Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds was a 1960s Sylvia and Gerry Anderson television show which used a form of puppetry called "Supermarionation" which followed the adventures of International Rescue, an organisation designed to help those in grave danger using technically advanced machinery. more...

In particular the series focussed on the head of the organisation, ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, and his five sons who piloted the "Thunderbirds" vehicles. Popular at the time, the series is still shown today and has inspired a number of later television programmes and films.

Overview

Thunderbirds was the fourth children's action-adventure series made by Gerry Anderson's AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) and remains by far their most successful and enduringly popular production. Two seasons were produced, comprising thirty-two episodes in total. Production commenced in 1964 and the series premiered on British television in September 1965 in the ATV Midlands region. Other ITV regions followed, including London on 25 December 1965.

Gerry Anderson developed the Thunderbids plot outline quickly while driving to see Lew Grade to review the next Supermarionation series. Anderson had been inspired to write the series after a contemporary German mine disaster, where the heavy equipment needed to rescue the miners was located far away - transportation time was a major hinderance in the survival of the miners. The "race against time" element is one of the recurring themes in Thunderbirds.

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