Thunderbirds are Go - 'Fireflash'

"Well, I'm sure this can't go wrong."

In a bold move, the fifth episode of Thunderbirds are Go basically just rips its plot from the first ever Thunderbirds episode, 'Trapped in the Sky'. With Thunderbird S in the shop (not that we've yet seen it in use,) Kayo is obliged to travel first class on the massive hypersonic airliner Fireflash (poor thing,) only for the flight to be hijacked by the Hood. Whereas the original episode saw Tin-Tin a passive observer, Kayo quickly takes charge, engaging in another hand-to-hand struggle with her uncle before attempting to land the plain with the assistance of her adoptive family.

I really liked parts of this episode, and in particular Kayo's dramatic 'in case I don't make it' was well done and it was good to see the brothers showing a familial concern for Kayo instead of the chest-puffing romantic competition that occasionally crept in to the older series. The use of the elevator cars was a nice nod to the original, but the need for a different solution felt like an important step.

The necessary comparison to the Gerry Anderson series did, however, throw up one of the main problems with Thunderbirds are Go, specifically that with the exception of the two-part opener, the shorter format can not build up the tension that good episodes of Thunderbirds did so well. Of course, it also avoids the dragging sections which dogged not-so-good episodes.

Anyway, if they're going to knock-off old episodes, I vote for The Uninvited, the weird one with the lost pyramid full of fighter jets and the secret civilisation of 'Zombites'.