Thunderbirds are Go - 'Ring of Fire' and 'Space Race'

Tracy Island, located squarely in the flooded basin of the uncanny valley.

When it was announced that a rebooted CGI Thunderbirds series was to be made, the response from fans was predictably restrained.

This is going to be shit, they said, because they always do. Now, I enjoyed the Captain Reboot, so here I am to check out Thunderbirds are Go, ITV's shiny new Anderson-derived property, in particular the opening two parter 'Ring of Fire' and the third episode, 'Space Race'.

There's no build up in the opener, as Virgil Tracy rescues a man and his son from a lost balloon in storm force winds. It's clear that International Rescue are an established presence in the world, even as they set out to rescue the crew of an underwater research station, and become embroiled in a plot by their megalomaniac foe, the Hood, to blackmail the world with satellite controlled earthquake machines.

Line of the week goes to the Hood: "I don't want to rule the world; I just want to own it. Someone else can run the place."

In 'Space Race', astronaut Alan shares centre stage with London operatives Lady Penelope and Parker, as they race to deactivate an old stealth satellite left over from a less enlightened age.

Line of the week is probably Parker dubbing himself 'the Grey Ninja', although there is also a pricelessly awkward exchange between Alan and Kayo:

"Sorry for last time. The babysitter crack."
"It's okay; most men would kill to have you as a babysitter. I mean... because you're so... responsible."

Our new series then is set in a world where International Rescue has been operating for some time, but the organisation is missing a head; Jeff Tracy is gone, lost in a crash thought to have been engineered by the Hood. Also gone is faithful butler Kirano (presumably lost in the same crash,) leaving IR in the hands of the younger generation.

The Tracy brothers are all pretty much as they were before. Scott and Virgil are the serious, dark-haired ones; Gordon and Alan are the junior members of the team; and John sits in a tin can in space and watches everything, making him a little bit creepy. Thus far, the balance between the five has been better than in the original, and in particular space monitor John has been a far more active member of the team, running a lot of their data analysis like a human version of Person of Interest's Machine. Also present and correct are Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Parker; the latter is most directly influenced by the original series in performance, almost to the point of parody.

Rounding out the team's gender dynamics a little bit (it's still a 3:1 ratio, but better than the old 6:1) is Kayo, IR's covert ops specialist. In full Tanusha 'Kayo' Kyrano, this is the cloyingly proper Tin-Tin revised for the modern age, nicknamed for her knockout punch rather than her maidenly sweetness (and to avoid IP conflict with the big screen version of Herge's boy reporter.) She even gets her own ship, the Thunderbird Shadow, courtesy of Brains, who is apparently now an Anglo-Iranian (or possibly Indian, but voiced by Anglo-Iranian Kayvan Novak*.)

The cast is mostly unremarkable, but it is noticeable that they are primarily English actors affecting variable American accents. Rosamund Pike gets a pass on this as Lady P, of course, as does Angel Coulby, playing Kayo strictly RP.

All in all, this is a pretty good adventure show. There are doubtless fans of the old series shaking their heads in despair, but a show running on CITV is for the new generation, and I am keen to know what my nephew makes of it, having been introduced to Thunderbirds by his dad.

* Just to mess with my head, original Brains actor David Graham now voices Parker, while original Lady Penelope Sylvia Anderson is set to guest voice.