Thunderbirds Are Go Volume One
Five! 4! 3! 2! Win!
Release Date: OUT NOW!
2015 | U | DVD Directors: David Scott, Theo Baynton Cast: Rasmus Hardiker, Thomas Brodie- Sangster, David Menkin, Rosamund Pike, Angel Coulby, Kayvan Novak, David Graham
It’s hard to
imagine how ITV’s new Thunderbirds show could be a better tribute to Gerry Anderson’s classic original. Sure, there are changes – International Rescue’s been given a CGI makeover, and it’s been retooled for modern attention spans – but the essence of the series remains the same. That a 50- year- old premise can still feel fresh shows how ahead of its time Thunderbirds was.
Thunderbirds Are Go works because it’s made with total love for the source material. As in the original, the ( remarkably faithful) hardware and launch sequences are the real stars of the show, and they’re shot beautifully.
With episodes half the length of their 1965 counterparts, this action- packed show moves at one hell of a lick, and there are no more than a couple of dud stories in the run. Indeed, the writing team have come up with some truly inventive rescue missions, with “Skyhook” ( in which the Tracy brothers attempt to rescue a ship that’s falling upwards) a masterclass in highconcept storytelling.
The weak link is the characterisation. While the Tracy Island line- up has been given an update – patriarch Jeff is presumed dead and space resident John is now de facto leader – efforts to make the altruistic siblings more distinct from one another prove a little oversimplistic. And while the move to make Tin- Tin ( now Kayo) part of the team with her own Thunderbird is welcome, those good intentions fall flat when she’s subsequently woefully underused.
Yet these are relatively minor quibbles. This is as FAB a reboot as we could have hoped for, with plenty to satisfy International Rescue fans old and new. So why the hell did ITV banish it to 8.00am on a Saturday morning? Extras: None. Richard Edwards