Last time we childminded our Grandjunior I thought I'd introduce him to Thunderbirds the original series. I would say TOS for short but Trekkies have snaffled that one already!
Trying to ensure audience satisfaction I chose the most exciting episode I could remember as a kid, the one with the massive crocodiles. I wuz mesmerised back in the day!
And so we settled down like a couple of Tracy brothers and the iconic theme tune started. I noticed it was me that was getting excited and not Junior, but once the giant crocs turned up I was sure he'd feel the Anderson vibe.
I was right. Those big reptiles pounding the house did the trick. What a fabulous job the Century 21 team did. Tails smashing the walls, snarling, growling, snapping. And that was just me! Junior loved it! I was thrilled.
The Thunderbirds vehicles were pretty darn good as well and I realised that Thunderbird 2 was my favourite as a kid. There's just something about it's huge portly body and the wonderful pod vehicles. You never knew what you were going to get! And the sounds. Boy, those engine sounds! What were they?
I was also amazed how obvious the strings were on the puppets and Junior could see them too. It didn't bother us and I can only assume it didn't when I was a kid. In fact I liked seeing them again, those strings.
I'd also forgotten how long Thunderbirds was. 50 minutes! Wow! Almost like feature films! Junior got fed up sitting around after half an hour and went off to play scrapyards with his old Dinkys we got him. He is only 4 after all.
What would you say is the ideal age to watch Thunderbirds the original series readers and which episode would you recommend?
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