- [Narrator] Thunderbird 6 was released in 1968
and would be the second and final big screen outing
for International Rescue.
Er yeh, but what about...
No.
- Let's have a rundown on Thunderbird 6.
- [Narrator] Once again, Alan Tracy takes centre stage
as he accompanies Lady Penelope, Tintin and Parker,
aboard the maiden flight of Skyship 1,
a futuristic airship designed by Brains.
- Well, it looks as if we're all set
for a lovely, peaceful holiday.
- [Narrator] Little do they realise though,
that the crew of the airship are imposters,
working for a mysterious villain
who plans to lure Thunderbird's 1 and 2
to his base in Casablanca
so that he can capture them for his own ends.
- If pilots offer any resistance
as they leave their machines, shoot them down.
- [Narrator] Jeff Tracy has given Brains the task
of designing a new International Rescue vehicle.
- We now need a Thunderbird 6.
- [Narrator] Although since he doesn't know
exactly what he wants the new machine to be able to do,
the project isn't going very well.
As the crew of Skyship 1 reveal their true natures
a gunfight damages the ship's engines,
forcing it to crash into a tower over a missile base.
- We need to decide a course of action, but fast.
As far as I can see, any attempt to get near that ship
is gonna bring a disaster.
- [Narrator] With Skyship 1 gradually becoming heavier
as its turbines shut down,
a way must be found to evacuate
the airship's passengers before it falls from the tower.
And Brains has also still got to design that Thunderbird 6
before the end of the film.
- I've got a tiger in my tank.
- [Narrator] Although Alan's vintage Tigermoth
might just provide the solution to both problems.
- It's a brilliant idea.
- [Narrator] Despite the poor box office return
of 1966's "Thunderbirds Are Go",
both United Artists and Lew Grade
felt that International Rescue deserved another chance
to shine on the big screen
and agreed a budget of 300,000 pounds for the sequel.
- And now gentleman, the moment has come.
What is it to be?
- [Narrator] Thunderbird 6 entered production in 1967
and would be filmed alongside
"Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons",
although the puppet scene in the new film
would retain the disproportionately large heads and hands
seen in the original television series.
- It's the only possible answer.
- [Narrator] Once again, David Lane
would handle directing duties,
while Gerry and Sylvia Anderson wrote the screenplay
which would take a more lighthearted tone
than its predecessor.
- It's going to land on its own.
- [Narrator] And appropriately enough
for the final Thunderbirds production,
the film also focuses more heavily on the characters
of the Tracy family and International Rescue.
Although somewhere along the line,
Jeff has apparently relaxed security considerably
since Penelope and Co quite happily
tell anyone who'll listen
that they're International Rescue agents.
- That's right Captain Foster,
we all of us lead dedicated lives at International Rescue.
- [Narrator] With the exception of Ray Barrett
who had now returned to Australia,
the entire credited voice cast
of the second season of Thunderbirds
would return for the new film.
And once again, several new actors were also hired.
- As president of the New World Aircraft Corporation,
this flight is of paramount importance to me.
- Geoffrey Keen as NWAC President James Glen,
and John Carson as the smooth imposter, Captain Foster,
make their only contribution
to the Gerry Anderson Universe with this film.
- I didn't think I'd ever forget that.
- [Narrator] But Keith Alexander and Gary Files
would both be heard and seen in Anderson Productions
up until UFO.
- Attention all defence systems
this is a maximum security alert.
- [Narrator] Keith Alexander took over Ray Barrett's role
of John Tracy,
- Father, I've just received a message from Lady Penelope.
- [Narrator] Whose change in voice
goes unnoticed by his family
since they so rarely talk to him anymore anyway.
- John, keep in touch.
- [Narrator] Gary Files meanwhile,
voices the mastermind behind the whole scheme
who operates under the codename of Black Phantom
but who also bares a strong resemblance
to International Rescue's arch enemy, The Hood.
- If only I knew their secrets.
- [Narrator] Many fans, and indeed Sylvia Anderson herself,
maintain that this is not The Hood
but instead a son or some other relative
seeking revenge for The Hood's death in the previous film.
Although nothing in Thunderbird 6 itself
gives any definitive answer one way or another.
- Let them have it.
- [Narrator] Considering that The Hood
had survived multiple car and plane crashes
throughout the Thunderbirds television series,
then it isn't impossible that he could also have survived
the Helijet crash that appeared to finish him off
in "Thunderbirds Are Go".
And if this isn't meant to be The Hood
the why were you such an instantly identifiable puppet
in the role of the villain?
- The jigsaw's nearly completed, but not quite.
- [Narrator] If you're gonna do that
then why not let Cliff Richard be the villain
instead of reducing him to an extra?
(bell rings)
- (laughs)
- [Narrator] Speaking of villainy,
the film often exhibits a surprisingly mean-spirited streak
that wouldn't be out of place in "Captain Scarlet"
but is entirely at odds
with the usual jolliness of Thunderbirds.
(multiple gun shots)
- Quickly, we haven't much time.
- [Narrator] The scene in which the original crew
of Skyship 1 are ruthlessly gunned down,
their bodies later dumped at sea, is a prime example.
But we could also add Alan's casual murder
of one of the imposter crew
during their escape from the airship,
(gun shots)
and the subsequent whimpering demise of his colleague,
to the list of the film's very un-Thunderbirdsy moments.
(plane engine whirs)
(man screams out)
Even the regulars don't escape unscathed
as two of the most popular Thunderbirds characters
are treated rather shabbily here.
- Upset, me upset?
Of course I'm not upset!
- [Narrator] Throughout the film Brain's scene,
uncharacteristically frustrated and angry
at Jeff's continual rejections of his design
for a Thunderbird 6,
with Geoff being infuriatingly vague
about what he's even looking for to begin with.
- We desperately need a Thunderbird 6.
- [Narrator] Poor old Parker is also made to look a fool
throughout the film.
Most notably, in a scene where Alan, Penelope and Tintin
laugh about him behind his back
while he's at the door listening in.
- [Alan] You should've seen Parker's face, Tintin,
it was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life.
- [Narrator] Although Brains gets something
of a happy ending,
even being given his own International Rescue uniform
for the first and only time,
Parker doesn't even get an apology
for the way he's been treated,
and instead, ends the film falling out of a tree,
(parker screams)
after being presumed dead by his so-called friends
who really don't seem that upset
at the thought of losing him.
- I've only just realised Parker isn't with us.
We must have left him aboard the airship.
- It's too late now Pene.
Are you sure there was no chance of him surviving
when Shyship first crashed?
- Not a chance, Alan.
- [Narrator] the globe-trotting storyline of Thunderbird 6
allows plenty of opportunity for the Century 21 team
to show off their skill in designing multiple sets
and models for each location.
Everything from an Indian market
to an inn in the Swiss mountains.
And many of the rooms aboard Skyship 1
are similarly striking.
- Joe the Crows.
- [Narrator] The film also delivers
many appealing visual sequences,
and the destruction of the missile base
near the end of the film
is one of the most spectacular Anderson moments of all time.
(loud explosions)
At the other end of the beauty spectrum
we have the film's pre-title sequence,
a scene in which Brains lays out his idea for Skyship 1
only to be greeted by well, this.
(multiple laughter)
Although meticulously sculpted
right down to their tongues and fillings,
these laughing heads, rolling around and shrieking,
are one of the most unintentionally terrifying things
ever committed to film.
And appropriately this is the only Gerry Anderson moment
to have earned the dubious distinction
of becoming an internet meme.
(evil laughter)
By the end of the film,
Jeff Tracy would finally have
his oh-so-important Thunderbird 6
in the form of Alan's Tigermoth.
- Brains, you old son of a gun.
- [Narrator] For many of the sequences
featuring the aircraft,
a full-sized Tigermoth was piloted by Joan Hughes,
who had flown Spitfires and Lancasters
during the Second World War,
and was one of Britain's first female pilots.
- She's what?
- [Narrator] However, during a scene
in which she had to fly the Tigermoth
under a bridge on the then unfinished M40 motorway,
a sudden crosswind and the extra weight
of the dummy strapped to the aircraft
meant she was unable to keep her wheels on the ground
as the law required for such a stunt.
Hughes and production manager Norman Foster
found themselves in court over this March 1968.
- How dreadful.
- [Narrator] But after a two day hearing
the case was dismissed with the defendants found not guilty.
- So you don't think
there's anything to worry about Penelope?
- No.
- [Narrator] The incident gained the film
some attention in the media but not enough to prevent
another lacklustre box office opening
and a lukewarm critical response.
- I don't like the sound of it Dad.
- [Narrator] Despite being completed in December 1967,
Thunderbird 6 wouldn't premier
until July 29th the following year.
- [Announcer] Thunderbirds are back on the cinema screen
in a brand new space age adventure,
in Technicolour and Techniscope,
revealing to the world for the first time,
their latest, most closely guarded top secret.
- [Narrator] By which time public interest in Thunderbirds
and supermarionation generally, was in decline.
- We've no idea what's going on.
- [Narrator] The third film in the Thunderbirds trilogy
that Lew Grade had agreed with United Artists
before the television series had even aired,
was permanently shelved.
And there would be no further adventures
from the original Thunderbirds team.
- The end product just doesn't justify the cost.
- [Narrator] Over the years Thunderbird 6
has received a mixed response from fans of the show.
- Well I guess we've seen a lot of launchings
but this will be all.
- [Narrator] Many appreciate its greater focus
on the show's characters and more lighthearted tone
despite the occasional moment of darkness,
although others would argue that by the end of Thunderbird 6
the original Thunderbirds concept
had been diluted to such an extent
that much of its appeal had been lost.
However, if the Thunderbird saga had to come to an end,
then Thunderbird 6 is overall, a fine note to go out on.
- Launch Thunderbird 6!
- [Narrator] The film makes good use
of many of the show's characters,
and the story delivers some spectacular moments
that are superbly realised by the Century 21 team
in this one final visit to the original Tracy Island.
(uplifting finale orchestral music)
(sixties waltz pop music)