From: jgacker@neptune.gsfc.nasa.gov (James G. Acker)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: The Thunderbirds explained - to an extent
Date: 31 Aug 92 13:46:08 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
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	The Thunderbirds:  briefly:

	"Thunderbirds" chronicled the adventures of "International Rescue"
a secret organization which came to the rescue of folks who were in dire
need of rescue.  (Is that enough "rescues" in one sentence?)  "Thunderbirds"
recently came back into the news when a revival of the show in Britain
generated the largest one-time audience in the history of the BBC (according
to an NPR report).

	"Thunderbirds" was made by Gerry Anderson, who has numerous other
science-fiction credits.  There is an organization called Fanderson which
is for fans of Gerry Anderson work.  I have the address somewhere in my
files.  "Stingray" and "Space 1999" are also Anderson shows.

	According to my inquiries on rec.arts.tv.uk, all of the Thunderbirds
episodes are available on videotape over there.  I have no idea on formats
or ordering, but Fanderson, which I'm going to get around to joining one
of these days, probably does have info.  At Blockbuster Video, two videos
were listed in the Video Guide.  One was "Thunderbirds to the Rescue" a 
movie consisting of two one-hour shows spliced together.

	The structure:

	International Rescue was based on an unnamed island.  The five sons 
of an American astronaut (Scott, Virgil, Allan, Gordon, and John -- note the
names!) pilot the various IR craft.  Tbird 1 is the scout vehicle, a 
variable-wing rocket with speed, usually gets first to the scene, normally
piloted by Scott, but Allan can fill in.  Tbird 2 is the transport, which
carries the specialized equipment in its "pod" bay.  The Mole, an
underground digger, and Tbird 4, a sub, are carried by Tbird 2, with Virgil
at the helm.  Tbird 3 is the spacecraft, normally piloted by Allan.
Tbird 4 is Gordon's boat.  Tbird 5 is the orbiting radar-invisible satellite
that picks up radio distress calls from all over the world.  John was
normally relegated to the lonely duty aboard Tbird 5.

	Characters:  other than the sons, here's who I remember:

	The father -- don't remember his name.
	Brains -- the engineering designer with big horned-rimmed glasses.
'Nuff said.
	Lady Penelope -- the aristocratic cousin to the father, sometime
spy.
	Cooper -- her chauffeur/sidekick.
	The Hood (I think) -- the "bad guy" who was always trying to get
technical info on the IR craft.  Had psychic powers, signified by his
eyes lighting up when he hypnotized or psychically manipulated someone.
His attempts at getting technical info were always frustrated.  In one
case, a miniature camera in a mechanical mouse was sent
into the IR ship (Tbird 1?)
but Lady Penelope, who happened to be on board, blocked all the shots
by screaming hysterically and waving her hands.  (She was frightened 
of the mouse.)
	A beautiful Asian girl -- Allan's girlfriend?

	Shows I remember:

	Transport trapped on the side of an unstable mountain:  Tbird
2 attaches magnetic grapples and pulls it off.

	A radio telescope (parabolic mirror) accidentally slides into
position to focus the rays of the sun onto a village in the valley below.
The Tbirds are able to move the mirror just in time.

	A mission to get a sample of the sun has its navigation affected 
by the heat, and may plunge into the Sun.  Tbird 3 gets close enough to
remotely turn the ship, but Tbird 3 is threatened with the same fate.
When a computer malfunctions, Brains must rely on a unreliable robot
to calculate the coordinates for the remote signal to turn Tbird 3 
around!

	A nuclear plant explodes, sending a toxic cloud across the
Australian wilderness.  (A Hood episode)

	Lady Penelope is on-board the new ultra-plane, which is 
carrying a bomb set to go off when the landing gear deploys.  Virgil
must take three wheeled flat-tops and get under the plane, so it
can land without landing gear.

	The Empire State Building, being moved, topples over.  Two men
are trapped in the flooding caverns below the building.  Tbird 4 has to
get them.

	Chemical waste dropped into an Amazonian river turns the 
crocodiles into giants, threatening a wilderness laboratory.

	Two boys, emulating the IR, put out a fake distress signal and
are taken to IR headquarters.  When they do get into trouble, IR at
first ignores their cries for help until it's almost too late.

	Explorers are trapped in a secret chamber under a mysterious,
sometimes invisible, Egyptian pyramid (very vague memory!)

	On the way back from a routine mission, Tbird 2 is mistaken
for a UFO and shot at by the U.S. Navy.  Virgil brings the ship in for 
a crash landing, and is hurt.  When Tbird 4 is subsequently needed, 
Tbird 4 has to rendesvous with the Navy super-speed hydrofoil and get to the
collapsed oil rig (I think).  Will they get there in time?

	There are more -- this show was one of the great ones.  Despite
the difficulties of using marionettes, the model work and miniature
explosions rivaled special effects in movies a decade hence.

	The Sci-Fi channel should grab this show, but I don't think
my cable company will get Sci-Fi.  Why doesn't Nick or someone show this?

	More info appreciated, from any of the faithful.

	Jim Acker
	jgacker@neptune.gsfc.nasa.gov