Gerry Anderson is a British producer who was to British TV in the 60's what Walt Disney was to U.S. TV in the 50's--THE purveyor of children's television. As the children of the 60's grew up, so did Gerry's programming, with more adult puppet shows and live-action dramas to appeal to his maturing audience.
Though he may have appeared to go out of style in certain areas of the world, pockets of Anderson fandom have always existed worldwide (THUNDERBIRDS is one of Japanese television's most popular shows ever, for example). With the recent showings of most of the Anderson library on the BBC and U.S. showings of THUNDERBIRDS on FOX, runs of SPACE:1999, UFO, CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS, STINGRAY, and TERRAHAWKS on The Sci-Fi Channel, a newly-recut and redubbed version of THUNDERBIRDS called TURBOCHARGED THUNDERBIRDS running in syndication, and the syndicated live-action show SPACE PRECINCT, Anderson is enjoying a revival of sorts.
Anderson's first partner was Arthur Provis, with whom he founded APFilms Ltd. and produced all the work up to THUNDERBIRDS. Most of Anderson's 60's and 70's shows were co-produced with his now-ex-wife, Sylvia Anderson (nee Thamm); in recent years, Anderson has teamed with Christopher Burr, John Needham, and Roger Lefkon.
Other important names in Anderson productions:
- Mary Anderson, who started off as a secretary during the production of SPACE:1999 and ended up becoming Gerry's second wife and a staff member during the production of TERRAHAWKS
- Derek Meddings, who supervised miniature and special effects from the earliest puppet days up until the end of UFO when he moved on to do the effects for the James Bond films
- Brian Johnson, who started off as a model maker during the production of THUNDERBIRDS and supervised miniature and special effects during the production of SPACE:1999
- Steve Begg, a fan and reader of SIG magazine who supervised miniature and special effects during the production of TERRAHAWKS, DICK SPANNER, and SPACE PRECINCT
- Martin Bower, a fan and reader of TV21 magazine who built most of the miniature models used in SPACE:1999
- Christine Glanville, puppetry supervisor during the production of most or all of the Supermarionation programs
- Lord Lew Grade, ITC executive who bankrolled all of the Supermarionation programs produced after SUPERCAR
- Tony Barwick, script writer extraordinaire who served as chief writer for CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS, UFO, and TERRAHAWKS
- Shane Rimmer, voice artist in THUNDERBIRDS who became one of Anderson's most frequent writers, guest stars, and voice artists in later productions
- Barry Gray, longtime Anderson music composer who did the bulk of the Anderson music through Year One of SPACE:1999
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The Anderson library is vast and extensive. It includes 12 puppet shows, 4 live-action shows, 5 films, and numerous pilots, commercials, and videos. The major body of work is as follows.
THE ADVENTURES OF TWIZZLE
Children's show based on British screenwriter Roberta Leigh's short stories; 15-minute episodes; tied with THE PROTECTORS for longest-running Anderson series; first production for APFilms
TORCHY THE BATTERY BOY
Bigger-budget effort, also based on Leigh's stories
FOUR FEATHER FALLS
Children's western about a lawman with four magical feathers in his hat
CROSSROADS TO CRIME
A young policeman stumbles across a gang of hijackers operating out of a local cafe and goes on an independent investigation to infiltrate their ranks and foil their plans to hijack £20,000 of nickel alloy ingots; only feature-film production of APFilms; first Anderson live-action production
SUPERCAR
Mike Mercury tests Professor Popkiss' and Dr. Beaker's experimental vehicle; start of the Supermarionation era; first production for ITC
FIREBALL XL5
Colonel Steve Zodiac and a French doctor named Venus lead the forces of the World Space Patrol at Space City against invading aliens; first Anderson series to appear on a U.S. network (NBC)
STINGRAY
Captain Troy Tempest helms the World Aquanaut Security Patrol's finest vessel against the undersea tyrant Titan; first series shot in color for ITC
THUNDERBIRDS
The five Tracy brothers, their cook's daughter Tin-Tin, a scientist named Brains, a ex-safecracker-turned-chauffeur named Parker, and socialite spy Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward make up International Rescue, an elite mercy organization; first hour-long Anderson series; most popular Anderson show worldwide; Century 21 Productions produced two feature films, THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO and THUNDERBIRD 6; reworked into half-hour format for FOX in 1994 and reworked again with live-action footage as TURBOCHARGED THUNDERBIRDS, part of the AMAZIN' ADVENTURES syndicated package on most U.S.-based United Paramount Network affiliates
CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS
"One man fate has made indestructible" leads Spectrum, a world security force, in their war of nerves against the Mysterons from Mars; first Anderson show with proportionately-scaled ("perfectly proportioned") marionettes; first television production by Century 21 Productions
DOPPELGANGER (a.k.a. JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN)
Feature-length film about two astronauts who discover a mirror-image Earth; first live-action feature film from Century 21 Productions; many actors and props reappeared in UFO
JOE 90
Nine-year-old Joe McClaine is the World Intelligence Network's top spy, thanks to the Brain Impulse Galvanascope Record And Transfer machine that transfers brain waves and knowledge patterns through a pair of glasses; character-based series rather than technology-based
THE SECRET SERVICE
Father Stanley Unwin and his gardener Matthew are an unlikely spy team for British Intelligence Service Headquarters--Operation Priest, thanks to the Minimizer, a device that shrinks objects and people; only Anderson puppet production set in the present day (1969); first to combine live action and puppetry, substituting a full-body double (comedian Stanley Unwin) for Father Unwin in motion sequences
UFO
Former Air Force Colonel-turned-studio executive Ed Straker leads the super-secret Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation, headquartered beneath England's Harlington- Straker Studios; first live-action show; last production for Century 21 Productions
THE PROTECTORS
Harry Rule, Contessa diContini, and Paul Buchet are the movers and shakers behind an elite private security and investigative agency; first production by Group 3 Productions; second live-action show; along with TWIZZLE, has the most episodes of any Anderson production
THE INVESTIGATOR
An alien investigator shrinks two humans to miniature size to prevent the defiling of significant artifacts in this unsold pilot; combination of live-action and puppetry; puppets resurfaced in a Jif commercial, the last Supermarionation production
SPACE:1999
Commander John Koenig must keep 311 colonists together as their base on the moon hurtles through the galaxy after an atomic waste explosion on the dark side of the moon; third live-action show; last joint production of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson; second season produced by STAR TREK's Fred Freiberger
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (a.k.a. INTO INFINITY)
NBC SPECIAL TREAT episode about two spacefaring families who are en route to Alpha Centauri; intended as a pilot but not picked up; shot between seasons of SPACE:1999 and costarred three SPACE:1999 players; narrated by Ed Bishop (UFO's Ed Straker)
TERRAHAWKS
Dr. Tiger Ninestein leads an elite planetary defense force headquarted in a secret base in South America; first Anderson series without Sylvia Anderson's involvement; only puppet show using the Supermacromation technique; all but three episodes solely written by Anderson regular Tony Barwick
DICK SPANNER P.I.
Mild-mannered robot private detective Dick Spanner wisecracks his way through impossible-to-follow sight-gag-filled plots; series of shorts for Channel 4's NETWORK SEVEN series, later condensed into two hour-long shows for Channel 4; characters animated by stop-action animation puppetry rather than Supermarionation or Supermacromation
SPACE PRECINCT
New York Police Department Lt. Patrick Brogan is assigned to the "space precinct" of Demeter City in the near future; fourth live-action series; most recent Anderson production, recently withdrawn from U.S. syndication and recently screened to U.K.
In addition, Anderson has done many more items than can be listed here: Produced numerous television commercials for such concerns as Blue Cars Travel Agency, Jif Dessert Topping, Airfix Model Kits, Lyons Maid, Royal Bank Of Scotland, Tennent Lager, and Domestos Household Cleaner; developed treatments for proposed feature film FIVE STAR FIVE and TV series RESCUE 4; co-produced the music video "Calling Elvis"; launched a marketing concept for the Airfix model kit and Dinky toy line StarCruisers; and assisted with stage productions THUNDERBIRDS F.A.B. and RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET.
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