Story of movie Thunderbird 6 : Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema. A sequel to 1966's Thunderbirds Are Go, it was the second film to be adapted from the 1960s television series Thunderbirds, which combined scale models and special effects with marionette puppet characters in a filming process that the Andersons termed "Supermarionation". Intended to provide a lighter-hearted cinematic experience to contrast with the harder science of Thunderbirds Are Go, the Andersons elected to base the plot of Thunderbird 6 on Skyship One, a futuristic airship that is the latest project of the scientist Brains.
| Thunderbird 6 | |
|---|---|
UK film poster | |
| Directed by | David Lane |
| Produced by | Sylvia Anderson |
| Screenplay by | Gerry and Sylvia Anderson |
| Based on | Thunderbirds by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson |
| Starring | Keith Alexander Sylvia Anderson John Carson Peter Dyneley Gary Files Christine Finn David Graham Geoffrey Keen Shane Rimmer Jeremy Wilkin Matt Zimmerman |
| Narrated by | Keith Alexander |
| Music by | Barry Gray |
| Cinematography | Harry Oakes |
| Edited by | Len Walter |
Production company | Century 21 Cinema Productions Associated Television |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date | 29 July 1968 |
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £300,000 |
The film's plot depicts Alan, Tin-Tin, Lady Penelope and Parker representing International Rescue on Skyship One's round-the-world maiden flight, unaware that criminal mastermind the Hood is once again plotting to acquire the secrets of the Thunderbird machines. Paid agents of the Hood murder the original crew of Skyship One prior to take-off and assume their identities, entertaining the guests while scheming to lure the Tracy brothers into a trap. Meanwhile, Brains' efforts to produce a satisfactory design concept for Jeff's proposed Thunderbird 6 collide with fate when Skyship One is damaged and Alan's old Tiger Moth biplane appears to be the only hope of saving the International Rescue group and their impostor hosts.
Actors John Carson and Geoffrey Keen provide guest speaking roles, with additions to the regular voice cast in the form of Keith Alexander and Gary Files. The design of the puppets that appear in Thunderbird 6 marks a transition between the caricatures that Century 21 had used up to Thunderbirds Are Go and the realism introduced in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Filming ran from May to December 1967, and the art and special effects departments collaborated to realise Skyship One as both a miniature model and a collection of themed interior designs. A number of sequences of the Tiger Moth in flight were filmed on location with a full-sized stunt plane, but a legal dispute with the Ministry of Transport regarding alleged dangerous flying by pilot Joan Hughes forced the production team to film the remaining shots in-studio with scale replicas.
Released in July 1968, Thunderbird 6 had a mediocre reception at the box office, which ruled out the production of further sequels in the Thunderbirds film series. Critical response has remained mixed: although the special effects have been praised, commentators are divided on the quality of the plotting, which is considered either well-paced and concluding on a note of high action, or confusing and inordinately long, with little visual spectacle to contrast with the dialogue. Nevertheless, Thunderbird 6 is viewed favourably in comparison to Jonathan Frakes' 2004 film adaptation.
Screenplay
In 2068, the New World Aircraft Corporation in England gives Brains an open brief to design a revolutionary aircraft. Although Brains is ridiculed when he suggests an airship, NWAC eventually accepts his proposal and builds Skyship One, a vessel powered by anti-gravity compensators.
Representing International Rescue on Skyship One's maiden flight – a round-the-world trip with pre-programmed stopovers – will be Alan Tracy, Tin-Tin, Lady Penelope and Parker. Brains, meanwhile, is forced to remain on Tracy Island after Jeff decides that IR requires a Thunderbird 6. Forced to work without a specification, Brains produces a number of concepts, all of which are rejected by Jeff.
Alan and Tin-Tin travel to England in an old Tiger Moth biplane and join Penelope and Parker before Skyship One departs NWAC Headquarters. However, the IR guests are unaware that the ship's captain, Foster, and stewards have been murdered and replaced by agents of the Hood, operating as "Black Phantom" from the disused El Hadim airfield near Casablanca, Morocco. As Skyship One is fully automated, the impostor crew are not required to demonstrate any technical knowledge of its systems; consquently, they avoid raising their guests' suspicions as the ship passes through New York City, the Grand Canyon, Rio de Janeiro and India.
After Skyship One leaves the Egyptian pyramids, Penelope discovers a bugging device in her quarters. Unknown to the guests, the impostor Foster and his associates have been recording and editing Penelope's speech to assemble a false transmission requesting that Jeff dispatch Thunderbirds 1 and 2 to the airfield, where the Hood and his henchmen will hi-jack the craft. During a stop in the Swiss Alps, Parker locates the editing equipment and informs the others, but before they can take action the message is completed and transmitted to John on Thunderbird 5. Alan realises the threat against IR just in time for Penelope to radio Jeff and warn him that Thunderbirds 1 and 2 are flying into a trap. On landing, Scott and Virgil use the craft's cannons to destroy the Hood's base.
On Skyship One, Alan, Penelope and Parker engage in a gun battle with the impostors but are forced to surrender when Tin-Tin is taken hostage. The ship's compensators are damaged in the fighting, causing it to lose height and crash into a radio mast at a missile base near Dover. With Skyship One balanced precariously on the mast's tip and its anti-gravity field weakening, it is up to Scott, Virgil and Brains to rescue all on board before it falls onto the base. However, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 cannot approach the ship without destabilising it and IR's Pod Vehicles are too heavy to deploy onto it.
At Gordon's suggestion, Brains pilots the Tiger Moth up to Skyship One's top deck. On landing, he is confronted by Foster and his two surviving associates. Holding Penelope hostage in the Tiger Moth's cockpit, Foster attempts to take off without the others but is shot dead by Alan. The Tiger Moth is launched with the IR personnel and the impostors hanging on to the wings and landing gear. Soon after, Skyship One crashes to the ground, starting a chain reaction that destroys the missile base.
A shootout ensues on board the Tiger Moth, during which the last two impostors are killed. Stray bullets damage the plane's controls and fuel tank, necessitating an emergency landing. After near misses with an exhaust tower and a bridge on the unfinished M104 motorway, Alan and Penelope safely ditch the plane into a field. Back on Tracy Island, Brains unveils Thunderbird 6 as none other than the repaired and repainted Tiger Moth, which the whole of IR agree has proven its value as a rescue vehicle.
– David Lane on the premise
Despite the unexpected failure of Thunderbirds Are Go on its release in December 1966, the United Artists distributors authorised a sequel, to be budgeted at £300,000. Major production credits were unchanged from the first film: while Gerry and Sylvia Anderson scripted the film in three months and returned as producers, David Lane filled the position of director.
The plot of the ill-fated Skyship One was intended to be more light-hearted than that of Zero-X in Thunderbirds Are Go, although at the earliest production stage the focus was to be a "Russo-American space project". From an idea of Desmond Saunders, a long-standing collaborator who had an interest in aviation, the Andersons based the plot on the destruction of the British R101 in 1930. Gerry Anderson researched airship history by reading books on the R101, the R100 and the Graf Zeppelin. The plot also emulates the Thunderbirds Series Two episode "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker", which stars another of Brains' pioneering aircraft, Skythrust.
Introducing a vintage de Havilland Tiger Moth as the new Thunderbird 6, in their script the Andersons allude to 1960s publicity for Esso, which advertised under the promotional banner of "Put a Tiger in Your Tank". A line from Virgil Tracy during the final rescue of the Skyship One occupants adapts this slogan to refer to the "Tiger" stored inside Thunderbird 2's Pod. However, no character dialogue explicitly refers to the aircraft by the full name "Tiger Moth".
Voice casting
Voice acting was recorded in six days at the Anvil Films Recording Studio at Denham in Buckinghamshire, where dialogue for Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons would also be recorded. Dialogue for characters returning from Thunderbirds Are Go, such as the Tracy family, Tracy Island's other residents, Lady Penelope, Parker and the Hood is, with two exceptions, provided by the same actors. Voice actors introduced in Thunderbird 6 are:
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