We’re sad to learn of the passing in January 2021 of Shaun Whittacker-Cook, who served as Special Effects/Visual Effects Director on some of the most popular Gerry and Sylvia Anderson shows. Born in 1935, Shaun had previously worked with special effects artist Les Bowie before joining A.P. Films during production of Thunderbirds. By this time the Supermarionation series was shooting …

1983’s Terrahawks saw Gerry Anderson return to television puppetry with Supermacromation – his first style of puppet to be fully operated by hand, as opposed to the string marionettes he was most associated with. However, few people realise that several of those earlier Supermarionation puppets had also been worked by hand from below the frame from time to time! For …

The Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle was one of the most important (and popular) weapons in Spectrum’s ongoing battle with the Mysterons, but only a select few of the organisation’s agents ever took the controls of these incredible machines! The SPVs were concealed in secret locations around the world, including most major airports and Delta filling stations, under the watchful eye of …

Last week saw several items of interest to Anderson fans go under the hammer at the Ewbanks auction house, who had previously played host to a massive auction of material from Bray Studios (including original Terrahawks props, models and puppets) back in November 2020. On February 24th an auction of vintage toys and models opened with a selection of Anderson …

For more than two decades Big Finish Productions have been producing full-cast audio drama plays, and are undoubtedly best known for their Doctor Who range (and its spinoffs) which began in 1999. Along the way, they have also produced audio adaptations, continuations and re-imaginings of other classic cult TV shows, such as Blakes 7, The Avengers, and The Prisoner. In …

In 1991 the BBC purchased the rights to air Thunderbirds on BBC2. Originally intended to be nothing more than a cheap filler programme for the Friday early evening timeslot the show proved to be a massive hit once again, and the runaway success of these repeats led to demand for toys and playsets based on the series. However, perhaps understandably, …

Missed part one? Read it here. Anderson’s next series moved the action from outer space to the ocean depths, as Troy Tempest took charge of the super-sub Stingray and encountered undersea aliens both hostile and benign. Today Stingray often finds itself standing alongside Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet as one of the jewels in the Gerry Anderson crown, but the amount …

Many classic Gerry Anderson shows of the 1960s and 1970s ended with a theme song that was usually completely different from the opening title theme at the beginning of the show! For this list, we’re celebrating the very best of these songs – and we’re keeping to a very strict definition of ‘song’ in that it must feature a vocalist …

Clip show; two words that are almost guaranteed to make a viewer roll their eyes. Building a framing device around recycled material from previous stories is a cheap, easy and largely infamous way to cobble a new episode together (usually near the end of a season when the money is running out) and the various Gerry Anderson series included clip …

Most of the classic Gerry Anderson series are well known for their use of breathtaking model effects sequences, and one storytelling field in which they could best be shown off was battle scenes! Here are five of our favourite moments featuring brave Anderson heroes and their classic vehicles locked in battle against the oncoming alien hordes! Honourable mention – UFO: …