Thunderbirds Are Go 115Scott and Alan must go to the rescue of their father’s oldest friend…

There are some lovely nods to previous Gerry Anderson productions in this latest episode of Thunderbirds Are Go – both with the name and layout of SHADO Alpha 1 (sorry, I don’t care if the script spells it as Shadow – the acronym is how it should be!), and also the music score, where there was a distinct Space:1999 feel at times (as well as a very brief Mysteron-esque use of harp).

The story reworks Jeff Tracy’s backstory slightly – he now was stationed on a moonbase on the far side of the Moon alongside this episode’s guest star Captain Lee Taylor (Rich Hall) – but those of us hoping for a flashback were disappointed, although that was the only real disappointment of Patrick Rieger’s fun script. Watching Scott and Captain Taylor playing Asteroids brought back memories of very old pub computer games, although, as with those manning the weaponry on the Death Star, you do have to wonder why they don’t let the computer deal with firing the weapons at the asteroids – or at least slave the computer to Thunderbird 5 where EOS could help out? (And if Taylor hasn’t been back to Earth in 40 years, as is implied by his final comments, he’s adjusting to gravity incredibly well!)

Verdict: A fun episode that acknowledges the wealth of previous Anderson shows. 8/10

Paul Simpson