Martian Invasion
There are, of course, no real Martians featured in "Martian Invasion." International Rescue won't have to deal with anything to do with inhabitants of Mars until the movie "Thunderbirds Are Go."
Thunderbird 5 can easily pick up distress signals from Mars...or anywhere else in the galaxy, for that matter. The computer on the communications deck can translate words like "help," "rescue," "disaster," or "emergency" from any language into English.
The dairy farmer from "Operation: Crashdive" can be seen sitting in the background on the Martian film set.
Marionettes had to weigh in at 7 to 9 pounds each to avoid imposing a strain on the delicate steel control wires; this also made them easier to control for the puppeteers.
Lady Penelope's facial features were modeled on those of Sylvia Anderson, but Sylvia suggested that the mouth be changed to a shape matching that of production team member Judith Shutt.
John spends a lot of time learning basic phrases in many languages so that he can glean vital information once a call for help comes through.
The Hood's ancestral home sits on land which he swindled away from his older half-brother, Kyrano, leaving him with nothing of his birthright. The property had been left to Kyrano by their late father. The Hood's main base of operation is a defunct Malaysian temple.
Tin-Tin spent a portion of her childhood attending school in France where her father worked as head chef for an elegant Parisian restaurant.
The palm trees which line the launch strip for Thunderbird 2 are real (in the context of the show), despite their unique ability to bend out of the ship's path. The Tracys planted them in special crates which rest on platforms which pivot backward in unison.
The Hood is seen driving in the same car he used in an earlier show...however, the car was destroyed at the end of that episode...as it was when the archeologists lost it in "The Uninvited!"
Always on the cutting edge of 21st Century technology, Brains enjoys utilizing globe-spanning devices such as the radio-facsimile unit. (Way back in the 20th Century, that was known as a fax machine)!
Tin-Tin usually pilots the Tracy's small private plane, The Ladybird, when she needs to leave the island.
Sylvia Anderson, responsible for Character Creation and Visualization on the series, developed the unique personalities of each of the main characters, even down to assigning them birthdays to coincide with their behavior patterns and the birth order of the Tracy brothers.
Jeff Tracy gives the go-ahead for using "any means necessary" at any time that International Rescue's secrecy is in jeopardy of being broken. That includes gunplay.
There are several small planes in the cliffside hangar on Tracy Island: Jeff's blue private jet, the red and white Ladybird, and, eventually the Tiger Moth, dubbed "Thunderbird 6" in the film of the same name.
Scott Tracy normally sleeps only four hours per night. Must be due to all of that coffee they serve around the base!
The Tracys often assume that a car or airplane crash automatically means that The Hood's film of their operation has been destroyed...whether there's a fire involved or not.
Jeff warned his sons at the outset of International Rescue that their uniforms must be worn at all times when on a mission...but Scott and Virgil seem to forget that on the Martian movie set.
The Thunderbirds cast became pop icons again in the 1980s when they co-starred in the Dire Straits video, "Calling Elvis."
Japanese toy company Imai has issued hundreds of Thunderbirds replica toys and models since the 1960s, with action figures of the Tracy boys having since been created by Bandai Toys. One of the most prized collector's items are five 6 inch tall figures in the likenesses of the Tracy brothers. A later, less detailed four figure set was issued by Matchbox Toys, but that release eliminated John.
On the day that Tony Blair was sworn in as Prime Minister of Great Britain, The Band Of Her Majesty's Royal Marines could be heard playing "The March Of The Thunderbirds" outside the Houses Of Parliament.
Former Prime Minister John Major's detractors often referred to him as "Joe 90," after the bespectacled boy hero of that Gerry Anderson series.
The ominous-looking rock grinding machine that Virgil uses to drain water from the cavern entrapping the two actors in "Martian Invasion" is called The Excavator.
Michael Trim was the young artist responsible for the vivid storyboards on the series; he worked closely with Derek Meddings and even created some of the rescue machinery.
Derek Meddings continued to direct special effects for later Gerry Anderson series. After leaving AP Films, he won an Academy Award for his work on the film "Superman."