THUNDERBIRDS UNSEEN: Uncovering Lost Thunderbirds Footage (Behind the Scenes Documentary)

We've seen them on television, we've seen them on Super 8, we've seen them on video, we've seen them on DVD, and we've seen them on Blu-ray. 60 years since the show first went before the cameras, we all know Thunderbirds like the backs of our human hand inserts. Ergo, there's no more to see. So when we announced that we'd been contacted about 22 cans of film, 20 from Thunderbirds, two from Joe90, we got the same response from inside and outside of It's a waste of time and money transferring them to digital. These are just prints. We've seen it all before. In this programme, we'll be looking at not just these 22 cans, but other films we've had access to, ranging from approval prints to alternative edits. Predominantly Thunderbirds, but with some other interesting films too, ranging from an hour in length to sometimes just a few frames. Not every film we've found has been interesting, but together they help build a picture of the editorial process used at the time, and may even hint at where other missing material may be lurking. So join us now as we open some rusty old film cans to see what secrets they've held, for 60 years. In 2023 we were contacted by the family of a former Thunderbirds crew member to let us know that they had in the shed a number of film cans from Thunderbirds and asked if we'd be interested in viewing them. They'd initially become aware of us in 2015 when we were in the news for making Thunderbirds the anniversary episodes, so they thought we would be in the perfect place to ascertain as to whether these films were of any interest. It wasn't until this year however that the family were finally able to invite us to collect the cans and dig them out from the garden shed where they had been for decades. 22 cans were retrieved and we made an initial list of what we thought everything was based on the labelling that had survived. Most of the labels seemed unremarkable, though a handful indicated that they were answer prints, potentially interesting early approval prints. However, having originally hoped for the famed missing scenes from Thunderbirds Argo, initially it seemed that this haul might be a bit of a disappointment. However, these cans didn't contain ordinary prints, the sorts that were bicycled out to the broadcasters. These were working copies used in the creation of the episodes themselves by AP Films. We therefore considered them worth checking, so took the cans with us. Despite the rust on the outside of the cans, and barring the standard Eastman colour fading, all of them seem to be in remarkably good shape. Film needs to be stored well or it starts to decompose. The only seriously damaged can was the one that purported to contain reels three and four of Pit of Peril, but had a standard labelling on, and so fortunately was unlikely to be anything interesting. Scanning in 4k then took place over the next few weeks, and before viewing the films, we gave them a blanket regrade to restore the colour where possible, with the intention to only fully restore any films that turned out to be of interest, if any should surface. If only I knew the secrets, I would be the wealthiest man in the world. And you, Carano, my own brother, are in the midst. But because of your misguided loyalties, you refuse to help me. The first film that went through was an intriguingly labelled can marked the Cham Cham, Jerry's Birmingham print. However, a quick inspection of the film revealed that it wasn't in fact reels one and two of Cham Cham, as purported, but reels one and two of the first episode, Trapped in the Sky. That's impossible, Fireflash. The bomb is so placed that the impact of landing would cause it to detonate. Remain in vicinity of London airport at 30,000 feet. Well, what's going to happen? We can't just stay out here forever. What is your endurance? Well, with our atomic motors, we can stay up here for six months, but the anti-radiation shield on the reactor will need servicing in two hours, 10 minutes, or our passengers will be subjected to radiation exposure. The film is missing the opening titles and has no leader on it. Furthermore, it has three sections where the picture has been excised and replaced with Compared to the other films, the fading was nowhere near as bad, and the optical soundtrack had a depth certainly not heard on any 21st century release. Although it was as transmitted, there was the tantalising thought that this may be the earliest print of the episode. However, we eventually discovered that wasn't true. Godman, we implore you, spare this young girl. It's too late. My plan has failed. I shall have to leave Lady Penelope to her fate. Inside a can with a heavily damaged label that claimed to hold copy three of 30 Minutes Afternoon was a faded copy of reels three to five of The Perils of Penelope. Sadly, the print is suffering from vinegar syndrome, which in short is the chemical breakdown of the film leading to a rather unpleasant vinegary smell. Despite this, the film yielded a reasonably good image, and we were able to restore the colour to it moderately well. And we'll rendezvous with Parker who's coming down the highway Q44 from this direction. Then Penelope's train will come into Anderbad Junction through the Anderbad Tunnel here. But when does Virgil reckon he'll get there? Well, I'm expecting him to radio in at any moment to tell me just that. It all looks pretty well organised to me, but I'm sure sorry this had to happen while I was away on vacation. The print has a leader on it indicating the episode was finished in April 1965, which supports the existing evidence that, although it was officially labelled episode 12, it was only the second episode to be completed. No further information is available about this print, although we suspect it may have been produced after September 1965, as it has the broadcast closing titles on. The end titles went through various adjustments prior to broadcast, with the Mole credit only being shot in September 1965. On Barry Gray's musical timing sheets for The Perils of Penelope, he indicates that the closing titles have been changed, so different from the ones on the only complete episode, Trapped in the Sky. We had hoped one of the prints in this collection may yield any intermediate versions of the closing titles, but curiously, out of the 20 Thunderbirds prints, only two had the final reels. All of the earlier dated prints were missing the last few minutes of the episode, thus depriving us as a glimpse as to what had originally been intended. Atlantic Inferno is, for reasons we're not quite sure, the only episode in the collection that is complete, with all five reels present and correct. This print of reels one and two is interesting as it is an answer print, an approval print for the studio with sound and picture adjusted. The producer, director and editor would view this version and check for any errors, and make any final creative decisions, including alterations to the colour grading. This answer print is copy one, which means that it is the earliest print of the episode ever produced. We can't tell if any notes went back about the colour grading of the episode, but we do know that the studio requested this negative cutting error be fixed, where a shot of Jeff is missing. Fading aside, the print is in excellent condition, and this reel runs from the opening titles to... This can was unusual in that it was the only can, other than its twin containing reels three and four, to have ITC labelling on it. Curiously, the leader doesn't name the series at all. It merely says, trapped in the sky, reel one. That this can originates from K's labs is interesting in itself, as the rest of the series was processed by rank. The can still contains the K's lab paper inlay. The film has comparatively minimal fading, but sadly exhibits image deterioration that manifests itself as a series of red cracks in the picture. On initial viewing of the film, our expectation was that this would be, as with the other reel one and two, a copy of the transmitted episode. We were therefore surprised when, instead of this happening... ...this happened. We'd long suspected that an alternative approach to the wall portraits had been used, as they are visibly cut out in some of the earlier episodes. However, here was unexpected confirmation. As we know this was changed, we can reasonably surprise this to be the earliest known print of trapped in the sky in existence. Unfortunately, there's no date on the reel, but we know it must hail from after Barry Gray recorded his score on the 8th of December 1964 for the full hour-length episode. Having spoken to another crew member, we also have reason to speculate, nothing stronger than that, that this may have been the print that Lou Grade saw in 1964. This reel runs from the opening titles to Thunderbird 2 taking off. As part of the overall scanning project, we took the opportunity to revisit some films we'd previously had access to. This short reel of shots of Lady Penelope's Mansion was part of the Michael Wilson collection, and having previously scanned it in standard definition, we had it redone in 4k. Can you hear me? This can of End of the Road, an answer print from June 1965, had clearly been chopped up. A couple of sections were held together with only paperclips. Well, that finishes Eddie as far as Tintin is concerned. Lucky we didn't have a call while he was here, wasn't it, father? Yes, yes it was, Virgil. I wonder what sort of trouble they've got on that road. Now, Bob, we can't. Eddie, it's too late. The rains have started. Then what do we do? Just sit here? Let a landslide ruin all our work to date? However, it was only upon preparation of the film for scanning, that we realised that the vandals had left us notes from 60 years before. The printers had bits excised for use in the cutting copy of Security Hazard. The outer labelling is very faded, so it's difficult to tell much from that, other than the information we've previously given. But despite fading, the print remains in relatively good, if edited, condition. This is International Rescue. We're receiving your call. Go ahead, please. I've got them. They're answering. International Rescue, we need your help. Much, much shorter than anything else we've looked at are these test strips from the Michael Wilson collection. Each of these strips, four to six frames long, give a brief view of shots unused from the first four episodes of Thunderbirds that entered production in 1964. These strips from Pitt Apparel show tantalising glimpses of shots that ended up on the cutting room floor. Although Thunderbirds made up the bulk of the collection retrieved from a shed earlier this year, there were two cans of Joe 90. This somewhat oversized can contains reel three, the final reel of Most Special Astronaut. Cabin temperature, five zero degrees. Pressure, three eight point six. All primary circuits positive. It sounds like a girl. Get on with the job. As with the other prints, this had turned to red, although was in otherwise good condition. This short reel of about four minutes from the end of Alias Mr Hackerbacker was loaned to us by a man who had been given the print by Thunderbirds director David Lane. This is slightly curious as the episode is directed by Desmond Saunders. Bar fading, the print is in good condition and is exactly as broadcast. Use a live missile this time, Alan. FAB. They're coming in again. I can hardly wait. Mission accomplished, father. However, there is one curiosity. According to Barry Gray's musical timing sheets, the reel should be longer. It should begin not with the criminals in the desert spotting Thunderbird two, but with the lead up to Sky Thrust landing. Furthermore, it becomes apparent that Gray saw two alternative versions of reel five. The original version he saw had, amongst other things, a different line from Commander Norman, who exclaims, Magnificent Sky Thrust is safe. Whereas in the final episode, he says, Five thousand gallons. You've got to hand it to Hackenbacker. His ejectable fuel pod to eliminate fire hazard really works. It will revolutionize flying safety. It's unknown when this change was made. However, as we will shortly see, changes could be made quite far down the line. And it remains tantalizingly possible that alternative edits of certain episodes are still out there. Sidewinder to Copter Watchdog. Jungle test complete. How did she look from up there, General? She looked just fine, sweetie. And what a machine. How did she handle? Like a breeze. Nothing can stop the army now, sir. The first 20 minutes of Pit of Peril came in this can, which, according to the label, is an answer print from May 1965. Despite the rustiness of the can, the print is in excellent condition, with only one small edit made to it when the Sidewinder falls into the pit. Unlike End of the Road, Reels 3 and 4, no thoughtful editor had left us a note to tell us what they needed the shot for. However, being the sorts that rarely set foot outside to lead normal lives, we didn't let this get in the way. We surmised that this section had been pinched for the international opening titles, or as the French call them, les génériques, which were, well, generic. And sure enough, there is the shot. The rest of the episode is unedited, but it's not the episode as we've always known it. Here he comes! Get a stretcher! Hurry, Sergeant! We could do it, sir. Take it easy, Lieutenant. You're in a bad way. I'll be okay. Get a line. Haul it upright. Get him into the shade. Keep the sun off him. Yes, sir. See to it, Captain. In this version, International Rescue do not appear in the first 20 minutes at all, and they're not listening in to the army. All right, Scott, get down to Thunderbird One and get her ready for launching. I'm on my way. If the army decide they want our help, we don't want to keep them waiting a minute longer than necessary. We... we could do it, sir. The army carry on as before, albeit with a few subtle differences. When we go back to Barry Gray's notes, we see that this is the version he scored in 1965, complete with a few cues unused. Three and four, take four. This is reel one and two of a pit of peril that was never transmitted. And when we did the scan of this, we could see that according to Barry Gray's notes, reels three and four would contain scenes of International Rescue never seen before. But three things were against us. We couldn't run the reel for another 24 hours. A copy we had was not an early answer print, but a later approved print. That's to say, likely the broadcast episode. And thirdly, the can had a massive hole in the side and had been letting in the elements for possibly decades. Next week, we'll be looking at some of the other films we've had scanned as part of our project to preserve both the seen and unseen past. And if you have any films from Century 21, AP Films, Super Mario Nation or otherwise, we'd love to hear from you.