And don’t forget their later shows, like UFO and Space: 1999 where the kept the model work SFX but had live actors on sets.
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Sometimes, art demands sacrifice.
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That was fun! The making-of feature with the posh voice-over was especially hilarious. Its mastermind Stephen La Rivière made the excellent, informative and amusing 2014 documentary “Filmed in Supermarionation” about Century 21 Films, the Andersons and all the puppeteers, set builders and special effects people. Warmly recommended! I have it on bluray, accompanied by a bonus disk called “This is Supermarionation” and containing a single episode from each of their series in HD. I imagine the doc will also be available for streaming.
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Worth mentioning that Gerry Anderson ensured we had 2001, Alien, Star Wars and a host of other science fiction movies.
His studios pretty much created the techniques used to produce super-detailed models, mostly from old Airfix kits, and his workers went on to seed many of the effects companies and studios in the U.K. and elsewhere. Not that he was terribly happy when most of his workers went to work for Stanley Kubrick…
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The Joe 90 is also a damn fine tune - set your Hammond Organs to stun:
And do I love the Century 21 sting. Must get around to making that for my phone.
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All I can say is: F. A. B. !
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It is! On Amazon Prime!
I finished watching last night. It was very charming.
There is another doc, called something like “The Lost Worlds of Gerry Anderson,” which has a bunch of short-lived series and pilots. To be honest, most of them are not very good. Embarrassing bad in some cases. The guy rocked at props and sets and special effects, but his script writers were not good at the science stuff.
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I think it was because their FX were getting so good that made them decide to “step up” (whether it actually was or not is beside the point) to live action with those shows.
The Century 21 ‘logo’ graphics were top-notch. The Anderson’s seemed to put as much into that as what they put into their shows.
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Oh, I loved Journey. Still have it on DVD somewhere. I somehow missed Thunderbirds, but fondly remember Fireball XL-5, my earliest science fiction memory.
Journey is out on Blu-ray, if you’re interested. Came out a couple of years ago. The transfer is gorgeous and definitely an improvement over the DVD.
Only that Posh British accent can pull that kind of sarcasm off. And don’t forget the highest budget for a dramatic series currently filming 75 pence. Hilarious!
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