A
spy thriller which was never completed due to withdrawal of financial
backing as shooting started
c.1979 - Five Star Five
Feature film scripted
by Gerry Anderson and Tony Barwick
Producers: Gerry
Anderson / Sidney Rose Director: John Guillermin
A
science fiction film which went into pre-production but was never
shot due to lack of finance
1979 to 1982 - Super Space Theatre
8 x edited
series episode combination films
ITC
produced a number of features under this general heading made up from
different TV episodes with similar storylines.
They were transmitted by U.S. syndicated stations and cable TV companies,
eventually being released on video in the mid-eighties by Channel
5 Video.
Three Thunderbird features of approximately 93 minutes were made:
Thunderbirds
To The Rescue ( Trapped In The Sky / Operation Crash Dive ) Thunderbirds In Outer Space ( Sun Probe / Ricochet ) Countdown To Disaster ( Terror In New York City / Atlantic
Inferno )
Similarly, three Space 1999 features were made
under the same heading:
Alien Attack (Breakaway / War Games) 1979 - 105 minutes Journey Through the Black Sun (Collision Course / Black Sun)
1982 - 89 minutes Cosmic Princess (The Metamorph / Space Warp)
Previous to this 'series', two other Space 1999
compilation movies had been produced:
Spazio: 1999 (made for Italian release from Breakaway / Ring
Around the Moon / Another Time, Another Place) 1976 - 88 minutes Destination Moonbase Alpha (The Bringers of Wonder, parts 1
and 2) 1978 - 96 minutes
1983 - Terrahawks Produced by Anderson
Burr pictures in association with London Weekend Television
39 x 25 min episodes
in 2 series of 26 and 13
First transmitted: Sunday 9th October 1983
Created and produced
by Gerry Anderson
Scripted by Gerry
Anderson and Tony Barwick Executive Producer: Christopher
Burr
The
year is 2020 and the NASA Martian Expedition base has been destroyed
by alien craft which then head towards Earth. Earth protectors -
The Terrahawks - led by Dr. Tiger Ninestein and Sergeant Major Zero
assisted by his zeroid robots pit their wits against Zelda, Imperial
Queen of the planet Guk, a witch-like android who can control the
nature of matter.
The series also featured another futuristic
Rolls-Royce. Called H.U.D.S.O.N., it was chameleon in character.
Produced
by the newly-formed Anderson Burr pictures at Bray studios, this
was a return to puppetry, but Terrahawks was not filmed in Supermarionation
as his other puppet shows were. This time he used a new technique
that was dubbed 'Supermacromation.' Always trying to improve his
puppets' look, Anderson decided that this time they would do away
with the strings all together and used hand puppets with rubber
faces.
c.1984T-Force
A
larger, re-vamped version of Thunderbirds which was being planned
by Gerry Anderson in association with Steven Begg. It included a change
of base with larger,
more versatile rescue vehicles and Lady Penelope was to be given a
pink Porsche instead of the Rolls Royce. Finance for the project proved
to be unobtainable.
1986 - Space Police (Star Laws)
Anderson Burr Pictures
1 x 52 minute pilot
episode scripted by Tony Barwick
Produced by Gerry
Anderson Associate Producer: Bob Bell
After
15 years as a New York policeman, Lieutenant Chuck Brogan is appointed
to command Space Police precinct 44 East, based aboard a space station
orbiting the planet ZarXL5. The crew comprised himself, policewoman
Cathy Costello (Catherine Chevalier) and a trio of cat-like aliens
known as Tom, Dick and Harry, working for an intergalactic police
corps fighting organised crime.
Part
live action, part puppetry, this was clearly a forerunner of Space
Precinct. In order to be able to travel to the surface of the planet,
Cathy had to transform her face into 'Siliconide' - which made her
easier to 'puppetise'. The series was never made due to the untimely
death of Jim Henson, who had shown an interest in it, and the subsequent
lack of backing as the company changed ownership.
1987 - Dick Spanner An Anderson Burr
production in association with Channel 4
22 x 6 minute episodes First
transmitted: 3rd May 1987
Directed by Steven
Begg and Terry Adlam Creative Supervision
by Gerry Anderson
Starring Shane Rimmer
as Dick Spanner
A
robot-like wisecracking private detective conducts his investigations
in a surreal parallel universe where anything, literally, can and
does frequently happen in the most bizarre ways.
Two
stories were presented in 11 segments each: The Case Of The Human Cannon Ball and The Case Of The
Maltese Parrot
This was Gerry Anderson's first completely stop-motion animation
production which was later re-edited into four 25 minute shows.
The Anderson-Burr partnership had, in fact, been dissolved before
the production of this show. It was screened on Sunday lunchtimes
as part of a programme called Network 7, aimed at teenage viewers
and was eventually sold to BSkyB.
1987 - Royal Bank of Scotland
Producing
for The Moving Picture Company on behalf of the Royal Bank of Scotland,
Gerry Anderson made this strange advert featuring matchstick-like
people. This won the advertising industry's Silver Arrow award.
1989
- Space Police (Star Laws)
An
edited, 25 minute version of the 1986 52 minute pilot episode.
1990 - Parker's Day Off
(Swinton Insurance)
Produced and
Directed by Gerry Anderson
This
was made as an advert for Swinton Insurance. It starred the original
puppet model of Parker ( piloting Thunderbird 2! ) and featured some
innovative driving by Lady Penelope in FAB1, both of which were rebuilt
specially for the story.
1991 - 'Calling
Elvis' - Dire Straits
Directed by Steve Barron
/ Gerry Anderson
A
four minute music video starring Dire Straits both live and in puppet
form a la Thunderbirds, promoting their single 'Calling Elvis'.
Gerry Anderson directed the 'Thunderbirds' segment which took twelve
weeks to make.
Original Thunderbirds sequences were accompanied by the new footage
and live action shots of the band,
and featured the M.C. Parker single 'Thunderbirds Are Go' on MTV
in a remix of the original series theme tune.
1991 - F.A.B. Featuring
M.C. Parker - Thunderbirds Are Go!
Originally a single-sided
7" 33rpm flexi-disc released on Telstar – K01 by Euro House.
The theme reached number 5 in the British music charts. To accompany
this, a music video compilation similarly titled Power Themes 90 was
released, and "Thunderbirds Are Go! (The Pressure Mix)" was listed,
featuring footage from episodes of various Gerry Anderson series episodes
interspersed with newly-filmed shots of the original Parker puppet
dressed in "era" clothing and acting as a DJ.
1993 - Thunderbirds Kit Kat Advert
A Thunderbirds-themed advertisement for the Kit Kat chocolate bar
features the original 5–4–3–2–1 countdown (re-recorded by a new voice
actor) and all the ships
taking off, except Thunderbird 1. Scott, who pilots the ship, is seen
relaxing and "having a break". Meanwhile, a frantic Jeff Tracy tries
to order Scott to launch the ship.
1 pilot episode x 25
minutes Executive Producers: Gerry Anderson and
Adam J.Shaw
Produced by Bob
McKie Directed by Phil Littler
Another
look at the T-Force idea resulted in its redevelopment as a cell-animated
series originally called G-Force but ending up as G.F.I. ( Gee Force
Intergalactic ). As a rapid response unit for the United Planets,
G Force Intergalactic combats major crime and large scale disasters,
operating from Star City, a secret base hidden beneath the surface
of an asteroid orbiting the Myson system.
13
episodes were drafted, some into full scripts, but only one episode
was made ( Warming Warning ), partly in Moscow. The series was cancelled
due to the Russian animation being of comparatively poor quality
and reshoot costs proved to be prohibitive.
1994 - Space Precinct Gerry Anderson productions
/ Mentorn Films / Grove Television (GTV)
24 x 45 minute episodes First
transmitted: 27th May 1995
Produced by Gerry
Anderson Executive Producer: Tom Gutteridge
Line Producer: Tom Sachs
Digital effects
by The Magic Camera Company
The
year is 2040. Human, Creon and Tarn police officers form the staff
of precinct 88, keeping law and order in Demeter City on the planet
Altor. Lt.Patrick Brogan (Ted Shackleford) and Officer Jackson Haldane
(Rob Youngblood) always seem to find the most trouble.
This
was the most expensive sci-fi series ever produced in the U.K. Although
an obvious evolution of Space Police, the name had to be changed
due to a copyright conflict with a Lego toy. Now an all-live action
show, all the scenes had to be re-shot, the live scenes being done
at Pinewood and digital effects at Shepperton using special machines
called Lightworks which allowed much wider editing/cutting possibilities.
The financer, Grove Television, only just managed to fulfil its
commitment before going into liquidation. Originally aimed at adults,
it was eventually screened on BBC2 at 6 p.m.
1994 - Thunderbirds U.S.A.
13 x 23
minute edited episodes
ITC
announced a live action Thunderbirds movie to be in development, planned
for release around Christmas 1995. To pave the way for this, 13 of
the original TV episodes were cut down to 23 minutes running time
( 30 minutes including adverts ) and broadcast on the American Fox
Kids network as 'Thunderbirds U.S.A.' with new voice-overs and 'up
to date' dialogue.
The movie failed to materialise as ITC were sold to Polygram in 1995.
1996 - Lavender Castle CPI / Gerry Anderson
Productions / Cosgrove Hall
26 x 10 minute episodes First transmitted: 7th
January 1999
Produced by Gerry
Anderson Line
Producer: Chris Bowden
Executive producers: Craig Hemmings and Brian Cosgrove
The
adventures of Captain Thrice and the crew of the starship Paradox
while on their quest to find the legendary Lavender Castle - a floating
city deep in space supposed to be the greatest source of power in
the universe. They must find it before the evil Doctor Agon who
intends to destroy it!
Made
at Cosgrove Hall using computer digital animation. Stories written
by Pauline Fisk and music by rock legend Rick Wakeman.
Gerry
Anderson's official biography, "Gerry Anderson: The Authorised
Biography" written by Simon Archer and Stan Nicholls, was published
by Legend Books (a division of Random House) in 1996, and a paperback
edition was published the following year.
"What Made Thunderbirds Go!", a new updated and expanded
edition of the biography,
written by Marcus Hearn and Simon Archer, was published by BBC Books
in 2002.
2000
- Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds returned to BBC2 for the first time in eight years starting
5th September 2000. It occupied an early evening weekend slot and
featured the whole 32 episode series which had been digitally re-mastered
by Carlton International with full stereo sound and a lot less visible
strings. It was, of course, accompanied by a huge new range of merchandise
for Christmas 2000, consisting of over 100 different items including
an upgraded version of the highly successful 'Tracy Island' toy with
new sound technology features.
2001
- Recognition
In
June 2001 Gerry Anderson was awarded the MBE
(Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to animation.
2001
- Playstation
A
game release was planned for Playstation 2 in 2001 in which Gerry
Anderson and other 'real' people would feature as part of the International
Rescue team alongside the regular puppet characters.
He
has recently been developing a live-action SF series, Eternity, and
an anime series, FireStorm, with a leading Japanese animation production
company
2003/05
- New Captain Scarlet Anderson Entertainment/Gerry
Anderson Productions/The Indestructible Production Company
26 episodes of
25 minutes
Executive Producer: Toby Ricketts Producer:
Gerry Anderson
Line Producer: Mark Sherwood
Associate Producer: Gary Donohoe CGI Producer: Ron Thornton
Supervising
Director: David Lane
Directors: David Lane, Mark Woollard & Dominic Lavery
Writers: Phil Ford, John Brown & Brian Finch Music
by Crispin Merrell
Editor: Andy Walter Production Designer: Mark Harris
Conceptual Artist: Dominic Lavery
Indestructible
Spectrum agent Captain Scarlet is Earth's best defence in a war of
nerves against the Mysterons from Mars and their instrument of destruction,
former Spectrum agent Captain Black. The first two episodes are a
“two-parter” where it is explained how Captain Scarlet becomes indestructible
and how Captain Black is taken over by the Mysterons after a mission
to Mars. Women are now positioned in their rightful, equal place in
society doing jobs that men used to do so Lieutenant Green is now
a woman, working with Colonel White, in control of all the operational
activities on Spectrum 'Skybase'. Captain Ochre is now a woman too,
although most other favourite characters remain the same.
Created in Hypermarionation - a sophisticated form of CGI animation
- currently in production at Pinewood Studios and due for completion
in 2005 - employs the absolute latest computer graphics imaging (CGI)
animation techniques. At the conclusion of production on the first
26 episodes, it will be the most expensive family entertainment series
ever created, with a budget of over $30 million.
Gerry Anderson Productions (GAP) Plc is the production company set
up in the UK by Margetts Fund Management in 2003 to raise funds for
and to produce 'New Captain Scarlet'. It is, in itself, the single
most successful fund-raising of its type for film or television production
in UK history.
2003
- Regor The Rescue Dog Childrens Book series, published by Reynolds
& Hearn
Published in December 2003 ( possibly originally created c.1996)
'Regor To The Rescue' 'Buried Alive'
Stories about a dog with sophisticated rescue equipment.
2005
- CGI Thunderbirds
This is a trailer for a proposed CGI Thunderbirds series that was
meant to have aired in 2005 but never saw the light of day.
Anderson Entertainment had two other shows in pre-production: ' Regor
the Rescue Dog' and 'A Christmas Miracle' and was exploring the possibility
of exploiting
the back catalogue. Granada Ventures are the licensees for all of
Gerry Anderson's original shows.
Another live-action show - 'Eternity' - was also under discussion
2008
- The Making of the Thunderbirds 'Specsavers' Advert
Machine Shop worked on the Specsavers 'Free reactions' commercial
with Tandem Films based upon the Thunderbirds TV series in early 2008.
In preparation for the shoot, Machine Shop drew on already extensive
knowledge of building and operating Thunderbirds puppets to create
new marionettes as well as their clothes and accessories.
Thunderbirds
2009
The Trailer for the 10 minute fan film Thunderbirds 2009 based on
the TV series Thunderbirds by Gerry Anderson. The film continues the
adventures of the International Rescue team with little or no budget.
Directed by Chris Thompson featuring Guy Taylor, Philippa Ramsay Baggs,
Rachele Crawford, Andrew Smith and Andrew Clements. Costumes by Rachel
Smith Created by the Belfast-based scifi film company SKPB the film
is designed to give an idea of what a live action series of Thunderbirds
would be like.
2011
- Royal Mail Stamps : FAB: The Genius of Gerry Anderson
The stamp series comprised of images from six of his iconic children’s
TV series dating back to Supercar, ‘the marvel of the age’, which
first appeared on ATV in January 1961. Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet
and Joe 90 are all first class while Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray
feature on the 97p stamps. In addition, a miniature sheet of motion
stamps has also been issued, created through a micro-lenticular printing
process, which recreates the famous 5,4,3,2,1, countdown from the
opening scenes of the Thunderbirds series.
2012
- Gerry Anderson - R.I.P.
Gerry
Anderson spoke movingly about his battle with dementia. He first suspected
he had a problem as he drove home to Henley from Pinewood Studios
in early 2010.
“I got lost and the journey took me at least six hours rather than
one,” he said. “I think my son Jamie and wife Mary had already noticed
I was acting differently.
It was a few months before I was diagnosed and even longer before
I was prescribed any treatment. I was sad when I was diagnosed but
I think it was a relief for my family,
who were just pleased to know what was happening to me. The treatment
helps, but I still rely on Jamie and Mary for a lot of things. I just
wish I’d been given earlier diagnosis so I
could have started this treatment sooner. I try to stay positive and
enjoy every day. My dementia hasn’t just affected me — it’s affected
my friends and family, too.”
Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society has said
that Gerry Anderson has been an outstanding supporter of the Alzheimer's
Society and campaigner on behalf of people with dementia. He was determined,
despite his own recent diagnosis, to spend the last year of his life
speaking out for others living with dementia to ensure their voices
were heard and their lives improved. With the support of his family,
Gerry tirelessly attended events around the country to raise awareness
of the condition and to raise funds for a cure.
Gerry Anderson -
b.14th April 1929 d.26th December 2012
T-Force
SixtiesCity
2012
2012
- Gerry Anderson - R.I.P.