret organisation, founded and funded by Jeff, which is committed to saving human life. The family are assisted in this mission by technologically advanced land, sea, air and space rescue vehicles and equipment, which are called into service after conventional rescue techniques have proven ineffective. Foremost is a fleet of five machines called the "Thunderbirds", each assigned to one of the five Tracy brothers:
Along with the scientist Brains (the inventor of the Thunderbird machines), the Malaysian manservant Kyrano,[13] Kyrano's daughter Tin-Tin (who is also Alan's romantic interest) and Jeff's elderly mother,[14] the family reside in a luxurious villa on the uncharted Tracy Island, located in the South Pacific Ocean.[Note 2][15] In this remote location, IR is protected from criminal and spy elements jealous of its technological superiority and desperate to acquire the secrets of its machines. That Tracy Island serves as IR's base of operations is not evident from the air, since the Thunderbirds and Pod Vehicles are housed in underground hangars accessible only via concealed launch chutes. Visitors to the island are kept ignorant of the Tracys' double life with the aid of the "Operation Cover-Up" security protocol, which physically erases evidence of IR's presence.
While the organisation's principles are humanitarian, IR's rescue operations are sometimes necessitated not by misadventure but by deliberate sabotage driven by human greed for power and wealth. For missions requiring criminal investigation or military intelligence, the organisation incorporates a network of undercover agents, headed by English aristocrat Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and her Cockney butler and chauffeur Aloysius "Nosey" Parker. Based at Creighton-Ward Mansion in Kent, Penelope and Parker's primary mode of transport is FAB 1 – an amphibious, pink Rolls-Royce. The most persistent of IR's enemies is the criminal known as the Hood.[Note 2][16] Operating from a temple in the Malaysian jungle, and possessing abilities of hypnosis and voodoo-like dark magic, he is a master of physical disguise and exerts telepathic control over his estranged half-brother, Kyrano. Exploiting Kyrano's weak-mindedness and inside knowledge of IR, the Hood regularly manipulates the Tracys into rescue missions that unfold according to his own nefarious designs; this gives him opportunities to spy on the Thunderbirdmachines and – by selling their stolen secrets – become rich.
According to the official scriptwriters' guide, the events of Thunderbirds open in 2065 – a year consistent with the 2060s settings of the earlier AP Films seriesFireball XL5 and Stingray.[17][18] The series finale, "Give or Take a Million", is set in December 2067.[19] Gerry Anderson envisaged a timeframe "100 years into the future";[20] this is supported by visual evidence in the episode "30 Minutes After Noon",[21] as well as by tie-ins such as the TV Century 21 comic strip[22] and the Century 21 mini-album "Thunderbird 3".[23] Some episodes point to earlier settings; for example, a wall calendar prop suggests that the events of "Give or Take a Million" occur in 2026.[19] Anderson, however, refuted the latter setting, stating that the year on the calendar was simply a continuity error and that Thunderbirds was "definitely" set in 2065.[20] He elaborated that design aspects occasionally overruled continuity concerns, and pointed out that "no one expected these programmes to be watched even a second time" due to the scarcity of repeats on 1960s British television.[20]
Though spoken as one, the IR call sign "F.A.B." (defined by Collins English Dictionary 2002 as "an expression of agreement to, or acknowledgement of, a command"),[24] was not conceived as an initialism.[25] When asked what the code stood for in 2000, Anderson replied: "absolutely nothing! ... The abbreviation "fab", as in "fabulous", was all the rage and I just changed it a bit."[26] He also described it as the "futuristic equivalent for 'Roger', i.e. 'Message received and understood'".