THE EARLY YEARS OF A P FILMS: ANDERCON GUESTS 5

The next talk I attended on the Sunday morning was ‘The Early Years of A.P. Films’. The guest panel consisted of director, David Elliot and puppeteers, Mary Turner and Judith Shutt.  Director Des Saunders was scheduled to attend, however ill health  meant he was unable to appear.

The talk, with two of AP Films original puppeteers, not surprisingly had a strong bias towards puppetry, with replicas of Lady Penelope and Colonel White sharing the stage.

David appeared with White, who ironically he’d presumably have never met, having left   A P films  (or Century 21 as it would have been by then) before Captain Scarlet started.

Mary Turner started with A P Films way back during the filming of Four Feather Falls, working with the late Christine Glanville, who was the person in charge of A P Films puppet section. 

Everybody on the panel had the greatest respect for Christine, not only for her skills as a puppeteer but also for her infinite patience and pleasant nature.   This publicity photo shows Mary with Christine on the left.

Mary was the original sculptress for Lady Penelope, who, as many of you will know based the puppet on Sylvia Anderson. 

Judith Shutt whose family were all professional puppeteers in the fifties joined A P films during the filming of Fireball XL5. She left the company following Thunderbird 6.  Her brother, Ernest, known as Plugg also joined the team during the filming of Thunderbirds and went on to work in film special effects.

While my interest in  Gerry Anderson’s productions are primarily models and special effects it’s right and proper to be reminded of the skills and dedication of the A P Film puppeteers.