Thunderbirds Are Go (TV series)



Thunderbirds Are Go is a British-Australasian science fiction television programme produced by ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures. It is a remake of the 1960s television series Thunderbirds created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson that follows the exploits of International Rescue, a secret life-saving organisation equipped with technologically-advanced rescue crafts for sea, land, air and space rescue; headed by a fleet of five vehicles named the Thunderbirds, each piloted by one of the Tracy brothers.

Premise
Set in the year 2060, Thunderbirds Are Go follows the exploits of the Tracy brothers; Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon, and Alan, who form International Rescue (IR), a secret organisation dedicated to saving human life from industrial disasters. They are aided in their missions by technologically advanced vehicles used for land, sea, air and space rescues. The most important of these are five machines named the Thunderbirds, each piloted by one of the five brothers:


 * Thunderbird 1 – first response rocket plane, piloted by First Responder and Team Leader Scott Tracy
 * Thunderbird 2 – auxiliary equipment transporter, piloted by Demolition, Heavy Lifting and Logistics Expert Virgil Tracy
 * Thunderbird 3 – space rescue rocket, piloted by Astronaut Alan Tracy
 * Thunderbird 4 – underwater search and rescue mini-submarine, piloted by Aquanaut Gordon Tracy
 * Thunderbird 5 – communications and logistics satellite hub, manned by Space Command Communicator and Dispatcher John Tracy

Aided by Head of Security Tanusha "Kayo" Kyrano (also the pilot of Thunderbird Shadow, a stealth jet used for covert operations), engineer Hiram "Brains", his robot assistant MAX, and the brothers' Grandma, the Tracy family reside on Tracy Island, their hidden base in the South Pacific Ocean from where they operate International Rescue. They also enlist the help of English aristocrat Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward with her chauffeur Aloysius Parker as their London field agents when a mission requires criminal investigation. Penelope and Parker's primary mode of transportation is FAB 1, a six-wheeled limousine fitted with gadgets and weaponry, as well as flying and underwater capabilities for espionage missions.

The organisation's main adversary is the Hood, a crime lord bent on stealing others' technology and seeking control over IR and the Thunderbirds. He is later arrested and imprisoned by the Global Defence Force (GDF). Secretly the uncle of Kayo Kyrano, the Hood is also responsible for the assumed death of the Tracy brothers' father, ex-astronaut and IR founder Jeff Tracy, after his ship supposedly crashed. Later, IR face a new adversary called the Mechanic, a mysterious villain who possesses highly advanced machinery and is in league with the Hood, going as far as to breaking him out of prison.

Main

 * Rasmus Hardiker as Scott Tracy and Alan Tracy
 * David Menkin as Virgil Tracy and Gordon Tracy
 * Thomas Brodie-Sangster as John Tracy
 * Angel Coulby as Tanusha "Kayo" Kyrano
 * Kayvan Novak as Hiram "Brains"
 * Rosamund Pike as Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward
 * David Graham as Aloysius Parker

Recurring

 * Sandra Dickinson as Grandma Tracy
 * Andres Williams as The Hood
 * Chris Jarman as The Mechanic
 * Adjoa Andoh as Colonel Casey
 * Teresa Gallagher as EOS and Professor Moffat
 * Kayvan Novak as Ned Tedford
 * Rhys Darby as Langstrom Fischler
 * Jack Whitehall as Francois Lemaire
 * Taj Atwal as Madeline Lemaire


 * Notes
 * David Graham, the actor who performed the voice of Parker in the original Thunderbirds, returned to the role for this series, almost 50 years later.
 * Rosamund Pike, Teresa Gallagher and Kayvan Novak also perform the voices for various guest characters.
 * The famous Thunderbirds countdown, from the opening credits of the original series, is used in the remake in the same manner and also during the various Thunderbird launch sequences. This is original, archived audio of the voice of Jeff Tracy, performed by Peter Dyneley.

Production
The series is produced using a combination of scale model miniature effects and CGI created by Weta Workshop. In comparison to original series, the reboot features updated character, vehicle, and set designs while retaining their original features and plot purposes.

The production crew for the show consists of the following members that assist with it:
 * Series director - David Scott
 * Episode director - Theo Baynton
 * Writer - Rob Hoegee
 * Executive producers - Estelle Hughes, Giles Ridge, Richard Taylor, and Andrew Smith
 * Production designer - Ben Milsom.
 * Head of miniatures dept. - Steven Saunders.
 * Music composers - Ben and Nick Foster
 * Film editor - Anthony Cox

Production of each episode for the revamp differs somewhat from that of the original 1960s series. Extensive hand-made live action model sets are still used. Since the show uses Computer-generated characters rather than puppets for the character creating each episode required a different approach. Production begins with the sets, in which the film crew have to devise the camera setups for the scenes to match with the movement and positions of the CGI characters and craft that would be later imposed upon the filmed footage. This includes any manipulation of the scene to match movements made by CGI characters or craft, such as a character opening a door, or objects being displaced by a thruster, and any special effects used on the set, such as smoke and wind. The sets were designed with a similar method to the original series, including using household objects. For example, the Thunderbird 1 bay of the original series included an orange hand juicer as part of it, and the revamp did the same thing with its version of the bay.

The characters and the titled Thunderbird craft themselves have been created using CGI owing to the understandable budget constraints typical of modern children's programming. All of the CGI sequences to be superimposed onto live footage of the miniature sets are first sketched on paper to work out and detail the sequences. The actual shooting miniatures are individually '3D scanned' to provide the necessary information for the CGI elements to later be accurately registered within the environments. Computers are then used to roughly model the layout of the CGI elements needed for the sequence. Details are then introduced, such as characters costumes, craft setup, atmospheric particles, flying debris, etc. and are made to follow very closely to the camera layout and movement of set props (such as when Thunderbird 2 is raised into launch position, for example).

The music for the show was given a modern flair, but keeping the very memorable feel of original composer Barry Gray's original score.

UK-based Milk VFX was responsible for final composition.

Production history
The production of the remake series was originally approved by Gerry Anderson when Sir Richard Taylor of ITV visited Pinewood Studios, where Gerry Anderson was working on New Captain Scarlet at the time.

On 4 February 2013, ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Pukeko Pictures announced the production of the television series by ITV Studios, Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, under the title Thunderbirds are Go!.

Production at Pukeko Pictures began at June 2013.

On September 30, 2014, the voice cast was announced. On 18 December 2014, a second series was announced On May 5, 2016, a third series was announced.

Broadcasts
The world television channel premiere began in Spring 2015 on ITV and UK's CITV Channel.

On 16 June 2014, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced it has signed its first international TV broadcast deal with Australia's free-to-air Nine Network (9Go!). Second series premiered on 2016-11-13 on 9Go!.

On 28 April 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced Tohokushinsha Film Corporation has acquired the television and licensing rights for Thunderbirds Are Go. The Japan broadcast for the first series was premiered in NHK (NHK General TV) on 2016-08-05 (as サンダーバード ARE GO). France broadcasts were premiered in September 2015 on Canal J (as Thunderbirds ), followed by Gulli later this year (as Thunderbirds ), with Nelvana as French licensing agent.

On 10 February 2016, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced 13 episodes of Thunderbirds Are Go (series 1 split up) would premiere in the United States on Amazon Video on 22 April 2016. Second series of Thunderbirds Are Go premiere at Prime Video was also announced.

Canadian broadcasts premiered on CHRGD and Family Channel in April 2016. Taiwan broadcast was premiered in PTS Taiwan on 14 September 2016 (as 新雷鳥神機隊 ). In Brazil, the show has broadcast on Gloob since 4 July 2016. In Latin America, the show broadcasts on Disney XD. The Nordic broadcasts were premiered in SVT (SVT Barnkanalen) in Sweden (as Thunderbirds ), NRK Super in Norway (as Thunderbirds ), DR (Ramasjang and Ultra) in Denmark (as Thunderbirds ), MTV Juniori in Finland, with Alicom appointed as the Nordic licensing agent.

The series was also premiered in TVNZ (TVNZ 2) in New Zealand, Noga in Israel (with LDI as the agent), MBC (MBC3) in pan-Arab (as ثندربيردز انطلق), NPO Zapp in Netherlands, Télé-Québec in Canada (as Thunderbirds : Les sentinelles de l'air ), ABC in Australia, Ketnet in Flemish Belgium (with License Connection appointed as the agent for Benelux) (as Thunderbirds ), Minika TV in Turkey, Gloob in Brazil. The Noga premiere began in summer 2015 on Kids Channel. The TVNZ premiere began on 12 April 2015 on TV2.

The second series world premiere took place at BAFTA in London on 1 October 2016.

The second series world television channel premiere began 22 October 2016 on ITV, beginning with episode Earthbreaker. CITV premiere began on 2016-10-23.

China's broadcast was to be premiered on CCTV-14, starting with the first series.

Reception
Fans and critics reacted very positively to the new series, despite some negative reactions from fans of the original version,    claiming the show was clearly made to attract a new generation of fans instead of appealing to nostalgia. However ITV's decision to air episodes at 8 am (other than the pilot, which aired at 5 pm) sparked a negative fan reaction and was criticized by journalists too, claiming that moving it from the original episode's 5 pm slot would alienate the adult viewership it gained from the first episode, with many also feeling the series could match the success of the BBC revival of Doctor Who in 2005 if kept at its 5 pm slot. Series 2, however, has been airing the show at 4pm on ITV and repeat it the following day at 8:30am on CITV.

Thunderbirds Are Go currently has a 7.2 rating on tv.com and 6.8 on IMDb.

Marketing
Since 2016, ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) is launching consumer products programs for Thunderbirds Are Go at France, Benelux and the Nordics.

Since 2016, Bernard Matthews has released a range of Thunderbird craft shaped turkey.

As part of second series launch in the UK, a fleet of 5 ThunderCabs taxis with Thunderbirds vehicle themes (including Thunderbirds 1-4, FAB 1) could be booked between 2016-10-22 and 2016-10-23 between 9am and 5pm via the now-defunct Karhoo app, with rides costing a flat rate of £1 for any journey within central London. All proceeds would be donated to The Children's Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury.

Toys
On 13 May 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced its appointment of Vivid as its master toy partner in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. As of Licensing Expo 2014, Vivid Imaginations had master toy licensee with worldwide rights excluding US & Asia.

On 24 April 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced Global Licensing (NZ) Ltd had been appointed as licensing agent for Thunderbirds Are Go in New Zealand. As part of the new deal, Global has worked with Vivid Imaginations, the master toy partner for Thunderbirds Are Go, to appoint Planet Fun as the local distributor in New Zealand which will see Thunderbirds Are Go toys roll out across the territory from S/S 2015.

The Thunderbirds Are Go master toy line from Vivid Imaginations and distributed by HeadStart, was launched in Australia in June 2015. Additional toy rights went to Vivid France and Vivid Holland in respective regions, Takara Tomy as Japan distributor. The toy launches in France, Benelux and the Nordics began in September 2016, with TOPTOY as pan-Nordic distributor in from late summer 2016.

App
There was an official Thunderbirds app launching in October 2015 to accompany the second half of season 1.

An official app was also released on 20 May 2015 as an add-on to the features on the website. The app is available on both Google Play and Apple's App Store for free. Behind the Story developed the app.

As of 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Miniclip planned the release of Thunderbirds Are Go mobile game (as Thunderbirds Are Go: Team Rush ).

Magazine
An official magazine was published by D. C. Thomson & Co. on 15 October 2015. It features comics, facts, puzzles and more. Each issue includes a free gift. The first 6 issues have small plastic replicas of Thunderbird 1 - 5 and Thunderbird S. After that the gifts are generic front of magazine gifts with Thunderbirds are go branding, such as notebooks and 'invisible ink' pens.

License Connection became a representative for the brand in the Benelux territories and has signed Meis & Maas as master publishing partner to launch a range of books and magazine formats in 2017.

Digital releases
All episodes are available to purchase digitally in full 1080p HD on Amazon Video and iTunes.

Blu-ray release
Only currently available in Japan, The series is released in 2 limited edition box sets on Blu Ray.

Published by NBC Universal Entertainment Japan.

Box 1 (Volume 1) Released 11 May 2016

Box 2 (Volume 2) Released 9 Nov 2016