# Supermarionation! The Gerry Anderson appreciation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343 "2003-03-10T17:14:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/21 "2003-03-11T13:39:20Z")
**Steve** , the chap I’m talking about was Ken Scrivener (there was another guy called Ken Cameron who also part-owned Anvil, I think). but as I said earlier, they didn’t do more than a couple of series of Thunderbirds plus (iirc) a bit of Capt. Scarlet. ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/22 "2003-03-11T14:31:24Z")
At age about 10 I had a huge crush on Captain Blue (from Captain Scarlet). ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/23 "2003-03-11T14:36:49Z")
And for all us Fandersons, there’s the upcoming [Captain Scarlet video game](http://www.batfishstudios.com/scarlet/scarletoverviewdetail.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/24 "2003-03-11T14:39:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElvisL1ves \* > \*\*Got a question - what does “FAB” mean? The Tracys said that instead of “Roger” on the radio - were they commenting on each others’ fabulousness? \*\* The Tech TV pop-ups mentioned this. It was just something they made up. Those girls in the funky purple wigs on _UFO_! According to an on-line site, they were part of their uniforms! ---
**Author:** ![KoalaBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47c2d/32.png) [@KoalaBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KoalaBear)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/25 "2003-03-11T15:55:33Z")
Agreed: _UFO_ was Anderson’s finest hour, the masterpiece of his career. That says alot for a producer who’s every work has attracted a cult following for itself. Within the Supermarionation canon, _Joe 90_ is my most favorite and _Thunderbirds_ the least. Between the two I would rank _Fireball XL5_, _Stingray_, _Supercar_ and _Captain Scarlet_ in order of preference. Trivia: > [@](#): > > (ElvisL1ves): Brains needed a real name. It was Hiram Hackenbacker. Also, Aloysius “Nosey” Parker is a bit of a play on words: a “Nosey Parker” is a busybody, a snoop. > [@](#): > > John Tracy needed to come down from Thunderbird 5 for some fresh air once in awhile. He did. Gordon relieved him as Thunderbird 4 saw comparatively little action. > [@](#): > > The swimming pool covering Thunderbird 1’s launch pad should have sloshed over when pulled back. How do you know the entire patio didn’t slide over the swimming pool to expose the launch silo instead? > [@](#): > > Thunderbird 2 got too much air time - it was just a flying truck! Anderson’s shtick was to make the vehicles in his programs stars in themselves, and occasionally they created a superstar – Thunderbird 2’s silhouette is almost as recognizable as the Boeing 747, and it’s not even a real aircraft. Same with Space: 1999’s Eagle – people who’ve never seen the show recognize it instantly. > [@](#): > > what does “FAB” mean? FABulous. It was a hip expression at the time. > [@](#): > > (Xerxes): … but as I said earlier, they [Anvil] didn’t do more than a couple of series of Thunderbirds plus (iirc) a bit of Capt. Scarlet. I believe the re-recording was done at Anvil throughout the Century 21 days, up to and including _UFO_. ---
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/26 "2003-03-11T16:15:10Z")
> [@](#): > > _KoalaBear_ > …I believe the re-recording was done at Anvil throughout the Century 21 days, up to and including UFO. I stand corrected. It’s quite possible that I just didn’t see my Uncle’s name as often (or Anvil’s, come to that) on the credits. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/27 "2003-03-11T16:54:02Z")
The purple wigs were, indeed, part of the Moonbase uniform - the Moonbase girls didn’t wear them when they were on Earthside duties. (I’m sure SHADO had the least “uniform” uniforms of any military or paramilitary organization, ever. And I’m also sure that there was strong competition among the ranks to get into the SHADO Mobiles unit - the Mobile operatives had the only uniform that was practical and not horribly coloured!) And never mind the purple wigs, what about the white ones? Like the one Ed Bishop wore in _UFO_, that wasn’t even the same shape as his head. Or the one in the first season of _Space: 1999_, that was passed from guest star to guest star … gracing the distinguished crania of (if memory serves) Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Margaret Leighton, Leo McKern and Joan Collins, before they finally put it out to stud… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/28 "2003-03-11T18:52:22Z")
Do any of you like Flight Sims? If so, go here– [http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~bat/GA/fireball-xl5.html](http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~bat/GA/fireball-xl5.html) Enjoy! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/29 "2003-03-11T18:56:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > \*\*Or the one in the first season of _Space: 1999_, that was passed from guest star to guest star … gracing the distinguished crania of (if memory serves) Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Margaret Leighton, Leo McKern and Joan Collins, before they finally put it out to stud… \*\* They had a guest wig? I never noticed that. Is that like having to wear the bunny ears? ---
**Author:** ![KoalaBear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47c2d/32.png) [@KoalaBear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KoalaBear)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/30 "2003-03-11T19:03:43Z")
Interesting you should mention the SHADO uniforms, Steve: I always thought it was curious that a secret military organization would blow its own cover by pasting its logo on anything let alone the uniforms, while treating anyone Dr. Jackson denounced as a security hazard in the harshest possible manner. Still, you gotta love Sylvia Anderson’s “Century 21 Fashions,” as without the Nehru-collared business suits you’d never know the program was made in 1969. But what’s with Straker’s penchant for blue eye liner makeup? It makes him look slightly less butch than Col. Lake. **PS to Tblue** : _Terrahawks_, Anderson-Burr Productions (1984). Now available on Region 2 DVD I believe. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/31 "2003-03-12T00:03:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KoalaBear \* > **He did. Gordon relieved him as Thunderbird 4 saw comparatively little action.** Sorry, Koala, you may be right, but as I recall it was Alan and John who alternated duty on Thunderbird 5. Both were the ‘astronauts’ of the organisation, so every few months Alan went up in Thunderbird 3 and John came down, or vice-versa. Gordon was the aquanaut, so he wouldn’t have been much use in space. Oh, and add one more shameless admission of early fixation with Marina. But hey, she was _hot_. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343/32 "2003-03-12T11:39:57Z")
OK. I’ll post this … does anybody else wonder how many of the Tracy boys were actually Jeff’s kids? I mean, two blonds, two dark-haired, and one redhead … it seems genetically unlikely, doesn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermarionation-the-gerry-anderson-appreciation-thread/160343.md?page=1)