Most people here know that three new episodes of the puppet version of Thunderbirds were made a few years ago.

Like most 'oldie' fans, I was really looking forward to seeing them.
Finally, I bought a new sealed DVD from Ebay and watched...

They were made using 25 minute audio stories recorded in the '60's and as such have the correct voices and sound effects.
Video was shot to match the audio, with extra footage also made to 'fill in the gaps'.

The result is very impressive and completely authentic looking - just like three never before seen episodes.
It has to be emphasised that the work is just incredible. Totally authentic and indistinguishable from the originals.

Sadly, they are also little short of boring.

There really is almost no story to any of the three, and virtually no actual 'rescues'.
The three stories all revolve around Lady P and Parker with the Tracy family added for good measure.
The first of the episodes is possibly the worst as there's no story whatever to it.
It's purely Jeff Tracy introducing Lady P to the fold as the London Agent.
She gets a tour of the Island.
That's it.

The other two episodes are a tiny bit better with a minimal story each.

My advice - don't buy the DVD unless you really MUST see it.
Wait a while as there are talks for the episodes to be shown on TV.


A superb effort from minimal material, but sadly, no substance.

I think when they were discussing how to resurrect the series, the two choices were Computer Animation or recreating the way the series was done originally with Gerry Anderson assisting in a technical advisory capacity.

As I understand it, the animation route was taken because the series produces stated that Animation was more flexible. Also It would have cost one million dollars per episode to recreate Andersons' original work.

I have to say that although as with all things newer techniques produce faster results, the new owners should have stuck with the original format. I think they missed a real trick here and could have benefited from Gerry Anderson's years of experience.

My own personal view is that children would have loved the realism and grittiness of the original effects and would have loved Thunderbirds as much as I did as a child!

Hi Roy,

Yes I agree the 3 new episodes are an amazing achievement! I just thought it might add a bit of backstory as per the CGI vs the original series. Glad to see you're a fan too!