british show "thunderbirds"?

[Daveroo]

im reading the magazine military machines interantional,,they have a story about a combat engeering vehical,,called a CET in brit terms i guess,,,but a show called "thunderbirds" used them back in the day i guess,anyone know the show? or anything about it?...all i get is thunderbirds are go ,,,i dont think they mean that

 

[AndyG43]

Does anyone know the show? Dave, back in the 60's Gerry Anderson WAS children's TV, with a succession of puppet-based shows that have since become cult classics.

Thunderbirds was probably his most successful one, but there were others (Stingray, Joe 90, Fireball XL5 & Captain Scarlet). By today's standards they look fairly primitive, but they captured the imagination back then, and have continued to do so; my nephew and my son (now 19 & 18 respectively) got hooked on it about 10 years ago. It never quite seems to go away; there was a live action film a few years ago (not terribly good) & Gerry Anderson has said that he is actually starting production of a new series.

The ultimate tribute is a group of volunteers, who have assisted at a lot of disasters over the past 25 years (including Haiti) have called themselves the International Rescue Corps.

A few links for you:

http://www.thunderbirdsonline.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbirds_(TV_series)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Anderson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Rescue_Corps

 

[SpitXIV]

Re: Same

I grew up watching Fireball XL5 and Supercar, However I did buy Capt Scarlet
on dvd for The female fighter pilots.

 

[Matt Wynn]

However I did buy Capt Scarlet
on dvd for The female fighter pilots.

ahh yes Rhapsody, Harmony, Melody and Symphony and their Angel Interceptors....

It was still aired well into the 90's and is still aired today! i remember being a youngster and watching it, even remember having all the Thunderbirds and Tracy Island toys.... also had a load of Captain Scarlet stuff, few Stingray bits..... heck i still think Stingray is one of the coolest vehicles to look at

 

[Okami]

I remember first seeing it in 1993, when in the summer the series was first re-aired on Dutch television, and weeks later the entire series was aired on BBC1 (on Fridays at 6 PM). Soon I had the entire set of Matchbox vehicles and figurines (twice, eventually!), and I also tried to build my own Tracy Island after the famous Blue Peter episode that showed you how to do it (as Matchbox simply couldn't produce enough due to popular demand!)

Later, of course, came the repeats of Stingray (which predated Thunderbirds) and Captain Scarlet (one of Gerry Anderson's later series), which hooked me even further.

Even so, Thunderbirds remained the more favourite of his series - such was its popular impact, that famously, the Concorde prototype was rolled out to the tunes of the Thunderbirds March a couple of years later.

Here's the first episode of Thunderbirds (1965) on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6eY3ZA5XQ

... the first episode of Stingray (1964):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lp-PIfZMSs

An finally, for a very interesting comparison: here's the first episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx412jDfjNc

... and what happened when Gerry Anderson discovered CG (New Captain Scarlet, 2005):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3JBnRh8OCc


Also, his work inspired many in the FS community: so, for instance, Libardo Guzman who not too long ago released a magnificent model of Thunderbird 2:



(Incidently, I think they're looking for my lost airmen as well - that means it won't take long for them to be found now...)

Nikko

 

[Okami]

Incidently, since I was suddenly reminded of this - BBC also aired the classic Captain Scarlet series again exactly 10 years ago, starting on Monday, September 10th 2001. However, the episode that was initially planned for September 17th was pulled, and only shown much later (February or March of 2002). As fate had it, that would have been this episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92Fwb15-gw

 

[AndyG43]

..... heck i still think Stingray is one of the coolest vehicles to look at

And a brilliant example of the inventiveness of Gerry Anderson and his team; budgets were always tight, so they used whatever materials came to hand - famously the propellor/drive of Stingray was taken from a standard kitchen tap (or faucet, if you are on the other side of the Atlantic).

 

[Okami]

... Not to mention the lemon squeezer in the Thunderbird 1 launch bay...

They were also rather adept at adapting existing models - you can barely recognise the B-58 Hustler in the SAR-jet design, or the Aurora Saab Draken model used to model the Red Arrow research jet (respecively seen in Thunderbirds episodes 'Operation Crash-dive' and 'Edge of Impact').

Most of the Thunderbirds episodes have somehow withstood time very well - especially poignant to watch, with recent history in mind, are the episodes "Terror in New York City", "City of Fire", and "The Mighty Atom"...

 

[Daveroo]

ok,thanks,saw this puppett thing,thought the mag meant live action,,will check it out

 

[molyned]

Well you did ask

Bet you wish you hadn't asked
Pretty well every Brit simmer here remembers the Thunderbirds with great affection.
Never mind that you could see the wires !
The crew were named after the original U.S. astronauts.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

 

[Piglet]

SpecView attachment 48126trum is Green!

 

[Matt Wynn]

i had that as a toy the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle... many memories right there

 

[ThinkingManNeil]

There's a chap over in the UK by the name of Keith McNeill who does some great model photography of Gerry Anderson's work; he also does some spectacular and very realistic photography of real-world spacecraft as well as other sci-fi subjects.

Gerry Anderson's work wasn't restricted to to his Supermariation projects; he also did live action TV series like UFO and Space 1999. But a personal favourite of mine was a full-length, live action theatrical film he did called "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" (aka Doppelganger in Europe)

Video

N.


PS. My favourite Thunderbird was Thunderbird 2, but my favourite model set from the series was the launch bay for Thunderbird 1 with its funicular launcher railway

View attachment 48150

 

[Tako_Kichi]

PS. My favourite Thunderbird was Thunderbird 2, but my favourite model set from the series was the launch bay for Thunderbird 1 with its funicular launcher railway

IIRC didn't the swimming pool swing to one side or open in some way to allow TB1 on it's furnicular to rise to the launch position or did it just move/open to allow TB1 access to the sky? The brain is foggy after all these years.

When I was a wee kid a buddy had the plastic model of TB2 complete with removable pod containing TB4 (or was it the Mole?) I was very jealous of him and begged my parents for my own TB model. They, in their infinite wisdom or lack of TB insight, bought me TB3 instead.....boring!

 

[Tako_Kichi]

View attachment 48150

Hmmm...is it just me or do those cream and green blocks in the upper right corner of that shot look remarkably like cut down keys from a Bontempi organ or possibly the keys from a plastic melodica? Both items were extremely popular with kids at the time Thunderbirds was on the TV.

 

[Matt Wynn]

the pool opened sideways and TB1 went for it from there, TB2 appeared from a mountain faxe and taxiied onto a launch ramp, TB3 took off from between an 'O' shaped building, and TB4 was deployed via Pod, TB5 was permanently in space just watching them all again now.... now who do i blame for this flood of nostalgia?

 

[AndyG43]

the pool opened sideways and TB1 went for it from there, TB2 appeared from a mountain faxe and taxiied onto a launch ramp, TB3 took off from between an 'O' shaped building, and TB4 was deployed via Pod, TB5 was permanently in space just watching them all again now.... now who do i blame for this flood of nostalgia?

The first two were, of course, beautifully ripped off by Nick Park for Wallace & Gromit's use.

 

[Eoraptor1]

I loved Thunderbirds when I was a little boy. I'm right on the border with Canada, so we always got a lot of Canadian television, a lot of which came from Britain in those days. Unfortunately, Thunderbirds came on right as I was supposed to go off to school, so I usually didn't get to see it all the way through unless I was sick or there was a snow day. I loved Captain Scarlet too, but got to see that show even less than Thunderbirds. I had a die cast metal Spectrum security vehicle that I recently gave to a friend. It's his now. I'm hoping he'll be able to strip what's left of the orginal beaten up (by me) paint job and restore it to its former glory.

JAMES