Most of the Gerry Anderson shows are available to stream on ITVX in the UK. The Re-imaginings of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlett in 3D are there too.
Fireball XL-5, Supercar, Joe 90, Space Precinct (sub needed), UFO, Terrahawks, Space:1999, The Secret Service, Stingray, Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (3D), Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds the Anniversary Episodes, Thunderbirds Are Go (3D), Thunderbirds.
The opening sequence 3D wireframe graphics were rendered on a cluster of prototype ZX Spectrums and were the inspiration for ILM's groundbreaking work on Tron.
Indeed, at it seems particularly unlikely when you consider that the absolute state of the art in the ZX Spectrum demoscene nearly fifty years on still isn't as high-resolution as Terrahawks' title sequence:
By the way, there is an excellent orchestral rendition of the theme music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, seemingly from a recording for the 'On Screen' album in 1986:
Kevin Davies, who animated the opening and ending credits for Terrahawks (credited as "Video Game & Titles") was an assistant to Rod Lord when he was making the graphics for the TV version of Hitch-hiker's.
According to Wikipedia, problems with broadcasting rights meant it wasn't really repeated after the original 1980's broadcasts.
As an aside, it's hardly surprising our American cousins haven't heard of Terrahawks. I doubt the tongue in cheek humour (typified by 'robot ball' Sergeant Major Zero) would translate well!
This was my show as a kid, the one my parents had to get us back home in time to watch or else much stroppiness would occur. I haven't heard it for many years, but the opening notes of the theme tune made me grin ear to ear.
Never knew this series but little me (from the Netherlands, from 1982) would have loved this show, I certainly loved Thunderbirds (even though 50% of the show was the same TB launch sequence ;) ). I feel sad that I seem to have lost the capacity to experience the epicness of such series/films.
Anyway, very cool that that Mars base is from 2020... It seemed so far way back then. The SciFi future with Mars bases and flying cars that never happened. We did get Smartphones though... What will humanity look like in 40 years? Unrecognizable probably.
Not sure about Tron but here are a few details [1] about the Foonly F1 and how it was used to render Flight of the Navigator:
> They had pushed for Triple-I to build the DFP, the first (that I know of) high-resolution digital film printer for motion pictures. This was the next generation PFR, using an 8" CRT which had fast-decaying phosphors so that it could be used for scanning in film (using photomultiplier tubes built into a special camera) as well as printing. The imagery was amazing
> Since the Foonly only had enough disk storage to hold the frame being computed and the frame being printed, the numbers worked out like this: 30 seconds of film at 24 frames per second works out to 720 images each computed and printed at 6000 x 4000 pixels.
IIUC grandparent post refers only to the sphere & ships projected into 2d stills, not all of the titles. A software wireframe renderer seems "easy" compared to modeling the ships. Even if it took a day to render each one, this was all done in the service of a pilot episode, so probably not a lot of pressure. They're on the screen so briefly before fading to the filmed miniature, I suppose it would easily hide most issues.
The documentary "Supermarionation" (no relation to Super Mario) on Netflix is about the making of Thunderbirds and the other puppeteer shows from the same studio. Mind you, it's a typical Netflix documentary with 90% interviews from a handful of people.
I wouldn't mind if a documentary was an interview with just 1 person if it's good. The problem with those Netflix ones is they have a handful of people repeat the same thing over and over and over. Then they pad it out even further in between those repetitions with pan and zoom of a couple of barely relevant photos or newspaper clippings or illustrations, perhaps a clip of a news anchor reporting from the relevant time etc. What would be 30 seconds in a good documentary ends up being 5 minutes and 1 episode becomes 6.
I now usually give up and read the Wikipedia page once I spot these techniques.
I watched this when it first appeared. From memory it was a good behind the scenes documentary and worth the watch if you had a passing interest in it as a kid.
From wikipedia:
” In the early 1990s, Matchbox launched a new range of toys to coincide with the BBC2 repeats. Sales figures for Christmas 1992 surpassed those achieved by Star Wars merchandise in the 1970s and 1980s.”
There were a lot of repeats when I was a kid (80-90s). Shows like Thunderbirds and the like were mainstays of my TV watching.
They were really good for their time, and hadn't really aged too badly by the 80s and 90s, so it made good financial sense to repeat them. Combine that with the money to be made from toys and it was a much better deal than forking out for new programmes.
I still have that island fortress thing somewhere in a closet, or maybe my parents. With the pool that could swivel out the way, the trees that fold down and some sound effects IIRC. Was all the rage in my class when I was a kid (in the 90s).
There was also an episode of the popular kids TV show Blue Peter, where they showed you how to make Tracy Island. I believe that helped boost it's popularity.
I also had the toys in the 90s and possibly attempted the blue Peter make of the fortress. I even had a duvet cover and lunchbox. These things were of course bought by my parents who watched the show in their childhoods. In turn my kid loves sonic and I have bought him hats and jumpers etc.
I think these revivals intentionally capitalise on nostalgia.
There was a really good Thunderbirds game for its time on the inferior Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k. I was amazed all those years ago by its puzzle gameplay design. You can play it here.
Edit : to set up controls since it's not noted on that page, you'll need to press R ( Redefine keys! ) and that'll get you started!
How to play : you swap between thunderbird 1 and 2 each ship by pressing spacebar ( default ) or whatever you configured it to. You'll notice the ship selected in the bottom left corner of the screen.
An important thing to be aware of. However, storing nitrate film in your shed would still be illegal and inadvisable. There is a decade buffer ensuring Thunderbirds was not filmed on nitrate. tbh I don't think the is any nitrate film stored in a shed which would still be recoverable.
I'll ensure that from now on my shed is only used for old tins of paint, firelighters, matches, leaky jerrycans of diesel, fireworks, and gas cylinders.
Speaking of dodgy things in sheds, as a heads-up Hexamine fuel tablets are now illegal to possess in the UK - so campers and model steam engine enthusiasts beware.
Dont worry- as long as there is PSA personal around, you know there is a guy, whos job is it to fix the films discolouration and damages in post. So its okayish and greyish.
Nah, but the title is accurate; the reels had been unseen. And there's some unused / unaired scenes (or, at least one). Still a valuable historic artifact.
Wait, they have all those digital scans, but the article does not include a single frame from any one of them? I know they said it needs restoration work, but still...
