Trapped in the Sky
Encyclopedia
"Trapped in the Sky" is the first episode of Thunderbirds
, a British 1960s Supermarionation
television series co-created by Gerry Anderson
, which originally aired on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965. The plot revolves around master criminal the Hood
, who sabotages the brand-new Fireflash prior to its maiden flight
. In its first operation, International Rescue must save the crew and passengers on board when it is found that the airliner is unable to land.
While scripting the episode, the Andersons drew inspiration from Gerry's experiences as a conscript in the Royal Air Force
during the 1940s. The pilot received such a positive response at its preview screening that the production team complied with instructions of Lew Grade
of distributor ITC Entertainment
to increase the running time of all Thunderbirds episodes from 25 to 50 minutes. "Trapped in the Sky" remains acclaimed more than four decades after its first broadcast on British television.
, from his hideout in Malaysia, criminal mastermind the Hood
learns that International Rescue is set to start operations. Travelling to London International Airport
, he places a bomb on board Air Terrainean's Fireflash, a new, hypersonic
, atomic-powered
airliner about to depart on its maiden flight
to Tokyo. In a videophone
transmission from the Hood, Commander Norman
of London Tower air traffic control
is informed that the device will auto-detonate from the impact of landing and orders Captain Hanson and his co-pilot to return Fireflash to the airspace above London Airport. An X-ray
shot of the wing confirms that a bomb has been planted and, after failed attempts to remove it via aerobatics
and an attempted boarding of the hold, the situation appears hopeless. To make matters worse, the shielding around the nuclear reactor
is depleting: if Fireflash is not landed within two hours, all on board will die of radiation exposure
.
Kyrano's daughter, Tin-Tin
, is just one of the crew and passengers now in mortal danger. John Tracy
, who has been listening in to radio transmissions from the Thunderbird 5 space station, contacts Tracy Island
with details of the threat. Jeff
dispatches Scott
and Virgil
to London in Thunderbirds 1 and 2, the latter loaded with Pod 3. Persuading Commander Norman to permit International Rescue's assistance, Scott touches down at London Airport. Posing as an airport police
officer, the Hood infiltrates Thunderbird 1 and begins to photograph
its interior. The Automatic Camera Detector unit alerts Scott and police cars set off along the M1
in pursuit of the absconding Hood.
Arriving in Thunderbird 2, Virgil unloads three Elevator Cars, two of which will be remote-controlled from his master vehicle. Fireflash will be guided to land on top of the cars to reduce the likelihood of a detonation. The cars speed to intercept the approaching Fireflash along Runway 29, but when one of the remote-controlled vehicles crashes after a mechanical fault, Virgil is forced to abort the first rescue attempt and bring out a reserve car. Fireflash begins a second approach and manages to make contact with the cars. When he applies the brakes, Virgil loses control of his vehicle and flips into a trench, but survives unhurt. Meanwhile, Fireflash grinds to a halt before it reaches the end of the tarmac, saving the crew and passengers from the radiation and avoiding a detonation.
Scott now turns his attention to the intruder on board Thunderbird 1. Since the Hood has evaded the police, Scott contacts International Rescue's London agent, Lady Penelope, to request that she finish the matter. Penelope and her butler, Parker
, pursue the Hood in FAB1
and blast their opponent off the M1 with the Rolls-Royce's built-in machine gun
. Although the Hood survives, his photographs are ruined. On Tracy Island, Jeff has a doctor confirm that Kyrano is still in good health. The topic of the conversation soon shifts to the Fireflash incident and the doctor mentions how he would be honoured to shake International Rescue's hand. With a parting handshake, Jeff grants the oblivious doctor his wish, before announcing to his sons, "Boys, I think we're in business."
's stint of National Service, which lasted from 1947 to 1949. While stationed at RAF Manston
in Kent
, Anderson witnessed a commemorative "Battle of Britain
" air show ending in disaster when a Mosquito
fighter lost control and crash-landed, resulting in 20 fatalities. A few months later, a Spitfire with a damaged undercarriage made a successful emergency landing at the base. When production commenced on Thunderbirds, Anderson, recalling the memories of these incidents, devised the predicament surrounding the Fireflash airliner. Anderson dictated the script to his wife, Sylvia
, for word processing at their villa in Portugal, and the couple finished their writing in the spring of 1964. As an in-joke
, the character of Lieutenant Bob Meddings, an air force pilot who boards Fireflash tries in a futile bid to remove the bomb, is named after both Bob Bell, the art director
of AP Films
, and Derek Meddings
, the special effects director.
, filming for the pilot episode of Thunderbirds commenced in the late summer of 1964. Although no on-screen caption is used to announce the title, it is referred to in all production documentation as "Trapped in the Sky". During the briefing scene on Tracy Island
, when Alan Tracy
utters a line of dialogue (his sole contribution to the episode—"OK, father") it is apparent that his speaking voice is lower than usual for the character with reference to his later appearances, due to the fact that Matt Zimmerman had not been added to the regular voice cast at this stage of production. Ray Barrett
(the regular voice of John Tracy
) provided the voice of Alan for this episode, although Zimmerman's name still appears in the end credits
.
Another continuity error occurs during the closing scene on Tracy Island. When Jeff
initiates the "Operation Cover-up" measure to hide all trace of International Rescue for the doctor's visit, the portraits lining the walls switch from a set of photographs of the Tracy brothers in uniform to another set in which civilian attire is worn. However, in a later shot of Scott
and Gordon
, the blue rim of a uniform is visible on the edge of the frame.
While preparing to film the Fireflash landing sequence, Meddings encountered the problem of constructing an expanded special effects set in the limited shooting space available at the AP Films Studios. To reduce costs, he isolated the three set elements—the grassy foreground, the sky background and the runway tarmac in between—and produced three loops of canvas
, each painted to represent one element, to run on rollers to simulate a solid and continuous backdrop. This marked a progression from the "rolling sky" technique evident in earlier Anderson productions such as Stingray
.
The crash of Virgil
's remote-controlled Elevator Car is a mistake on the part of the production team and a snapped guiding wire. Expressing enthusiasm with this result, Meddings asked the Andersons to write this development into their script so that the final edit would retain the error. To complement the mishap, Meddings shot additional footage in which the rogue Elevator Car crashes into a parked aircraft and starts a fire that consumes a number of others. In a line of dialogue from Commander Norman, the aircraft are left to burn since "Fireflash is carrying passengers, they're not!"
's arrangements for both the opening and ending theme music
(based on the signature "Thunderbirds March") are unique to "Trapped in the Sky". Complementing the launch sequences of Thunderbirds 1 and 2, the "Thunderbirds March" replaced the original "Flying High", a sung end theme featuring the vocals of Gary Miller
. Although Anderson decided that the tenor of "Flying High" did not suit the spirit of Thunderbirds, the song is heard in the Series Two episode "Ricochet". Gray recorded all incidental music
for "Trapped in the Sky" in December 1964, at the Olympic Studios
at Barnes, in London, with an orchestra of 30 musicians.
The production team originally intended the Thunderbirds episodes to be 25 minutes in length. Anderson's ITC
financier, Lew Grade
, doubled the runtime to 50 minutes after attending a preview screening of "Trapped in the Sky". Praising the plot and special effects, he exclaimed, "That's not a television series, that's a feature film!" The pilot, along with eight other episodes, therefore underwent re-editing and plot expansion to meet Grade's demands. The staff recorded new footage during the production of "Operation Crash-Dive", which depicts the return of Fireflash and is intended to function as a sequel to "Trapped in the Sky". Included in the added sequences is Bob Meddings' failed rescue attempt.
has written that "Trapped in the Sky" features a lot of necessary exposition
to introduce the characters, set-up and look of Thunderbirds, but praises the minor appearance of Lady Penelope and Parker
as "brief but effective". Vincent Law of the Andersonic website believes that the requirements placed on the episode as the series opener are not detrimental to the plot, which makes use of a theme, common to more than one Anderson series, of "advanced technology, upon which the characters are reliant, going awry."
One of Law's few concerns about the episode is the characterisation
which, it is argued, is sometimes less than credible. He cites the absence of an emotional response from Tin-Tin
to the perilous situation of Fireflash as one example. On the subject of dialogue, he offers a verdict of "limp and routine at times—lots of 'left left, two degrees'—and overall much less witty than Stingray
." However, he goes on to add that, as a whole, "Trapped in the Sky" is "a great opener, arguably the best episode of the series."
An audio adaptation of "Trapped in the Sky", with narration from Shane Rimmer
(in character as Scott Tracy
) has been released on the Century 21 mini-LP
titled "Thunderbird 1". The episode achieved ratings of 6.8 million viewers for its 1992 repeat broadcast on BBC2.
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, a British 1960s Supermarionation
Supermarionation
Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...
television series co-created by Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
, which originally aired on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965. The plot revolves around master criminal the Hood
The Hood (Thunderbirds)
The Hood is the main villain and adversary of International Rescue in the Thunderbirds TV series.-TV series:The Hood's precise origins are unknown but it is thought to have been based loosely on Wayne Pembridge...
, who sabotages the brand-new Fireflash prior to its maiden flight
Maiden flight
The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. This is similar to a ship's maiden voyage....
. In its first operation, International Rescue must save the crew and passengers on board when it is found that the airliner is unable to land.
While scripting the episode, the Andersons drew inspiration from Gerry's experiences as a conscript in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during the 1940s. The pilot received such a positive response at its preview screening that the production team complied with instructions of Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
of distributor ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
to increase the running time of all Thunderbirds episodes from 25 to 50 minutes. "Trapped in the Sky" remains acclaimed more than four decades after its first broadcast on British television.
Plot
Using his telepathic powers to communicate with his half-brother, KyranoKyrano
Kyrano is a fictional character from the television series Thunderbirds and the 2004 feature film based on it.Kyrano is the father of Tin-Tin and the half brother of The Hood and acts as a manservant in the Tracy household, sharing domestic duties with Grandma Tracy...
, from his hideout in Malaysia, criminal mastermind the Hood
The Hood (Thunderbirds)
The Hood is the main villain and adversary of International Rescue in the Thunderbirds TV series.-TV series:The Hood's precise origins are unknown but it is thought to have been based loosely on Wayne Pembridge...
learns that International Rescue is set to start operations. Travelling to London International Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
, he places a bomb on board Air Terrainean's Fireflash, a new, hypersonic
Hypersonic
In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that is highly supersonic. Since the 1970s, the term has generally been assumed to refer to speeds of Mach 5 and above...
, atomic-powered
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
airliner about to depart on its maiden flight
Maiden flight
The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. This is similar to a ship's maiden voyage....
to Tokyo. In a videophone
Videophone
A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
transmission from the Hood, Commander Norman
Commander Norman
Commander Norman is a fictional character in the television series Thunderbirds. The puppet was voiced by Peter Dyneley. He is one of two recurring characters on the show barring the main cast, the other being Captain Hanson....
of London Tower air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
is informed that the device will auto-detonate from the impact of landing and orders Captain Hanson and his co-pilot to return Fireflash to the airspace above London Airport. An X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
shot of the wing confirms that a bomb has been planted and, after failed attempts to remove it via aerobatics
Aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...
and an attempted boarding of the hold, the situation appears hopeless. To make matters worse, the shielding around the nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
is depleting: if Fireflash is not landed within two hours, all on board will die of radiation exposure
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
.
Kyrano's daughter, Tin-Tin
Tin-Tin Kyrano
Tin-Tin Kyrano is a character in the mid-1960s British television show Thunderbirds. In the original TV series and its original movie adaptations, Tin-Tin, like the other characters, is portrayed using a marionette, and Christine Finn provided her voice....
, is just one of the crew and passengers now in mortal danger. John Tracy
John Tracy (Thunderbirds)
John Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6...
, who has been listening in to radio transmissions from the Thunderbird 5 space station, contacts Tracy Island
Tracy Island
Tracy Island is the home of the Tracy family in the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson 1960s television series Thunderbirds. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, the island's true function as the secret base of the International Rescue organisation is heavily camouflaged.Thunderbird 1 launches from a hangar...
with details of the threat. Jeff
Jeff Tracy
Jeff Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The voice for the character in these shows was supplied by Peter Dyneley. The character also appeared in the live...
dispatches Scott
Scott Tracy
Scott Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
and Virgil
Virgil Tracy
Virgil Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
to London in Thunderbirds 1 and 2, the latter loaded with Pod 3. Persuading Commander Norman to permit International Rescue's assistance, Scott touches down at London Airport. Posing as an airport police
Airport police
Airport Police units are a security police agency assigned to perform law enforcement functions at airports. In some cases, they are branches of larger general purposes agencies. Other variations include dedicated agencies, combined police/fire agencies and even military units...
officer, the Hood infiltrates Thunderbird 1 and begins to photograph
Secret photography
Secret photography refers to the use of an image or video recording device to photograph or film a person who is unaware that they are being intentionally photographed or filmed...
its interior. The Automatic Camera Detector unit alerts Scott and police cars set off along the M1
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
in pursuit of the absconding Hood.
Arriving in Thunderbird 2, Virgil unloads three Elevator Cars, two of which will be remote-controlled from his master vehicle. Fireflash will be guided to land on top of the cars to reduce the likelihood of a detonation. The cars speed to intercept the approaching Fireflash along Runway 29, but when one of the remote-controlled vehicles crashes after a mechanical fault, Virgil is forced to abort the first rescue attempt and bring out a reserve car. Fireflash begins a second approach and manages to make contact with the cars. When he applies the brakes, Virgil loses control of his vehicle and flips into a trench, but survives unhurt. Meanwhile, Fireflash grinds to a halt before it reaches the end of the tarmac, saving the crew and passengers from the radiation and avoiding a detonation.
Scott now turns his attention to the intruder on board Thunderbird 1. Since the Hood has evaded the police, Scott contacts International Rescue's London agent, Lady Penelope, to request that she finish the matter. Penelope and her butler, Parker
Aloysius "Nosey" Parker
Aloysius "Nosey" Parker is a fictional character in the television series Thunderbirds, the feature films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6 and the 2004 live action film Thunderbirds....
, pursue the Hood in FAB1
FAB1
FAB1 is the name given to the pink six-wheeled car in the Thunderbirds franchise.-The original series and films:In the original Supermarionation TV series Thunderbirds , as well as the films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6 , FAB1 is a modified Rolls-Royce...
and blast their opponent off the M1 with the Rolls-Royce's built-in machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
. Although the Hood survives, his photographs are ruined. On Tracy Island, Jeff has a doctor confirm that Kyrano is still in good health. The topic of the conversation soon shifts to the Fireflash incident and the doctor mentions how he would be honoured to shake International Rescue's hand. With a parting handshake, Jeff grants the oblivious doctor his wish, before announcing to his sons, "Boys, I think we're in business."
Production
Inspiration for the plot of "Trapped in the Sky" came from events that occurred during Gerry AndersonGerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
's stint of National Service, which lasted from 1947 to 1949. While stationed at RAF Manston
RAF Manston
RAF Manston was an RAF station in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site is now split between a commercial airport Kent International Airport and a continuing military use by the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre , following on from a long...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, Anderson witnessed a commemorative "Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
" air show ending in disaster when a Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
fighter lost control and crash-landed, resulting in 20 fatalities. A few months later, a Spitfire with a damaged undercarriage made a successful emergency landing at the base. When production commenced on Thunderbirds, Anderson, recalling the memories of these incidents, devised the predicament surrounding the Fireflash airliner. Anderson dictated the script to his wife, Sylvia
Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
, for word processing at their villa in Portugal, and the couple finished their writing in the spring of 1964. As an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
, the character of Lieutenant Bob Meddings, an air force pilot who boards Fireflash tries in a futile bid to remove the bomb, is named after both Bob Bell, the art director
Art department
Art department in movie terms means the section of a production's crew concerned with visual artistry. Working under the supervision of the production designer and/or art director, the art department is responsible for arranging the overall look of the film as desired by the film director...
of AP Films
AP Films
AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s...
, and Derek Meddings
Derek Meddings
Derek Meddings was a British television and cinema special effects expert, initially noted for his work on the "Supermarionation" television puppet series produced by Gerry Anderson, and later for the 1970s James Bond films and the Superman film series.-Early years:Both Meddings' parents had...
, the special effects director.
Filming
After five months of pre-productionPre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
, filming for the pilot episode of Thunderbirds commenced in the late summer of 1964. Although no on-screen caption is used to announce the title, it is referred to in all production documentation as "Trapped in the Sky". During the briefing scene on Tracy Island
Tracy Island
Tracy Island is the home of the Tracy family in the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson 1960s television series Thunderbirds. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, the island's true function as the secret base of the International Rescue organisation is heavily camouflaged.Thunderbird 1 launches from a hangar...
, when Alan Tracy
Alan Tracy
Alan Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the 2004 live action movie Thunderbirds....
utters a line of dialogue (his sole contribution to the episode—"OK, father") it is apparent that his speaking voice is lower than usual for the character with reference to his later appearances, due to the fact that Matt Zimmerman had not been added to the regular voice cast at this stage of production. Ray Barrett
Ray Barrett
Raymond Charles "Ray" Barrett was an Australian actor. He was one of the more popular leading men on British television in the 1960s, where he was best known for his appearances in The Troubleshooters . Back in Australia he was a leading man in many TV series over the years.-Biography:Barrett was...
(the regular voice of John Tracy
John Tracy (Thunderbirds)
John Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6...
) provided the voice of Alan for this episode, although Zimmerman's name still appears in the end credits
End Credits
"End Credits" is the first single from Drum and Bass duo Chase & Status' second studio album No More Idols. The single was co-written, co-produced and features vocals from Plan B and was released on 29 October 2009, reaching a peak position of No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart...
.
Another continuity error occurs during the closing scene on Tracy Island. When Jeff
Jeff Tracy
Jeff Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The voice for the character in these shows was supplied by Peter Dyneley. The character also appeared in the live...
initiates the "Operation Cover-up" measure to hide all trace of International Rescue for the doctor's visit, the portraits lining the walls switch from a set of photographs of the Tracy brothers in uniform to another set in which civilian attire is worn. However, in a later shot of Scott
Scott Tracy
Scott Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
and Gordon
Gordon Tracy
Gordon Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
, the blue rim of a uniform is visible on the edge of the frame.
While preparing to film the Fireflash landing sequence, Meddings encountered the problem of constructing an expanded special effects set in the limited shooting space available at the AP Films Studios. To reduce costs, he isolated the three set elements—the grassy foreground, the sky background and the runway tarmac in between—and produced three loops of canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
, each painted to represent one element, to run on rollers to simulate a solid and continuous backdrop. This marked a progression from the "rolling sky" technique evident in earlier Anderson productions such as Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
.
The crash of Virgil
Virgil Tracy
Virgil Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
's remote-controlled Elevator Car is a mistake on the part of the production team and a snapped guiding wire. Expressing enthusiasm with this result, Meddings asked the Andersons to write this development into their script so that the final edit would retain the error. To complement the mishap, Meddings shot additional footage in which the rogue Elevator Car crashes into a parked aircraft and starts a fire that consumes a number of others. In a line of dialogue from Commander Norman, the aircraft are left to burn since "Fireflash is carrying passengers, they're not!"
Post-production
Barry GrayBarry Gray
Barry Gray was a British musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson.-Life:...
's arrangements for both the opening and ending theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
(based on the signature "Thunderbirds March") are unique to "Trapped in the Sky". Complementing the launch sequences of Thunderbirds 1 and 2, the "Thunderbirds March" replaced the original "Flying High", a sung end theme featuring the vocals of Gary Miller
Gary Miller (singer)
Gary Miller born Neville Williams was an English popular music singer and actor of the 1950s and 1960s. His career spanned only 13 years before he died of a heart attack in 1968. He released 24 singles and six EPs on the Pye Records label between 1955 and 1967...
. Although Anderson decided that the tenor of "Flying High" did not suit the spirit of Thunderbirds, the song is heard in the Series Two episode "Ricochet". Gray recorded all incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for "Trapped in the Sky" in December 1964, at the Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
at Barnes, in London, with an orchestra of 30 musicians.
The production team originally intended the Thunderbirds episodes to be 25 minutes in length. Anderson's ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
financier, Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
, doubled the runtime to 50 minutes after attending a preview screening of "Trapped in the Sky". Praising the plot and special effects, he exclaimed, "That's not a television series, that's a feature film!" The pilot, along with eight other episodes, therefore underwent re-editing and plot expansion to meet Grade's demands. The staff recorded new footage during the production of "Operation Crash-Dive", which depicts the return of Fireflash and is intended to function as a sequel to "Trapped in the Sky". Included in the added sequences is Bob Meddings' failed rescue attempt.
Reception
Co-creator Sylvia AndersonSylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
has written that "Trapped in the Sky" features a lot of necessary exposition
Exposition (literary technique)
At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration...
to introduce the characters, set-up and look of Thunderbirds, but praises the minor appearance of Lady Penelope and Parker
Aloysius "Nosey" Parker
Aloysius "Nosey" Parker is a fictional character in the television series Thunderbirds, the feature films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6 and the 2004 live action film Thunderbirds....
as "brief but effective". Vincent Law of the Andersonic website believes that the requirements placed on the episode as the series opener are not detrimental to the plot, which makes use of a theme, common to more than one Anderson series, of "advanced technology, upon which the characters are reliant, going awry."
One of Law's few concerns about the episode is the characterisation
Characterisation
Characterization or characterisation is the art of creating characters for a narrative, including the process of conveying information about them. It may be employed in dramatic works of art or everyday conversation...
which, it is argued, is sometimes less than credible. He cites the absence of an emotional response from Tin-Tin
Tin-Tin Kyrano
Tin-Tin Kyrano is a character in the mid-1960s British television show Thunderbirds. In the original TV series and its original movie adaptations, Tin-Tin, like the other characters, is portrayed using a marionette, and Christine Finn provided her voice....
to the perilous situation of Fireflash as one example. On the subject of dialogue, he offers a verdict of "limp and routine at times—lots of 'left left, two degrees'—and overall much less witty than Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
." However, he goes on to add that, as a whole, "Trapped in the Sky" is "a great opener, arguably the best episode of the series."
An audio adaptation of "Trapped in the Sky", with narration from Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
(in character as Scott Tracy
Scott Tracy
Scott Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
) has been released on the Century 21 mini-LP
Mini-LP
A Mini-LP or Mini-album is a short album, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered "full-length".-History:...
titled "Thunderbird 1". The episode achieved ratings of 6.8 million viewers for its 1992 repeat broadcast on BBC2.
External links
- "Trapped in the Sky" at TheVervoid.com