"Thunderbirds" (1965) TV series 1965-1966

Creators:

Gerry Anderson
Sylvia Anderson

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

15 September 1965 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Action | Family | Sci-Fi

Plot:

In the 21st century, the Tracy family operate a unique private mechanized emergency response service.

Plot Keywords:

Rescue | Futuristic | Rescue Team | Supermarionation | Disaster

Cast

Peter Dyneley	...	Jeff Tracy / ... (32 episodes, 1965-1966)
Shane Rimmer	...	Scott Tracy / ... (32 episodes, 1965-1966)
David Graham	...	Brains / ... (32 episodes, 1965-1966)
Ray Barrett	...	John Tracy / ... (30 episodes, 1965-1966)
Christine Finn	...	Tin-Tin Kyrano / ... (30 episodes, 1965-1966)
Matt Zimmerman	...	Alan Tracy / ... (28 episodes, 1965-1966)
David Holliday	...	Virgil Tracy / ... (26 episodes, 1965-1966)
Sylvia Anderson	...	Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward / ... (24 episodes, 1965-1966)

Also Known As:

International Rescue (UK) (working title)
Tairnearan Tar As (UK: Gaelic title)

Runtime:

50 min (32 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Videcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:TV-G | UK:U

Company:

AP Films (APF)

Trivia:

The episode "Security Hazard" features extensive flashback footage from "End of the Road", "Sun Probe", "Trapped in the Sky" and "Day of Disaster" - so extensive, in fact, that it contains only around ten minutes of new material. The episode was made because the previous two episodes, "Attack of The Alligators" and "The Cham-Cham," had gone over budget and a flashback episode was needed to finish the show's first season. These particular episodes were specifically chosen as, having originally been filmed as half-hour episodes, writer Alan Pattillo knew that the stories could be more easily condensed down to about ten minutes each.

Goofs:

Plot holes: There are some episodes in which civilian personnel who are being assisted by International Rescue refer to the Tracy brothers by name. How would they know their names? IR is a secret organization and it's highly unlikely they would give out their names.

Quotes:

[Opening narration]
Jeff Tracy: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Thunderbirds are go!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Very Best of 'Have I Got News for You' (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Dangerous Game

To re-live the magic of toys

You know what I like about this show: it takes me back in time to the days when I loved to play with toys, the days when I used to spend the whole afternoon in the bedroom of a friend of mine playing on the floor with our toys, late into the night, imitating the sound of jet engines with our mouths, crashing our plastic planes into one another, mimicking gunfights, battles, explosions. A few weeks ago I was surprised to find that Chilean TV is replaying the show on Sundays. Last time I had seen one episode must have been fifteen years ago or more, I don't know. I watched and I found myself transported through time back to those days. I can't play with toys anymore, I have lost that childhood thing for toys. But watching the show I re-live the magic of toys, I feel again the beauty and the spell of toy trains, toy cars, toy trucks, toy soldiers, toy planes, etc. And I didn't remember the show looking so gorgeously great on TV (perhaps the reason for that is that back then I watched the show in black and white). Big fun from past!