(electronic beeping)
- Terrahawks, stay on this channel.
This is an emergency.
- [Host] "Terrahawks" first aired in 1983,
and was the first Gerry Anderson puppet series produced
since "The Secret Service" had ended in 1969.
- Yes indeed, we must remember that.
- [Host] Moreover, due to a noticeable downturn
in his fortunes, it was the first television series
he'd made at all since production had ended
on the second season of "Space: 1999," at the end of 1976.
- [Zelda] I am going to bring you out of suspension.
- [Host] The puppets that would star in "Terrahawks"
however, would not be the marionettes
he was best known for working with,
but instead, latex hand puppets,
capable of a greater freedom of movement
than their predecessors.
- That is why we are so beautiful.
- [Host] Supermarionation was no more, and instead,
"Terrahawks" would be produced in supermacromation.
- We're dealing with something new and different.
- [Host] The story of "Terrahawks" starts
in the year 2020, as an alien space armada,
led by the android Zelda, Queen of the planet Guk,
obliterates a human colony on Mars
before occupying the planet and declaring war on Earth.
(cackles menacingly)
Mankind's only hope for survival are the Terrahawks,
an elite fighting force with a secret base
hidden beneath the White House in South America,
and led by the stern but fair, Doctor Tiger Ninestein.
- I'm a clone.
A big cat with nine lives.
- [Host] Ninestein is one of nine clones,
with the remaining eight
quietly living out their lives elsewhere on Earth,
ready and waiting to have their minds wiped
and replaced with a backup copy of Tiger's brain patterns,
should the worst occur.
(screams terrifyingly)
The less nightmarish side of the Terrahawks' organisation
includes second in command Captain Mary Falconer.
- I always was a good listener.
- [Host] Captain Kate Kestrel
and her copilot, Lieutenant Hawkeye,
aboard the Hawkwing fighter.
- What do you say, partner?
- It's a dead sitter.
Let's go get the critter.
- [Host] And Lieutenant Hiro,
who mans the Terrahawks' first line of defence, Spacehawk,
and has about as much luck repelling alien intruders
as the SHADO Interceptors used to.
- Exactly.
- [Host] From Hawk nest, the Terrahawks are able
to launch an array of fighting machines and equipment
to combat Zelda's continual assaults.
But the android queen is a formidable opponent,
and she isn't alone.
- Victory will be ours!
- [Host] Also residing in her Martian complex
are her slovenly son Yung-Star.
- I think he likes me.
- [Host] And her airheaded,
fashion-obsessed sister, Cy-Star.
- Wonderful!
- [Host] While somewhere in the base
is a cryogenic store,
carrying dozens of alien exhiles and refugees
who have aligned with Zelda to destroy humanity.
- Zelda leads the fight for survival.
Survival of all that's not human.
- [Host] These included Sram, a demon drum player
whose roar could bring down mountains.
- Come forward, my furry Napoleon.
- [Host] Yuri, the telekinetic space bear,
(growls)
some fearsome sporillas, Lord Tempo, the Time Lord.
- It is never too late for a master of time.
- [Host] And Moid, the Master of Infinite Disguise.
- I wear many faces,
but, have none of my own.
- [Host] Last but not least,
Zelda also had a highly dangerous army of robotic cubes
to throw against the Terrahawks.
Aside from Zelda, whom any older and unpopular woman
in the public eye is always at risk of being compared to,
perhaps the most memorable characters in the show
were the Zeroids,
the Terrahawks' army of spherical robotic soldiers,
led by Sergeant Major Zero,
essentially reprising his role of Sergeant Major Williams
from BBC sitcom, "It Ain't Half Hot Mum."
- Right, for me.
Cut your jabber, move yourself, move yourselves, you!
- [Host] Windsor Davies excelled in the role of Zero,
the loyal and lovable robot,
permanently locked in a battle of wits
with Doctor Ninestein.
- Why am I arguing with this, this plague of my life?
(chuckles)
- [Host] Other Zeroids under his command
included the moustachioed French Zeroid, 1-8.
- (electronic beeping) Tis weak.
- [Host] Rhyming Zeroid, 5-5.
- Space flight, all right.
- [Host] And stuttering Zeroid, 2-1.
- Peace out, (stuttering) said.
- [Host] While the Zeroid contingent on Spacehawk
was led by the fussy and increasingly camp,
Space Sergeant 101.
- Something bent my missile.
- [Host] Fans expecting a long-awaited,
triumphant return to the glory days of "Thunderbirds"
were to be disappointed
when "Terrahawks" first aired in 1983.
The show was produced on a significantly lower budget
than those of the ITC era.
- What about fair play?
What about justice?
- It's a luxury I can't afford.
- [Host] And the earliest episodes showed
that the stiff and serious nature of its stories
clashed horribly with the cartoony look of the puppets
and pantomime behaviour of the villains.
- We are expecting you to die.
- [Host] Realising this, "Terrahawks" very quickly
embraced its own shortcomings,
and used them to its advantage, becoming a mad cap,
and at times deeply subversive comedy.
- I told that nice Sheriff Bull
I'd be passing back by town in the morning.
- (chuckling) Yeah, well you really should try coffee Mom.
- [Host] This had the effect of lending greater weight
to the dramatic stakes on the rare occasions
that the show tried to tell a more serious story,
while also providing more of a focus
on the characters and their relationships
than had been evident in the earliest episodes.
- What's two and two?
- Vander of Gus.
- Van who?
- [Host] The first season of 26 episodes ended
with a cliffhanger that saw Cy-Star
making a startling announcement.
- I am going to have...
a baby!
(dishes clatter)
- [Host] And as the second season opened,
a devious new character joined the Martian hordes.
- It-Star.
- [Host] It-Star possessed two personalities.
A timid little girl.
- I'm frightened of her Yung-Star.
- [Host] And a male mad scientist
with a German accent.
- Get me out of this thing.
- [Host] Even for a series that was already very weird,
It-Star's addition to the cast plays
like something out of a fever dream.
- It was nothing.
Uncle Yung-Star, wait for me!
- [Host] And the scene of his birth
was so inappropriate for a child audience
that it was edited out on first broadcast.
(spring boings)
Adding to the strangeness was Kate Kestrel's side career
as an international pop superstar,
regularly taking a break from her Terrahawks duties
to record songs at Anderburr Records,
under the supervision of studio manager, Chic King.
- [Chic] What's happening Stew?
- [Host] And the permanently stressed
recording engineer, Stew Dapples.
- Over the top with her OTT.
- [Host] In real life, singer Moya Griffiths
provided Kate's singing voice,
and made public appearances to promote the show.
(yawns)
- Um.
- [Host] With Kate even releasing a seven-inch vinyl
featuring two songs from the show.
♪ SOS ♪
♪ Mister Tracy the western world is falling ♪
♪ SOS ♪
- [Host] Despite proving popular with younger viewers,
"Terrahawks" came to an end after 39 episodes.
- Is it a lot?
- Quite right.
- [Host] But, as it turned out,
this was to be more of an extended hiatus
than a cancellation.
In 2014, the series returned in audio form
from Big Finish Productions,
featuring three of the original cast,
Denise Bryer, Jeremy Hitchen, and Robbie Stevens.
Plus newcomer, Beth Chalmers,
inheriting the late Anne Ridler's characters.
The new audio episodes brought back
all the classic characters, vehicles, and settings
of the original television series,
while also bringing a uniquely 21st Century attitude
to the stories.
In addition to new regular characters and new vehicles,
the audio episodes of "Terrahawks" also succeeded
in bringing a greater emotional core to the series,
and addressed some of the moral and ethical questions
regarding the Ninestein clones
that the television series had largely ignored.
- [Tiger] For years, you've had the comfort blanket
of knowing we're waiting in the wings.
Now your enemy has realised that the way to you
is by targeting us.
- [Host] The result was 26 brand new episodes
produced over the next three years.
- This is the end.
- If you say so, Tiger.
- [Host] Despite being one of the more controversial
Gerry Anderson series, particularly among older viewers,
"Terrahawks" has remained a fond and enduring memory
for its many fans.
- You better believe it, Earth scum.
- [Host] Its lovable characters
and offbeat sense of humour have ensured it continues
to find new viewers on DVD and Blu-ray.
And its recent critically acclaimed audio revival proved
that the series still had a wealth of untapped potential
yet to be explored.
- Oh goody, goody, goody!
- [Host] More than 35 years
after it first appeared on our screens,
"Terrahawks" still continues to
- Stroll on!
(electronic beeping)
(triumphant music)
(dramatic music)