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Thunderbirds

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[edit] Introduction

Thunderbirds is a show created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson using Supermarionation, or marionettes, as actors. It debuted in England on September 30, 1965, and was cancelled after December 25, 1966. It spawned two feature-length films, two done in Supermarionation that premiered in 1966 and 1968, and one live action film, which premiered in 2004. It has been in near constant reruns around the world since its cancellation, and is considered a cultural icon in Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Tie-in merchandise is still being created and sold, including models, figurines, comics and novels.

[edit] The Show

Thunderbirds is the story of International Rescue, an elite, high-tech rescue squad headed up by multi-billionaire former astronaut Jeff Tracy, and headquartered at his private island somewhere in the south Pacific. Summoned by radio set to any frequency, it is the last, best hope for those who cannot be rescued by any other means. This unit is staffed by Jeff's five sons: Scott, Virgil, John, Gordon and Alan, each of whom has their own specific vessel to man.

  • Scott, eldest of the Tracy sons, is pilot of Thunderbird One, a speedy silver rocket plane. He is first on the scene, and usually directs the action from his portable radio/computer unit, Mobile Control.
  • Virgil is the man at the controls of mighty Thunderbird Two, a heavy-duty cargo carrier whose interchangeable pods carry a variety of equipment, especially designed for different types of rescues.
  • John, space monitor and eye in the sky, mans Thunderbird Five, a communications satellite in geostationary orbit some 26,000 miles above the Earth. He is the first to hear cries for help, and the touchstone between people in trouble, IR headquarters, and the rescue crew on the field.
  • He swaps places every other month with youngest brother, Alan, who pilots the sleek red rocket ship, Thunderbird Three. If there's a rescue in space, Thunderbird Three – and, in most cases, Alan – will quickly launch to respond.
  • Thunderbird Four – though tiny in comparison to the other ships – has a unique and important place in International Rescue's arsenal. It's a mini-submarine, carried to the danger zone by Thunderbird Two, and at the helm is aquanaut Gordon Tracy.

In the background – but of equal importance – are the brilliant engineer who made this all possible, Brains, and his assistant, the lovely Tin-Tin Kyrano. Security issues are often handled by International Rescue's London agent, English heiress and sometime model, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, part of IR's far-flung network of covert agents. She is aided and abetted by her butler/chauffeur, former top safecracker, Aloysius Parker. Keeping the Tracy household running and the family well-fed are Jeff's Malaysian retainer, Kyrano, and Jeff's mother, known only as Grandma.

International Rescue, though primarily a rescue operation, often tangles with gangs, saboteurs, and thieves. The most persistent and dangerous of these is the Hood. Man of many faces, and half-brother to Kyrano, he exerts a strange, magical power over the retainer, gleaning information about the workings of the organization, and sometimes compelling the older man to perform small acts of sabotage so he can get closer to the secrets of the Thunderbirds themselves. So far, he's been thwarted at every turn by the agents and operatives of International Rescue.

In the 2004 live action movie, Grandma does not appear, and her place is taken by Kyrano's wife and Tin-Tin's mother, Onaha. The movie also changed the family's surname to Beleghant. Brains is aged up, and given a son, Fermat, and both Tin-Tin and Alan are aged down to be in their teens.

[edit] Terminology

Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan fiction community.

  • 'Bird/s - an abbreviation of "Thunderbird/s". Used sometimes in dialog to denote any of the various Thunderbirds crafts, e.g. John's 'Bird is Five.
  • IR - abbreviation of "International Rescue"
  • One, Two, Three, Four, Five - an alternate abbreviation of the Thunderbirds crafts. E.g., Scott's Thunderbird is One.
  • The Terrible Two - often denotes the team of Gordon and Alan, as being the youngest, and in fanon, the practical jokers of the family. Gordon is usually seen as the instigator, while Alan is his helper.
  • Tracycest - denotes incestuous relationships between the members of the Tracy family.

[edit] Pairings

Thunderbirds, both in the television show and the subsequent movies, has four blatant pairings, and another two possible pairings that are supported by canon.

[edit] Blatant

  • Jeff/Penelope - This is made very clear in the 2004 movie, but is more hinted at in the television show, particularly in "Atlantic Inferno".
  • Alan/Tin-Tin - This is made clear throughout the television episodes, with many scenes of the two characters sharing a chair, Alan's hand on Tin-Tin's shoulder. The pairing is dissolved in the movie "Thunderbird Six", when Alan declares it is too dangerous for him to have a relationship. In the 2004 movie, it is hinted that this will develop as the characters in that version are teenagers and at the point where romance is considered undesirable.
  • Brains/Tin-Tin - In the television show, this is broadly hinted at. Tin-Tin and Brains go on vacation together in "Desperate Intruder", and they flirt openly in "Alias, Mr. Hackenbacker". The pairing is given a moment of screentime in "Thunderbird Six", where the two characters are seen holding hands at the end of the film.
  • Alan/Penelope - This is actually wishful thinking on Alan's part in the movie, "Thunderbirds Are GO". He is seen having a romantic interlude with Penelope, including an appearance by the singing group, Cliff Richards, Jr., and the Shadows. However, the interlude is proven to be a dream, and is broken as Jeff calls for Alan, who falls out of bed.

[edit] Possible

  • Virgil/Penelope - This is taken from a moment in "Perils of Penelope" where Virgil, having rescued Penelope from a death trap, holds her in place while a monorail train roars overhead, cupping her face in one hand and giving her what some fans have interpreted as a "steamy look". And in the episode entitled "The Cham-Cham", he and Penelope are seen enjoying each other's company at Paradise Peaks nightclub. These incidents have led fans to suppose that there might be a relationship between the two.
  • Virgil/Tin-Tin - This is taken from a moment in "End of the Road", where Virgil teases Alan by asking if Tin-Tin's old beau, Eddie Houseman, is as handsome as he is. It is also seen in "Move and You're Dead", where Virgil makes a suggestive comment to Tin-Tin, who misinterprets it, indicating her faithfulness to Alan. Her answer is followed by a bit of background music indicating failure - on Virgil's part.

[edit] Timeline

Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan fiction community.

[edit] Kerfluffles

According to tikatu on LiveJournal, [14] , fans of the original Thunderbirds had their own set of past fannish battles and fights. When the live action version came out, Thunderbirds had an inflow of new fans who fought their own fannish battles, most often with the older fans of the TV show. This was confusing to some people because of the two seperate histories and memberships.

There have been long-standing kerfluffles over the following items:

  • Time of the setting - In the final episode of the show, Give or Take a Million, a calendar is shown, clearly stating that the year is 2026. However, Gerry Anderson has been quoted on multiple occasions that the calendar was a mistake, and that the year of the setting should be 2065, or 100 years in the future from the debut of the show. Some fans still take the first date as canon, as it is shown in the canon episodes. This is further ascerbated by the authorized books. John Marriott, in Thunderbirds Are Go!, asserts the 2026 date, and Chris Bentley, in The Complete Book of Thunderbirds, uses the 2065 date throughout.
  • The 2004 movie states merely that Jeff Tracy took his sons to their island home in 2010, and does not give any exact date for the debut of International Rescue, though we are led to believe that they have been in operation for some time, as the public knows them well.
  • Birth order - This has been a minor, but long-running disagreement. Many fans assert, based on John Marriott's book, that the Tracy boys were born in this order: Scott, Virgil, John, Gordon, and Alan. Others claim, based on Chris Bentley's book, that they were born in this order: Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon, and Alan. Those who claim the first order back their assertion up by drawing attention to the close-knit relationship that Scott and Virgil seem to have in the series. There are many incidents throughout the canon that show this strong bond, and the fans who follow this line of reasoning say that the closeness developed between the two brothers at an early age. There is also the fact that Scott and Virgil have Thunderbirds One and Two respectively. However, those who hold to the opposite viewpoint, use the opening credits as their basis. They insist that since John is shown in the second position in that sequence, he is the second eldest, despite having Thunderbird Five as his vehicle. The older fans who subscribe to this viewpoint also claim that they were specifically told that John was second-eldest, though, at the date of this writing, no one has been able to find evidence of this. The only thing that canon specifically states is that Scott is the eldest and Alan is the youngest.
  • The 2004 live action movie made a colossal gaffe by attempting to put John as eldest son, and relegating Scott to the middle child. Books and other printed materials prepared before the movie's debut will show this to be so. However, the fan outcry over this violation of television canon caused the producers to put Scott back into his familar position, and settling John into the second-eldest slot, preserving the Bentley birth order.
  • Ages - Along with the birth order and the year of setting, the ages of the Tracy sons is another area of contention between fans. Marriott states that the ages are thus: Scott, 30; Virgil, 27; John, 25; Gordon, 22; and Alan, 21 (the age he turns during the show). Bentley, however, parses the ages thusly: Scott, 26; John, 25; Virgil, 24; Gordon, 22; and Alan, 21 (which he attains during the show). Some believe that this tightening of the ages was in response to the revamping of the marionettes' faces for the feature films and the second season. Most who ascribe to Marriott's ages point out that there is no way the characters could have accomplished all the things they had reportedly done in their lives by the time they had joined International Rescue if one used the Bentley ages. So each side has their own adherents.
  • The 2004 movie decided that neither of the above worked for them, especially since they wanted Alan to be a teenager. So, the ages they chose were: Scott, 24; John, 22; Virgil, 20; Gordon, 18; and Alan, 14.

[edit] Influential Fanworks

This section needs more information.

[edit] Fandom Members

This list is incomplete.

List of Thunderbirds fans

[edit] Fandom Size

As of May 23, 2007, there were 112 Thunderbirds stories on FanLib. [15] As of August 17, 2007, there were 146 stories on FanLib. [16] As of December 8, 2007, there were 188 stories on FanLib. [17] As of April 22, 2008, there were 217 Thunderbirds fanworks on FanLib. This included 210 stories, 4 images, 2 poems, and 1 video. [18]

As of July 24, 2008, there were 240 Thunderbirds fanworks on FanLib, submitted by 38 members. This included 232 stories, 5 images, 2 poems, and 1 video.[19] It was listed as 28th out of 2,624 fandoms in size.[20]

As of September 8, 2008, there were 1,313 Thunderbirds stories listed on FanFiction.net. Since FanFiction.net did not distinguish between the Televison universe and the Movie universe, both were listed under the Television heading.

As of January 14, 2009, there were 1,344 Thunderbirds stories listed under Television at FanFiction.net, and another 53 listed under Movies. Many of the more prolific and popular writers had moved their stories to the Movie category, hoping to encourage other movie-verse writers to join them.

[edit] External Links

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.

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