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Thunderbirds is a 1960s 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 interwoven with scale-model special effects sequences, in the form of a mixed technique dubbed "Supermarionation". Two series, totalling thirty-two 50-minute episodes, were filmed; production was cancelled after the Andersons' financial backer, Lew Grade, failed in his bid to sell the programme to American network television.

Succeeding the previous Supermarionation productions Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray, Thunderbirds is set in 2065. It follows the exploits of International Rescue, a secret organisation established to save people who are in mortal danger with the aid of technologically advanced land-, sea-, air- and space-rescue vehicles and equipment, headed by the Thunderbird fleet and launched from a hidden island base in the South Pacific Ocean. The main characters are ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy (the founder of IR) and his five adult sons, who pilot the Thunderbird machines.

Thunderbirds premièred in the UK on ATV's franchises in 1965, and has since been broadcast in more than 30 other countries. Periodically repeated since its original 1965–66 broadcast by the BBC and on other channels, the series was adapted for radio in the early 1990s, and has influenced numerous other TV programmes (including a Japanese re-make), films and other media. It has entailed various merchandisingcampaigns, and has been followed by three feature-length films and a mimed stage adaptation.

Widely considered the most commercially successful and most popular series to have been created by the Andersons or produced by AP Films,[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Thunderbirds has received particular praise for its effects (supervised by Derek Meddings) and score (composed by Barry Gray). The affirmative radio code used by the main characters, "F.A.B.", has been defined in the Collins English Dictionary. A new re-make,Thunderbirds Are Go!, will be broadcast in 2015 on CITV, 50 years after the original.[9]

 

Storyline[edit]

Main articles: List of Thunderbirds episodes, Thunderbirds machinesand Thunderbird 2 pod vehicles

As stated by the official scriptwriters' guide, the events of Thunderbirdsopen in 2065, a year consistent with the settings of the earlier AP Filmsseries Fireball XL5 and Stingray.[10][11] The series finale, "Give or Take a Million", is in December 2067.[12] Gerry Anderson envisioned a setting "100 years into the future",[13] a timeframe supported by visual evidence in the episode "30 Minutes After Noon",[14] and also corroborated by tie-in media such as the TV Century 21 "Thunderbirds" comic strip[15] and theCentury 21 mini-album "Thunderbird 3".[16] Some episodes point to earlier settings; for example, 1993 vintage champagne is referenced in "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker".[17] Although a prop calendar suggests that the events of "Give or Take a Million" occur in 2026, Anderson refuted the argument for this setting, stating that the year on the calendar was a continuity error and that Thunderbirds is "definitely" set in 2065.[12][13] He elaborated that design aspects occasionally overruled continuity concerns, and pointed out that, due to the scarcity of repeats in the 1960s, "no one expected these programmes to be watched even a second time".[13]

Thunderbirds follows the adventures of the Tracy family, headed by American multi-millionaire philanthropist Jeff Tracy. A widower, Jeff's adult sons – Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan[Note 1] – are named afterMercury Seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Gordon Cooper and Alan Shepard.[18]

Unknown to the public, the Tracys are the force behind International Rescue: a secret organisation committed to saving human life, founded and funded by Jeff. Assisting the family in this mission are technologically advanced land-, sea-, air- and space-rescue vehicles and equipment, deployed after conventional rescue techniques prove ineffective. Foremost are five machines called the Thunderbirds, each assigned to one of the five brothers:

  • Thunderbird 1 – a 115 feet (35 m)-long, hypersonic, variable-sweep wing rocket plane used for fast response and rescue-zone reconnaissance, and as a mobile control base. Piloted by primary rescue co-ordinator Scott Tracy.

  • Thunderbird 2 – a 250 feet (76 m)-long, supersonic, VTOL, lifting body carrier aircraft, which transports major rescue equipment and vehicles to rescue zones in detachable capsules known as "Pods". Piloted by Virgil.

  • Thunderbird 3 – a 287 feet (87 m)-tall, vertically-launched, re-usable, single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft used primarily for space rescue. Manned by astronaut Alan (with Scott as co-pilot).

  • Thunderbird 4 – a 30 feet (9.1 m)-long utility submersible used for underwater rescue. Piloted by aquanaut Gordon and typically launched from Thunderbird 2's Pod 4.

  • Thunderbird 5 – a space station, 296 feet (90 m) wide and in permanent geostationary orbit, which monitors SOStransmissions and relays communications within IR. Manned alternately by "Space Monitors" John and Alan and serviced by Thunderbird 3.[19][20]

The Tracy brothers wear a blue uniform comprising a polo-neck tunic, trousers, side cap and boots, with a sash (of a colour unique to each brother) carrying a gun holster, pouches and the IR insignia (an arm extended over the Earth's surface).

Along with "Brains" (birth name unknown), a scientist and the inventor of the Thunderbird machines, Malaysian manservantKyrano,[21] Kyrano's daughter (and Alan's romantic interest) Tin-Tin, and Jeff's mother,[22] the Tracys reside in the luxurious Tracy Villa on an un-charted island[Note 2] in the South Pacific Ocean.[23] Here, IR is safe from criminals and spies envious 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 hidden 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 existence.

Although the organisation's principles are humanitarian, IR's rescue operations are sometimes necessitated not bymisadventure, but by deliberate sabotage driven by human greed for power and money. 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 atCreighton-Ward Mansion in Kent, Penelope and Parker's primary mode of transport is FAB 1 – a pink, amphibious Rolls-Royce.

The most persistent of IR's enemies is the criminal known as the "Hood".[Note 2][24] Operating from a temple in the Malaysian jungle, and possessing powers of hypnosis and voodoo-like dark magic, he is a master of physical disguise and exerts atelepathic influence over his estranged half-brother, Kyrano. Exploiting Kyrano's weak-mindedness and inside knowledge of IR, the Hood regularly manoeuvres the Tracy brothers into rescues that unfold according to his own nefarious designs; this gives him opportunities to spy on the Thunderbird machines and, by selling their stolen secrets, become rich.

IR's call sign, "F.A.B." (defined by Collins English Dictionary 2002 as "an expression of agreement to, or acknowledgement of, a command"),[25] though spoken as an initialism, was not conceived as one.[26] When asked what the code abbreviated in 2000, Anderson responded: "... absolutely nothing! ... The abbreviation "fab", as in "fabulous", was all the rage and I just changed it a bit."[27] He had previously described "F.A.B." as the "futuristic equivalent for 'Roger', i.e. 'Message received and understood'".[28] Tie-ins interpreting the call sign as an initialism offer the unabbreviated form "Fully Advised and Briefed"

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