Used Children's Book published in the UK


Thunderbirds #3 Sun Probe by Dave Morris - 1992 Young Corgi Books UK

A rocket is launched on a daring mission - to fire a probe into the sun. But something goes badly wrong and the rocket is suddenly heading straight for the sun. It's certain death for the solarnauts on board, unless International Rescue can help.

Brains comes up with a plan of rescue and Thunderbird 3 blasts off into space. But can Alan fly close enough to the sun to save the doomed solornauts? For the heat and radiation could destroy Thunderbird 3...

A thrilling and action-packed adventure based on an episode from the popular TV series.



Thunderbirds (Young Corgi Novelizations) were a series of books written by Dave Morris in 1992.

Four original episodes of Thunderbirds were novelized. They were: The Uninvited, Brink of Disaster, Sun Probe and Atlantic Inferno.




Thunderbirds is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, filmed by their production company AP Films (APF) and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It was made between 1964 and 1966 using a form of electronic marionette puppetry (dubbed "Supermarionation") combined with scale-model special effects sequences. Two series, totalling thirty-two 50-minute episodes, were filmed; production ended with the completion of the sixth episode of the second series after Lew Grade, the Andersons' financial backer, failed in his bid to sell the programme to American network television.

Set in the 2060s, Thunderbirds is a follow-up to the earlier Supermarionation productions Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray. It follows the exploits of International Rescue, a life-saving organisation equipped with technologically-advanced land, sea, air and space rescue craft; these are headed by a fleet of five vehicles named the Thunderbirds and launched from the organisation's secret base of operations in the Pacific Ocean. The main characters are ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, leader of International Rescue, and his five adult sons, who pilot the Thunderbird machines.

Thunderbirds debuted in September 1965 on the ITV network. The series was exported to around 30 countries during the 1960s. Periodically repeated, it was adapted for radio in the 1990s and has influenced many TV programmes and other media. Besides tie-in merchandise, the series has been followed by two feature film sequels, an anime adaptation, a mime theatre show and a live-action film. A remake, Thunderbirds Are Go, premiered in 2015; the same year, three new episodes, based on tie-in audio plays and made using the same techniques as the original series, were created to mark the series' 50th anniversary.

Widely regarded as the Andersons' most popular and commercially successful series, Thunderbirds has been praised for its special effects (directed by Derek Meddings) and musical score (composed by Barry Gray). It is also remembered for its title sequence, which begins with an oft-quoted countdown by Jeff Tracy voice actor Peter Dyneley: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1: Thunderbirds Are Go!" A real-life rescue service, the International Rescue Corps, is named after the organisation featured in the series.

Premise
Further information: List of Thunderbirds episodes
Set between 2065 and 2067, Thunderbirds follows the exploits of the Tracy family, headed by American industrialist and ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy. Jeff is a widower with five adult sons: Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan. The Tracys make up International Rescue, a secret organisation founded to save human life. They are aided in this mission by technologically-advanced land, sea, air and space vehicles that are called into service when conventional rescue methods prove ineffective. The most important of these vehicles are the five "Thunderbird machines", each assigned to one of the five Tracy brothers:

Thunderbird 1: a blue and silver hypersonic rocket plane used for fast response and danger zone reconnaissance. Piloted by Scott, rescue co-ordinator.
Thunderbird 2: a green supersonic carrier aircraft that transports supporting rescue vehicles and equipment in detachable capsules called "pods". Piloted by Virgil.
Thunderbird 3: a red single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft. Piloted alternately by Alan and John, with Scott as co-pilot.
Thunderbird 4: a utility yellow submersible. Piloted by Gordon and usually launched from Thunderbird 2.
Thunderbird 5: a grey and gold space station that relays distress calls from around the world. Manned alternately by "space monitors" John and Alan.
The family live on Tracy Island, International Rescue's base of operations in the South Pacific Ocean, in a luxurious villa that they share with four others: Jeff's mother, Grandma Tracy; the scientist and engineer Brains, who designed the Thunderbirds machines; Brains' assistant Tin-Tin, who is also Alan's girlfriend; and Tin-Tin's father Kyrano, the Tracys' retainer. In this remote location, International Rescue is safe from criminals and spies who envy its technology and aim to acquire the secrets of the Thunderbird machines.

Some of International Rescue's operations are triggered by sabotage or negligence instead of accidents. For missions requiring espionage, the organisation incorporates a network of undercover agents headed by English aristocrat Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and her butler Aloysius Parker. Based at Creighton-Ward Mansion in Kent, Penelope and Parker travel in FAB 1, a specially-modified Rolls-Royce. Members of International Rescue acknowledge orders with the expression "FAB" (a shortening of the 1960s vogue word "fabulous", but spoken like an initialism: "F-A-B").

International Rescue's most persistent opponent is master criminal the Hood. Based in a temple in the Malaysian jungle and possessing powers of hypnosis and dark magic, the Hood exerts a telepathic control over Kyrano, his estranged half-brother, and manipulates the Tracys into rescues that unfold according to his own malevolent designs. This gives him opportunities to spy on the Thunderbird machines and, by selling their secrets, make himself rich.

Production

Thunderbirds was the fourth Supermarionation puppet TV series to be produced by APF, which was founded by the husband-and-wife duo of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (née Thamm) with their business partners Arthur Provis, Reg Hill, and John Read. Pitched in late 1963, the series was commissioned by Lew Grade of ITC, APF's parent company, on the back of the positive audience response to Stingray.

Gerry Anderson drew inspiration for the series' underlying concept from the West German mining disaster known as the Wunder von Lengede ("Miracle of Lengede"). In October 1963, the collapse of a nearby dam flooded an iron mine in the municipality of Lengede, killing 29 miners and trapping 21 others underground. Lacking the means to drill an escape shaft, the authorities were forced to requisition a heavy-duty bore from Bremen; despite the considerable time necessary to transport the bore by rail significantly reducing the chances of a successful rescue, 11 of the trapped miners were eventually saved. Recognising the advantages of swifter crisis response, Anderson conceived the idea of an "international rescue" organisation that could use supersonic aircraft to transport specialised rescue equipment quickly over long distances.

Seeking to distinguish his 26-episode proposal from APF's earlier productions, Anderson attempted to pitch stories at a level that would appeal to both adults and children. Whereas previous series had been shown during the late afternoon, Anderson wanted Thunderbirds to be broadcast in a family-friendly primetime slot. Sylvia remembers that "our market had grown and a 'kidult' show ... was the next step." The Andersons retired to their holiday villa in Portugal to expand the premise, script the pilot episode and compose a scriptwriters' guide. According to Sylvia, the writing process depended on a "division of labour", whereby Gerry created the action sequences while she managed characterisation. 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. The Tracy brothers were named after Mercury Seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Gordon Cooper and Alan Shepard.

The series' title was derived from a letter written by Gerry's brother, Lionel, while he had been serving overseas as an RAF flight sergeant during World War II. While stationed in Arizona, Lionel had made reference to Thunderbird Field, a nearby United States Army Air Forces base. Drawn to the "punchiness" of "Thunderbirds", Anderson renamed the series, whose working title had been "International Rescue", as well as the star vehicles, which had initially been designated Rescues 1 to 5. His inspiration for the launch sequences of Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 3 originated from contemporary US Air Force launch procedure: Anderson had learnt how the Strategic Air Command would keep its pilots on permanent standby, seated in the cockpits of their aircraft and ready for take-off at a moment's notice.

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". 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.

Filming
Thunderbirds was filmed at APF's studios on the Slough Trading Estate between 1964 and 1966. In preparation, the number of full-time crew was expanded to 100. Shooting began in September 1964 after five months of pre-production. Due to the new series' technical complexity, this was a period longer than for any of APF's earlier productions. 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"). 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.

Alan Pattillo, a longtime scriptwriter and director for APF, was appointed the company's first official script editor in late 1964. 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. 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. 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. In a contemporary interview, Hill noted that Thunderbirds contained several times as many shots as a typical live-action series. 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.

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). 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. The crew, who had been filming at a rate of two 25-minute episodes every two weeks, 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. 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." APF spent over seven months extending the existing episodes.

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. He found that the longer format created opportunities to strengthen the characterisation. 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. He compares the writing favourably to that of live-action drama. 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.

Filming of Series One was completed in December 1965. A second series was also commissioned late that year and entered production in March 1966. Barwick became a full-time member of the writing staff and took over the role of script editor from the outgoing Pattillo. 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. 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. 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. 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".

Production of Thunderbirds ended in August 1966 with the completion of the sixth episode of Series Two. 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. In July, he cancelled Thunderbirds after failing in his second attempt to secure an American buyer. 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.

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

Casting and characters

Dialogue recording sessions were supervised by the Andersons and Reg Hill, with Sylvia Anderson in charge of casting.[22][71] Dialogue was recorded once per month at a rate of two scripts per session.[72] Supporting parts were not pre-assigned, but negotiated by the cast among themselves.[71] 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.[73] The tapes were edited at Gate Recording Theatre in Birmingham.[74]

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.[20][30] 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.[72][75][76] 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.[77]

British actor David Graham was among the first to be cast.[78] He had previously voiced characters in Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray.[76] Beyond the APF productions, he had supplied one of the original Dalek voices on Doctor Who.[76] Cast alongside Graham was Australian actor Ray Barrett.[75] Like Graham, he had worked for the Andersons before, having voiced Titan and Commander Shore in Stingray.[79] A veteran of radio drama, Barrett was skilled at performing a range of voices and accents in quick succession.[75] Villains of the week would typically be voiced by either Barrett or Graham.[76] 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.[80][81][82]

Although Lady Penelope and Parker (the latter voiced by Graham) were among the first characters developed, neither was conceived as a major role.[83][84] Parker's Cockney manner was based on a waiter at a pub in Cookham that was sometimes visited by the crew.[84] On Gerry Anderson's recommendation, Graham dined there regularly to study the accent.[85] Anderson's first choice for the role of Penelope had been Fenella Fielding, but Sylvia insisted she take the part herself.[76][86] Her Penelope voice was intended to emulate Fielding and Joan Greenwood.[76] 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.'"[30]

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.[72] Shane Rimmer, the voice of Scott, was cast on the strength of his performance on the BBC soap opera Compact.[75] Meanwhile, fellow Canadian Matt Zimmerman was selected at a late stage in the process.[72] 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."[87]

Christine Finn, known for her role in the TV serial Quatermass and the Pit, provided the voices of Tin-Tin Kyrano and Grandma Tracy.[76] 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.[87][88]

Design and effects
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.[89][90] Bob Bell, assisted by Keith Wilson and Grenville Nott, headed the art department for Series One.[91] 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.[92]

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.[93] 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.[93] 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.[94] 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."[95] 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.[94]

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

Puppets
The head puppet sculptors were Christine Glanville and Mary Turner, who also served as the lead puppeteers. 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). Since pairs of episodes were being filmed simultaneously on separate stages, the characters needed to be sculpted in duplicate. 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". The finished puppets were about 22 inches (56 cm) tall, or 1⁄3 adult human height.

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. This device was positioned inside the head unit; consequently, torsos and limbs appeared relatively small. 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." 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."

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. 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. The face of Jeff Tracy was based on that of Lorne Greene, Scott on Sean Connery, Alan on Robert Reed, John on Adam Faith and Charlton Heston, Brains on Anthony Perkins and Parker on Ben Warriss. 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.

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. This was coated with Bondaglass (fibreglass mixed with resin) and enhanced with Bondapaste, a putty-like substance, to accentuate contours. 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. Puppets known as "revamps", which had plastic heads, portrayed the supporting characters. These marionettes started their working lives with only a mouth and eyes; their faces were remoulded from one episode to the next. Particularly striking revamp moulds were retained and, as their numbers increased, photographed to compile an internal casting directory.

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

Each puppet's head was fitted with around ten thin tungsten steel wires. During the filming, dialogue was played into the studio using modified tape recorders that converted the feed into electronic pulses. Two of the wires relayed these pulses to the internal solenoid, completing the Supermarionation process. 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. 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.'" 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. As filming progressed, the crew started to dispense with wires and instead manipulate the puppets from the studio floor using rods.