How 60-year-old Thunderbirds is defying the odds against AI and CGI with nothing but strings and models

Thunderbirds were first “Go” in 1965 – but they are going again, in pristine 4K, for cinema screenings across the country!

The double bill of Attack of the Alligators! and Atlantic Inferno from the classic series received their big-screen world premiere at Picturehouse Central in London recently, but on 28 November (plus a few in early December) they can be seen everywhere from Edinburgh to Exeter.

The FAB-fest follows on from successful big-screen outings for two other Thunderbirds episodes in 2025 to mark the show’s 60th anniversary and, earlier this year, two episodes of Gerry and Sylvia’s '70s live-action sci-fi series Space: 1999.

Among the guests at the premiere were Mark Meddings, son of Derek, the supervising special effects director on the original ITV programme who later worked on James Bond films and won an Oscar for his work on Superman.

The event was introduced by Jamie Anderson, CEO of Anderson Entertainment and son of Gerry Anderson, who co-created Thunderbirds with his then wife Sylvia as well as many other hit series.

Asked about his reaction to the feedback from attendees, Jamie told Radio Times, “I was absolutely thrilled! To see audiences applauding episodes of a television series that first aired 61 years ago is pretty extraordinary.

“What made it even more special was watching people discover, or rediscover, the sheer artistry and craftsmanship that went into making Thunderbirds.

"On a cinema screen, in 4K, you’re suddenly able to appreciate details that have been there all along, but that even the most devoted fans might never have noticed. It’s a wonderful reminder of just how much imagination, ingenuity and care went into every frame.”

Thunderbirds first aired between 1965 and 1966, and gave rise to two Anderson feature films, then later a live-action movie in 2004 directed by Jonathan Frakes (who played Riker in Star Trek: the Next Generation). Also the CGI-and-models TV series Thunderbirds Are Go, which ran from 2015 to 2020, and three mini episodes created in 2015 using the original techniques.

Attack of the Alligators!, the only original episode with an exclamation mark, is a justly lauded adventure – part haunted house, part creature feature – in which a chemical intended to alleviate world food shortage leaks into a rainforest’s watercourse and results in giant reptiles attacking a house and the scientists inside.

The monsters themselves were actually baby crocodiles on a scaled-down set, with a water tank for the river.

Derek Meddings once wrote that when he was in the water with a croc that slipped its leash, “My crew never saw me move as fast as I did to get out of the tank.”

It’s paired with Atlantic Inferno, which follows the efforts of International Rescue’s Tracy brothers, in their dad’s absence, to contain an escalating mid-ocean crisis when World Navy tests ignite a gas field below a drilling rig.

It features a nicely observed father/son dynamic, giving the lie to the criticism that Thunderbirds was a hardware show.

Both adventures look crisp and clear, like their soundtrack featuring Barry Gray’s magnificent music, and the colours are vibrant. But I was confident the small-screen puppets-and-models show would transfer brilliantly.

When I was a boy, my friends and I made films on Super-8, inspired by the likes of Thunderbirds. A friend had the first episode, Trapped in the Sky, on a ten-minute Super-8 reel, which we would project as big as it would possibly go, onto walls or a bedsheet. And it looked amazing, even then. Now just imagine the difference in quality between tiny Super-8 and sparkly 4K!

Of course, the new format at times shows up the strings on the puppets, but that’s OK. After all, Aardman allow – even welcome – fingerprints showing up on their modelling-clay heroes including Wallace and Gromit.

Similarly with Thunderbirds (a favourite of Aardman’s Nick Park, incidentally), the hand-made aesthetic is a joyously trumpeted USP. In any case, the voice artists imbue the marionettes with such character (Shane Rimmer as Scott Tracy, Sylvia Anderson as Lady Penelope and Peter Dyneley as Jeff Tracy) that you soon forget they’re not real.

Thunderbirds’ production process Supermarionation was a unique form of entertainment six decades ago; in the modern world, with computer – and even AI-generated spectacle – it remains so.

People want “hand-made” more than ever. For evidence, consider Wildwood. The recent stop-motion feature-film from Laika Studios was, for a time, top of America’s box-office and has drawn unstinting praise from the critics.

As for his hopes for the nationwide screenings, Jamie Anderson tells RT: “I hope people will take the opportunity to experience Thunderbirds as it was always meant to be experienced: together.

"Put down the phones and iPads, gather your friends and family, and lose yourselves in some wonderfully imaginative storytelling.”

He adds: “These adventures might be six decades old, but the excitement, the optimism and the heroism are timeless. And there’s something rather magical about seeing all that extraordinary, hand-made craftsmanship writ large on a cinema screen.

"I hope a whole new generation will discover just how captivating Thunderbirds can be.”

The two episodes are also available to buy on a 4K steelbook.

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