EXCLUSIVE: Horrific real-life mining tragedy that inspired beloved Thunderbirds TV series
Thunderbirds was the brainchild of TV producer Gerry Anderson and his wife Sylvia - and as International Rescue turns 60, his son Jamie reveals how he's keeping their legacy alive
Thunderbirds are go … as the iconic puppet series celebrates its 60th birthday with an exhibition and a cinema release of two specially restored episodes.
First hitting TV screens on September 30, 1965, with storylines featuring zoom-style calls, smart watches and even facial recognition technology, the sci-fi classic could have been written yesterday.
It’s no wonder that children are still captivated by characters like Brains, Parker, Virgil, the super-glamorous Lady Penelope and her butler Parker, as they fulfil missions for International Rescue - a secret, non-profit organisation, dedicated to saving lives.
“It’s unmatched worldwide,” says Jamie Anderson, 40, a director and writer, who keeps the legacy of his late father - Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson - alive.
Jamie has collaborated on the exhibition Thunderbirds & Space: 1999 - a Celebration of Sci-fi Toys and Collectibles (Space 1999 being another of his dad’s creations) which opens on Saturday at London’s Museum of Brands. The cinema release of the restored episodes will be on September 20.
The exhibition will display unseen memorabilia from across the world, including some from the estate of Gerry Anderson - who worked on Thunderbirds with his second of three wives Sylvia Anderson.
Jamie says: “I think it will be quite emotional for a lot of people. Thunderbirds crosses the generations and that's rather lovely. I suspect we’ll see grandparents, parents and children there.
“It isn't just about the ephemera of childhood, it's about memories; passing them on and making new ones. I think if Dad was here he’d be pretty amazed that there is still such interest in his work - amazed and very touched.”
Already a successful TV director, Gerry was inspired to create Thunderbirds after watching news of a mining disaster in Germany in 1963, trapping 50 men for 14 days. Rescuers drilled a borehole to bring 11 survivors to the surface - triggering his idea for an international rescue team to tackle global catastrophes.
Gerry began imagining a fantasy world set in 2060 around this concept, with a storyline in which a super-rich philanthropist, Jeff Tracy, ran a search and rescue operation on land, sea, air and space - International Rescue.
Run by his sons, Scott, Virgil, John, Gordon and Alan, they carried out missions from a secret base in the South Pacific, Tracy Island, using advanced technology and a fleet of amazing machines - the Thunderbirds.
It used supermarionation, a ground-breaking form of puppetry developed by Gerry and Sylvia, which married electronic marionettes with pre-recorded dialogue and scale model special effects.
An instant hit, despite only 32 50-minute episodes being made, Thunderbirds continues to delight fans old and new. And while he later produced other puppet series - Stingray, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, and Joe 90 - it is Thunderbirds which really defines Gerry’s career.
Jamie, who lives in south Wales, says: “Thunderbirds presents an incredibly positive image of the future. It was a counterpoint to the fractured, aggressive, war-time world its creators had grown up in. The show is about people working together to do selfless, wonderful things - that’s comforting, a real tonic and still needed today.”
The Tracy family unit is also relatable - despite the patriarch’s billionaire status. “We don’t all have a billionaire for a dad, but that relationship between parent and child, between siblings, that sense of friendship and unity with other characters is something people can tap into,” he says.
“And it was all so beautifully made. Those incredible sets built in that kind of retro, yet futuristic style and then, of course, the puppets themselves. It's very difficult to create puppets that are good looking. Yet the sculptors created these beautiful characters, handsome lads. For many young people watching, they and Lady Penelope were their first crush.”
The merchandise associated with the series was also critical to its success. “You could take home all that tangibility and aspiration with a toy,” says Jamie. “You could hold in your hand what you were seeing on screen and create your own adventures.
“I don't think you could find any other brand that has had so few episodes, but which has spawned such an incredible collection of memorabilia and which, 60 years later, people are still enjoying.”
But Jamie only realised the shows were his dad’s creation when his mum, Mary Robins, told him. He says: “I remember being about four and having a shelf of VHS tapes - some Thunderbirds, Terrorhawks, some Captain Scarlett. I was holding a cassette case and my mum said, ‘you know, your father made those?’ I thought she meant he’d designed the picture on the front.”
By the early 1990s, Gerry Anderson’s shows were being re-run onTV, prompting huge retail demand for associated merchandise - and one of Blue Peter’s most famous moments. In the run-up to Christmas 1992, the Tracy Island became the must-have toy under the tree, triggering shortages and queues outside toy shops.
Blue Peter responded by showing viewers how to build a home-made version, eventually releasing a recording of presenter Anthea Turner’s demonstration, described by Radio Times as "one of the most iconic moments" in the programme's history.
Gerry’s fourth and youngest child, Jamie continues: “My school friends were watching and they were being sent into school by their parents with annuals from the 1960s for me to take home and get signed by Dad. Suddenly I was cool at school!”
Around 300 toys and artefacts from Gerry Anderson’s shows will go on display at the Brands Museum - from both public and private collections.
Jamie says: “Dad wasn’t nostalgic and he never looked back. He didn’t keep any models, puppets or scripts, but he did retain some tiny mementos in a glass fronted cabinet on the wall. I used to stare at it as a kid, but I wasn't allowed to play with anything.”
Gerry Anderson, who died in 2012, grew up in relative poverty in 1930s London, where toys were a luxury. Jamie says he’d be astonished by the range on show at the exhibition, adding: “There were certain things which meant to him that he was either loved or that he was successful.
“One of them was his Rolls Royce, the other was toys - owning them and seeing things he had been involved in turned into them. It was a marker of success in his mind. He’d be thrilled to know people are still buying them, enjoying them, filling their shelves with them. It’s a ripple through time.”
*Thunderbirds & Space:1999 - A Celebration of Toys and Collectables opens at the Museum of Brands, London, on September 13, featuring collectables from Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Supercar, Fireball XL5, UFO and Space 1999.
Five Thunderbirds facts
- Scott Tracy's appearance was modelled on Sean Connery. “It was just easier to say ‘make him a bit like Sean Connery’,” says Jamie.
- Requests were made for Lady Penelope's smoking to be digitally removed when Thunderbirds was re-shown in later years. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do for a 60-year-old TV show!” says Jamie.
- Thunderbirds got its name because of Gerry's brother, Lionel, who died in the Second World War. He had trained for the RAF in Arizona, where the Americans were making a propaganda movie and he planned to be an extra. The film was called Thunderbirds.
- If it was made today, each Thunderbirds episode would cost more than £1m to produce. "It was expensive at the time but now I wouldn’t be surprised if it would touch a million and a half,” says Jamie
- Jamie reveals his favourite Thunderbirds character, saying: ’“It has to be Virgil. He’s a multi-talented, dashing hero and has a full head of hair!”