Sci-Fi Storm

The Thunderbirds will finally fly into the U.S. (legally that is), and it will do so via Amazon. The streaming video giant has ordered up four 13-episode seasons of the remake of the classic Gerry Anderson supermarionation show.

Two seasons are already in the can, having aired already on ITV in the U.K. Seasons 3 and 4 are expected to air on ITV later this year, but it isn’t certain when Amazon will have them available.

The upcoming ITV remake of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation show Thunderbirds Are GO! now has some voices behind it.

Rosamund Pike (The World’s End, Jack Reacher) will voice Lady Penelope, the female International Rescue agent with the cool pink car, and whose chauffeur will be voiced by non other than David Graham, one of the original voice actors on the show (and several other Anderson shows), as well as one of the original Dalek voices.

Playing the five Tracy brothers in the show are just three actors…Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Nanny McPhee, Love Actually, Phineas and Ferb) and Rasmus Hardiker (Lead Balloon, Groove High) will each voice two and David Menkin (Zero Dark Thirty) will voice the last.

26 half-hour episodes will air on ITV beginning in 2015. No US outlet has been announced yet.

It was almost two years ago that Gerry Anderson stated very matter-of-factly that a new Thunderbirds series was going to be made. Since then we heard nothing, and Anderson himself passed away in December.

Now ITV Studios announced that it will co-produce a new Thuderbirds are Go! series with New Zealand based Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, with 26 half-hour episodes to be aired on ITV and CITV in 2015. Presumably it will be shopped to international markets as well.

The new show will be a combination of CGI and live-action models, paying tribute to the Supermarionation style Gerry Anderson made famous.

The Thunderbirds follow the Tracy family of five brothers who are part of International Rescue, and pilot a variety of spectacular vehicles to come to the rescue of people around the world.

Gerry Anderson, the British television writer/producer who loved to imagine the near future, died today at the age of 83, after suffering from multiple dementia for the past couple years. His death was announced by his son on his blog.

Anderson is perhaps best known for both his Supermarionation projects such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, as well as his live action series UFO and perhaps his most well known series in the U.S., Space: 1999.

Fanderson, the Gerry Anderson fan group, has a nice obituary.

I remember seeing Thunderbirds as a kid…my mother was familiar with it and some of his previous efforts, having come from Ireland by way of England, and she always insisted one of the “rag tag” fleet ships in Battlestar Galactica came from Thunderbirds – I never quite saw that.

But Space: 1999 was one of the first SF series to garner my attention. The details of the base and the Eagles really drew me. It seemed that there was at least some attempt at realism in certain areas – the Eagles appeared relatively functional if not depicted in realistic flight – provided a level of detail that I love.
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There weren’t a whole lot of details, but at a BBC press conference for a line of stamps based on Gerry Anderson’s various “Supermarionation” shows like Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, and others, Anderson said: “I am going to make a new series of Thunderbirds. And that’s official.” Now that the bird is out of the bag, hopefully more details will follow…

I still want to see what can be done with Space: 1999…

Just making some updates to the Sci-Fi TV Store as I find out about new items, if you are looking for some more holiday gifts (or some late ones): Serenity is getting a Blu-Ray release (although not until Dec. 30th); TekWar – The Series is already out on DVD – no sign of the TV movies though; A new Special Collector’s Edition of the classic Doctor Who mega-serial “Key to Time” is coming out next March; Those Lexx fans out there who perhaps don’t have all the “Season 1” TV movies can now get all 4 movies in one DVD pack; and Thunderbirds fans may want to know about the new lower priced 40th Anniversary Collectors Edition Mega Set.