Gerry Anderson - Genius

[freebird]

Didnt know whether to post this but, sod it.

Gerry Anderson RIP, creator of some of the most memorable television shows of a generation. If you were a small child in the 60s you would have had the pleasure of watching the likes of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett and the like.

This aint no trip down memory lane as such, its more of a celebration of the brilliant and the inventive when it came to creating some of the models used in the making of the shows.

Im specifically thinking of motor vehicles here. The kind of stuff you seriously wanted to have a drive of and be driven in because they looked mega cool and fuggin 'ard.

Thunderbirds, in particular had some brilliant models used in rescue situations, who can remember the 4 or 5 platform trucks belting it down the runway to catch that supersonic airliner that couldnt drop its landing wheels? The "Mole" that bored under ground to rescue trapped people?

Brilliantly inventive models, brilliant TV.

[RichardMoss]

Brilliant stuff and all the vehicles looked believable. I'm a huge fan of Gerry Anderson's work and my kids (girls aged 16 and 10) both love UFO. Gerry's programmes helped make my childhood special

[pompei]

Agreed! I was a massive Thunderbirds fan in the 60's & 70's. I remember when they ran them all again in 1992/3. I was living in Hull and working in Leeds - the BX never went under 90 on the way home to tape them. We've got a young infant and he's mad about them too. RIP Gerry Anderson.

[phil_lihp]

Sad indeed, I used to love Thunderbirds, it was a cornerstone of my childhood as no doubt it was with many. I always thought the best bits involved the vehicles as pictured above, that and the awesome Thunderbird 2 - I'd love someone to actually build a real one although doubtless the really impressive bit would be getting it to fly!

 

I recall the Thunderbirds series being re-run on BBC2 in the early nineties on Friday at 7:00pm and it was one of the highlights of the week - I didn't watch much TV but that schedule is burned into my memory. It was followed, if I recall, by first The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and later on Randall and Hopkirk. After the Thunderbirds episodes ran out, they started running Stingray and Captain Scarlett which were almost as good, it was amazing how much suspense and drama they could build from such simple premises.

 

I don't know that we'll see the levels of skill and imagination involved in these creations again too soon.

[shedvan]

Really sad news indeed, seems a sad way to g, his decline health wise seems horrifyingly quick.

 

IMO Gerry Anderson wasn't really rewarded or recognised for the strength of his body of work, the longevity of his concepts and production house..loads of his model makers went on to do amazing stuff when his well ran dry, loads of his trained folk then went on the likes of the Star Wars and the Aliens films... that is of course back when they actually had to build stuff for the screen as opposed to computer genned stuff... bah

[Rusty Pelican]

Really sad news , as a child of the 60s I grew up on these programs , way ahead of their time and so creative

RIP Gerry , you will live on in your programs

[Parky]

I loved Space 1999. If you see them now using their personal video communicator things it makes you realise that Gerry had conceptualised facetime on the iPhone back in the seventies. RIP Gerry, thanks for making Sunday afternoons enjoyable!

[FredTransit]

yep sad news indeed RIP. Didnt I read somewhere he thought the puppets were a 'pain in the arse' though?

[Jim Bell]

Lovely incidental shite:

 

 

 

 

http://www.tvcentury21.com/marc/models-of-cs-c.html

 

Sorry, dont know how to make a pic into a link.

[eddyramrod]

Just want to add my appreciation of Gerry, or Sir Gerry as he should have been dubbed many years ago! I was a fan of his productions from the first time I saw one, which I suspect would have been Supercar... first time around! Thunderbird 2 was always my favourite vehicle, but Stingray ran it close.

[Shep Shepherd]

Peter Wragg, one of the principal model-makers and visual effects designers for many of Gerry Anderson's 1960s projects (as well as Red Dwarf) died this year as well

[Bren]

If a single programme summed up my childhood it was Space 1999. It got me interested in astronomy (among other things).

 

No doubt lots of other young people took inspiration from his shows.

 

I still watch his shows now - even my seven year old son knows what an Eagle Transporter is.

[Lankytim]

Found this on another forum and thought i'd share.

 

[freebird]

Found this on another forum and thought i'd share.

 

Well i knew they wanted to dig up Jimmy Savile and move him but thats a bit f*****g excessive, surely!

[eddyramrod]

Please tell me that churchyard is a screengrab from "The Secret Service" -- another Anderson production!