EEVblog Electronics Community Forum

General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: djsb on December 26, 2012, 08:41:15 pm

Title: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: djsb on December 26, 2012, 08:41:15 pm
Grew up watching Thunderbirds, captain scarlett and Joe 90. Amazing that his stuff was some of the first TV to be shown in colour in the UK. Not sure if it was popular outside this country.
Anyone else remember his programmes. Great loss but fantastic legacy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-20845407 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-20845407)

David.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: JoannaK on December 26, 2012, 08:50:33 pm
Thindebirds are Go .. Yep, remember something, so kind of rescue service, made with puppets? Not seen real long time though.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: EEVblog on December 26, 2012, 10:10:45 pm
Bummer  :(

I grew up on the Thunderbirds.
I even saw the Thunderbirds FAB stage show which was great.
http://www.andrewdawson.info/thunderbirds_fab.html (http://www.andrewdawson.info/thunderbirds_fab.html)
And I even saw Thunderbird 6 at the movies, in 70mm IIRC

Dave.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: RCMR on December 26, 2012, 10:13:12 pm
I guess spectrum is no longer green :-(

Yep, loved the Thunderbirds.  Even have them on DVD.

Fireball XL5 was the first of the GA series I remember seeing as a lad and I also liked the cult-series UFO and Space 1999.

When you look back at the way people viewed the future in the 1960s, it makes you realise we've come an awfully long way with computer and comms technology -- but not much else.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: Kremmen on December 26, 2012, 10:17:28 pm
Grew up watching Thunderbirds, captain scarlett and Joe 90. Amazing that his stuff was some of the first TV to be shown in colour in the UK. Not sure if it was popular outside this country.
Anyone else remember his programmes. Great loss but fantastic legacy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-20845407 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-20845407)

David.
Yep, sure remember being magnetized to the screen, never failing to see an episode. They did air T-birds for what seemed a quite long time at least at that age. Can't remember the names of the characters any more, but i still recall how the ships and many other vehicles looked. Plust the "secret island" with this rube goldberg start/takeoff sequence.  :-+
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: rollatorwieltje on December 26, 2012, 11:23:18 pm
I've probably seen every single episode :)
Also had the Thunderbirds island Matchbox playset and the large TB2 he has in his hands on the picture. Must have annoyed the hell out of my parents, both had sound effects >:D
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: EEVblog on December 26, 2012, 11:53:47 pm
I've probably seen every single episode :)

I had every single episode memorised!
For decades here in Oz they showed it at 6am weekend mornings. I'd get up every time and watch it.
Probably seen every episode half a dozen times at least.

Dave.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: GeoffS on December 27, 2012, 04:58:56 am
And for the really old amongst us, who remembers Torchy, the Battery Boy and Four Feather Falls? Both early Anderson productions.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: Conrad Hoffman on December 27, 2012, 05:36:43 am
Dang, I loved Supercar and Fireball XL-5 when I was a kid. There was a site for those but I haven't found it recently.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: jh15 on December 27, 2012, 05:39:01 am
The pyrotechnics were cool, and other neat effects like fans blowing dust out from under vehicles, etc.

When techtv was shut down the cable channel had them on for awhile, I think I recorded most of the episodes. Comments on how things were done on the lower third.

Supermarionation was a solenoid running the mouth, which worked simply by the voice sounds from an audio tape.

The worst thing about marionettes though is how stupid they look when you try to make them walk, so those scenes were minimal.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: SgtRock on December 27, 2012, 06:51:27 am
Greetings EEVBees:

--The Thunderbirds had lots of fans in the US as well, they were much better than Yogi Bear and the rest of the Hanna-Barbara crap. Men, especially tool users, love the Thunderbirds, and never really outgrow them. They are kind of a Never Never Land for tech types.

--Please see below link for a hilarious Thunderbirds spoof, Superthunderstingcar with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook.

Peter Cook & Dudley Moore - "Superthunderstingcar" - CLEAR version! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riMHp28_cqw#)

"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners."
Johnny Carson 1925 - 1992

Best Regards
Clear Ether
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: SgtRock on December 27, 2012, 07:04:10 am
Greetings EEVBees:

--And, below is a very good looking YouTube video of the Thunderbirds in Atlantic Inferno.

Thunderbirds - Atlantic Inferno - full movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwNbuMCAsSE#)

"Marconi invented the radio but he had to wait years and years till anything decent was on."
Johnny Carson 1925 - 1992

Best Regards
Clear Ether
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: McMonster on December 27, 2012, 07:59:22 pm
Those shows aren't widely known in Poland (maybe they aired something, but nothing I can remember), but there was something closely related here:

(http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/9475/matplaneta.png)

It's a screencap from Polish educational show for children titled "Comers from the Mathplanet" ("Przybysze z Matplanety"). That's where people of my age or slightly older first learned math. :P Opening video here (http://youtu.be/Jv1GqFZgHVA).
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: Bored@Work on December 27, 2012, 08:36:13 pm
Those shows aren't widely known in Poland (maybe they aired something, but nothing I can remember), but there was something closely related here:

That is an Eagle from the TV series "Space: 1999" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_1999_Eagle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_1999_Eagle) Even the markings are copied. As it happened Gerry Anderson created and produced that TV series.
Title: Re: OT:Gerry Anderson dies
Post by: McMonster on December 27, 2012, 08:42:36 pm
Those shows aren't widely known in Poland (maybe they aired something, but nothing I can remember), but there was something closely related here:

That is an Eagle from the TV series "Space: 1999" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_1999_Eagle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_1999_Eagle) Even the markings are copied. As it happened Gerry Anderson created and produced that TV series.

I know, that's exactly why I've posted this.