From the moment the launch countdown booms \u20185, 4, 3, 2, 1\u2019 over Thunderbirds Are Go\u2019s opening sequence, goose bumps and raw excitement are imminent no matter how old you are.<\/p>\n
After being so used to seeing the Tracy brothers as puppets, the idea of an animated Thunderbirds series seems a little strange. It\u2019s a little disappointing that you can no longer have fun pointing at the strings and marvelling at the craftsmanship that actually goes into the puppets. However, CGI doesn\u2019t complete dominate the screen. You wouldn\u2019t know just from watching it but each and every one of the sets, from the Villa\u2019s living room to the Thunderbirds\u2019 cockpits, are hand-built miniature models, made in New Zealand by the geniuses of Weta Workshop.<\/p>\n
The first episode \u2013 a double bill titled Ring Of Fire \u2013 wastes no time faffing around the setting the scene. From the get-go, International Rescue is on the ball, taking us through water, space and air with hardly time to breathe or think, but it\u2019s excellent. After Thunderbirds\u2019 reputation as a staple of British pop culture, it\u2019s easy to forget that it is, after all, a kids\u2019 show that wouldn\u2019t be out of place sandwiched between Saturday morning cartoons on the TV schedule. Having said that, it\u2019s funny, thrilling and exciting, and age and experience is completely irrelevant.<\/p>\n
Nods to the original series manage to invoke buckets of nostalgia for older fans while not excluding new ones. Jeff Tracy doesn\u2019t physically feature in the reboot \u2013 the series wanted to focus more on the brothers and their sibling relationships \u2013 but his presence is still felt. The introduction of CG characters doesn\u2019t leave puppet-shaped holes in the hearts of long-time fans \u2013 everything about the new Scott, Virgil, John, Alan and Gordon screams puppet origins, from their jolty movements to their huge eyes and slightly confusing mouths that barely move in time with their speech.<\/p>\n
But best of all, David Graham is back voicing Lady Penelope (Rosamund Pike)\u2019s trusty manservant Parker fifty years after the first series. Like everything else, he\u2019s been updated for the 21st<\/sup> century, ditching the butler suit for a suave polo neck and leather jacket, but the quick lines and \u2018posh cockney\u2019 accent are still there, and it\u2019s wonderful.<\/p>\n Thunderbirds Are Go!<\/em> continues on Saturday mornings on ITV1.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Tracy brothers are still F.A.B. in the first episode of Thunderbirds Are Go! ‘Ring of Fire’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":74078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[8,207],"tags":[3839],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/thunderbirds-are-go.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}