Thunderbirds Kicks Off On UK TV – And It Wasn’t That Bad!
April 5, 2015 by brennon
The first episode of the new Thunderbirds TV series, Thunderbirds Are Go! went live over the weekend here in the UK and I managed to get some time to watch it. Episode One: Ring of Fire can be watched HERE for those of you in the UK...
The first episode wasn't that bad at all and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's very much a family show but they've managed to keep a lot of what made the original series so special for audiences at the time - namely the massive disasters and amazingly cool Thunderbirds.
I think the pacing seemed about right for the new type of show that it's turned into and the characters were all animated nicely. They were voice acted quite well too! On top of that the relationship between the CG and the 'real' landscapes they've built works very nicely.
It's not the classic Thunderbirds and it never was going to be but I still got a shiver of excitment and a smile on my face when the Thunderbirds were being prepped for launch.
Subsequent episodes will be shown at 8am for the UK (which has caused a bit of a stir considering the nice 5pm family tea time slot it had for the launch).
Give this one a chance.
"I still got a shiver of excitement and a smile on my face when the Thunderbirds were being prepped for launch..."
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Except for viewers in Scotland, cos STV are a bunch of numpties.
http://player.stv.tv/programmes/1000-heartbeats/2015-04-04-1700/ I found how to watch it in Scotland, apparently its just listed wrong, cos y’know, Numpties.
Yes it’s twenty to 4 in the morning, you don’t get to judge me.
The sets were great and I love the new designs for the vehicles.
But holy crap! The characters were total garbage in every way. The character models were terrible, the voices just didn’t fit and since when was Brains from the Middle East..?
Not to mention the entire episode just made them look incompetent.
And that 5 4 3 2 1 got old really fast.
Why couldn’t Brains be from the Middle East
He was just doing a Jimmy Stewart impression in the original to fit in because back in the 1960s people were racist and wouldn’t have accepted Jonny Forriner as the techy geek dude.
but now that relationships with the region and people’s attitudes have changed….
TBH I would have reimaged Brains as Sheldon
Knock knock knock Tintin!
Knock knock knock Tintin!
Knock knock knock Tintin!
Just started watching on ITVplayer
Make that
Knock knock knock Lady Penny!
Knock knock knock Lady Penny!
Knock knock knock Lady Penny!
Kayo. She’s a knockout?
(Not sure why the name change, What was wrong with Tintin? If it was a good enough name for Herge, it should be good enough for the Traceys)
I don’t think that the acting was so bad for what’s effectively a kids show/family show. It’s no better than say something like Doctor Who – which might not be saying much – but there you go heh.
Not great to be honest but nor am I 10 years old anymore no matter what the wife claims
Its on my planner to watch tonight… BUT…. its on next week from 8am..!!! that`s madness in my eyes….
When I heard it was 5pm, I thought what a prefect time, alittle like the old days of doctor who I think..( I`m 46… ) 5pm is great for the family to come together around the Tv and enjoy as a shared experience… now its about setting up the sky box and watch when you have a free moment… feels like the magic has died…
thought…? as I typed with a cup of Tea and tired eyes..
I did like the little ” I can watch my favourite programme again” bit and showing Stingray
Best bit in the show. Overall not impressed. I won’t be worrying about missing episodes. The basic impression I am left with is, who the bloody hell gets any sleep on Tracey Island. Brains and his comic sidekick robot surely can’t do all the maintenance and refuelling on their own. And where do the keep the fuel? And how does it get to the island. They would need a port! I need a port. With or without lemon. The graphics and the animation were not that great either Oh and Alan is an annoying little twit lol Maybe if I… Read more »
Even with the original series with Tracey Island being hidden and nobody knowing who IR were the question was “Where are all the workers buried?”
we could tell you but then we would have to kill you I’m afraid.
I think the difference was the pacing.
The boys only get one or two missions an episode.
Here they had one each in the first five minutes and it never stopped.
They don’t have time to shit! lol
They don’t have time to sweat either. 😉
Loved it. Im sure Gerry would have liked it too.
My 4 year old boy was glued to it and is now watching the original. All good.
Now for some Captain Scarlet.
Bring back a revamped Captain Scarlet with the same CGI team etc and I’d be all over it. Love that show.
Didnt they already do that?
Yeah but I wasn’t a fan of the CG – bring in this team and Weta and I’d probably be more inclined to watch it.
The New Captain Scarlet was fine.
I would hate to see Scarlet bounce around like a character in a kids video game like these Thunderbirds do.
The opening music sent a shiver down my spine, a good shiver.
The program wasn’t bad, but a little to fast for my liking, no build up.
I believe that was a double special yesterday, so if the new ones are only 30 mins instead of 50 like the originals then the pace will have to be faster.
Not bad, I just miss the strings!
At the end of the day it’s a show squarely aimed at children. If you want to pick things apart, why stop/start with Thunderbirds?
Suspend your disbelief and enjoy it for what it is!
Great fun show, brought up to date but with enough of a nod to the original to make me want to watch the rest of the series.
I loved all the little Gerry Anderson nods. Stingray was cool, but was it me or did the front of that deep sea rig look an awful lot like an Eagle from Space 1999?
What I really liked was that most people watching (and myself on first viewing) probably assumed it was all CGI, when most of the vehicles and a number of the sets were real models and only the characters and a the more complex sets and effects were computer generated. I enjoyed it, and so did my son!
You can’t beat the original series, trouble is I remember when it was first shown…agh…
Saturdays new series was ok, but then again it will never be as good as the original.
I do agree with @brennon though, a remake of Captain Scartlet would be fantastic.
I watch more cartoons than I should probably admit to, I even went to see Frozen willingly despite having no children and genuinely enjoyed it. I thought this new Thunderbirds was garbage. The plot was ridiculously rushed, they recycled multiple shots within the same episode (we did not need to see Thunderbird 2 do the exact same launch sequence, in full, twice in ten minutes) and for me the voice acting/lip synch (such as it is) just felt off. The animation itself looked wrong to me too. The only nostalgia I got out of it was the music and Stingray… Read more »