The Hood makes his move on Tracy Island…

Some terrific new angles on the Thunderbird craft in action is just one of the many reasons to enjoy this finale for the first season of the rebooted Thunderbirds, which takes the core idea of the 2004 movie and does it considerably better. It’s good to see Thunderbird Shadow finally folded fully into the series, and the extended launch sequence for everyone (including John’s return to TB5) was a treat visually and musically.

The Hood/Kayo relationship was one of the central planks of the premiere, and hasn’t been threaded throughout the season quite as much as I’d hoped – it’s more come towards the end, but these final few episodes have worked in a serial format, and I think the second year might benefit from this approach. There was a suitably melodramatic tag scene promising a new threat for the second series, which I also think is the right move: the show has moved beyond its precursor in many ways now, and it needs to develop its own threat base as a focus for Penny and Kayo while the boys deal with the many disasters that International Rescue was formed to succour.

Verdict: Going out on a high. 8/10

Paul Simpson