As most of you will now know already, ITV are in the process of rebooting Thunderbirds and fans of the original have been waiting with baited breath to see what it’s going to look like. The good news is that the wait is finally over as ITV has released the first images of Lady Penelope, Parker and Brains, giving a pretty significant indication of how it’s going to pan out, but with CGI replacing the supermarionation (the puppetry techniques used in the 1960s TV series, not the sovereignty of the red capped plumber) it’s definitely going to divide opinions before it gets even close to conquering the masses.
You can see the images in full below and it’s instantly obvious that this is going to have a visual style that blurs the lines between the original character look and feel with more modern computer animation techniques. The series is scheduled to air on ITV in Spring 2015, so there’s bound to be more imagery to come as we get closer to its debut, but the real test will come when we get to see the first video footage of the new series.
However, the news doesn’t stop with the release of the images of Lady Penelope, Parker and Brains, as ITV has also announced that the series co-creator, Sylvia Anderson, will be starring in one of the episodes that are scheduled to air later this year. She’s going to be voicing the character of Lady Penelope’s Great Aunt Sylvia, which is a pretty nice development on the part of directors David Scott and Theo Baynton and producers Estelle Hughes, Giles Ridge, Richard Taylor and Andrew Smith.
To add even more news to the Thunderbirds fire, the episode that she’ll be starring in, titled Designated Driver, has been written by British comedian, novelist and TV presenter David Baddiel. It’s his first effort in children’s TV, so it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out, but he’ll have the experience of head writer is Rob Hoegee to draw on, who’s previous work includes episodes of Teen Titans and Ben 10.
Thunderbirds Are Go! Series 2 has already been confirmed by ITV, so we’re expecting this to be a long standing show that’ll feature a string of guest writers like Baddiel and stars like the brilliant Sylvia Anderson. It’s a similar approach to that of the modern day Doctor Who, so if it can replicate some of the same success it should go on to genuinely reboot the superhero force of Tracey Island.
Lady Penelope and Parker:
While they’ve been animated with CGI, it looks like ITV Studios, Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop have also tried to give the characters in Thunderbirds Are Go! a little of the puppet, doll-like texture gloss to link the past with the future of the series. Lady Penelope, who’ll be voiced by Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), looks pretty stylish in her gold dress, blazer and strappy heels. She’s also got a cute little pug with a sweater, but there’s no details on his name as of yet.
Parker has never looked cooler than in the image above. He’s looking a little younger than his earlier self and with slick back hair, 80’s spy outfit and clobber boots he looks like he might be all action in the upcoming series. However, the good news for fans of the original series is that David Graham will be reprising his role as the iconic driver and bodyguard.
Brains:
It’s a similar story for Brians, who’ll be voiced by Kayvan Novak (Cuban Fury), who looks a lot more stylish than his puppet equivalent. All in all, we’d have to say that creators of the new series are doing everything they can to make the show appealing to kids of today, which is ultimately going to be the real test of the show’s success.
