Beware the Nice Ones: International Rescue is altruistic and will stop at nothing to rescue those in need. However, those who take pictures of their technology are dealt with harshly, whether it be having their film wiped remotely, or even find themselves shot off the road by Lady Penelope. Thunderbird 4: Extremely similar to the original, being a yellow submarine, although much larger in size. Blasting It Out of Their Hands: This is how gunfights are usually ended in this series. It's an odd example: while the showrunners had no problem with the heroes shooting the villains to death in their vehicles, they would rarely let anyone take a bullet in face-to-face combat.

Obstructive Code of Conduct: IR's policy of strict secrecy concerning their equipment when the Tracy family could possibly save thousands of lives, not mention make a spectacular profit, by licensing out the designs of their Thunderbird vehicles to the various nations and organisations wanting to augment their own emergency response forces. Presumably, this is to keep IR's equipment unique and the plot complication of keeping that secrecy. Although it's also stated that IR's technology could be used for destruction if it fell into the wrong hands. Cry Wolf": When the boys call for help about being trapped down a mine, and are not believed, they then despair that they will never get out. The action then cuts to Gordon relaxing on Tracy Island, saying "this is the life". Off-Model: The Thunderbird craft in the Comic-Book Adaptation only vaguely resemble the models seen on screen. One wonders if the artist had seen an episode of Thunderbirds once and was trying to do it from memory. Move - and you're dead": Jeff sends a picture of the bridge of San Miguel to Brains in Thunderbird 2.The Hood then appears by Brains. He knows he's with International Rescue, and he wants some information - where is the treasure concealed, in the underwater temple? Brains wants water, but the Hood demands an answer. He saw Brains emerging from the lake with some of that treasure, so he knows where it is... Fake Aristocrat: One episode has Parker pretend to be an English lord and get everyone in the hotel to play Bingo with him. This was part of a scheme where in the event a fire broke out (thanks to a dish falling off a building and lodging itself on a mountain in a position where it would project the sun's rays at the town where the hotel was) everyone would be awake to fight the fire. General Starcrusher's spies have infiltrated the top secret X-15 project hidden behind Niagara Falls, with intent to lure IRO to the scene and steal their fabulous Thunderbird craft.

and start to look around, as the treasure they've heard about was meant to have been hidden in one of the larger columns inside.Oh, and all the characters were puppets. The show was filmed in Supermarionation, which was a process using souped-up marionettes with moving lips electronically synchronized with pre-recorded dialogue. Artistic License – Geography: A few locations and directions are a bit off. See the Recap section for specific examples. Vehicle Porn: The series is a celebration of futuristic technology. As such, the Thunderbird machines are as much main characters as the Tracy family. Each episode treats us to loving, slow shots of them — at minimum — taking off and landing. The Vehicles Of The Week get similar treatment, although only to start the excitement for them to get into trouble and be rescued (or explode spectacularly) by the end of the episode. The puzzled Brains asks who he is, but no answer comes. Instead, the stranger's eyes begin to glow...and Brains sinks, unconscious, to the floor. A face-mask is pulled off - revealing the Hood! - The puppet stages used for the filming of Thunderbirds were only one-fifth the size of those used for a standard live-action production, typically measuring 12 by 14 metres (39 by 46ft) with a three-metre-high (9.8ft) ceiling. [100] [101] Bob Bell, assisted by Keith Wilson and Grenville Nott, headed the art department for Series One. [102] During the simultaneous filming of Series Two and Thunderbirds Are Go in 1966, Bell attended mainly to the film, entrusting set design for the TV series to Wilson. [103]