Mister Thunderbirds

Here is a message from [hidden email] about "Mister
Thunderbirds", which was broadcast yesterday in the UK on channel 5:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Gareth Randall <[hidden email]>
Subject: Mister Thunderbirds

The documentary about Gerry Anderson on Channel 5 (UK) has just finished,
and anyone who couldn't see it should take heart - it was obviously made on
the cheap and was aimed at a general audience. Consequently it was very
lightweight, only skimmed the surface of the issues, and didn't reveal
anything a serious Anderson fan wouldn't already know.

It also suffered from a malady common to this sort of programme, in the UK
anyway - they padded out the time by wheeling on Z-list TV stars (nobody
you'd have heard of outside the UK) to reminisce about their childhood
experiences of the Anderson shows, as if anybody actually cared what Mark
Curry or Bobby Davro had to say.

The only really interesting part was that for all the Thunderbirds clips,
the audio was clearly the stereo downmix of the new surround soundtrack. It
certainly sounded extremely dynamic, and about a million times better than
the unrestored audio tracks that went with the clips from all the other
shows, but I couldn't help thinking that they'd replaced some of the
original sound effects with brand new ones. It may have just been my ears
playing tricks - I hope so...

Altogether, a highly missable show. I have a very strong suspicion, though,
that it'll end up as an extra on one of the Thunderbirds DVDs. It had that
"50 minutes of filler material" feel to it!

Gareth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marc Martin wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------
> From: Gareth Randall <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Mister Thunderbirds

[snip]

> The only really interesting part was that for all the Thunderbirds clips,
> the audio was clearly the stereo downmix of the new surround soundtrack. It
> certainly sounded extremely dynamic, and about a million times better than
> the unrestored audio tracks that went with the clips from all the other
> shows, but I couldn't help thinking that they'd replaced some of the
> original sound effects with brand new ones. It may have just been my ears
> playing tricks - I hope so...
>

I wouldn't be surprised if they've redone some of the sound effects
and what-not (personally) .. they added some video effects to
Stingray when it was released on video over ten years ago, which
was a shame (imo). One of the best things I remember from watching
Stingray as a child was the way the missiles would pop out and
chase after those aquaphibian submarines that looked like huge
fish, but this had been replaced in the redone version by an
'underwater death ray' effect. Hope UFO doesn't get similar
treatment when it makes it to DVD .. it would be nice if the theme
music was in stereo though ..

James

From: Gareth Randall <[hidden email]>
Subject: Mister Thunderbirds

Via MarcMartin...

<< Altogether, a highly missable show. I have a very strong suspicion,
though, that it'll end up as an extra on one of the Thunderbirds DVDs. >>

It was on channel 5 so predictably it was pretty lightweight. Even so, it
was moderately amusing and I loved seeing bits and pieces of Fireball XL5,
Stingray etc.

I couldn't figure out why they used failed entertainers to reminisce about
their childhoods and the part Anderson productions played in those
childhoods. Then I figured out that informed comment from Anderson
marionettes was likely to be a bit sparse, certainly a little wooden,
probably would have come with strings attached and... sorry!!

The show would've benefitted from longer Ed Bishop and Gabrielle Drake
interviews but then I guess it would have been too UFO-biased.

On reflection... I liked it!

Carly
:-D





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Servus!

JG> Hope UFO doesn't get similar treatment when it makes it to DVD .. it
JG> would be nice if the theme music was in stereo though ..
As I said, I just joined you, so I'm not up to date here. Can you tell me
what the most current status of UFO on DVD is?

RU! (48o18'13''N/10o10'32''E)

In message <v04210100b5d01ae4e419@[10.0.0.2]>, Marc Martin
<[hidden email]> writes

>---
> From: Gareth Randall <[hidden email]>
>Subject: Mister Thunderbirds
>
>The documentary about Gerry Anderson on Channel 5 (UK) has just finished,
>and anyone who couldn't see it should take heart - it was obviously made on
>the cheap and was aimed at a general audience. Consequently it was very
>lightweight, only skimmed the surface of the issues, and didn't reveal
>anything a serious Anderson fan wouldn't already know.

So? I think the point is being missed here. Sheila and I watched it
and I think we consider ourselves to be serious UFO fans. We enjoyed
it.

I think Mr Randall missed the point that all this brings positive media
attention to Mr Anderson and the publicity and the educating of the
masses to the talents of this remarkable man. The other people involved
in the Anderson world, David Lane and Bob Bell, were also featured.
This can not be a bad thing.
>
>It also suffered from a malady common to this sort of programme, in the UK
>anyway - they padded out the time by wheeling on Z-list TV stars (nobody
>you'd have heard of outside the UK) to reminisce about their childhood
>experiences of the Anderson shows, as if anybody actually cared what Mark
>Curry or Bobby Davro had to say.

Yeah, and don't forget the chauvinistic Shane Richie (unfortunately or
fortunately on your point of view not Shane Rimmer!). I agree, this was
the stupid aspect to the programme, however, there was a lot of good
things about it, too.
>
>The only really interesting part was that for all the Thunderbirds clips,
>the audio was clearly the stereo downmix of the new surround soundtrack. It
>certainly sounded extremely dynamic, and about a million times better than
>the unrestored audio tracks that went with the clips from all the other
>shows, but I couldn't help thinking that they'd replaced some of the
>original sound effects with brand new ones. It may have just been my ears
>playing tricks - I hope so...

I remarked at the time of watching it how clear the Thunderbird footage
looked. I hope one day that UFO will look as bright and clear.
>
>Altogether, a highly missable show. I have a very strong suspicion, though,
>that it'll end up as an extra on one of the Thunderbirds DVDs. It had that
>"50 minutes of filler material" feel to it!

Well, sorry, I do not think it was missable. I'm not an Anderson snob
and I think that this programme did a lot of good to put Anderson back
into people's conversations at tea-time again. That can't be bad. It
was also great to see UFO get a good mention and see Ed and Gabrielle,
too. She has really aged well and is still a beauty.

And, by the way, we did make a copy of it;-)

--
Suzanne Sutherland
The Fat Fetuccine Mama

Suzanne Sutherland wrote:

> Well, sorry, I do not think it was missable. I'm not an Anderson snob
> and I think that this programme did a lot of good to put Anderson back
> into people's conversations at tea-time again. That can't be bad. It
> was also great to see UFO get a good mention and see Ed and Gabrielle,
> too. She has really aged well and is still a beauty.

Hmmmmmmmmmm, this sounds intriguing. I've never been a fan of
Thunderbirds, though.
Hey, there is a Japanese Thunderbirds Playset up for auction on eBay, if
anyone is interested!

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=422034345


> And, by the way, we did make a copy of it;-)

Maybe I'll worm a copy of it out of you?? <grin>

-- Y


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Gareth Randall <[hidden email]> wrote:-
> The documentary about Gerry Anderson on Channel 5 (UK) has just finished ...

It showed how the trouble developed between Earth and the Mysterons. At
first there was no quarrel between the two, but an Earth expedition to MArs
found a strange alien city on Mars. (Mysterons lived in the city.) Someone
in the city aimed a big telescope at the Earthmen to see what they were were.
One of the Earthmen thought the telescope was a big gun and decided to shoow
back first. That gave the Mysterons a cause for vengeance against Earth.

The main thing about this show to me is that other people got credit and
were interviewed as well as Gerry. How many times have you seen Bob Bell,
David Lane, the late Derek Meddings, David Graham, Ed and Gabrielle
interviewed? Your never going to cover the work of Gerry Anderson in 50
minutes and I thought they did pretty good. Joe 90 (despite the pilot
episode being shown in the afternoon) and the Secret Service never got a
look in but UFO got it's fair share.

I have no problems with the programme but the rest of the day was a waste of
time. I do not know what rights Channel 5 has to Anderson shows but I felt
the content of the whole day was all wrong. Channel 5 - please try again
this time with a full Gerry Anderson weekend or UFO day ;-)

Derek Eaton
[hidden email]

Having also seen the documentary referred to, I have to agree with Gareth's
comments. The only thing I would add, was that it was Great to see Gabrielle
Drake still looking absolutely stunning. It gives hope to us all!!

John
>
>

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> >The documentary about Gerry Anderson on Channel 5 (UK) has just finished,
> >and anyone who couldn't see it should take heart - it was obviously made
on
> >the cheap and was aimed at a general audience.

I cannot see what makes you think it was made on the cheap. i think we are
very lucky that it was made at all.

Consequently it was very
> >lightweight, only skimmed the surface of the issues, and didn't reveal
> >anything a serious Anderson fan wouldn't already know.

Lightweight? Well they only had 50 minutes or so to cover the great mans
career. I think they did very well under the circs.:-)
>
> So? I think the point is being missed here. Sheila and I watched it
> and I think we consider ourselves to be serious UFO fans. We enjoyed
> it.

Yes I did enjoy it. I would have liked more about UFO in it but then I am
biased. I think the makers of the show pitched it just right for the
intended audience, the general public.
>
> I think Mr Randall missed the point that all this brings positive media
> attention to Mr Anderson and the publicity and the educating of the
> masses to the talents of this remarkable man.

Yes quite so. Not everyone is as familiar with Gerry Anderson's works as we
are. I was interested to learn of his life after Sylvia, of which I knew
nothing.

The other people involved
> in the Anderson world, David Lane and Bob Bell, were also featured.
> This can not be a bad thing.

It was most interesting to hear their interviews!
> >
>
> Yeah, and don't forget the chauvinistic Shane Richie (unfortunately or
> fortunately on your point of view not Shane Rimmer!). I agree, this was
> the stupid aspect to the programme, however, there was a lot of good
> things about it, too.
> >
> >Altogether, a highly missable show. ! I must admit I failed to see the
point of the interviews with 2 "stars". Far better to have interviewed
ordinary people or to have left that filling out altogether.
But despite the 2 stooges I would not have missed it for the world!!!!
It had Ed in it and that is enough in my book to make it a winner;-)

> And, by the way, we did make a copy of it;-)

But the tape has now gone missing!!! :-( ACK!!!!

Sheila

Still UFO Crazy crazy crazy crrraaazzzzy!

Any way to get a copy viewable in the states?

-sircumference

-----Original Message-----
From: Suzanne Sutherland [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 6:52 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [SHADO] Mister Thunderbirds

In message <v04210100b5d01ae4e419@[10.0.0.2]>, Marc Martin
<[hidden email]> writes

>---
> From: Gareth Randall <[hidden email]>
>Subject: Mister Thunderbirds
>
>The documentary about Gerry Anderson on Channel 5 (UK) has just finished,
>and anyone who couldn't see it should take heart - it was obviously made on
>the cheap and was aimed at a general audience. Consequently it was very
>lightweight, only skimmed the surface of the issues, and didn't reveal
>anything a serious Anderson fan wouldn't already know.

So? I think the point is being missed here. Sheila and I watched it
and I think we consider ourselves to be serious UFO fans. We enjoyed
it.

I think Mr Randall missed the point that all this brings positive media
attention to Mr Anderson and the publicity and the educating of the
masses to the talents of this remarkable man. The other people involved
in the Anderson world, David Lane and Bob Bell, were also featured.
This can not be a bad thing.
>
>It also suffered from a malady common to this sort of programme, in the UK
>anyway - they padded out the time by wheeling on Z-list TV stars (nobody
>you'd have heard of outside the UK) to reminisce about their childhood
>experiences of the Anderson shows, as if anybody actually cared what Mark
>Curry or Bobby Davro had to say.

Yeah, and don't forget the chauvinistic Shane Richie (unfortunately or
fortunately on your point of view not Shane Rimmer!). I agree, this was
the stupid aspect to the programme, however, there was a lot of good
things about it, too.
>
>The only really interesting part was that for all the Thunderbirds clips,
>the audio was clearly the stereo downmix of the new surround soundtrack. It
>certainly sounded extremely dynamic, and about a million times better than
>the unrestored audio tracks that went with the clips from all the other
>shows, but I couldn't help thinking that they'd replaced some of the
>original sound effects with brand new ones. It may have just been my ears
>playing tricks - I hope so...

I remarked at the time of watching it how clear the Thunderbird footage
looked. I hope one day that UFO will look as bright and clear.
>
>Altogether, a highly missable show. I have a very strong suspicion, though,
>that it'll end up as an extra on one of the Thunderbirds DVDs. It had that
>"50 minutes of filler material" feel to it!

Well, sorry, I do not think it was missable. I'm not an Anderson snob
and I think that this programme did a lot of good to put Anderson back
into people's conversations at tea-time again. That can't be bad. It
was also great to see UFO get a good mention and see Ed and Gabrielle,
too. She has really aged well and is still a beauty.

And, by the way, we did make a copy of it;-)

--
Suzanne Sutherland
The Fat Fetuccine Mama

Wish I could see it!!!!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Sheila Holton-Brown [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 6:09 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [SHADO] Mister Thunderbirds

> >The documentary about Gerry Anderson on Channel 5 (UK) has just finished,
> >and anyone who couldn't see it should take heart - it was obviously made
on
> >the cheap and was aimed at a general audience.

I cannot see what makes you think it was made on the cheap. i think we are
very lucky that it was made at all.

Consequently it was very
> >lightweight, only skimmed the surface of the issues, and didn't reveal
> >anything a serious Anderson fan wouldn't already know.

Lightweight? Well they only had 50 minutes or so to cover the great mans
career. I think they did very well under the circs.:-)
>
> So? I think the point is being missed here. Sheila and I watched it
> and I think we consider ourselves to be serious UFO fans. We enjoyed
> it.

Yes I did enjoy it. I would have liked more about UFO in it but then I am
biased. I think the makers of the show pitched it just right for the
intended audience, the general public.
>
> I think Mr Randall missed the point that all this brings positive media
> attention to Mr Anderson and the publicity and the educating of the
> masses to the talents of this remarkable man.

Yes quite so. Not everyone is as familiar with Gerry Anderson's works as we
are. I was interested to learn of his life after Sylvia, of which I knew
nothing.

The other people involved
> in the Anderson world, David Lane and Bob Bell, were also featured.
> This can not be a bad thing.

It was most interesting to hear their interviews!
> >
>
> Yeah, and don't forget the chauvinistic Shane Richie (unfortunately or
> fortunately on your point of view not Shane Rimmer!). I agree, this was
> the stupid aspect to the programme, however, there was a lot of good
> things about it, too.
> >
> >Altogether, a highly missable show. ! I must admit I failed to see the
point of the interviews with 2 "stars". Far better to have interviewed
ordinary people or to have left that filling out altogether.
But despite the 2 stooges I would not have missed it for the world!!!!
It had Ed in it and that is enough in my book to make it a winner;-)

> And, by the way, we did make a copy of it;-)

But the tape has now gone missing!!! :-( ACK!!!!

Sheila

Still UFO Crazy crazy crazy crrraaazzzzy!

"derek.eaton" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I have no problems with the programme but the rest of the day was a waste of
> time. I do not know what rights Channel 5 has to Anderson shows but I felt
> the content of the whole day was all wrong. Channel 5 - please try again
> this time with a full Gerry Anderson weekend or UFO day ;-)

It is doubtful that Channel 5 has any rights licensed beyond these
single showings.

Jez
--