As a kid in the seventies (showing my age or what?) I fell in love with re-runs of the ‘Thunderbirds’ TV series, which was puppetry sure, but pretty damn impressive puppetry at that – along with rather clever storylines. This was a step beyond the likes of ‘Rainbow’ and into almost adult territory, with goodies and baddies and spies galore, as well as the smart, sassy Lady Penelope.

This was down to the animation technique – actually a form of puppetry - devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson in the 1960s. It was a world where the “dolls” were lifelike – they even edited in actual body parts for some shots, such as actions done by hands. Not only did the characters seem more human but they took us on all sorts of futuristic adventures in all sorts of amazing places. In other words, awesome.

As a kid in the seventies (showing my age or what?) I fell in love with re-runs of the ‘Thunderbirds’ TV series, which was puppetry sure, but pretty damn impressive puppetry at that – along with rather clever storylines. This was a step beyond the likes of ‘Rainbow’ and into almost adult territory, with goodies and baddies and spies galore, as well as the smart, sassy Lady Penelope.

This was down to the animation technique – actually a form of puppetry - devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson in the 1960s. It was a world where the “dolls” were lifelike – they even edited in actual body parts for some shots, such as actions done by hands. Not only did the characters seem more human but they took us on all sorts of futuristic adventures in all sorts of amazing places. In other words, awesome.

So naturally I was drawn to tonight’s documentary FILMED IN SUPERMARIONATION, which has been lauded as the definitive documentary about the culturally iconic puppetry and animation technique devised by Gerry and Sylvia in the 1960s - Supermarionation - which spawned a host of TV shows including Stingray, Captain Scarlet and, most famously, Thunderbirds, It was a veritable revolution at the time, and you’d be hard pushed to find someone who wasn’t hooked on the style, and the shows.

Directed and produced by Stephen La Rivière, FILMED IN SUPERMARIONATION is actually a screen adaptation of his book of the same name, and it uses an amazing wealth of previously unseen archive footage, new interviews with those involved, fantastic reconstructions of special effects setups used in the shows, and clips from the shows themselves. Oh and did I mention it’s all in fully restored in glorious HD? The film is even ‘hosted’ by Lady Penelope and driver Parker - voiced by Sylvia Anderson and David Graham respectively - through beautifully recreated puppet sequences throughout. This makes it a great watch even if you weren’t a fan back when the series were created, and it all looks lush and absolutely beautiful.

So here’s a quick 101 on Supermarionation’s most famous works, in no particular order:

Stingray

This is one of the Anderson shows that were syndicated over to the USA after it did well in the United Kingdom, and it was a hit. Stingray is essentially all about a highly sophisticated submarine that was based just off of an American coast, and the adventures therein. As opposed to dealing with human enemies, it also encountered races found under the seas that the team on Stingray had discovered. Captain Troy Tempest was definitely my favourite character, alongside his mermaid-esque love interest, Marina.

Thunderbirds

This needs no introduction, apart from the fact that back in the days when this show was at its height, animation was expensive and poorly executed. Completely revolutionary, this gave the impression of being a cartoon, with all the real and dynamic thrills that the small Gerry Anderson sets could provide. The adventures of International Rescue, a life-saving organisation equipped with hi-tech land, sea and space vehicles, became an instant success when it was aired in 1965. It was eventually sold to 66 countries (including New Zealand), and continued to attract new young fans with each successive generation. 

Joe90

This was a show about a nine-year-old schoolboy called Joe McClaine, who starts a double life as a schoolchild-turned-superspy. As you can imagine, this had a lot of appeal with kids at the time, as implausible as it may be. The idea was that Joe was super smart because his father had developed a way of transferring knowledge over to another mind instantly… as you do. 

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons 

This strangely morbid and actually quite violent at-war-with-Mars-epic never reached the popularity of Thunderbirds, despite being more technically refined and lush all round. The detail is amazing - watch little people sitting around smoking ciggies, reading magazines and listening to lounge music. Amazing!