Gerry Anderson
Encyclopedia
Gerry Anderson MBE (born 14 April 1929) is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionette
s, a process called "Supermarionation
".
His first television production was the 1957 Roberta Leigh
children's series The Adventures of Twizzle
and it would be almost a decade before his most famous and successful production, Thunderbirds
, would be produced. His production company, originally known as AP Films
and later renamed Century 21 Productions, was originally formed with partners Arthur Provis (hence AP Films – Anderson Provis Films), Reg Hill
, John Read
.
He has also written and produced several feature films, although these did not perform as well as expected at the box office. Following a successful move towards live action productions in the 1970s, his long and highly successful association with Lew Grade
's ITC
(Incorporated Television Company) ended with the second series of Space: 1999
. After a career lull when a number of new series concepts failed to get off the ground, his career began a new phase in the early 1980s when audience nostalgia for his earlier Supermarionation series (prompted by Saturday morning re-runs in the UK) led to new Anderson productions being commissioned. A number of new projects have resulted including a recent CGI
remake of Captain Scarlet
entitled Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
.
, London
and spent the early years of his life in Kilburn, and Neasden
, North London. Anderson's ancestral name (from the Russia-Poland border) was Bieloglovski, with his Jewish grandfather fleeing Eastern Europe and settling in London. This was changed to "Abrahams" by a British immigration official in 1895. Anderson's mother, Deborah, changed it to "Anderson" because she liked the sound of it.
The family's name was changed by deed poll
in 1939. When World War II broke out, Anderson's older brother Lionel volunteered for the RAF
and was posted to the United States for training. He often wrote to his family and one of these letters described a USAF airbase called Thunderbird Field
, a name that stuck in his brother's memory.
Gerry Anderson began his career in photography and after the war he secured a traineeship with the British Colonial Film Unit. He developed an interest in film editing and moved on to Gainsborough Pictures
, where he gained further experience.
In 1947, he was conscripted for national service
with the RAF. After completing his military service, he returned to Gainsborough and remained there until the studio folded in 1950. He then worked freelance on a succession of feature films. During this time he married Betty Wrightman and they had two children.
. After Polytechnic collapsed, Anderson, Provis, Reg Hill
and John Read
formed Pentagon Films in 1957. Pentagon was wound up soon after and Anderson and Provis formed a new company, AP Films
, for Anderson-Provis Films, with Hill and Read as their partners. Anderson continued his freelance directing work to obtain funds to maintain the fledgling company.
AP Films' first television venture was produced for Granada Television
. Created by Roberta Leigh
, The Adventures of Twizzle
(1957–1958) was a series for young children about a doll with the ability to 'twizzle' his arms and legs to greater lengths. It was Anderson's first work with puppets, and the start of his long and successful collaborations with puppeteer Christine Glanville
, special effects technician Derek Meddings
and composer/arranger Barry Gray
. It was Anderson's desire to move into live-action television.
During production of Twizzle Anderson began an affair with secretary Sylvia Thamm
and eventually left his wife and children. The Adventures of Twizzle was followed by another low budget puppet series with Leigh, Torchy the Battery Boy
(1958–1959). Although the APF puppet productions made the Andersons world famous, Gerry Anderson was always unhappy about working with puppets, and made them primarily as a means of getting a foot in the door with TV networks, hoped to use them as a stepping stone to his desired goal making live action film and TV drama.
AP Films' third series was the children's western fantasy-adventure series Four Feather Falls
(1959–1960). During production, following his divorce, Anderson married Thamm in November 1960. Provis left the partnership, working once again with Roberta Leigh
on Space Patrol
, but the company retained the name 'AP Films' for several more years. Four Feather Falls was the first Anderson series to use an early version of the "Supermarionation
" process, though the term still had yet to be coined.
Despite APF's success with Four Feather Falls, Granada did not commission another series from them, so Anderson took up the offer to direct a film for Anglo-Amalgamated
Studios. Crossroads to Crime
was a low-budget B-grade crime thriller and although Anderson hoped that its success might enable him to move into mainstream film-making, it failed at the box office.
By this time, APF was in financial trouble and the company was struggling to find a buyer for their new puppet series. They were rescued by a fortuitous meeting with ATV
boss Lew Grade
who offered to buy the show. This began a long friendship and a very successful professional association between the two men, during which Anderson and his collaborators created some of their best work.
, (1960–1961) was created by Anderson and Reg Hill and marked several important advances for APF. Sylvia Anderson
took on a larger role and became a partner in the company. The series was also the official debut of Supermarionation, the electronic system that made the marionettes more lifelike and convincing on screen. The system used the audio signal from the pre-recorded tapes of the actors' voices to trigger solenoids installed in the puppets' heads, enabling the puppets' lips to move in exact synchronisation with the voices of the actors.
One of Anderson's most successful ventures was inaugurated during the production of Supercar
—the establishment of AP Films (Merchandising) Ltd, a separate company set up to handle the licensing of merchandising rights for APF properties; it was headed by Keith Shackleton (not the wildlife artist and TV presenter of the same name) an old friend of Anderson's from their National Service
days.
APF's innovative merchandising made them a world leader in the field and they licensed a huge range of toys, books, magazines and related items. The worldwide popularity of their TV shows was coupled with astute marketing, and the combination made APF one of the most successful merchandising ventures of the decade. The die-cast metal toys from series such as Thunderbirds were hugely popular at the time and they now number among the most collectible toys of their kind. Models from almost all their series have been produced ever since by companies throughout the world, notably in Japan, where the Anderson series have a dedicated following.
APF's next series was the futuristic space adventure Fireball XL5
(1962) and it was the company's biggest success yet, becoming the first Anderson series sold to a US TV network (NBC
)—After the completion of the series, Lew Grade offered to buy AP Films. Although Anderson was initially reluctant, the deal eventually went ahead, with Grade becoming managing director, and the Andersons, Hill and Read becoming directors of the company.
Shortly after the buy-out, APF began production on a new puppet series, Stingray
(1964), the first British children's TV series to be filmed in colour. For the new production APF moved to new studios in Slough
, Berkshire
. The new and bigger facilities allowed them to make major improvements in special effects, notably in the underwater sequences, as well as advances in puppetry, with the use of a variety of interchangeable heads for each character to convey different expressions.
that occurred in West Germany in October 1963. This real-life drama inspired Anderson to create a new programme format about a rescue organisation, which eventually became his most famous and popular series, Thunderbirds
(1964–1966). The dramatic title was inspired by the letter Anderson's older brother Lionel had written to his family during World War II.
Grade was very enthusiastic about the concept and agreed to back a series of 25-minute episodes (the same length as Stingray), so the Andersons scripted a pilot episode, "Trapped in the Sky
," and began production. Gerry initially wanted actress Fenella Fielding
to perform the voice of Lady Penelope, but Sylvia convinced her husband to let her play the role. Thunderbirds also marked the start of a long professional association with actor Shane Rimmer
, who voiced Scott Tracy
.
Production on Thunderbirds had been underway for several months when Grade saw the completed 25-minute version of "Trapped in the Sky." He was so excited by the result that he insisted that the episodes be extended to fifty minutes. With a substantial increase in budget, the production was restructured to expand episodes already filmed or in pre-production, and create new 50-minute scripts for the remainder. Grade and others were so convinced that Thunderbirds would be a success that a feature-film version of the series was proposed even before the pilot episode went to air. At this approximate time, APF was renamed Century 21 Productions.
After APF was renamed Century 21 Productions, it enjoyed its greatest success with Thunderbirds, and the series made the Andersons world-famous. The 32-episode series was not initially successful in the United States because it was only given a limited release, although it later became hugely successful in syndication
. But it was a major hit with young audiences in the UK, Australia and other countries and retains a huge and dedicated international following that spans several generations.
Unfortunately, during the production of Thunderbirds, the Andersons' marriage began to come under increasing strain, and the company also had a setback when the Thunderbirds Are GO
feature film flopped. According to interviews published since, Anderson has said that he considered divorce, but this was halted when Sylvia announced that she was pregnant. Their son, Gerry Anderson Jr., was born in July 1967.
By that time, production had started on a new series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
(1967), which saw the advent of more realistic puppet characters which, thanks to improvements in electronics which allowed miniaturisation of the lip-sync mechanisms, could now be built closer to normal human proportions.
Century 21's second feature film, Thunderbird 6
, was an even bigger failure than the first, and the problems were compounded by their next (and penultimate) Supermarionation series, Joe 90
(1968). This series returned to more 'kid-friendly' territory, depicting the adventures of a young boy who is also a secret agent and whose scientist father uses a supercomputer called 'BIG RAT' which can 'program' Joe with special knowledge and abilities for his missions. Its relatively poor reception made it the last of the classic Anderson marionette shows.
On 29 August 2008, it was announced by UK Newspaper The Sun that plans had been formed to make a new computer generated series of Thunderbirds. Gerry Anderson started talks with ITV for the rights to the original series.
(1969) (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) was a dark, Twilight Zone
style sci-fi project about an astronaut who travels to a newly discovered planet on the opposite side of the sun, which proves to be an exact mirror-image of Earth. It starred American actor Roy Thinnes
, famed at the time for his role as the protagonist in the American television series The Invaders
. Although it was not a major commercial success, Doppelganger was nominated for an Academy Award
for its superb special effects.
Century 21's return to television was the abortive series The Secret Service
, which this time mixed live action with Supermarionation. The series was inspired by Anderson's love of British comedian Stanley Unwin
, who was known for his nonsense language, 'Unwinese', which he created and used on radio, in film and most famously on the 1968 Small Faces LP Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
. Despite Anderson's track record and Unwin's popularity, the series was cancelled before its first screening; Lew Grade considered that it would be incomprehensible to American audiences, and thus unsellable. Only 13 episodes were produced, and the series was only shown in a handful of broadcast areas in the UK. Most Anderson fans only got to see it when it was finally released on VHS in the mid-90s.
In 1969 the Andersons began production of a new TV series, UFO
, Century 21's first full live-action television series. This sci-fi action-adventure series starred American-born actor George Victor "Edward" Bishop
, who had also provided the voice of Captain Blue in Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons, as Commander Edward Straker, head of a secret defence organisation set up to counter an alien invasion. UFO was decidedly more adult in tone than any of the previous puppet series, and it mixed the classic Century 21 futuristic action-adventure and special effects with some very serious dramatic elements. UFO was moderately successful on first release, but built up a strong cult following over the years, although it too fell short of the global success of Thunderbirds and was the last series made under the Century 21 Productions banner.
, Gerry Anderson was approached directly by Harry Saltzman
(at the time co-producer of the James Bond
film series with Albert "Cubby" Broccoli
), and was invited to write and produce the next film in the series, which was to be Moonraker
. Collaborating with Tony Barwick to provide the characterisation, whilst he himself focused on the action sequences, Anderson wrote and delivered a treatment to Saltzman. Saltzman was enthusiastic, but then broke the news that he and Broccoli were parting ways. Offered £20,000 for the treatment, Anderson refused, fearing that if he accepted he would not be at the helm when it was made; as it turned out, the next Bond film to be made—some years later—was titled The Spy Who Loved Me
. (This film used only the title of the actual Ian Fleming
novel.) Anderson started legal proceedings against Broccoli for plagiarism of story elements but withdrew the action shortly after, nervous of the legal might lined up against him. He relinquished the treatment, and received £3,000 in compensation.
action series The Protectors
. It was one of Anderson's few non-original projects. Lew Grade himself was heavily involved in the programme, and cast both the lead actors, Robert Vaughn
and Nyree Dawn Porter. The production was difficult for Anderson, who clashed with the famously difficult Vaughn. There were also many logistical problems arising from the Europe-wide filming of the show, but it was very successful in both the UK and America.
for a series called The Investigator, failed to find a buyer. Elements of the abandoned second series of UFO were eventually turned into what became the most expensive television series ever made at the time, Space: 1999
.
Another futuristic sci-fi adventure, it was based on the premise that a huge thermonuclear explosion on the Moon's surface (caused by dumping of nuclear waste) projected it out of orbit and into interstellar space. It starred American husband-and-wife actors Martin Landau
and Barbara Bain
, who had gained international TV fame in Mission: Impossible
. They were cast at the insistence of Grade, and against Sylvia Anderson's strenuous objections.
in 1975; Gerry announced his intention to separate on the evening of the wrap party. Sylvia severed her ties with Group Three, and to alleviate his financial plight, Gerry Anderson sold his share of the profits from the APF/Century 21 shows and their holiday home in Portugal to Lew Grade in return for a one-off payment. It was a decision he later bitterly regretted because he could not have then foreseen the huge value the shows would have when eventually released on home video.
Between making the two series of Space: 1999, Anderson produced a one-off television special, The Day After Tomorrow
(also known as Into Infinity), about two spacefaring families en route to Alpha Centauri
, for an NBC
series of programmes illustrating current scientific theory for popular consumption. While making this project Anderson met Mary Robins, a secretary working at the studios; they began a relationship and were married in April 1981.
A second series of Space: 1999 went into production in 1976 with American producer Fred Freiberger
brought in to replace Sylvia Anderson. According to The Space:1999 Documentary, produced by Kindred Productions for Fanderson
, the second series was successful enough that a third almost happened; however, the documentary features Martin Landau stating that the idea was killed because Lew Grade needed money to help finance and promote his pet feature film project Raise The Titanic. Consequently, the budget that would have paid for the third series was redirected into that movie project (which subsequently flopped at the box office). However, given that Raise The Titanic did not enter production until 1979 (and was not promoted and released until the following year), it is more likely that the money that would otherwise have financed a third season of Space: 1999 instead financed the production of ITC's Return of the Saint series. Space: 1999 marked the end of Anderson's association with ATV.
By the late 1970s, Anderson's life and career was at a low point – he was in financial difficulty, found it hard to get work, and perhaps most devastatingly, became estranged from his young son after receiving a note written by him stating that he didn't want to see Gerry any more. Anderson suspected that Sylvia was behind this, but there was little he could do, and he would have no contact with his son for over twenty years.
In the early 1980s, Anderson formed a new partnership, Anderson Burr Pictures Ltd, with businessman Christopher Burr. The new company's first production was based on an unrealised concept devised by Anderson in the late seventies for a Japanese cartoon series. Terrahawks
marked Anderson's return to working with puppets, but rather than marionettes this series used a new system dubbed 'Supermacromation' which used highly sophisticated glove puppets – an approach undoubtedly inspired by the great advances in this form of puppetry made by Jim Henson
and his colleagues.
It featured another reuse of the Captain Scarlet/UFO formula of a secret organisation defending against aliens. Terrahawks ran successfully from 1983 to 1986 in the UK and only fell short of a four year US syndication deal by one season when the show was cancelled, scrapping attempts at making it more well known. Terrahawks retains a cult following to this day, regarded by some as being at times a "black comedy" version of many of Anderson's older series in addition to being a straight science fiction series. In equal contrast, however, it is regarded by some fans as an unwise rehash of many of the visual concepts of Thunderbirds, and on only a fraction of the Thunderbirds budget. Anderson has claimed on record that he would rather forget the show.
Anderson hoped to continue his renewed success with a series called Space Police
a new show mixing live-action and puppets. A pilot film was made with Shane Rimmer
, but it took almost ten years to get the concept to the screen. In the meantime, Anderson and Burr produced the cult stop-motion animated series Dick Spanner, which enjoyed many showings on Britain's Channel 4
in the late eighties and early nineties. It was the final project completed by Anderson Burr. Anderson then joined the Moving Picture Company as a commercials director, and provided special effects direction for the hit musical comedy Return to the Forbidden Planet
.
music video for their single Calling Elvis, which was made as an affectionate Thunderbirds pastiche (with Anderson co-producing), and by Lady Penelope and Parker appearing in a successful series of UK advertisements for an insurance company.
In 1991 Gerry asked journalist and author Simon Archer to write his biography, following an interview by the latter for a series of articles for Century 21 magazine. In September that same year in the UK BBC2
began a repeat showing of Thunderbirds, which rivalled the success of its original run a generation before. This was also surprisingly the series' network television premiere, having never been shown nationally by ITV
. It became so popular in Britain that toy manufacturers Matchbox
were unable to keep up with the demand for the Tracy Island
playset, leading children's show Blue Peter
to broadcast a segment showing children how to construct their own. The fan base for the Anderson shows was now worldwide and growing steadily, and Anderson found himself in demand for personal and media appearances.
In response to this greater demand Anderson performed a successful one-man show in 1992, which Simon Archer had written and constructed. Entitled An Evening with Gerry Anderson, it took the form of an illustrated lecture in which he talked about his career, and his most popular shows. He also made numerous media and personal appearances to tie in with revivals and video cassette releases of Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90.
Anderson was interviewed for the BBC's 1993 Doctor Who
documentary, "Thirty Years in the TARDIS". He joked that, despite his career of making children's programming, his own grandson (appearing with him) was a Doctor Who fanatic.
By 1993 the interviews with Archer had generated so much more material than was required for the biography that a book was published of Gerry Anderson trivia "Gerry Anderson's FAB Facts". Archer was killed in a car crash on London's orbital M25
motorway on his way to the publishers to collect one of the first print run to present to Anderson, and the book later had to be withdrawn from sale and thousands of copies destroyed as a result of a copyright dispute with ITC America.
The renewed interest enabled Anderson to return to television production, but several projects including GFI (an animated update of Thunderbirds) did not make it into production. Finally, in 1994, Anderson was able to get the long-shelved Space Police project into production as Space Precinct
. It was followed by Lavender Castle
, a children's sci-fi fantasy series combining stop-motion animation and computer-generated imagery
.
In the meantime, the biography, which had been set aside since Simon Archer's death had been picked up again and was completed by Stan Nicholls
from Archer's original notes and manuscript, finally being published in 1996 shortly before Lavender Castle went into production.
Around this time Gerry was reunited with his elder son, Gerry Jr., at which time it was suggested that Sylvia had been responsible for the enforced estrangement. This reinforced Anderson's already powerful feelings of animosity towards his ex-wife.
sequel to Captain Scarlet, and test reels were displayed by Gerry at a few fan conventions. Some of the test sequences from these reels were later available for a period as elements in publicity reels available on the website of the production company engaged to make them (the Moving Picture Company or MPC in Soho, London, where Gerry had previously worked). These early test reels had the visual design and characters looking very much as they had in the original show, although the vehicle designs had been somewhat modernised. Several years after the initial tests the project evolved into the remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
, by which time the entire appearance had been very much updated. Gerry Anderson was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2001.
Along with his then business partner John Needham, Anderson created another new series entitled Firestorm
which was financed by Japanese investors and featured anime
style animation. The project was not a happy one for any of the parties involved, and other planned shows with the Japanese backers, including Eternity failed to come to fruition. Firestorm has yet to be shown on UK television. Anderson and Needham parted company in 2003.
Anderson was originally approached to be involved in a live-action feature film adaptation of Thunderbirds as far back as 1996, but he was actually turned away by the producers of the 2004 film Thunderbirds
, which was directed by Jonathan Frakes
, after first being invited to meet with them. He distanced himself overtly from the project, later turning down an offer of $750,000 simply to write an endorsement of the film shortly before its release; Sylvia Anderson
, however, did become involved, and she received a "special thanks" credit in the film. Unfortunately, the film itself received poor critical reviews, and it was a box-office failure in America.
Anderson later praised the execution of the puppet-based political satire
Team America: World Police
, produced by Matt Stone
and Trey Parker
, which was produced using supermarionation style effects as seen in many of Anderson's past productions.
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
finally premiered in the UK in February 2005. The show cost £2,300,000 to produce, and was the most expensive children's programme ever to be made in the UK. Although many companies invested in producing toys and merchandise, the lack of exposure given to the series by ITV (episodes were incorporated into an existing children's show and shown in two halves, separated by games and adverts) inevitably failed to produce the excitement that accompanied the original series and disappointing sales followed. The accompanying comic lasted only six editions before being scrapped by its publishers. Anderson's displeasure at ITV's handling of the show was widely reported.. The series was subsequently released on DVD, where it found a new audience who were unlikely to have seen it on first screening and is generally regarded as a very worthy re-imagining of the original concept.
The year 2005 also saw the 40th Anniversary of Thunderbirds, and a wide range of merchandise was produced to celebrate the event. In 2006, ITV announced it would re-run the entire series on its fledgling CITV Channel, a digital service available on cable, satellite and the Freeview service.
ITV4
, another digital channel, also ran repeats of UFO
and Space: 1999
up until the end of 2009.
As of the end of 2007, Anderson was believed to be working on a new project entitled Lightspeed, about which very little had become publicly known by that time, and on a possible new edition of the UFO
series.
On 11 January 2011, during an interview with BBC News to promote the "Genius of Gerry Anderson" stamp set from the Royal Mail, Anderson revealed he had finally negotiated the rights to re-make "Thunderbirds," his most famous creation. No additional details had been disclosed as of early March 2011.
As of March 2011, Gerry has been working with Annix
Studios, Pinewood on a new project named "Christmas Miracle" a children's CGI animated feature.
Gerry Anderson had no involvement in the 2004 live action film version of Thunderbirds
, although Sylvia Anderson served as a consultant on that project.
In addition, a number of UK comics
featured strips that were closely based around Anderson's creations. These started with TV Comic
during the early 1960s followed by TV Century 21
and its various sister publications Lady Penelope, TV Tornado, Solo and Joe 90. Later there was Countdown
(later TV Action) during the 1970s. There were also a number of tie-in annuals that were produced each year featuring Anderson's TV shows.
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
s, a process called "Supermarionation
Supermarionation
Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...
".
His first television production was the 1957 Roberta Leigh
Roberta Leigh
Janey Scott Lewin , well known as Roberta Leigh is a British author and artist. She wrote romance fiction and children's stories as Roberta Leigh, Rachel Lindsay, and Janey Scott....
children's series The Adventures of Twizzle
The Adventures of Twizzle
The Adventures of Twizzle is the very first television show produced by AP Films and specifically Gerry Anderson, after being approached by author Roberta Leigh and her colleague Suzanne Warner. Sources vary as to who directed the series...
and it would be almost a decade before his most famous and successful production, Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, would be produced. His production company, originally known as AP Films
AP Films
AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s...
and later renamed Century 21 Productions, was originally formed with partners Arthur Provis (hence AP Films – Anderson Provis Films), Reg Hill
Reg Hill
Reginald E. Hill was a British television producer and was most prominently associated with the work of puppet animator Gerry Anderson.-Professional life:...
, John Read
John Read (producer)
John Read is a British television producer, cinematographer and director.He is widely associated with the productions of Gerry Anderson. Having served as director of photography on Four Feather Falls , Crossroads to Crime , Supercar , Stingray and Thunderbirds , Read worked on the latter series'...
.
He has also written and produced several feature films, although these did not perform as well as expected at the box office. Following a successful move towards live action productions in the 1970s, his long and highly successful association with Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
's ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
(Incorporated Television Company) ended with the second series of Space: 1999
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
. After a career lull when a number of new series concepts failed to get off the ground, his career began a new phase in the early 1980s when audience nostalgia for his earlier Supermarionation series (prompted by Saturday morning re-runs in the UK) led to new Anderson productions being commissioned. A number of new projects have resulted including a recent CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
remake of Captain Scarlet
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
entitled Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet is a United Kingdom-produced computer-generated imagery action-adventure TV series which debuted in February 2005 as part of the Ministry of Mayhem on ITV....
.
Early life
Gerald Alexander Abrahams was born in the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital in BloomsburyBloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and spent the early years of his life in Kilburn, and Neasden
Neasden
Neasden is an area in northwest London, UK. It forms part of the London Borough of Brent.-History:The area was recorded as Neasdun in 939 AD and the name is derived from the Old English nēos = 'nose' and dūn = 'hill'. It means 'the nose-shaped hill' referring to a well-defined landmark of this area...
, North London. Anderson's ancestral name (from the Russia-Poland border) was Bieloglovski, with his Jewish grandfather fleeing Eastern Europe and settling in London. This was changed to "Abrahams" by a British immigration official in 1895. Anderson's mother, Deborah, changed it to "Anderson" because she liked the sound of it.
The family's name was changed by deed poll
Deed poll
A deed poll is a legal document binding only to a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an active intention...
in 1939. When World War II broke out, Anderson's older brother Lionel volunteered for the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and was posted to the United States for training. He often wrote to his family and one of these letters described a USAF airbase called Thunderbird Field
Thunderbird Field
Thunderbird Field was a military airfield in Glendale, Arizona, used for contract primary flight training of Allied pilots during World War II. Created in part by actor James Stewart, the field became part of the United States Army Air Forces training establishment just prior to American entry...
, a name that stuck in his brother's memory.
Gerry Anderson began his career in photography and after the war he secured a traineeship with the British Colonial Film Unit. He developed an interest in film editing and moved on to Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London. Gainsborough Studios were active between 1924 and 1951. Built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway it...
, where he gained further experience.
In 1947, he was conscripted for national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
with the RAF. After completing his military service, he returned to Gainsborough and remained there until the studio folded in 1950. He then worked freelance on a succession of feature films. During this time he married Betty Wrightman and they had two children.
Start of television career
In the mid-1950s Anderson joined independent television production company Polytechnic Studios, as a director, where he met cameraman Arthur ProvisArthur Provis
Arthur Provis is an English cinematographer and producer, best known for co-founding AP Films with Gerry Anderson.As a former Navy photographer forging a career operating rostrum cameras, he met Anderson filming a series called You've Never Seen This about unusual circus acts...
. After Polytechnic collapsed, Anderson, Provis, Reg Hill
Reg Hill
Reginald E. Hill was a British television producer and was most prominently associated with the work of puppet animator Gerry Anderson.-Professional life:...
and John Read
John Read (producer)
John Read is a British television producer, cinematographer and director.He is widely associated with the productions of Gerry Anderson. Having served as director of photography on Four Feather Falls , Crossroads to Crime , Supercar , Stingray and Thunderbirds , Read worked on the latter series'...
formed Pentagon Films in 1957. Pentagon was wound up soon after and Anderson and Provis formed a new company, AP Films
AP Films
AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s...
, for Anderson-Provis Films, with Hill and Read as their partners. Anderson continued his freelance directing work to obtain funds to maintain the fledgling company.
AP Films' first television venture was produced for Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
. Created by Roberta Leigh
Roberta Leigh
Janey Scott Lewin , well known as Roberta Leigh is a British author and artist. She wrote romance fiction and children's stories as Roberta Leigh, Rachel Lindsay, and Janey Scott....
, The Adventures of Twizzle
The Adventures of Twizzle
The Adventures of Twizzle is the very first television show produced by AP Films and specifically Gerry Anderson, after being approached by author Roberta Leigh and her colleague Suzanne Warner. Sources vary as to who directed the series...
(1957–1958) was a series for young children about a doll with the ability to 'twizzle' his arms and legs to greater lengths. It was Anderson's first work with puppets, and the start of his long and successful collaborations with puppeteer Christine Glanville
Christine Glanville
Christine Glanville was a British professional puppeteer and spent most of her working life on television programs produced by Gerry Anderson....
, special effects technician Derek Meddings
Derek Meddings
Derek Meddings was a British television and cinema special effects expert, initially noted for his work on the "Supermarionation" television puppet series produced by Gerry Anderson, and later for the 1970s James Bond films and the Superman film series.-Early years:Both Meddings' parents had...
and composer/arranger Barry Gray
Barry Gray
Barry Gray was a British musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson.-Life:...
. It was Anderson's desire to move into live-action television.
During production of Twizzle Anderson began an affair with secretary Sylvia Thamm
Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
and eventually left his wife and children. The Adventures of Twizzle was followed by another low budget puppet series with Leigh, Torchy the Battery Boy
Torchy the Battery Boy
Torchy the Battery Boy was the second television series produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson, running from 1958–1959. It was another collaboration with author Roberta Leigh and was directed by Anderson, with music scored by Barry Gray, art direction from Reg Hill and special effects by...
(1958–1959). Although the APF puppet productions made the Andersons world famous, Gerry Anderson was always unhappy about working with puppets, and made them primarily as a means of getting a foot in the door with TV networks, hoped to use them as a stepping stone to his desired goal making live action film and TV drama.
AP Films' third series was the children's western fantasy-adventure series Four Feather Falls
Four Feather Falls
Four Feather Falls was the third puppet TV show produced by Gerry Anderson for Granada Television, from an idea by Barry Gray.-Production:The show was made on a tight budget and could not afford sophisticated special effects...
(1959–1960). During production, following his divorce, Anderson married Thamm in November 1960. Provis left the partnership, working once again with Roberta Leigh
Roberta Leigh
Janey Scott Lewin , well known as Roberta Leigh is a British author and artist. She wrote romance fiction and children's stories as Roberta Leigh, Rachel Lindsay, and Janey Scott....
on Space Patrol
Space Patrol (1962 TV series)
Space Patrol is a science-fiction television series featuring marionettes that was produced in the United Kingdom in 1962. It was written and produced by Roberta Leigh in association with the Associated British Corporation.-Summary:...
, but the company retained the name 'AP Films' for several more years. Four Feather Falls was the first Anderson series to use an early version of the "Supermarionation
Supermarionation
Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...
" process, though the term still had yet to be coined.
Despite APF's success with Four Feather Falls, Granada did not commission another series from them, so Anderson took up the offer to direct a film for Anglo-Amalgamated
Anglo-Amalgamated
Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy that operated from 1945 to the 1970s. Much of the output was low budget and often second features, many produced at Merton Park Studios...
Studios. Crossroads to Crime
Crossroads to Crime
Crossroads to Crime is a 1960 British crime film, the directorial debut of Gerry Anderson and the only motion picture of his production company, AP Films...
was a low-budget B-grade crime thriller and although Anderson hoped that its success might enable him to move into mainstream film-making, it failed at the box office.
By this time, APF was in financial trouble and the company was struggling to find a buyer for their new puppet series. They were rescued by a fortuitous meeting with ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
boss Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
who offered to buy the show. This began a long friendship and a very successful professional association between the two men, during which Anderson and his collaborators created some of their best work.
Sylvia's increased role
The new series, SupercarSupercar (TV series)
Supercar was a children's TV show produced by Gerry Anderson and Arthur Provis's AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. 39 episodes were produced between 1961 and 1962, and it was Anderson's first half-hour series. In the UK it was seen on ITV and in the US in syndication...
, (1960–1961) was created by Anderson and Reg Hill and marked several important advances for APF. Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
took on a larger role and became a partner in the company. The series was also the official debut of Supermarionation, the electronic system that made the marionettes more lifelike and convincing on screen. The system used the audio signal from the pre-recorded tapes of the actors' voices to trigger solenoids installed in the puppets' heads, enabling the puppets' lips to move in exact synchronisation with the voices of the actors.
One of Anderson's most successful ventures was inaugurated during the production of Supercar
Supercar (TV series)
Supercar was a children's TV show produced by Gerry Anderson and Arthur Provis's AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. 39 episodes were produced between 1961 and 1962, and it was Anderson's first half-hour series. In the UK it was seen on ITV and in the US in syndication...
—the establishment of AP Films (Merchandising) Ltd, a separate company set up to handle the licensing of merchandising rights for APF properties; it was headed by Keith Shackleton (not the wildlife artist and TV presenter of the same name) an old friend of Anderson's from their National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
days.
APF's innovative merchandising made them a world leader in the field and they licensed a huge range of toys, books, magazines and related items. The worldwide popularity of their TV shows was coupled with astute marketing, and the combination made APF one of the most successful merchandising ventures of the decade. The die-cast metal toys from series such as Thunderbirds were hugely popular at the time and they now number among the most collectible toys of their kind. Models from almost all their series have been produced ever since by companies throughout the world, notably in Japan, where the Anderson series have a dedicated following.
APF's next series was the futuristic space adventure Fireball XL5
Fireball XL5
Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol...
(1962) and it was the company's biggest success yet, becoming the first Anderson series sold to a US TV network (NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
)—After the completion of the series, Lew Grade offered to buy AP Films. Although Anderson was initially reluctant, the deal eventually went ahead, with Grade becoming managing director, and the Andersons, Hill and Read becoming directors of the company.
Shortly after the buy-out, APF began production on a new puppet series, Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
(1964), the first British children's TV series to be filmed in colour. For the new production APF moved to new studios in Slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. The new and bigger facilities allowed them to make major improvements in special effects, notably in the underwater sequences, as well as advances in puppetry, with the use of a variety of interchangeable heads for each character to convey different expressions.
Thunderbirds
APF's next project for ATV was inspired by a mining disasterWunder von Lengede
On 7 November 1963, 11 West German miners were rescued from a collapsed mine after surviving for 14 days, an event that later became known as the Wunder von Lengede ....
that occurred in West Germany in October 1963. This real-life drama inspired Anderson to create a new programme format about a rescue organisation, which eventually became his most famous and popular series, Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
(1964–1966). The dramatic title was inspired by the letter Anderson's older brother Lionel had written to his family during World War II.
Grade was very enthusiastic about the concept and agreed to back a series of 25-minute episodes (the same length as Stingray), so the Andersons scripted a pilot episode, "Trapped in the Sky
Trapped in the Sky
"Trapped in the Sky" is the first episode of Thunderbirds, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry Anderson, which originally aired on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965. The plot revolves around master criminal the Hood, who sabotages the brand-new Fireflash prior to...
," and began production. Gerry initially wanted actress Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...
to perform the voice of Lady Penelope, but Sylvia convinced her husband to let her play the role. Thunderbirds also marked the start of a long professional association with actor Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
, who voiced Scott Tracy
Scott Tracy
Scott Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
.
Production on Thunderbirds had been underway for several months when Grade saw the completed 25-minute version of "Trapped in the Sky." He was so excited by the result that he insisted that the episodes be extended to fifty minutes. With a substantial increase in budget, the production was restructured to expand episodes already filmed or in pre-production, and create new 50-minute scripts for the remainder. Grade and others were so convinced that Thunderbirds would be a success that a feature-film version of the series was proposed even before the pilot episode went to air. At this approximate time, APF was renamed Century 21 Productions.
After APF was renamed Century 21 Productions, it enjoyed its greatest success with Thunderbirds, and the series made the Andersons world-famous. The 32-episode series was not initially successful in the United States because it was only given a limited release, although it later became hugely successful in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
. But it was a major hit with young audiences in the UK, Australia and other countries and retains a huge and dedicated international following that spans several generations.
Unfortunately, during the production of Thunderbirds, the Andersons' marriage began to come under increasing strain, and the company also had a setback when the Thunderbirds Are GO
Thunderbirds Are GO
Thunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on Thunderbirds, a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation"...
feature film flopped. According to interviews published since, Anderson has said that he considered divorce, but this was halted when Sylvia announced that she was pregnant. Their son, Gerry Anderson Jr., was born in July 1967.
By that time, production had started on a new series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
(1967), which saw the advent of more realistic puppet characters which, thanks to improvements in electronics which allowed miniaturisation of the lip-sync mechanisms, could now be built closer to normal human proportions.
Century 21's second feature film, Thunderbird 6
Thunderbird 6
Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction and adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema...
, was an even bigger failure than the first, and the problems were compounded by their next (and penultimate) Supermarionation series, Joe 90
Joe 90
Joe 90 is a late-1960s British science-fiction television series documenting the exploits of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, who embarks on a double life as a schoolboy turned spy when his scientist father invents a pioneering machine capable of duplicating and transferring expert knowledge and...
(1968). This series returned to more 'kid-friendly' territory, depicting the adventures of a young boy who is also a secret agent and whose scientist father uses a supercomputer called 'BIG RAT' which can 'program' Joe with special knowledge and abilities for his missions. Its relatively poor reception made it the last of the classic Anderson marionette shows.
On 29 August 2008, it was announced by UK Newspaper The Sun that plans had been formed to make a new computer generated series of Thunderbirds. Gerry Anderson started talks with ITV for the rights to the original series.
Venturing into live action
Anderson's next project took the special effects expertise built up over previous TV projects and combined it with live action. Century 21's third feature film, DoppelgängerDoppelgänger (1969 film)
Doppelgänger is a 1969 British science-fiction film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Lynn Loring and Patrick Wymark. Outside Europe, it is known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, which is now the more popular title...
(1969) (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) was a dark, Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
style sci-fi project about an astronaut who travels to a newly discovered planet on the opposite side of the sun, which proves to be an exact mirror-image of Earth. It starred American actor Roy Thinnes
Roy Thinnes
Roy Thinnes is an American television and film actor best known for his portrayal of lonely hero David Vincent in the ABC 1967-68 television series The Invaders. He also played Alfred Wentworth in the pilot episode of Law & Order...
, famed at the time for his role as the protagonist in the American television series The Invaders
The Invaders
The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
. Although it was not a major commercial success, Doppelganger was nominated for an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for its superb special effects.
Century 21's return to television was the abortive series The Secret Service
The Secret Service
The Secret Service is a British children's espionage television series, made as a Century 21 production for ITC Entertainment and broadcast in 1969...
, which this time mixed live action with Supermarionation. The series was inspired by Anderson's love of British comedian Stanley Unwin
Stanley Unwin (comedian)
Stanley Unwin , sometimes billed as Professor Stanley Unwin, was a British comedian and comic writer, and the inventor of his own language, "Unwinese", referred to in the film Carry On Regardless as "gobbledegook".Unwinese was a mangled form of English in which many of the...
, who was known for his nonsense language, 'Unwinese', which he created and used on radio, in film and most famously on the 1968 Small Faces LP Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake was a successful concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968 the LP became a number one hit in the UK Album Charts on 29 June where it remained for a total of six weeks....
. Despite Anderson's track record and Unwin's popularity, the series was cancelled before its first screening; Lew Grade considered that it would be incomprehensible to American audiences, and thus unsellable. Only 13 episodes were produced, and the series was only shown in a handful of broadcast areas in the UK. Most Anderson fans only got to see it when it was finally released on VHS in the mid-90s.
In 1969 the Andersons began production of a new TV series, UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
, Century 21's first full live-action television series. This sci-fi action-adventure series starred American-born actor George Victor "Edward" Bishop
Ed Bishop
Ed Bishop was an American film, television, stage and radio actor based in Britain.-Early life:Bishop served in the US Army from 8 October 1952 to 24 September 1954, working as a disc jockey with the Armed Forces Radio at St. Johns in Newfoundland...
, who had also provided the voice of Captain Blue in Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons, as Commander Edward Straker, head of a secret defence organisation set up to counter an alien invasion. UFO was decidedly more adult in tone than any of the previous puppet series, and it mixed the classic Century 21 futuristic action-adventure and special effects with some very serious dramatic elements. UFO was moderately successful on first release, but built up a strong cult following over the years, although it too fell short of the global success of Thunderbirds and was the last series made under the Century 21 Productions banner.
The Bond that never was
During production of UFOUFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
, Gerry Anderson was approached directly by Harry Saltzman
Harry Saltzman
Harry Saltzman was a Canadian theatre and film producer best known for his mega-gamble which resulted in his co-producing the James Bond film series with Albert R...
(at the time co-producer of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film series with Albert "Cubby" Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
), and was invited to write and produce the next film in the series, which was to be Moonraker
Moonraker (film)
Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
. Collaborating with Tony Barwick to provide the characterisation, whilst he himself focused on the action sequences, Anderson wrote and delivered a treatment to Saltzman. Saltzman was enthusiastic, but then broke the news that he and Broccoli were parting ways. Offered £20,000 for the treatment, Anderson refused, fearing that if he accepted he would not be at the helm when it was made; as it turned out, the next Bond film to be made—some years later—was titled The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
. (This film used only the title of the actual Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
novel.) Anderson started legal proceedings against Broccoli for plagiarism of story elements but withdrew the action shortly after, nervous of the legal might lined up against him. He relinquished the treatment, and received £3,000 in compensation.
Breaking ties
By this time the relationship between the Andersons had deteriorated. Although produced under the aegis of a new company, Group Three Productions (the three being both of the Andersons and Reg Hill), Gerry decided not to work with his wife on his next project, the ITCITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
action series The Protectors
The Protectors
The Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It is Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in the present day...
. It was one of Anderson's few non-original projects. Lew Grade himself was heavily involved in the programme, and cast both the lead actors, Robert Vaughn
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn, , is an American actor noted for stage, film and television work. His best known roles include the suave spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., wealthy detective Harry Rule in the 1970s television series The Protectors, Albert Stroller in...
and Nyree Dawn Porter. The production was difficult for Anderson, who clashed with the famously difficult Vaughn. There were also many logistical problems arising from the Europe-wide filming of the show, but it was very successful in both the UK and America.
Space: 1999
Following The Protectors, Anderson worked on several new projects, none of which he was able to realise. A proposed second series of UFO was shelved, and a return to puppetry, in a television pilotTelevision pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a series called The Investigator, failed to find a buyer. Elements of the abandoned second series of UFO were eventually turned into what became the most expensive television series ever made at the time, Space: 1999
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
.
Another futuristic sci-fi adventure, it was based on the premise that a huge thermonuclear explosion on the Moon's surface (caused by dumping of nuclear waste) projected it out of orbit and into interstellar space. It starred American husband-and-wife actors Martin Landau
Martin Landau
Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
and Barbara Bain
Barbara Bain
Millicent Fogel , known professionally as Barbara Bain, is an American actress.-Early life:Bain was born in Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She moved to New York City, where she was a dancer and high fashion model. Bain studied with...
, who had gained international TV fame in Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
. They were cast at the insistence of Grade, and against Sylvia Anderson's strenuous objections.
Separation, and moving on
The Andersons' marriage broke down irrevocably during the first series of Space: 1999Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
in 1975; Gerry announced his intention to separate on the evening of the wrap party. Sylvia severed her ties with Group Three, and to alleviate his financial plight, Gerry Anderson sold his share of the profits from the APF/Century 21 shows and their holiday home in Portugal to Lew Grade in return for a one-off payment. It was a decision he later bitterly regretted because he could not have then foreseen the huge value the shows would have when eventually released on home video.
Between making the two series of Space: 1999, Anderson produced a one-off television special, The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow (TV special)
The Day After Tomorrow is a 1975 British science-fiction television drama produced by Gerry Anderson between the two series of Space: 1999. Written by Johnny Byrne and directed by Charles Crichton, it stars Brian Blessed, Joanna Dunham and Nick Tate, and is narrated by Ed Bishop...
(also known as Into Infinity), about two spacefaring families en route to Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus...
, for an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series of programmes illustrating current scientific theory for popular consumption. While making this project Anderson met Mary Robins, a secretary working at the studios; they began a relationship and were married in April 1981.
A second series of Space: 1999 went into production in 1976 with American producer Fred Freiberger
Fred Freiberger
Fred Freiberger was an American film and television screenwriter and television producer, with a career spanning four decades including The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Star Trek, and Space: 1999...
brought in to replace Sylvia Anderson. According to The Space:1999 Documentary, produced by Kindred Productions for Fanderson
Fanderson
Fanderson is the official appreciation society for the works of Gerry Anderson. It is a not-for-profit organisation endorsed by Anderson Entertainment Ltd, Gerry Anderson Productions plc and ITC Entertainment Group Ltd...
, the second series was successful enough that a third almost happened; however, the documentary features Martin Landau stating that the idea was killed because Lew Grade needed money to help finance and promote his pet feature film project Raise The Titanic. Consequently, the budget that would have paid for the third series was redirected into that movie project (which subsequently flopped at the box office). However, given that Raise The Titanic did not enter production until 1979 (and was not promoted and released until the following year), it is more likely that the money that would otherwise have financed a third season of Space: 1999 instead financed the production of ITC's Return of the Saint series. Space: 1999 marked the end of Anderson's association with ATV.
By the late 1970s, Anderson's life and career was at a low point – he was in financial difficulty, found it hard to get work, and perhaps most devastatingly, became estranged from his young son after receiving a note written by him stating that he didn't want to see Gerry any more. Anderson suspected that Sylvia was behind this, but there was little he could do, and he would have no contact with his son for over twenty years.
1980s resurgence
In 1981, episodes of many of Anderson's Supermarionation series were combined and edited together as films. These aired under the title Super Space Theatre.In the early 1980s, Anderson formed a new partnership, Anderson Burr Pictures Ltd, with businessman Christopher Burr. The new company's first production was based on an unrealised concept devised by Anderson in the late seventies for a Japanese cartoon series. Terrahawks
Terrahawks
Gerry Anderson & Christopher Burr's Terrahawks, simply referred to as Terrahawks, was a British science fiction television series produced by Anderson Burr Pictures and created by the production team of Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr. The show was Anderson's first in over a decade to utilize...
marked Anderson's return to working with puppets, but rather than marionettes this series used a new system dubbed 'Supermacromation' which used highly sophisticated glove puppets – an approach undoubtedly inspired by the great advances in this form of puppetry made by Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
and his colleagues.
It featured another reuse of the Captain Scarlet/UFO formula of a secret organisation defending against aliens. Terrahawks ran successfully from 1983 to 1986 in the UK and only fell short of a four year US syndication deal by one season when the show was cancelled, scrapping attempts at making it more well known. Terrahawks retains a cult following to this day, regarded by some as being at times a "black comedy" version of many of Anderson's older series in addition to being a straight science fiction series. In equal contrast, however, it is regarded by some fans as an unwise rehash of many of the visual concepts of Thunderbirds, and on only a fraction of the Thunderbirds budget. Anderson has claimed on record that he would rather forget the show.
Anderson hoped to continue his renewed success with a series called Space Police
Space Precinct
Space Precinct is a British television series that aired from 1994 to 1995 on Sky One and later on BBC Two in Britain, and in syndication in North America on the SyFy Channel....
a new show mixing live-action and puppets. A pilot film was made with Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s, initially performing...
, but it took almost ten years to get the concept to the screen. In the meantime, Anderson and Burr produced the cult stop-motion animated series Dick Spanner, which enjoyed many showings on Britain's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the late eighties and early nineties. It was the final project completed by Anderson Burr. Anderson then joined the Moving Picture Company as a commercials director, and provided special effects direction for the hit musical comedy Return to the Forbidden Planet
Return to the Forbidden Planet
Return to the Forbidden Planet is a Jukebox musical by playwright Bob Carlton based on Shakespeare's The Tempest and the 1950s science fiction film Forbidden Planet ....
.
1990s – a new audience
The cult appeal of Thunderbirds and the other Supermarionation series grew steadily over the years and was celebrated by comedy and stage productions such as the hit two-man stage revue Thunderbirds FAB. In the early nineties, ITC began releasing home video versions of the Supermarionation shows, and the profile of the shows was further enhanced by productions such as the Dire StraitsDire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
music video for their single Calling Elvis, which was made as an affectionate Thunderbirds pastiche (with Anderson co-producing), and by Lady Penelope and Parker appearing in a successful series of UK advertisements for an insurance company.
In 1991 Gerry asked journalist and author Simon Archer to write his biography, following an interview by the latter for a series of articles for Century 21 magazine. In September that same year in the UK BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
began a repeat showing of Thunderbirds, which rivalled the success of its original run a generation before. This was also surprisingly the series' network television premiere, having never been shown nationally by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. It became so popular in Britain that toy manufacturers Matchbox
Matchbox (toy company)
Matchbox is a popular toy brand which was introduced by Lesney Products in 1953 and is now owned by Mattel, Inc. The brand was so named as the original die-cast Matchbox toys were sold in boxes similar in style and size to those in which matches were sold...
were unable to keep up with the demand for the Tracy Island
Tracy Island
Tracy Island is the home of the Tracy family in the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson 1960s television series Thunderbirds. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, the island's true function as the secret base of the International Rescue organisation is heavily camouflaged.Thunderbird 1 launches from a hangar...
playset, leading children's show Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
to broadcast a segment showing children how to construct their own. The fan base for the Anderson shows was now worldwide and growing steadily, and Anderson found himself in demand for personal and media appearances.
In response to this greater demand Anderson performed a successful one-man show in 1992, which Simon Archer had written and constructed. Entitled An Evening with Gerry Anderson, it took the form of an illustrated lecture in which he talked about his career, and his most popular shows. He also made numerous media and personal appearances to tie in with revivals and video cassette releases of Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90.
Anderson was interviewed for the BBC's 1993 Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
documentary, "Thirty Years in the TARDIS". He joked that, despite his career of making children's programming, his own grandson (appearing with him) was a Doctor Who fanatic.
By 1993 the interviews with Archer had generated so much more material than was required for the biography that a book was published of Gerry Anderson trivia "Gerry Anderson's FAB Facts". Archer was killed in a car crash on London's orbital M25
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
motorway on his way to the publishers to collect one of the first print run to present to Anderson, and the book later had to be withdrawn from sale and thousands of copies destroyed as a result of a copyright dispute with ITC America.
The renewed interest enabled Anderson to return to television production, but several projects including GFI (an animated update of Thunderbirds) did not make it into production. Finally, in 1994, Anderson was able to get the long-shelved Space Police project into production as Space Precinct
Space Precinct
Space Precinct is a British television series that aired from 1994 to 1995 on Sky One and later on BBC Two in Britain, and in syndication in North America on the SyFy Channel....
. It was followed by Lavender Castle
Lavender Castle
Lavender Castle is a British stop motion/CGI television series created by Rodney Matthews and produced by Gerry Anderson. It produced between 1996 and 1998 through a collaboration between Carrington Productions International, Gerry Anderson Productions and Cosgrove Hall Films, and was first...
, a children's sci-fi fantasy series combining stop-motion animation and computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
.
In the meantime, the biography, which had been set aside since Simon Archer's death had been picked up again and was completed by Stan Nicholls
Stan Nicholls
Stan Nicholls has been a full-time writer since 1981. He is the author of many novels and short stories but is best known for the internationally acclamied Orcs: First Blood series....
from Archer's original notes and manuscript, finally being published in 1996 shortly before Lavender Castle went into production.
Around this time Gerry was reunited with his elder son, Gerry Jr., at which time it was suggested that Sylvia had been responsible for the enforced estrangement. This reinforced Anderson's already powerful feelings of animosity towards his ex-wife.
2000 onward
By December 1999, Anderson was working on plans for a computer animatedComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
sequel to Captain Scarlet, and test reels were displayed by Gerry at a few fan conventions. Some of the test sequences from these reels were later available for a period as elements in publicity reels available on the website of the production company engaged to make them (the Moving Picture Company or MPC in Soho, London, where Gerry had previously worked). These early test reels had the visual design and characters looking very much as they had in the original show, although the vehicle designs had been somewhat modernised. Several years after the initial tests the project evolved into the remake Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet is a United Kingdom-produced computer-generated imagery action-adventure TV series which debuted in February 2005 as part of the Ministry of Mayhem on ITV....
, by which time the entire appearance had been very much updated. Gerry Anderson was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2001.
Along with his then business partner John Needham, Anderson created another new series entitled Firestorm
Firestorm (anime)
is a Japanese anime series co-created by two British people: Gerry Anderson and his business partner John Needham. The series combines CGI animation for mecha and traditional cell animation for characters. Despite high-quality animation and an emphasis on futuristic vehicles traditional to...
which was financed by Japanese investors and featured anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
style animation. The project was not a happy one for any of the parties involved, and other planned shows with the Japanese backers, including Eternity failed to come to fruition. Firestorm has yet to be shown on UK television. Anderson and Needham parted company in 2003.
Anderson was originally approached to be involved in a live-action feature film adaptation of Thunderbirds as far back as 1996, but he was actually turned away by the producers of the 2004 film Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (film)
Thunderbirds is a 2004 science-fiction adventure film loosely based upon the television series of the same name of the 1960s, directed by Jonathan Frakes....
, which was directed by Jonathan Frakes
Jonathan Frakes
Jonathan Scott Frakes is an American actor, author and director best known for his role as Commander William T. Riker in the Star Trek franchise, as well as for his tenure as host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction ....
, after first being invited to meet with them. He distanced himself overtly from the project, later turning down an offer of $750,000 simply to write an endorsement of the film shortly before its release; Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
, however, did become involved, and she received a "special thanks" credit in the film. Unfortunately, the film itself received poor critical reviews, and it was a box-office failure in America.
Anderson later praised the execution of the puppet-based political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police, often referred to as simply Team America, is a 2004 action comedy film written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady and directed by Parker, all of whom are also known for the popular animated television series South Park...
, produced by Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
and Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, which was produced using supermarionation style effects as seen in many of Anderson's past productions.
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet is a United Kingdom-produced computer-generated imagery action-adventure TV series which debuted in February 2005 as part of the Ministry of Mayhem on ITV....
finally premiered in the UK in February 2005. The show cost £2,300,000 to produce, and was the most expensive children's programme ever to be made in the UK. Although many companies invested in producing toys and merchandise, the lack of exposure given to the series by ITV (episodes were incorporated into an existing children's show and shown in two halves, separated by games and adverts) inevitably failed to produce the excitement that accompanied the original series and disappointing sales followed. The accompanying comic lasted only six editions before being scrapped by its publishers. Anderson's displeasure at ITV's handling of the show was widely reported.. The series was subsequently released on DVD, where it found a new audience who were unlikely to have seen it on first screening and is generally regarded as a very worthy re-imagining of the original concept.
The year 2005 also saw the 40th Anniversary of Thunderbirds, and a wide range of merchandise was produced to celebrate the event. In 2006, ITV announced it would re-run the entire series on its fledgling CITV Channel, a digital service available on cable, satellite and the Freeview service.
ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
, another digital channel, also ran repeats of UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
and Space: 1999
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
up until the end of 2009.
As of the end of 2007, Anderson was believed to be working on a new project entitled Lightspeed, about which very little had become publicly known by that time, and on a possible new edition of the UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
series.
On 11 January 2011, during an interview with BBC News to promote the "Genius of Gerry Anderson" stamp set from the Royal Mail, Anderson revealed he had finally negotiated the rights to re-make "Thunderbirds," his most famous creation. No additional details had been disclosed as of early March 2011.
As of March 2011, Gerry has been working with Annix
Annix
AnnixAnnix Studios is a Privately owned Production company, Visual FX Facility and Animation Studio based at Pinewood Studios. They specialise in photo-realistic, high-resolution, computer-generated character animation and rendering....
Studios, Pinewood on a new project named "Christmas Miracle" a children's CGI animated feature.
Television series (and broadcast dates)
- The Adventures of TwizzleThe Adventures of TwizzleThe Adventures of Twizzle is the very first television show produced by AP Films and specifically Gerry Anderson, after being approached by author Roberta Leigh and her colleague Suzanne Warner. Sources vary as to who directed the series...
(1957–1959) - Torchy the Battery BoyTorchy the Battery BoyTorchy the Battery Boy was the second television series produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson, running from 1958–1959. It was another collaboration with author Roberta Leigh and was directed by Anderson, with music scored by Barry Gray, art direction from Reg Hill and special effects by...
(first season only) (1960) - Four Feather FallsFour Feather FallsFour Feather Falls was the third puppet TV show produced by Gerry Anderson for Granada Television, from an idea by Barry Gray.-Production:The show was made on a tight budget and could not afford sophisticated special effects...
(1960) - SupercarSupercar (TV series)Supercar was a children's TV show produced by Gerry Anderson and Arthur Provis's AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. 39 episodes were produced between 1961 and 1962, and it was Anderson's first half-hour series. In the UK it was seen on ITV and in the US in syndication...
(1961–1962) – first Supermarionation production. - Fireball XL5Fireball XL5Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol...
(1962–1963) - StingrayStingray (TV series)Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
(1964–1965) - ThunderbirdsThunderbirds (TV series)Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
(1965–1966) - Captain Scarlet and the MysteronsCaptain Scarlet and the MysteronsCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
(1967–1968) - Joe 90Joe 90Joe 90 is a late-1960s British science-fiction television series documenting the exploits of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, who embarks on a double life as a schoolboy turned spy when his scientist father invents a pioneering machine capable of duplicating and transferring expert knowledge and...
(1968–1969) - The Secret ServiceThe Secret ServiceThe Secret Service is a British children's espionage television series, made as a Century 21 production for ITC Entertainment and broadcast in 1969...
(1969) - UFOUFO (TV series)UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
(1970–1971) - The ProtectorsThe ProtectorsThe Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It is Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in the present day...
(1972–1974) - Space: 1999Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
(1975–1977) - TerrahawksTerrahawksGerry Anderson & Christopher Burr's Terrahawks, simply referred to as Terrahawks, was a British science fiction television series produced by Anderson Burr Pictures and created by the production team of Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr. The show was Anderson's first in over a decade to utilize...
(1983–1984, 1986) - Dick Spanner, P.I.Dick Spanner, P.I.Dick Spanner, P.I. was a 1986 British stop-motion animated comedy series which parodied Chandleresque detective shows. The titular character and main protagonist was Dick Spanner, voiced by Shane Rimmer, a robotic private detective who works cases in a futuristic urban setting...
(1987) - Space PrecinctSpace PrecinctSpace Precinct is a British television series that aired from 1994 to 1995 on Sky One and later on BBC Two in Britain, and in syndication in North America on the SyFy Channel....
(1994–1995) - Lavender CastleLavender CastleLavender Castle is a British stop motion/CGI television series created by Rodney Matthews and produced by Gerry Anderson. It produced between 1996 and 1998 through a collaboration between Carrington Productions International, Gerry Anderson Productions and Cosgrove Hall Films, and was first...
(1999–2000) - FirestormFirestorm (anime)is a Japanese anime series co-created by two British people: Gerry Anderson and his business partner John Needham. The series combines CGI animation for mecha and traditional cell animation for characters. Despite high-quality animation and an emphasis on futuristic vehicles traditional to...
(2003) - Gerry Anderson's New Captain ScarletGerry Anderson's New Captain ScarletGerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet is a United Kingdom-produced computer-generated imagery action-adventure TV series which debuted in February 2005 as part of the Ministry of Mayhem on ITV....
(2005)
Feature films
- Crossroads to CrimeCrossroads to CrimeCrossroads to Crime is a 1960 British crime film, the directorial debut of Gerry Anderson and the only motion picture of his production company, AP Films...
(1960) - Thunderbirds Are GoThunderbirds Are GOThunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on Thunderbirds, a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation"...
(1966) - Thunderbird 6Thunderbird 6Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction and adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema...
(1968) - DoppelgängerDoppelgänger (1969 film)Doppelgänger is a 1969 British science-fiction film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Lynn Loring and Patrick Wymark. Outside Europe, it is known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, which is now the more popular title...
(1969) aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (US title)
Miscellanies
- The Investigator (pilot episode – never broadcast)
- The Day After TomorrowThe Day After Tomorrow (TV special)The Day After Tomorrow is a 1975 British science-fiction television drama produced by Gerry Anderson between the two series of Space: 1999. Written by Johnny Byrne and directed by Charles Crichton, it stars Brian Blessed, Joanna Dunham and Nick Tate, and is narrated by Ed Bishop...
(a.k.a. Into Infinity) (1976) - Space Police (pilot episode – never broadcast)
- GFI (pilot episode – never broadcast)
- Appears in interviews in the 1993 documentary, "Thirty Years in the TARDIS" (lengthened for video release as "More than Thirty Years in the TARDIS").
Gerry Anderson had no involvement in the 2004 live action film version of Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (film)
Thunderbirds is a 2004 science-fiction adventure film loosely based upon the television series of the same name of the 1960s, directed by Jonathan Frakes....
, although Sylvia Anderson served as a consultant on that project.
In addition, a number of UK comics
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
featured strips that were closely based around Anderson's creations. These started with TV Comic
TV Comic
TV Comic was a British comic book published weekly between November 9, 1951 and June 29, 1984 for 1,697 issues. With its bright, eye-catching covers, it featured stories based on television shows running at the time of publication. The first issue had 8 pages and had Muffin the Mule on the cover....
during the early 1960s followed by TV Century 21
TV Century 21
TV Century 21, also known as TV 21, was a weekly British children's comic of the 1960s and early 1970s. It promoted the many television science-fiction puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions...
and its various sister publications Lady Penelope, TV Tornado, Solo and Joe 90. Later there was Countdown
Countdown (comic)
Countdown was a British comic book published weekly by Polystyle Publications - ultimately, under several different titles - between February 1971 and August 1973....
(later TV Action) during the 1970s. There were also a number of tie-in annuals that were produced each year featuring Anderson's TV shows.
External links
- Fanderson – The Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society
- The Gerry Anderson Encyclopedia
- Gerry Anderson at BFI Screenonline
- TV Century 21 A large site dedicated to the productions of Gerry Anderson, mainly Supermarionation.
- Gerry Anderson Links Index and links for all productions
- The Gerry Anderson Encyclopedia