New Thunderbirds Series Deal Finalised [Archive]

Technodelic

11th January 2011, 11:03 AM

Good grief! Didn't see that coming... it's one of those wish list things you think are never going to happen.

Curious if he'll revive the puppets or stay with CGI Hypermarionation. Hopefully the latter, as I thought 'New Captain Scarlet' was superb! (And I say that as a long-standing fan of the original too!)

:D

yorkie

11th January 2011, 11:08 AM

Awesome news. Go Gerry!

SimonG

11th January 2011, 11:12 AM

Might he even mention it on the film he did yesterday for The One Show? Doubtful as it's early days, but you never know & it's another reason to watch tonight!

Technodelic

11th January 2011, 11:15 AM

Might he even mention it on the film he did yesterday for The One Show? Doubtful as it's early days, but you never know & it's another reason to watch tonight!

Well the timing is all right to announce it... mind you, it could take a year or two to get the series on air. :(

Hiram K Hackenbacker

11th January 2011, 11:30 AM

That...is...AWESOME!!!!

By the way he was talking about Thunderbirds at the con, I assumed that it was just as unlikely to happen as ever. I actually meant to ask him about it, but ended up talking about how good NCS was.

I can't wait!

MLP*

11th January 2011, 11:37 AM

Gerry Anderson has today confirmed to Fanderson that he has finalised a deal to to make a new series of Thunderbirds.

We do not know anymore at this time but will communicate further details as they become known.

Wha ? :eek:

He did a recent interview in the Express where it seemed like there was no chance of it ever happening. "They made that awful film but they won't let me remake it" or some similar quote.

Very (pleasantly) surprised to see that things are looking more positive ! :)

If it''s up to the standards of New Captain Scarlet it will be worth waiting for.

Steve Gerard

11th January 2011, 02:34 PM

What an awesome New Year's surprise, good news. With Gerry involved the new series should be FAB.

Anybody that finds developing information on the new Thunderbirds series, then post it here on this thread.

DukeDexter

11th January 2011, 02:45 PM

Good for you, Gerry! :)

Colonel Foster

11th January 2011, 02:46 PM

I am amazed and very very happy about this news...I was very impressed by and love NCS.. BUT! I cannot see this production going with puppets but I'd so love to see a mixture of miniatues with cgi/live action elements. I wonder if 21st Century SFX could be in anyway involved....If there was a miniature aspect then who knows? !!
Well done!! and thankyou!! Mr.Gerry Anderson!!:)

Derek Eaton

11th January 2011, 03:00 PM

Anybody that finds developing information on the new Thunderbirds series, then post it here on this thread.

I will be putting up a new sub forum shortly for the New Thunderbirds Series - strike while the irons hot! It will be a pleasure.

Chrisof

11th January 2011, 03:05 PM

Hoping for live action, might send in my fairly empty CV their way.

MLP*

11th January 2011, 03:08 PM

Apparently Gerry has just announced this on BBC News ! :)

RP Hoogle

11th January 2011, 04:13 PM

Naturally I'm extremely excited however the only place I've seen it is here does anyone have any links or anything? I know it's really not going to be puppets or in Supermarionation but I really really hope it will be. I wonder if they'd get Shane Rimmer.

Colonel Foster

11th January 2011, 04:35 PM

I sent over the link earlier to Harry and co and there's a good, positive write up now on the homepage... worth a look!

Mark42

11th January 2011, 06:00 PM

I probably will not get excited till I hear details of the deal and how he intends to do it. He moved back into Pinewood a month or two back so something seemed to be happening. However it may be that he only has the 'rights' to do it - not neccessarily the money to do it. Its not like the old days when Lew Grade handed out cheques, Gerry could spend the next few years trying to raise cash instead of making the show. But after 30 years of talking we at least have some news to cheer us!

roose1982

11th January 2011, 06:59 PM

Wonderful news... I would pay them to let me work on it!

Rougueg

11th January 2011, 08:46 PM

Fantastic news,

But i truly hope to God that he doesnt mess it up.

The original series is near perfect and stupid changes i have heard suggested in the past like getting rid of John, having a tracy sister and significant changes to the craft would be a disaster.

Best news ever, but i wait with nervous trepidation.

j3pfilms

11th January 2011, 10:17 PM

As long as Spectrum are put on guard of Pinewood to keep the likes of Mr J Frakes out then we should be absolutely fine I think. Fantastic news!

Steve Gerard

12th January 2011, 01:24 AM

Hoping for live action, might send in my fairly empty CV their way.

Chris, you should do it, your Thunderbirds films might be the catalyst for them to consider live-action.

Steve Gerard

12th January 2011, 01:33 AM

I will be putting up a new sub forum shortly for the New Thunderbirds Series - strike while the irons hot! It will be a pleasure.

Thanks Derek Eaton, FAB.

Joan Marie Verba

12th January 2011, 01:50 AM

Wonderful news! I hope the new Thunderbirds series comes to the USA, as well!

Technodelic

12th January 2011, 05:36 AM

Wonderful news! I hope the new Thunderbirds series comes to the USA, as well!

Did the States eventually get 'New Captain Scarlet', Joan? :confused:

Purupuss

12th January 2011, 07:30 AM

Hoping for live action, might send in my fairly empty CV their way.

Go for it, Chris!:)

Brilliant news!!

But what worries me is that at the TV21 convention, during the fan fiction writers session, Phil Ford (THE NCS writer) said that if Thunderbirds was remade one of the Tracy brothers would become a sister. Any way that we could start suggesting that Tin-Tin gets a bit more action instead? I'd even prefer Kyrano to have another daughter to help out on rescues rather than lose one of those boys.

MLP*

12th January 2011, 07:41 AM

Phil Ford (THE NCS writer) said that if Thunderbirds was remade one of the Tracy brothers would become a sister. Any way that we could start suggesting that Tin-Tin gets a bit more action instead? I'd even prefer Kyrano to have another daughter to help out on rescues rather than lose one of those boys.

Kind of how Lieutenant Green turned female on New Captain Scarlet I guess.

The difference is that Thunderbirds already has a great female character in Lady Penelope. If they need another female character to go on the rescues, like you I'd prefer it if they invented a new one rather than give one of the boys a sex change !

Dunc1

12th January 2011, 08:02 AM

Like everyone else I am over the moon about a new series of Thunderbirds. I think Gerry has been doing a great deal of pre-production on the quiet around the time of New Captain Scarlet and may have continued to develop ideas with trusted friends like Mark Sherwood. I wonder if the company from Lasham are involved. Gerry will probably surround himself with as many of the New Captain Scarlet team as possible. There is no way he will mess this up. There will be a great deal of good will towards him from crew and fans alike which will never have been experienced on a TV show before. Good Luck Gerry.

Achilles Messenger

12th January 2011, 08:07 AM

I think it's actually quite staggering how much technology has evolved since New Captain Scarlet and what is now possible. If Thunderbirds will be made in CGI, or even 3D for that matter, the results would be stunning.

On another note, Gerry is looking rather well since I last saw him, not as gaunt and frail. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise.

MLP*

12th January 2011, 08:11 AM

On another note, Gerry is looking rather well since I last saw him, not as gaunt and frail. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise.

He certainly looked very chipper on that BBC News clip I posted. :)
Often when I've seen him interviewed in the past whenever he has spoken about his old shows it has been with a weary sigh. Now he seems genuinely proud and happy.

RP Hoogle

12th January 2011, 12:04 PM

I hope this isn't a repost but you get to hear the announcement from Gerry himself http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12160694 at the end of the stamp report.

MLP*

12th January 2011, 03:43 PM

glo thorogood

12th January 2011, 07:36 PM

That was a bolt out of the blue! Gerry was bemoaning the fact he could not get the rights or funding for a new series when I saw him on Monday.
Gosh, I'd love to see a new old series, brought up to date with laptops, mobile phones etc.
But, and its a big BUT if they go messing with the present characters or machines... I'll get very very cross! :mad:
What about the music?
Will they do the same to the IR logo as they did to the Captain Scarlet logo in NCS?:confused:
Shudder, this is not something I really want to contemplate seriously. There are so many questions and no answers as yet.

Steve Gerard

12th January 2011, 08:00 PM

What about the music?

I say keep the original Thunderbirds score, it is iconic, like the James Bond 007 score.

Melvin

13th January 2011, 12:17 AM

I know its a long way off but once the show has been made I do hope that its the BBC that play it. ITV just don`t have the same respect for Gerry`s work as they used to. Remeber how the NCS was shown. Very bad.:mad:
I don`t bother with ITV any more especially now The South Bank Show has ended.

Joan Marie Verba

13th January 2011, 01:02 AM

Jason: no, the New Captain Scarlet has not come to the USA as yet that I know of. (I'm hoping it will.) If there's a new Thunderbirds, I would hope that it would come to the USA much faster.

air terrainean

13th January 2011, 10:00 AM

Media Guardian story on the new show, in which Gerry drops a few hints :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/12/thunderbirds-new-series

The quote from the ITV spokesman suggests that the series is not quite the done deal that Gerry is suggesting though.

Thanks for that link MLP* - hope Gerry hasn't jumped the gun with his announcement. After all, it is ITV Studios who control the rights.

Technodelic

13th January 2011, 01:11 PM

Jason: no, the New Captain Scarlet has not come to the USA as yet that I know of. (I'm hoping it will.) If there's a new Thunderbirds, I would hope that it would come to the USA much faster.

Hmmm... that doesn't bode well.

PS - My name isn't Jason (he's a character from 'Captain Scarlet'), any more than yours is 'Butler'... (cue Blakey quotes from 'On The Buses'!) :p ;)

Colonel Foster

13th January 2011, 03:08 PM

This all sounds a bit familiar...

Steve Gerard

13th January 2011, 03:08 PM

Jason: no, the New Captain Scarlet has not come to the USA as yet that I know of. (I'm hoping it will.) If there's a new Thunderbirds, I would hope that it would come to the USA much faster.

I know that was disappointing, to bad the 'NCS' could have been aired on the Cartoon Network like 'Clone Wars' series is currently.

shadokp

13th January 2011, 04:21 PM

Don't get me started on New Captain Scarlet in the United States. :(

Sony owned the original distribution rights and did nothing with them other than put the show (In HD mind you) on the Animania channel which probably 4 people in the US got. It was a specialized channel shown only on the satellite network Dish.

After that it went nowhere. I am glad I am not the only one who thinks that NCS would have worked great on the Cartoon network right near The Clone Wars.

The latest distribution company has yet to do anything although there was supposed to be a big worldwide re-launch.

KP

Technodelic

13th January 2011, 05:28 PM

The latest distribution company has yet to do anything although there was supposed to be a big worldwide re-launch.

As production of the new Thunderbirds will probably take a year or two, a relaunch of New Captain Scarlet would keep Gerry Anderson in the public eye until then...

:)

Mark42

13th January 2011, 07:27 PM

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much, in one or two years time he might still be arranging the office furniture and talking about possibilities and ideas.
We old-time fans have heard all this many times over the last 3 decades - just remember the UFO movie from a year or two back - and that is now where exactly??

Hiram K Hackenbacker

13th January 2011, 07:58 PM

Niemand

13th January 2011, 08:58 PM

Gerry mentions the new series at the very end of this interview: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12160694.

Hiram K Hackenbacker

13th January 2011, 09:52 PM

Gerry mentions the new series at the very end of this interview: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12160694.

Exactly, he's never done that before. All the previous rumours have just been rumours.

Paganini

13th January 2011, 09:54 PM

first I was like "YEAAAH this is going to be so great! " but on the second thought I was like "oh oh....what will be the changes".

I personally see the biggest problem in changes. Of course Gerry wants to bring something new to Thunderbirds but different machines, a girl as main character (Penelope is a different story) , missing John etc. would make it a bitte pill.
I doubt that it´ll have any chance to be filmed in Supermarionation, live action seems akward to me and there is not much left.
Lets really hope it will turn out good - perhaps they have some unused scripts from back in the days ;) - yeah, yeah dreams...

Hiram K Hackenbacker

13th January 2011, 10:03 PM

I doubt that it´ll have any chance to be filmed in Supermarionation, live action seems akward to me and there is not much left.

Hypermarionation, cel-shaded animation, traditional animation, stylised CGI?

Chrisof

13th January 2011, 10:53 PM

Id be surprised if itv didnt try to push for an advanced form of Supermarionation. TB10 got quite a bit of backlash from general sci-fi sites for not using puppets so i can imagine they'd try to encourage Gerry down that route.

Lee

16th January 2011, 01:27 PM

When he rebooted Captain Scarlet I was rather cautious to watch it. But I must admit it grows on you! The stories where great and the CGI motion was pretty decent, maybe he should go this direction?

The problem with the last live action movie was the story sucked, the acting sucked and the people left GA out of it! The CGI was good the rest just destroyed it.

JMHO ;)

Mark42

16th January 2011, 07:19 PM

Hiram K Hackenbacker

16th January 2011, 08:02 PM

Gerry Anderson shows are usually based on action and in particular - explosions. As one script writer put it, in a Gerry Anderson story you start with an explosion to grab the audience, then have a series of smaller explosions though the episode building to a really big explosion at the climax!
Unfortunately NCS proved that explosions were totally unexciting when done in a computer and the only really exciting bits were the fast paced chase scenes or fast paced air battles - and a cgi Thunderbirds would not have any of that.

Hey Mark, while I definitely agree with you that NCS's CGI explosions aren't a patch on the real ones from Gerry's other series', it doesn't mean that all CG explosions are unexciting. Depends what software is available and what their budget is. After all, many films these days use CG explosions/fire effects, and technology has advanced by 6 years since NCS, so it may not be as expensive to make a convincing CG explosion on a TV budget anymore (even Doctor Who can manage it) :)

modelmaker

23rd January 2011, 02:14 PM

as far as I am concerned,as long as Gerry has a hand in it from start to finish-unlike certain recent cinematic offerings,it should be well worth waiting for.
look at what he did with new captain scarlet-different,but good,and some GREAT designs.
by the way,if you are doing a fan-version of UFO Chrisof,in the future-just a thought!?

roose1982

23rd January 2011, 03:10 PM

I think the timing for a new series of THUNDERBIRDS couldn't be better - You can clearly see the techniques become more and more advanced as NCS progressed - the last half of the series is absolutely remarkable. And, computer technology will have advanced significantly in the last 6 years, so Hypermarionation is definately the route to go.

ITV would never opt for any form of Supermarionation - it would simply be far too expensive. And, as we all know Gerry himself hates puppets (which I do find amusing!)

Also, they're be plenty of opportunities for fast paced action sequences.... Imagine Thunderbird 1 in pursuit of The Hood, or FAB1 in a high speed car chase, or Thunderbird 2 being attacked by Zombie fighter jets!

I genuinely cannot wait to see what they come up - nothing is impossible.

My only grudge against Hypermarionation was its inability to produce convincing hair (all looked a bit plasticy to me) and sometimes the mouth movements looked a little like Terrahawks. I wonder whether its posssible to employ the motion capture techniques when recording the dialogue as spoken by the voice artists? (Or maybe they've done that already?)

Technodelic

23rd January 2011, 04:31 PM

...computer technology will have advanced significantly in the last 6 years, so Hypermarionation is definitely the route to go.

ITV would never opt for any form of Supermarionation - it would simply be far too expensive.

Hypermarionation wasn't exactly cheap... didn't New Captain Scarlet cost something like almost one million pounds per episode to make?

MLP*

23rd January 2011, 05:22 PM

My only grudge against Hypermarionation was its inability to produce convincing hair (all looked a bit plasticy to me) and sometimes the mouth movements looked a little like Terrahawks. I wonder whether its posssible to employ the motion capture techniques when recording the dialogue as spoken by the voice artists? (Or maybe they've done that already?)

CGI will have come on in leaps and bounds since NCS.
And Thunderbirds would lend itself well to a less realistic and more caricatured character style like Star Wars Clone Wars.

roose1982

23rd January 2011, 05:40 PM

That's true... I think it was about £23 million to make NCS in 2005, so not exactly cheap.

But I'd imagine Supermarionation techniques would be far more expensive... Team America, for example, had a budget of around $30 million (say, around £15 million for rough currency conversion) and was produced around the same time as NCS. And that's only for a single production.

Also, the recent Brains Drench advert, which uses a mix of puppetry and CGI, was made on a overall budget of £5.5 for the whole campaign.

So, as a very rough estimation, a 44 minute episode using Supermarionation produced on same quality and scale as Team America would would be around £7.5 million per episode in 2004. Adjusting for inflation, it would be £8.5 million in 2009.

By comparison, CGI, if made on same budget as NCS would have cost £26 million in 2009 adjusting for inflation, OR £1million per episode. Assuming New Thunderbirds are each hour shows, that would be approx £2 million per episode.

If my estimations are accurate, for a series of 26 hour long episodes, it would cost:-

£52 million using Hypermarionation
£221 million using Supermarionation

Then again, my calculations may be way off... as in 1964 it cost £38,000 per episode to make Thunderbirds, which adjusting for inflation is around £0.6 million per episode! Perhaps its cheaper to do it the old fashioned way? lol

roose1982

23rd January 2011, 06:14 PM

CGI will have come on in leaps and bounds since NCS.
And Thunderbirds would lend itself well to a less realistic and more caricatured character style like Star Wars Clone Wars.

Completely agree. The thing i always found odd in the TV21 comics was how Frank Bellamy drew the characters in correct proportions. And I may be a little controversial here, but i actually prefer Steve Kyte's comic artwork from the 90's. Much more colourful and true to the original show in my view.

torchy

23rd January 2011, 06:30 PM

Completely agree. The thing i always found odd in the TV21 comics was how Frank Bellamy drew the characters in correct proportions. And I may be a little controversial here, but i actually prefer Steve Kyte's comic artwork from the 90's. Much more colourful and true to the original show in my view.

Me too, I always thought the Bellamy drawings to be far removed from the TV series, even as an eight year old!
Steve Kyte nailed it completely for me.
But my all time favourite was (still is) Mike Noble, Maybe he should be on pre-production art;)

Achilles Messenger

23rd January 2011, 07:54 PM

I may be a little controversial here, but i actually prefer Steve Kyte's comic artwork from the 90's. Much more colourful and true to the original show in my view.

Yes I agree with that, Steve's artwork is the reason I've kept my original Channel 5 Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet videos.

air terrainean

24th January 2011, 09:33 AM

Although I'd agree that Steve Kyte's artwork perfectly captured the look of the TV puppets, I'd be happier with the Bellamy style figures in CG - mainly because they would be better suited to more sophisticated stories. If the puppet/Steve Kyte look was chosen, I think the stories would end up being cartoonlike and appeal more to a younger audience.

Technodelic

24th January 2011, 05:40 PM

Much as I love Steve Kyte's artwork (and I own some of his originals - not, sadly 'Thunderbirds' though), I don't think the 'stunted' look of the original puppets would work now. If the 'New Thunderbirds' is to succeed, it needs to capture the imagination of kids now, who are used to far more sophisticated designs. Stylised I don't mind (a la 'Clone Wars' & 'Ben 10') but I think Gerry Anderson will aim for the utmost realism he can for what ever budget he raises, like 'New Captain Scarlet'.

:cool:

Achilles Messenger

24th January 2011, 06:03 PM

Oh definitely, in CGI terms it needs to be realistic, it wouldn't work any other way. I can't see Gerry going for anything that looks like a puppet. I know many people are dreading the 'realistic' CGI approach but i think the action and storyline potential is mind-blowing!

roose1982

24th January 2011, 08:30 PM

hmm... interesting points about the style that I hadn't considerd. I like the appeal of stylised CGI.

I must admit, I am a little concered about how it will look, as its crucial the production team get it right first time. If they mess it up, that's probably the last chance Thunderbirds will ever have.

I think the best thing for them to do is to do some audience research - put a series of short test films together, in different styles, and show them to a test audience, and get them to vote on their favourite.

just a thought

Chrisof

29th January 2011, 02:10 PM

Hiram K Hackenbacker

29th January 2011, 02:23 PM

Well there is something planned, but its not me who's in charge of it ;)

Chrisof, am I aquainted with the person in charge of it?

Melvin

31st January 2011, 12:17 AM

"But Anderson could face a challenge from his ex-wife and former collaborator Sylvia, who co-created Thunderbirds and provided the voice of Lady Penelope.

The 73-year-old producer, who was married to Anderson from 1962 to 1975, wants more credit for her contributions and has reportedly consulted lawyers about halting production on the new series.

She tells Britain's The Sun, "It's not about the money, it's about recognition. Gerry and I worked as a team. I invented all the characters and he came up with the stories."

I read this on http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0026755/news

I hope this wont slow down production for Gerry.:mad:

shadokp

31st January 2011, 11:48 AM

The problem with going for realism is you will be constantly trying to copy real people, real clothes, real hair and that is time consuming, difficult and expensive. If you had character designs that were "stylized" then the creators control what the people look like, how they move, how their hair and eyes work and therfore, the budget. You still may have people who do not like the look but at least the defense that they are not meant to be totally real can be used.

As for the vehicles, as with The Clone Wars, more effort and money can be put into that.

KP

kennetzel

31st January 2011, 01:28 PM

One article I read on line said that they didn't know if it was going to be live action, cgi, or once again in his "groundbreaking" supermarionation. Honestly, for nostalgia sake, I would like to see it in Supermarionation again. I know technology has advanced...but that was part of the charm of the show. He developed the style, and Thunderbirds, as far as I am concerned, perfected it, so why not go with a winner. Either way, it will be great to see them fly again.