Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds was a 1960's British children's TV show created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson which featured marionettes and miniatures effects. The Andersons' unique form of marionette puppetry was referred to as Supermarionation, to give it a sense of grandeur. The series followed the adventures of International Rescue, an organization created to help those in grave danger using technically advanced equipment and machinery. The series focused on the head of the organization, ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, and his five sons who piloted the Thunderbirds machines. A popular show, the series is still shown today and has inspired a number of subsequent TV programs and films.

Thunderbirds is set in the 21st century. The show depicts the adventures of the Tracy family, which consists of millionaire and former astronaut Jeff Tracy and his five sons: Scott (pilot of Thunderbird 1 and principal rescue coordinator), Virgil (pilot of Thunderbird 2), Alan (astronaut in Thunderbird 3), Gordon (aquanaut in Thunderbird 4) and John (principal duty astronaut on the space station Thunderbird 5). Together with Jeff's elderly mother called Grandma Tracy, the scientific genius and engineer Brains, the family's manservant Kyrano, and his daughter Tin-Tin, the Tracy family live on a remote, uncharted island from which they launch their rescue operations.

The Thunderbirds are also occasionally aided by Lady Penelope, their refined London agent who maintains a luxurious mansion and high scoial position. She is assisted by her manservant and chauffeur, Parker, a reformed criminal. Lady Penelope customarily tools around in her amphibious Rolls-Royce FAB-1, which is equipped with James Bond-style gadgets. Lady Penelope's yacht was called FAB-2. Lady Penelope was primarily involved in two of the show's episodes, "The Perils Of Penelope" and "Man From MI5".

Each episode featured fantastic vehicles and machines primarily designed by special effects director Derek Meddings. In particular, the five Thunderbird craft used by International Rescue, were arguably the series' real stars:
* Thunderbird 1 – Hypersonic variable geometry rocket plane used for fast response, rescue zone reconnaissance, and as a mobile control base.
* Thunderbird 2 – Heavy supersonic VTOL carrier lifting body aircraft used for the transport of major rescue equipment and vehicles.
* Thunderbird 3 – Reusable, vertically launched SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit) spaceship used for space rescue and maintenance of Thunderbird 5.
* Thunderbird 4 – Small utility submersible for underwater rescue.
* Thunderbird 5 – Earth-orbiting space station which monitors all broadcasts around the globe for calls for help and also manages communications within International Rescue.

The program was notable for the high quality of its miniature special effects. The effects supervisor on all of Anderson's shows from Supercar to UFO was Derek Meddings, who went on to produce special effects for the James Bond and Superman movies (Meddings won an Oscar for the first Superman film). Another crucial element of the show's success was its thrilling music score, composed and conducted by Barry Gray, who provided all the music for the Anderson series up to and including Space: 1999 series one. His "Thunderbirds March" is one of the best-known of all TV themes.

A total of 32 episodes of Thunderbirds were made between 1965 and 1966 for ITV. Thunderbirds ceased production very suddenly in the Autumn of 1966, six episodes into the second series. This was a decision made by Lew Grade after an unsuccessful trip to the U.S. to sell the program. The popularity of the series, however, led to the production of two full length feature films, with financial backing by United Artists. During the early 1980s, several Thunderbirds episodes were combined to create three Thunderbirds television films.

Several companies, including Matchbox and Dinky, were licensed to produced die-cast metal and plastic toys based on the Thunderbird vehicles. They proved hugely popular and were one of the best selling merchandising lines of the decade. Original Thunderbirds toys are now expensive and highly sought after collectors' items. Many toys were made by Matchbox in the 90's to coincide with a revival of the TV series, including a Tracy Island playset and also the new movie, though they were generally marketed outside the US and in Canada. The Tracy Island set was particularly popular in the UK. Toy company BanDai produced toys to coincide with the release of the 2004 live action movie in the UK. As of 2007, Japanese companies such as Aoshima, Konami and Takara were still producing new Thunderbirds toys based on the original series vehicles, including Takara's very expensive Thunderbird 2 model.