2003 Archive 
The recent (1980) release of the "Thunderbirds to the rescue" video tape has highlighted a project that has its origins across the Atlantic in the United States. This feature was originally made for U.S. cable television, and is released over here (UK) in the VHS and Betamax formats. New titles are being made available and we're very pleased to have our U.S. correspondent, David Hirsch, report on his close involvement in the creation of these 'new' presentations......
1981 has certainly been a good year for 'Supermarionation' fans in the U.K. as ITV stations around the country are at last re- , broadcasting "Thunderbirds" and a few other popular Gerry Anderson series. Not only are those who once thrilled to these adventures in their youth re-living them again, but a whole new generation will be introduced to the Tracy Family, Joe MaClaine and Captain Scarlet.
For a number of years these great Anderson programmes have been available in the United States for syndication (regional sales and broadcasting, as opposed to transmission at the same time across the country), but ITC's stateside office has had very little success in selling these programmes beyond their initial airings back in the sixties. In fact, over the last five years perhaps only 4 stations out of possibly hundreds transmitted a 'Supermarionation' series.
When I joined "Starlog" magazine over four years ago I already enjoyed a long-standing friendship with Robert Mandell, Vice- President of Creative Services at ITC Entertainment's New York office. Our many talks would always deviate to the same thought, "How can we get older Gerry Anderson programmes back on the air?" We would always run into the same problem, Station Programmers who looked upon the product as a childish piece of programming not up to the calibre of a "Scooby-Doo" cartoon ! ! !
For a time we were stuck with that mentality and the 'Supermarionation' series, for the most part collected dust on the warehouse shelves, or were sold to out-of-the-way stations for ridiculous prices (Fireball XL5" was bought by a station in Maine for an amount any respectively large fan club could afford).
About the time David Withers and his staff at ITC-London were busy cutting the "Space: 1999" episode(s) "Bringers of Wonder" into the feature film "Destination Moonbase Alpha", Bob and I came up with the idea of editing other Anderson product into TV movies in the hope that this new format would allow the American audiences to experience what the English audience is now seeing. Of course, for ITC, the main thrust was that it could mean more money in the bank (anyone who thinks that a business is run for purely altruistic intentions better not try to start their own company), so Bob pushed the project to the 'powers-that-be' to get the product off the shelves and back on to the TV.
Another thing that made the project enticing to the ITC hierarchy was that pay-cable TV companies were looking for family programming for their early transmission time-slots. Disney had released some of their films to cable, but it wasn't enough and ITC saw a sale to cable TV as well as commercial syndication. When Bob received the 'green light' he called me to ask if I would act as a consultant on the package because I was familiar with the product. After coming to an agreement on how we both wanted to handle the product we set about tackling the first and most monumental task of all - screening each and every episode!'
We started with "Stingray" because all the films had to be in colour (there was talk for some time about looking into a new computerised process of adding colour to black and white so that "Fireball XL5" could be included in the package, but the footage we saw of other uses of this process were not what we had hoped for and the idea was dropped). Each night, after work, I'd head uptown to ITC and Bob and I would sit in the screening room watching as many as 6 episodes a night. I can remember thinking at the start that it was going to be a lot of fun screening each and every episode. No doubt you've heard the saying 'too much of a good thing!
I also had chance to see "Joe 90" and "The Secret Service" - two series which were never broadcast in the United States. "The Secret Service" is perhaps the oddest Gerry Anderson series. By combining live action (for all exterior long shots) with puppets it is a very tongue-in-cheek adventure programme and really not for anyone but a strict 'Supermarionation' fan (the miniature effects are remarkably life-like). I was also amazed by the number of 'in jokes' that appeared in many episodes. This was something I had only seen back in "Supercar" where names of the production staff would pop up now and again and, in one episode, "The Sky's The Limit", we are told that Supercar is at A.P. Electronics in Slough, England (the real location of the A.P. Films studio).
In one episode of "The Secret Service" (the "Feathered Spies") Father Unwin visits the home of a suspect. The location shoot was actually done at Gerry Anderson's own home (this episode featured the first exterior use of a puppet that I have been able to trace. Anderson went strictly on location for his 1979 pilot "The Investigator"). Hou many other staff homes and cars were used in this series is anybody's guess !
Those of you have picked up the "Thunderbirds to the Rescue" or "The Incredible Voyage of Stingray" from Precision Video will have noted that we also looked for episodes with similarities that would edit well together.
After picking the best episodes, Bob ordered the labs at Denham to take out the original 75mm negatives and strike new prints. This would give us the best colour and sound possible. It was quite a change of pace to see "Stingray" in full colour after months of 16mm prints that had gone red and grey. All the editing and the creation of the new title sequences would be done on videotape. Bob contacted the best production houses in New York and the first film to be created was the "Invasion: UFO" title.
Knowing how Barry Gray felt about the use of 'canned music' (pre-recorded library music) because of its use on both the "Space:1999" album and first season score, I wanted to get Barry involved in helping us create new main title tracks for the films from his original scores. Barry began to track down and send us various tracks of music for the programmes we were using. However, a sale of "Invasion: UFO" to Canada had put the pressure on and we couldn't wait for additional music from Barry and the production house resorted to the use of 'canned music'. Besides the fact that the music is often used poorly so that it conflicts with Barry's original score, it is quite annoying to suddenly hear that music everywhere, in commercials and news programmes !
What mistakes we did make on the "UFO" film, I believe we learned from. This was something of a testing ground and I think the films we are now making are better for it. The only change we made in the "UFO" film was in the ending (it really had no ending on the Canadian and initial U.S. broadcasts).
Bob and I certainly plan to continue to improve each film as we go along, but it isn't an easy job. You can't imagine what it's like trying to edit around commercial breaks and linking four half-hour episodes. We are also spending a great deal of time carefully editing the episodes to the film's maximum 95-minute length (for a 2-hour commercial TV slot) so we won't disturb the flow of the story by cutting out a vital scene. "Space: 1999" and "UFO" were never run uncut on U.S. commercial TV, and on many stations the editing was so bad that the stories were, at times, incomprehensible.
In Issue 1 of "SiG" Brendan Sheehan and David Nightingale use the word 'horrified' to describe the reaction of fans to the use of video animation in the films. At this point, I think that is too strong a word because we are resorting less and less to video animation due mostly to the cost factor. No video animated laser beams appear in "Invasion: UFO", but sting missiles are replaced in the "Stingray" films, mainly to appeal to the "Star Wars" mentality of the Station Programme Buyers, who think that all kiddies just love laser beams! Rotascoping was not used at all, and only Barry Gray-composed music is being added to later films.
It is, of course, all a matter of opinion whether one can live with these changes or not. I'm trying to make as few as I can and I'm sure Bob is of the same opinion. I would be very interested to see how many other Gerry Anderson fans feel about these films. From the starved fans over here, I've had quite favourable reactions and I hope to keep it that way. For those keeping score, on the next page are listed the films which have been, or are now nearing, completion......