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Sun Probe

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Not to be confused with Solar probe.
"Sun Probe"

"Sun Probe" is the 11th episode of the first series of Thunderbirds, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Written by Alan Fennell and directed by David Lane, it was first broadcast on ATV Midlands on 9 December 1965

In this episode, both Thunderbirds 2 and 3 are launched to save a spacecraft trapped in a collision course with the Sun.

Plot

At Cape Kennedy, Florida, Colonel Benson oversees the launch of Sun Probe, a manned spacecraft designed to extract matter from the Sun. Some time later, on Tracy Island, most of the International Rescue team watch a live news programme tracking Sun Probe as it nears its target. Brains (David Graham) is absent from the proceedings, having opted to work on developing the abilities of his latest invention – an artificially-intelligent humanoid robot called Braman.

In space, solarnauts Harris, Asher and Camp fire a smaller probe through a prominence and succeed in capturing fragments of matter. However, by the time that the probe docks with the main module, the ever-intensifying solar radiation has caused Sun Probe's retro-rockets to fail, locking the craft in a collision course with the Sun.

On TV, Colonel Benson implores IR to save the crew. Alan (Matt Zimmerman) and Scott (Shane Rimmer) propose remote-firing Sun Probe's rockets by radio beam from Thunderbird 3, but Virgil (David Holliday) points out that Thunderbird 2 has more power and that it would be easier to send the signal from Earth.

The team finally agree to launch a two-pronged rescue attempt. Alan, Scott and Tin-Tin (Christine Finn), who is on her first mission, blast off in Thunderbird 3. Later, having determined the best terrestrial transmitting position to be in the Himalayas, Virgil and Brains take off in Thunderbird 2. Reaching the danger zone, Alan, Scott and Tin-Tin contact Sun Probe and explain IR's plan. However, Thunderbird 3's first transmission falls short of the craft by four hours.

Virgil and Brains touch down on Mount Arkan. Exiting Thunderbird 2 in the Transmitter Truck, they align the Pod Vehicle's dish but fail to reach Sun Probe on their first transmission attempt. Meanwhile, Thunderbird 3's own signal needs two more hours to catch up with the spacecraft. As the solarnauts become increasingly delirious, Alan, Scott and Tin-Tin make a third, desperate attempt to fire the retros. When even this fails, Tin-Tin overruns the power and the beam finally breaks through.

With Sun Probe now on a course back to Earth, Alan activates Thunderbird 3's own retros - but they will not fire. In the lounge, Tin-Tin has passed out from the heat without shutting down the safety beam and Alan realises that this is draining the ship's power. Leaving an unconscious Scott, Alan descends from the control room in the lift but collapses before he can complete the task. With TV reporting that the IR ship itself is now heading for the Sun, Jeff (Peter Dyneley) alerts Virgil and Brains on Mount Arkan.

Concluding that they must switch the target of their retro-firing beam, Brains and Virgil hurry back to the Pod to calculate the appropriate radio frequency. Opening a storage box, they are horrified to discover that they have inadvertently packed Braman rather than the IR portable computer. Braman's own computational abilities are sound, however, and using Brains' formula he quickly produces the correct frequency. Brains and Virgil re-initialise the beam and succeed in firing Thunderbird 3's retros.

Production

"Sun Probe" was the fourth episode of Thunderbirds to be produced. It was conceived by Gerry Anderson as a means of introducing viewers to Thunderbird 3, which had not featured in any of the writing staff's earliest scripts for the series. The spacecraft would appear in a rescue capacity in only two later episodes: "The Impostors" and "Ricochet". "Sun Probe" marks the first contributions of Alan Tracy voice actor Matt Zimmerman to the series.[2]

Written by Alan Fennell and initially filmed as a 25-minute episode in late 1964, "Sun probe" was extended the following January to satisfy AP Films sponsor Lew Grade's order, on viewing the series' completed pilot episode, that the running time for all episodes be lengthened to 50 minutes. Anderson, Alan Pattillo and Tony Barwick expanded Fennell's original storyline by adding the character of Braman, the subplot of Thunderbird 2's mission to Mount Arkan and the plot twist concerning the failure of Thunderbird 3's retro-rockets.[2] The newly added material also included a brief scene in which solarnauts Harris, Asher and Camp prepare for lift-off inside the Sun Probe command module.[2]

The re-shoot took place between the filming of "30 Minutes After Noon" and "The Impostors"[2] and alongside that of "The Uninvited"; "Sun Probe" and "The Uninvited" were the first episodes of Thunderbirds to have their running time doubled. While the AP Films crew rebuilt the Thunderbird 3 and Cape Kennedy control room sets from scratch, additional scenes featuring Brains and Braman were recorded in the Tracy Villa lounge instead of Brains' laboratory, as the latter set was deemed too complex to re-create with sufficient accuracy.[2] The International Rescue Transmitter Truck is a re-use of the explosives tractor seen in "End of the Road".[2]

Dissatisfied with the effect of Sun Probe's approach to the Sun, Anderson instructed the episode's sound editor to amplify the sound effects. He believed that Barry Gray's musical score, composed partly of material originally recorded for Fireball XL5, compensated for the lack of action and added greatly to the space scenes.[3]

Parts of the Sun Probe launch were subsequently recycled to appear in the opening act of "The Perils of Penelope", for which new material was recorded back-to-back with this episode.[4] A modified version of Braman appeared in "Edge of Impact" and "30 Minutes After Noon". The Thunderbird 3 launch sequence featuring the characters of Alan, Scott and Tin-Tin (devised by special effects director Derek Meddings) was re-used in "The Uninvited", "The Impostors", "Danger at Ocean Deep" and the series finale, "Give or Take a Million".

Broadcast

First broadcast on 9 December 1965, "Sun Probe" aired as the 11th episode of Thunderbirds for both the series' original run on Associated Television and the majority of 1960s repeat runs. More than five million people viewed the episode when it received its first network broadcast on BBC2 on 11 October 1991,[5] making it the channel's fourth most-watched programme for the week of transmission.

Reception

Sylvia Anderson takes a mixed view of "Sun Probe", praising the special effects but characterising the episode overall as "too much space and too many machines for my taste" and a "boys' own adventure" lacking femininity.[6]

Chris Bentley, author of The Complete Book of Thunderbirds writes positively of the episode, arguing that it "successfully" showcases Thunderbird 3;[2] John Marriott, writer of Thunderbirds Are Go!, describes it as melodramatic and "one of the most edge-of-the-sofa" instalments of the series.[7] Marcus Hearn, author of Thunderbirds: The Vault, calls it "nerve-wracking ... skilfully extended from its original 25-minute running time" and praises the major roles played by the "sometimes neglected" characters of Brains and Tin-Tin; he also compliments the mildly comic relationship between Brains and Braman. On the other hand, he names the Sun itself as "probably the series' weakest special effect".[8]

Tom Fox of Starburst magazine also gives a favourable review, writing that although "Sun Probe" presents the series' "most drawn-out conclusion ever", it remains a "very busy" episode. Praising the roles of Brains, Alan and Tin-Tin, the portrayal of the astronauts' deliriousness and the "novel twist" of the malfunction on Thunderbird 3, he sums up the episode as "a good, slow-burning one" and awards a rating of four out of five stars.[9]

Matthew Dennis of the website CultBox describes "Sun Probe" as "terrific stuff" and ranks it as one of the best episodes of Thunderbirds, noting its drama and suspense.[10] David Gutierrez of DVD Verdict gives a rating of 85 out of 100.[11]

Later appearances

Footage from "Sun Probe" was incorporated in the final episode of Series One, the clip show "Security Hazard". In 1966, an adaptation of the episode's soundtrack – featuring newly recorded narration by Matt Zimmerman as Alan – was released by Century 21 Records as the mini-album Thunderbird 3 (code MA 112).[5] Fifteen years later, the New York offices of ITC combined "Sun Probe" with another space adventure – Season Two's "Ricochet" – to create Thunderbirds In Outer Space (1981), one of three Thunderbirds made-for-TV compilation films aimed at the American cable market and promoted under the banner of "Super Space Theater". In 1991, the episode was serialised by Fennell and Malcolm Stokes for issues 6 to 8 of Thunderbirds: The Comic;[5] the following year, Young Corgi published a novelisation by Dave Morris. In 1994, "Sun Probe" aired on the US Fox Network as an episode of Thunderbirds Are Go! – a series comprising re-edited versions of 13 of the original episodes, complete with new soundtracks. Having undergone further alterations, it was again broadcast in 1995 as an episode of Turbocharged Thunderbirds on UPN.

The film Doppelgänger (1969), which Gerry and Sylvia Anderson produced and co-wrote, also features a spacecraft named Sun Probe.[8]

"Slingshot", an episode of the computer-animated Thunderbirds Are Go, is a remake of "Sun Probe".[12]

References

  1. ^ Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bentley, Chris (September 2015). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Thunderbirds – A Complete Guide to the Classic Series. Tunbridge Wells, UK: Panini UK. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-84653-212-2.
  3. ^ Archer, Simon; Hearn, Marcus (2002). What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson. London, UK: BBC Books. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-563-53481-5.
  4. ^ Bentley 2005, p. 27.
  5. ^ a b c Bentley 2005, p. 67.
  6. ^ Anderson, Sylvia (1991). Yes, M'Lady. London, UK: Smith Gryphon. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-856850-11-7.
  7. ^ Marriott, John (1993). Supermarionation Classics: Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Rogers, Dave; Drake, Chris; Bassett, Graeme. London, UK: Boxtree. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-85283-900-0.
  8. ^ a b Hearn, Marcus (2015). Thunderbirds: The Vault. London, UK: Virgin Books. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-753-55635-1.
  9. ^ Fox, Tom (August 2004). "TV View". Starburst Special (65). London, UK: Visual Imagination: 47. ISSN 0958-7128. OCLC 79615651.
  10. ^ Dennis, Matthew (6 February 2015). "Five of the Best Classic Thunderbirds Episodes". cultbox.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Gutierrez, David (28 July 2004). "The Best of Thunderbirds: The Favorite Episodes DVD Review". DVD Verdict. Verdict Partners. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Fred McNamara (23 May 2015). "Thunderbirds Are Go: 'Slingshot' Review". screenrelish.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Bibliography

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