Thunderbirds Trivia

1. The creation of the 'Thunderbirds' TV series was inspired by a German mining disaster, however, what was the inspiration behind the names of the pilots of the actual 'Thunderbirds'?

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds': Behind the TV

Answer: Names of the astronauts from the Mercury space project

The Mercury astronauts that inspired the names were SCOTT Carpenter, VIRGIL Grissom, ALAN Shepard, GORDON Cooper and JOHN Glenn. The "Secret Seven" were Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam and Colin (and Scamper, the dog). For the record, any relationship to names of Manchester United soccer players is purely co-incidental and I could not find any record of Lord Grade owning a dog, let alone calling it 'VeeJAGS'.

From Quiz Behind 'Thunderbirds': Who's Pulling the Strings

Answer: Gerry Anderson

Television producer Gerry Anderson has a long list of television and film productions spanning some forty years to his credit. 'Thunderbirds' were produced from 1964-1966 and preceded 'Captain Scarlet'. Later came 'UFO' and 'Space: 1999'. Lew Grade was the managing director of Associated TeleVision at the time. Reg Hill was the designer of the featured craft of earlier Gerry Anderson productions and was assistant producer on 'Thunderbirds'. Hiram K. Hackenbacker is known to all IR fans as Brains, who is credited in the series with building the rescue craft.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds': "Trapped in the Sky"

Answer: First

This will indeed be their first rescue. Founded by astronaut and self made billionaire Jeff Tracy, International will respond to any call for assistance at no cost. The five main rescue vehicles are called Thunderbirds and are manned by Jeff's five sons. We will learn more about the sons and their machines later in the quiz. The inspiration for the show was a mine collapse in Germany where several people died because they couldn't get the proper equipment to the scene in a timely manner. The Thunderbird name for the machines was taken from the Army Air Corps base, Thunderbird Field, that creator Gerry Anderson's brother was stationed at during World War II in Arizona.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds": Who's Who

Answer: Jeff Tracy

Jeff is the father of five sons Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan. Their mother died many years before. Nothing officially is ever said about this but there is a great deal of speculation. Jeff is also a former astronaut who walked on the moon. The show was filmed in 1964 and the space program was in its infancy so the future was a bit hazy. There is also some confusion regarding the time line of the show. Some sources say it takes place in 2026 and others say it is 2065. Oddly, newspapers shown on the show usually have the date 24 Dec, 1964 on them.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds" - "Attack of the Alligators"

Answer: In a swampy river delta

The name of the main river is the Ambro which we briefly see on a map. Ironically, on the DVD case, the episode description calls it the Andro which is short for Androstenedione. Andro is the steroid that Mark McGuire supposedly used to bulk up on when he broke the home run record. Considering how bulked up the alligators get, I thought that was kind of funny until I saw the map in the episode.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds' Characters

Answer: April 4th

Strangely enough, when the series was made, none of the Tracy brothers would even have been born yet in real life. Scott is the oldest Tracy brother.

From Quiz Behind 'Thunderbirds': Who's Pulling the Strings

Answer: A German mining disaster

129 men were working in the Lengede iron ore mine near Brunswick in Lower Saxony, West Germany in October 1963 when a dam holding water that was used in the processing of iron ore collapsed and the mine was flooded. Over the next two weeks several rescue crews struggled to find and save the trapped men and the events made world headlines. In the end, 29 miners lost their lives due to the fact that what little specialized rescue equipment was available, was not quickly accessible.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds': "Trapped in the Sky"

Answer: Fireflash

The Fireflash is a new and innovative airliner. First it is nuclear powered and second the cockpit was in the tail. The show does take place after all in 2026 or 2065 depending on the source.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds": Who's Who

Answer: Lady Penelope

Lady Penelope Creigton-Ward lives in a large house in Kent. She is assisted by Butler/Chauffer Parker. Parker is an ex-con but his background is often helpful. Penny, as she is referred to often, is 26. I always thought of her as being somewhat older but perhaps that is due to her maturity which is probably a necessity to being British aristocracy. It appears that Virgil has the hots for her but that idea never really plays out.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds" - "Attack of the Alligators"

Answer: Theramine

It has a name alright. Theramine is going to be marketed worldwide as a way to end hunger by making animals much larger than normal. Bigger animals = more meat. This show was originally marketed for children in the mid 1960's so they didn't expect us to think about things like "do you need to feed the animals more?" and other science related topics.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds' Characters

Answer: pale blue

Each Tracy brother wears a different colour sash.

From Quiz Behind 'Thunderbirds': Who's Pulling the Strings

Answer: International Rescue

Gerry changed the name of the series when he called the craft the Thunderbirds and realized it sounded punchier as a title than 'International Rescue'.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds': "Trapped in the Sky"

Answer: Tin-Tin

Tin-tin is the daughter of Kyrano who is Jeff Tracy's butler. The back story behind Jeff and Kyrano varies from source to source but they have apparently helped each other out at one time or another. It's Jeff who pays for her education. In fact Tin-tin has just graduated from an unnamed university with degrees in mathematics, advanced technical theory and engineering. She will be working as a scientific assistant. This means she will be assisting head engineer, Brains, in maintaining the Thunderbird fleet. She also designs her own clothes and is a certified pilot. So in a pinch or if this had been produced in more politically correct times, she could pilot the Thunderbird machines. Alas, we never see her do this but we do see her pilot an airplane or two and we see her SCUBA dive more than once. She also goes on at least one rescue.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds": Who's Who

Answer: Scott

Named after astronaut Scott Carpenter, he is first on the scene and mans the commucations center which can either be in the cockpit of Thunderbird 1 or the mobile communications command center stored on board. Ideally, he evaluates the situation and then determines what equipment is needed. Scott is very level headed and calculating making him ideal for this responsibility. However, most of the time, they have a pretty good idea what equipment will be needed before Scott lands and is sent in the heavy transport craft Thunderbird 2. Scott is the one in charge in the event that Jeff is for some reason unable to lead from the base. Scott also goes in Thunderbird 3 to assist with space rescues.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds" - "Attack of the Alligators"

Answer: Mr. Blackmer

He is quite interested in this new development. He will spend the night and then send his assistant Mr. Mueller to the lab in a few days.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds' Characters

Answer: Thunderbird 1

Scott was usually the pilot of Thunderbird 1, however he sometimes accompanied Alan in Thunderbird 3.

From Quiz Behind 'Thunderbirds': Who's Pulling the Strings

Answer: Derek Meddings

Reg Hill was the designer on previous Gerry Anderson productions. But the new series was much more ambitious and Hill needed to concentrate solely on production. The job of designing the equipment and the famous IR Thunderbirds then fell to special effects director Derek Meddings.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds': "Trapped in the Sky"

Answer: It has been rigged to blow up when the landing gear touches the ground again.

International Rescue arch nemesis "The Hood" is trying to sucker International Rescue into showing off its secret machines. He believes that if he can get photographs of the interiors of the machines, he can duplicate the Thunderbirds and somehow make money off the deal. So he stages a disaster for them to come to. The inherent problem is that in six hours the radiation shields will deteriorate. If a solution isn't found, they will have to take the chance that the bomb doesn't go off. Jeff admonishes his sons about the secrecy of International Rescue and tells them to be sure there are no photographs and no TV. In this instance, The Hood has placed a bomb on the plane in the well of the landing gear. It arms when the gear are retracted. It is then set to go off with a pressure sensitive switch - when the wheels touch the ground, BOOM! It's funny how the components are labeled Auto-bomb Detonation Unit and Auto-bomb Explosive Unit. This was supposed to be a kids show so I guess they wanted the children to know what was what. The Hood is so named because he is a master of disguise. He is also the half brother of Kyrano and can telepathically communicate with Kyrano. This usually culminates with Kyrano convulsing and/or passing out. This episode marks the first time he has apparently done this. Jeff is concerned enough to have a doctor flown out the secret International Rescue base.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds": Who's Who

Answer: John

Thunderbird 5 is manned by John in most of the episodes although he and Alan rotate monthly. Named after astronaut John Glenn, creator Gerry Anderson said he hated John and therefore decided to relegate him to Thunderbird 5 most of the time. I wasn't overly fond of John either as his voice bothered me. John was purported to be a loner anyway and was interested in astronomy. Since there was an observation deck with a telescope on Thunderbird 5, John was probably better suited for that duty anyway.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds" - "Attack of the Alligators"

Answer: By boat

Hiking would be too dangerous. It should be possible to get there by chopper as we are able to determine later when Thunderbird 1 arrives. But most of the helicopters in "Thunderbirds" are referred to as "jetcopters" as they use jet engines to go up in the air and hover rather than a rotary wing. I doubt a seaplane could get there, it looks like the river has too many twists but I might be wrong.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds' Characters

Answer: Alan

Each Tracy brother was usually the pilot of their own aircraft, but sometimes they accompanied one of their brothers in another aircraft to help them with the mission.

From Quiz Behind 'Thunderbirds': Who's Pulling the Strings

Answer: The Round House

The Round House guards the Thunderbird 3 launch bay and while it was being detailed in the workshop, Meddings realized it was perfect for TB5. He took the design, added aerials and transmitters and TB5 was created.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds': "Trapped in the Sky"

Answer: The Hood calls the tower and tells them about the bomb.

Yes, The Hood calls in his own bomb threat. He wants the Fireflash to try to land back at London airport so that International Rescue will come out and he can initiate his plan. In order to determine that The Hood's call is not a prank, the control tower has the Fireflash fly by so they can take an x-ray picture. This picture does indeed confirm the presence of a bomb. Apparently the vision for the future consisted of a single London airport. This was filmed in 1964 and at the time there were two commercial airports that served London, Heathrow and Gatwick. Stansted airport to the northeast, was in a state of transition in 1964. It briefly became a commercial airport a few years after serving as a bomber base for the US Army Air Corps during World War II. It was slated to become a NATO air base in the early 1960s but that plan was scrapped in 1966. As of 2006, it has become a haven for European low cost carriers. A fourth London airport, London City airport was part of a revitalization project for the Docklands area of London near Greenwich. It has accommodated short haul commercial air traffic since the early 1980s.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds": Who's Who

Answer: Thunderbird 4

This is the underwater-craft. It is normally transported in Pod 4 with Thunderbird 2 but it can launch on its own in an emergency as we saw in the episode "Terror in New York" when Thunderbird 2 was damaged. In "Attack of the Alligators" it was inexplicably transported in Pod 6. In the 2004 live action movie, it wasn't in a pod, but was stored in another compartment of Thunderbird 2. Gordon, named for astronaut Gordon Cooper, is an Olympic swimming champion and used to race speedboats. Before joining his father's International rescue he also had stints in the Submarine Service and the World Aquanaut Security Patrol.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds" - "Attack of the Alligators"

Answer: The River Station

There isn't any mention of any other city, country or continent. The River Station isn't actually shown. I envisioned it as sort of a general store with a dock in back with free lance boat pilots waiting for some action.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds' Characters

Answer: brown

Scott had brown hair, as did his brother Virgil.

From Quiz Behind 'Thunderbirds': Who's Pulling the Strings

Answer: Barry Gray

Barry Gray provided all the music for the Anderson series up to and including 'Space: 1999' series one. He composed a song with lyrics that was originally intended for use in the closing titles, but was scrapped in favour of the 'Thunderbirds March'. This song, 'Flying High' was modified and later used in the episode 'Ricochet'. Peter Dyneley provided the voice for Jeff Tracy.

From Quiz 'Thunderbirds': "Trapped in the Sky"

Answer: Radio transmissions from the control tower are picked up by Thunderbird 5, the communications satellite.

Thunderbird 5, a communications satellite in geosynchronous orbit around the earth, is manned by either John or Alan who are on a monthly rotation. Thunderbird 5 can monitor hundreds of radio messages simultaneously in any language. Another funny thing about the vision of the future, the only recording equipment is reel to reel tape recorders. It is John on duty this time (and as it turns out most of the time in the series) who picks up the transmission between the control tower and Fireflash.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds": Who's Who

Answer: Brains

Sometimes referred to as Hiram Hackenbacker, his real name is unknown. Brains was an orphan but was raised by a professor from Cambridge who say the genius in him. When Jeff hears him lecturing, he approaches him with an idea for a worldwide rescue organization and agrees to help him. It is Brains' designs that become the Thunderbirds machines. The upkeep of the machines is done by Brains and Tin-Tin who we will meet a little later. Brains has a slight stutter in the series which was overdone to Porky Pig proportions in the movie.

From Quiz "Thunderbirds" - "Attack of the Alligators"

Answer: Culp

Whoever wrote this script apparently came from a background where people who provide a service are never referred to as Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so but only their last name where as those receiving the service were always referred to by title and last name. In this case, Mr. Blackmer vs Culp. This may be a British Military custom. In keeping with this tradition, Culp is put up on the couch for the night whereas Mr. Blackmer is given "Guest accommodations".

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