Trapped in the Sky

"Trapped in the Sky" is the first episode of Thunderbirds, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment (ITC). Written by the Andersons, it was first broadcast on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965.

For the 1939 film, see Trapped in the Sky (film).

"Trapped in the Sky"
Thunderbirds episode
The Elevator Cars intercept Fireflash. These shots used looping rolls of canvas to simulate movement of ground and sky. An error involving a snapped control wire was kept in the episode.
Episode no.Series 1
Episode 1
Directed byAlan Pattillo
Written byGerry and Sylvia Anderson
Cinematography byPaddy Seale
Editing byDavid Lane and Len Walter
Production code1
Original air date30 September 1965
Guest character voices
Flight Attendant
Co-Pilot Frank
Harris, Assistant Operator
Assistant Controller
TX-204 "Target 1" Pilot
Commander Norman
"Interceptor 1" Pilot
London Airport Announcer
Captain Hanson
Lieutenant Bob Meddings
Passenger
Doctor
Airport Police Officer
Crash Tenders Chief
TX-204 "Target 1" Co-Pilot

Set in the 2060s, the series follows the exploits of International Rescue, an organisation that uses technologically-advanced rescue vehicles to save human life. The main characters are ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, founder of International Rescue, and his five adult sons, who pilot the organisation's main vehicles: the Thunderbird machines. In "Trapped in the Sky", master criminal the Hood plants a motion-sensitive bomb on the atomic-powered airliner Fireflash before it takes off for its maiden flight. Unable to land for fear of setting off the bomb, the crew and passengers' only hope of survival is International Rescue.

While planning the episode, the Andersons took inspiration from Gerry's memories of his National Service in the RAF, during which he witnessed the fatal crash of a Mosquito aircraft and the emergency landing of a damaged Spitfire. To save studio space, effects director Derek Meddings filmed the rescue of Fireflash on a static set with a system of looping canvasses instead of a miniature runway. Originally filmed as a 25-minute pilot in late 1964, "Trapped in the Sky" so impressed head of ITC Lew Grade that he ordered APF to extend the running time of all Thunderbirds episodes to 50 minutes.

Well received on its first broadcast,[1] "Trapped in the Sky" is widely considered to be one of the best episodes of Thunderbirds.[2][3][4][5] It was adapted as an audio play in 1966 and had its first network broadcast on BBC 2 in 1991. In 2015, it was re-made as "Fireflash", the fifth episode of Thunderbirds Are Go.

Plot

The Hood (voiced by Ray Barrett), a criminal mastermind based in an ancient temple in Malaysia, is telepathically linked to his half-brother Kyrano (voiced by David Graham), manservant on Tracy Island. Abusing this connection, the Hood learns that International Rescue – an organisation formed by Jeff Tracy (voiced by Peter Dyneley) and his five adult sons – is now operational. The psychological trauma of the Hood's mind control causes Kyrano to faint in front of Jeff.

Determined to acquire the secrets of International Rescue's Thunderbird machines, the Hood plots to manipulate the organisation into a rescue situation of his own design. Travelling to London International Airport, he plants a bomb on board the new Fireflash, an atomic-powered airliner departing for its maiden flight. The plane is piloted by Captain Hanson and its passengers include Kyrano's daughter Tin-Tin (voiced by Christine Finn). After Fireflash takes off, the Hood anonymously calls the air traffic control tower to reveal his sabotage, warning Commander Norman that the bomb will detonate from the impact of landing. When alerted to the situation, Hanson informs Norman that the shield around Fireflash's nuclear reactor needs regular servicing and that if the plane does not land within two hours all on board will die of radiation exposure. The control tower commandeers a military jet that docks with Fireflash in the air, enabling Lieutenant Bob Meddings to board the plane through its service hatch and attempt to remove the bomb from its hydraulics. The operation almost ends in disaster when Meddings loses his grip and falls out of the plane, deploying his parachute just seconds before hitting the ground.

John Tracy (voiced by Ray Barrett), who has been monitoring radio transmissions from International Rescue's space station Thunderbird 5, relays news of the unfolding events to Tracy Island. Jeff immediately dispatches two of his other sons, Scott and Virgil (voiced by Shane Rimmer and David Holliday), to London in Thunderbirds 1 and 2. Landing at the airport, Scott assures Norman of International Rescue's good faith and orders that no photographs be taken of either Thunderbird. Airport police move in to guard Thunderbird 1, but the Hood, disguised and driving a police car, breaks into the cockpit and photographs the controls. Scott is alerted by the on-board camera detector and the Hood flees the airport, chased along the M1 motorway in the direction of Birmingham by police. Arriving in Thunderbird 2, Virgil deploys two remote-controlled Elevator Cars and a manned master car. The plan is for Virgil to guide Fireflash into a soft landing on top of the cars to avoid setting off the bomb. Virgil speeds down the runway to intercept Fireflash as it descends; however, the rescue attempt is aborted after one of the remote-controlled cars malfunctions and crashes into a parked aircraft. Virgil activates a reserve car and Fireflash starts another descent, this time making contact with all three cars. Virgil applies brakes but then loses control; he crashes but is uninjured. Fireflash eventually comes to a stop and the bomb, though dislodged by the inertia, fails to explode.

When the police inform the tower that the Hood has escaped with his photographs, Scott alerts International Rescue's London agents, Lady Penelope and her chauffeur Parker (voiced by Sylvia Anderson and David Graham). Giving chase in FAB 1, Penelope's specially-modified Rolls-Royce, Penelope and Parker blast the Hood off the motorway with the car's front-mounted machine gun. The Hood survives but his photographs are ruined.

Back on Tracy Island, Jeff has Kyrano examined by a doctor from the mainland. After giving Kyrano a clean bill of health, the doctor mentions the Fireflash incident and says that he would be honoured to shake International Rescue's hand. With a parting handshake, Jeff grants the oblivious doctor his wish, then tells his sons, "Boys, I think we're in business."

Production
I remember seeing an aircraft coming into land with its wheels still up. Luckily it was warned off just as it was about to touch down. I will also never forget seeing a Mosquito aircraft that was giving an aerobatics display crashing and blowing up. Years later, when we were working on pre-production for Thunderbirds, I recalled those two incidents and together they helped me form the basic idea for the first episode.

— Gerry Anderson explains his inspiration for the episode[6]

The plot of "Trapped in the Sky" was inspired by Gerry Anderson's memories of his National Service in the RAF from 1947 to 1949.[7] While stationed at RAF Manston, Anderson saw a Mosquito plane go out of control and crash to the ground during an air show, killing 20 people.[8] A few months later, a Spitfire with a damaged undercarriage successfully made an emergency landing at the base.[7][8][9][10] These incidents formed the basis of the story, which sees the Hood plant a bomb on the airliner Fireflash.[8]

Anderson dictated the script of the 25-minute pilot to his wife, Sylvia, at their villa in Portugal over four sessions during the spring of 1964.[9][11][12] At this stage, the series had the working title "International Rescue" and the star vehicles were called "Rescues 1" to "5", rather than "Thunderbirds 1" to "5".[13] As an in-joke, Lieutenant Bob Meddings was named after Bob Bell, head of APF's art department, and Derek Meddings, the special effects director.[9][14][15] Although the episode has no title caption, it was referred to in all production documentation as "Trapped in the Sky".[15][16]

Filming

Filming began in the late summer of 1964 after five months of pre-production.[17] The Fireflash landing sequence presented Meddings with the challenge of having to film a scale runway inside a relatively small effects studio that offered little scope for camera movement.[18] Rather than build a miniature runway and move the camera, his solution was to isolate the basic set elements (the grass verge in the foreground, the sky background and the runway separating them) and build separate loops of canvas, each painted to represent one element; the canvasses were then fitted to rollers that were run at speeds proportionate to their distances from the camera, creating the illusion of a dynamic shot on a continuous set.[18][19][20] This technique, which was later referred to as the "rolling road" (or "roller-road"), was a progression of the "rolling sky" method that Meddings had devised for filming aerial sequences on APF's previous series, Stingray.[18][19][20] The crash of the Elevator Car was originally an error, caused when the wire pulling the miniature car unexpectedly snapped mid-shot.[9][18][19][20] Meddings was so impressed with the result that he asked the Andersons to write the crash into the script.[9][18][19] The original shot of the car going out of control was supplemented with new footage that shows it colliding with a stationary aircraft and starting a fire.[9][18][20]

The dialogue was recorded before actor Matt Zimmerman was cast as the voice of Alan Tracy. For this episode only, Alan's dialogue (consisting of the single line "OK, father") was supplied by Ray Barrett.[15][21] Zimmerman was still listed in the episode's closing credits.[21] The final scene includes a continuity error.[9][15][16][21] When Jeff initiates "Operation Cover-up" to hide all trace of International Rescue's presence during the doctor's visit, wall portraits showing the Tracy brothers in uniform are replaced with ones of them in mufti; however, in a later shot, the edge of a uniform is still visible.[9][15][16][21]

Post-production

The opening and closing themes – both of which were variations on the main theme music, "The Thunderbirds March" – were unique to this episode.[14][15][16] For most of the episode's production, the closing credits were accompanied by a song called "Flying High", performed by Gary Miller. Series composer Barry Gray wrote this piece as a contrast with the instrumental opening theme. However, Anderson and Gray decided that it was tonally unsuitable and replaced it with the variation on the march two weeks before the episode was first broadcast.[1][22] The incidental music was recorded in December 1964 at Olympic Studios in Barnes with a 30-piece orchestra.[23]

Like other early episodes of Thunderbirds, "Trapped in the Sky" was originally 25 minutes long. This running time was doubled after the test screening of "Trapped in the Sky", which was attended by Lew Grade, the Andersons' financial backer at ITC.[9][17] Grade was so impressed with the story and effects that he exclaimed "That's not a television series, that's a feature film!"[9][20] He ordered the production to re-write every episode to fill a one-hour TV timeslot and increased the series' budget from £25,000 to £38,000 per episode.[9][20][17] "Trapped in the Sky" and eight other unfinished episodes were extended to 50 minutes by adding new scenes and subplots.[9][17][24] In the case of "Trapped in the Sky", the new material was filmed during the production of "Operation Crash-Dive", which was written as a sequel to "Trapped in the Sky" and sees the return of Fireflash.[25] This material included Lieutenant Meddings' failed attempts to remove the bomb, as well as International Rescue's abortive rescue attempt using the faulty Elevator Car.[11][26][27]

Broadcast

"Trapped in the Sky" was first broadcast on 30 September 1965 on ATV Midlands.[28] For its Granada Television premiere on 20 October, the episode was transmitted in an alternative two-part format.[29] In the early 1990s, the broadcast rights to Thunderbirds were acquired by the BBC, paving the way for the series' first network transmissions.[30] "Trapped in the Sky" has its first broadcast on BBC2 on 20 September 1991, when it was seen by 6.8 million viewers. It was repeated in 1992 and (for the first time in surround sound) on 3 September 2000.[31]

Reception
Making that first episode was not easy. There were lots of technical problems and it took ages to shoot the various scenes showing how the pilots reached their craft. We got very weary with it but in the end, when we all saw the finished film, the way Gerry [Anderson] had planned and edited it with the editors, we all agreed it was well worth it.

— Director Alan Pattillo's thoughts on the episode[18]

Around the time of its first broadcast, "Trapped in the Sky" was positively received by L Marsland Gander of The Daily Telegraph, who called it "a show that has to be seen to be disbelieved."[1] Writing for the same newspaper in 2011, Simon Heffer recalled seeing the episode as a boy: "I felt as though the whole landscape of what passes for my imagination had been changed ... It caused an excitement of the sort that is possible only for the very young, and it lasted for days. Indeed, every Saturday night was a renewal of the miracle."[2] Sylvia Anderson commented that as it was the first episode of the series, "Trapped in the Sky" included a large amount of exposition.[32] She viewed the roles of Penelope and Parker as "brief but effective".[32]

Mike Fillis of Cult Times magazine regarded the episode as a highlight of the series, calling it "riveting" and its bomb-plot premise "very topical".[4] Model-maker Martin Bower has praised the "realistic" design of the Elevator Cars, describing them as "among the most memorable of vehicles".[33] A BBC Online retrospective described Fireflash as a "beautifully-envisioned, Concorde-like craft" and compared the London Airport lounge to a "set from a Dean Martin movie".[34] In a review of the Thunderbirds soundtrack, BBC Online's Morag Reavley praised the incidental composition "Fireflash Landing", describing it as one of several "catchy, pulse-quickening tunes" that "come fast and furious."[35]

In 2004, "Trapped in the Sky" was re-released on DVD in North America as part of A&E Video's The Best of Thunderbirds: The Favorite Episodes collection.[3][36] Reviewing the release for website DVD Verdict, David Gutierrez gave the episode a score of 95 out of 100, calling the rescue "amazing" and adding: "Television rarely has moments as exciting as the Fireflash attempting a forced landing."[3] Stuart Galbraith IV of DVD Talk has described the plot as "sort of an airborne version of Speed".[36]

In 2008, Vincent Law of the fanzine Andersonic argued that the episode's status as a pilot is not detrimental to the plot, which he considered to be based on "advanced technology, upon which the characters are reliant, going awry."[5] He criticised some of the characterisation, pointing out that at the end of the episode Tin-Tin seems to be none the worse for her experience on Fireflash.[5] He also described the dialogue as "limp and routine at times ... and overall much less witty than Stingray."[5] Nevertheless, he summed up the episode as "a great opener, arguably the best episode of the series."[5]

Adaptations

The episode has had several audio adaptations. The first of these was an audio play, narrated by Shane Rimmer in character as Scott Tracy, which was first released as the Century 21 mini-album Thunderbird 1 (code MA 108) in 1966.[14][37] In 1990, the play was transmitted on BBC Radio 5 as the first episode of a Thunderbirds radio series, with an introduction by Gerry Anderson and new narration by Rimmer.[29] The episode was adapted for Penguin Audiobooks in 2001.[15]

On 18 December 1994, "Trapped in the Sky" aired in re-edited form on US network UPN as the first episode of Turbocharged Thunderbirds, a PolyGram-Bohbot co-production that combined footage from original Thunderbirds episodes with new live-action sequences featuring a pair of Californian teenagers.[38] It was later re-made as "Fireflash", the fifth episode of the re-imagined Thunderbirds series Thunderbirds Are Go.[39] First broadcast on 25 April 2015, the episode re-used various elements of the original, including the character of Captain Hanson and the rescue involving the Elevator Cars.

Footnotes
  1. Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 124.
  2. Heffer, Simon (15 January 2011). "Why Thunderbirds is Still FAB". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. Gutierrez, David (28 July 2004). "The Best of Thunderbirds: The Favorite Episodes DVD Review". DVD Verdict. Verdict Partners. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  4. Fillis, Mike (October 2000). "Instant Guide to Thunderbirds". Cult Times. Visual Imagination (61). Archived from the original on 24 February 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  5. Law, Vincent (Spring 2008). "'Trapped in the Sky'". Andersonic (5). Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  6. Bentley 2005, p. 21.
  7. La Rivière 2009, p. 117.
  8. Marcus, Laurence (2005). "Gerry Anderson: The Puppet Master". teletronic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  9. "Thunderbirds Trivia". BBC Online. 17 July 2002. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  10. Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 103.
  11. Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 104.
  12. La Rivière 2009, p. 110.
  13. Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 105.
  14. Bentley 2005, p. 64.
  15. "Thunderbirds Episode Guide (Series One)". fanderson.org.uk. Fanderson. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  16. Bentley 2008, p. 97.
  17. Bentley 2008, p. 95.
  18. Bentley 2005, p. 22.
  19. Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 108.
  20. La Rivière 2009, p. 118.
  21. Bentley 2005, p. 63.
  22. La Rivière 2009, p. 128.
  23. de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  24. Archer, Simon; Nicholls, Stan (1996). Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Biography. London, UK: Legend Books. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-09-922442-6.
  25. Bentley 2005, p. 27.
  26. Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 123.
  27. La Rivière 2009, p. 122.
  28. Bentley 2008, p. 109.
  29. Bentley 2008, p. 114.
  30. Bentley 2005, p. 124.
  31. Bentley 2008, p. 117.
  32. Anderson, Sylvia. "Thunderbirds – Episode Guide". sylviaanderson.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  33. Bower, Martin. "Thunderbirds: Elevator Car". martinbowersmodelworld.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  34. "Thunderbirds at BBC Online". BBC Online. p. 4. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  35. Reavley, Morag (2003). "Thunderbirds (Original Television Soundtrack) Volume 1 Review". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 12 February 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  36. Galbraith IV, Stuart (28 June 2004). "The Best of Thunderbirds: The Favorite Episodes DVD Review". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  37. Bentley 2008, p. 349.
  38. Bentley 2008, p. 116.
  39. McNamara, Fred (29 April 2015). "Thunderbirds Are Go! A Monthly Round-Up". starburstmagazine.com. Starburst Publishing. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2016.

Works cited
  • Archer, Simon; Hearn, Marcus (2002). What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson. London, UK: BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-53481-5.
  • Bentley, Chris (2005) [2000]. The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2nd ed.). London, UK: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84442-454-2.
  • Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  • La Rivière, Stephen (2009). Filmed in Supermarionation: A History of the Future. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: Hermes Press. ISBN 978-1-932563-23-8.
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