Stand By For Action!: Thunderbirds in the Space Race and Cold War Era

Project

During my third and final year of my modern history degree at Royal Holloway, University of London, I was tasked in my third year to write a dissertation based on one of three modules that I was undertaking that year. My dissertation counted as the equivalent of one of my module's worth for that year. I had to select a topic that I could talk about at any point around my modules but had to remain to that module's theme. One of my modules in my third year was Britain On Film, a module that looked into British photography and film between 1840-1965. With the option for your dissertation, if you choose to write it in that module, you could write about a television series within the approximate time frame. With the option available about writing a Gerry Anderson series, my dissertation was to focus on writing about British society and culture by looking into my module's main themes such as class and gender. My word count was limited to 8,000 words for this task.

Having offered to write about the context of the Space Race and Cold War, two major themes prevalent to Britain in the 1960s and the Gerry Anderson series, I asked if it were possible to discuss my ideas across the SUPERMARIONATION period. This was refused as this covered 7 different programs, and would have been a better analysis to write about 1 series. The option chosen was Thunderbirds, only because Thunderbirds has had more material written about the series. This does not mean Captain Scarlet, Stingray, Joe 90 etc are less effective as a series or in reflecting British topics in the 1960s, or these programs live in the shadow of Thunderbirds by any means. Thunderbirds was chosen as the most material has been written around the series to aid my dissertation the best.

My proposal;

"Gerry Anderson's SUPERMARIONATION television series Thunderbirds was made between 1964 and 1966 and was an instant smash hit when the series first transmitted in Autumn 1965. This British cult classic was rooted in themes of technology to provide an action-packed and thrilling series. The fears and predictions based on science saw the series preoccupied with the developments of the Space Race and the Cold War. Thunderbirds' appeal was relayed through exciting storytelling, spectacular visuals and the series' lovable characters.

The introduction will examine the origins of science fiction in British television and film leading to the genesis of Thunderbirds, which was inspired from a German mine disaster in late 1963. Themes of class and gender were displayed not only through the duo of Lady Penelope and Parker but also by the protagonists, International Rescue, and antagonists such as the Hood. Through this, Anderson's creative envisioning of the 21st century led to Thunderbirds becoming a smash-hit series.

This investigation will take specific episodes of the series that best represent these themes. Anderson's predictions of technology impacting a world one hundred years into the future will be evaluated from the fears and conceptions relevant to a 1960s Britain. Even though the series followed the exploits of International Rescue saving lives in peril with revolutionary machinery, Anderson was preoccupied with fears of nuclear fallout and the globalisation of world powers.

The filmmaking techniques provided by Anderson's AP Films production team will be explored to examine how this was visually realised by Derek Meddings' effects team. The inspiration behind the characters and the series' storylines will also be considered. This will be related to demonstrate the phenomenal impact Thunderbirds made to society and culture in 1960s Britain, spawning record-breaking memorabilia with toys, comics, and spin-off media.

Other primary sources will be conducted throughout such as interviews from members of the AP Films production team including Gerry Anderson and his wife Sylvia about the making of the series. Extracts showing the precious behind-the-scenes making of Thunderbirds will be aided to exemplify the visually technical pioneering methods used to produce the series during the 1960s.

Secondary sources will be aided to identify critical viewpoints from television historians Marcus Hearn, Ian Fryer, and Gerry Anderson expert Chris Bentley regarding the series' themes and predictions. Moreover, secondary sources are essential in statistically proving of the overwhelming success of Thunderbirds and through Anderson's inspirations.

The conclusion will draw upon the continued inspiration created by Thunderbirds in other film and television media. This examines how the Space Race and Cold War evolved throughout the rest of the 1960s and 1970s in later Gerry Anderson productions whilst Thunderbirds continued being celebrated by the British public.

The various spawned revivals of interest based on Thunderbirds compare how science, technology, the Space Race and the Cold War evolved to impact the creative inspirations behind new Thunderbirds remakes. Throughout, the dissertation will feature images from Thunderbirds that depict particular stills emphasising specific moments when Thunderbirds captured the imagination of the 1960s British public". 

I submitted 2,000 words as a draft to help the direction of my dissertation. Much of the work I needed for the rest of my dissertation was improve the writing of my sentences (as I only had 8,000 words to write which doesn't leave a lot of room for much to say) as some of my lines were a bit brief or could have featured more detail. Other work I had to do was make sure I discussed more about British context - the actual content on Thunderbirds was said to have been very good. As I continued to refine my dissertation before the deadline 2nd May, I have been more than happy to share my findings, having it all banded, and sending it to friends and families. Now, my dissertation is go!