Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Thunderbirds The Vault by Marcus Hearn Non-Fiction Reviews. This is a very timely publication. 2015 was the year that marked a number of 50th anniversaries including that of Thunderbirds first broadcast back in 1965. Then again, it was the year that marked a re-boot of the series into CGI regularly featuring one of the old cast (Parker) and occasionally guest starring the voice of as Lady Penelope's aunt (Sylvia Anderson played the original Lady Penelope). Finally, the year saw the start of a KickStarter campaign to make three new episodes with puppets using the original cast voices (these are based on the 1960s vinyl LP records). So the publication of Marcus Hearn's Thunderbirds: The Vault is truly timely. Now, first up, the title of this volume is slightly misleading in that it relates to more than just Thunderbirds ( opening credits here ), albeit that the focus is largely (roughly 70%) on that series it also includes coverage of the late 's other series including: Fireball XL5 ( opening credits here ), Stingray ( opening credits here ), Captain Scarlet ( opening credits here ), and ( opening credits here ) among others. If you grew up and were aged somewhere between 5 and 10 in the early 1960s then you were of a generation that either enjoyed Gerry Anderson series or at the very least had most certainly had heard of them. Indeed, the weekly comic relating to Anderson's series TV21 had a print run of half a million! (And remember, this was the 1960s and Britain's population was 15% smaller then than it is today.) That each successive Anderson series appealed to a slightly older person meant that a cohort of the population grew up for over a decade with Gerry's visions of a possible future world of flying craft and space travel. And if one series did not captivate an individual, then there would be another a couple of years later. This brings us to Marcus Hearn's the vault. This large volume hardback is richly illustrated throughout in full colour. It charts the Anderson phenomenon through an almost equal mix of illustration and text with the former covering pictures of those working on the series, trade promotional brochures, the models, the spin-off merchandise, the publications ( TV Comic , TV21 , Countdown the annuals etc .) and, of course, many stills from the show as well as behind-the-scenes shots. This is truly a remarkable visual and text history. And the subject index at the makes it also quite a useful research tool if you are writing about Anderson and his work. Flaws? Remarkably, none! This is a very full compendium and a nostalgic treasure-trove for Gerry Anderson fans. Indeed reading it made me realise just what an economic and cultural phenomena Anderson's series were. Yes, on one hand they were only television series for youngsters. But on the other they had a tremendous, albeit 'soft', social impact. Their value has not been properly appreciated by both the public at large and the television broadcasters. True, some such as the BBC a decade ago, would re-run a series, and now we have the new CGI Thunderbirds , but nobody has gone back and re-broadcast the entire Anderson oeuvre with the same sequence and timing of the original broadcasts. And so these occasional re-broadcasts have failed to capture a new generation as did the originals. So read Marcus Hearn's Thunderbirds: The Vault and weep. Or read Hearn's Thunderbirds: The Vault with joy and rekindle visions of a possible future of technological wonder, bravery, and fantastical deeds with happy endings. Hearn's Thunderbirds: The Vault is therefore an essential read for both older Anderson fans as well as anyone with a serious interest in the history of SF, especially television SF. It is also a great accompaniment to the graphic collections of the Anderson comic strips such as those compiled by Bentley and Hearn and Sam Denham. To sum up, needless to say that Hearn's Thunderbirds: The Vault is thoroughly recommended. THUNDERBIRDS – THE VAULT. Thunderbirds – The Vault ’s 240 wonderfully-presented pages are packed with rare and unseen publicity and behind-the-scene photographs, images of long-forgotten merchandise from toys to ice lollies to comics and all points in between. The first two chapters briskly recount how Gerry Anderson and his partner Arthur Provis created AP Films (later Century 21 Productions), of their early work for the fearsome Roberta Leigh and their eventual progression into their own projects – Four Feather Falls and Supercar – and the formation of Gerry’s long, fruitful working relationship with the legendary Lew Grade. Packed with comment and observation culled from new interviews with surviving cast and crew and previously unpublished archive interviews with both Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the story of an enduring and beloved phenomenon is told in fascinating detail with each of the show’s thirty-two episodes examined and chronicled for posterity. It’s warts-and-all stuff, too; Hearn isn’t afraid to let his contributors speak their mind about aspects of the show’s production and Century 21’s working practices which didn’t sit so well with them, but by and large the mood is celebratory and congratulatory - this was clearly a very special time in all their lives, working in a thriving, creative and exciting environment. But the joy of the immersive sections on Thunderbirds is inevitably soured by later chapters which detail the slow, steady decline of Anderson’s fortunes – and his marriage to Sylvia – post- Thunderbirds. Two poorly-performing feature films couldn’t keep the series alive and Grade’s failure to secure a significant American sale made continued production of Thunderbirds a financial no-no. Gerry’s subsequent series were markedly less successful and by the end of the 1960s the glory days of Century 21 were over and by 1971 the company’s Stirling Road studios in Slough were closed. But Thunderbirds - The Vault is a book that venerates one particular televisual success story and in that regard, it’s virtually beyond criticism. It’s a visual treasure trove, page after page of evocative photographs and illustrations complementing Hearn’s crisp, purposeful text. Whether you’re an Anderson devotee or just a fan of classic television, this is a book to savour, to sit, relish and glory in. They don’t make TV like Thunderbirds anymore but, fortunately, they do still make books like The Vault . An essential purchase. THUNDERBIRDS – THE VAULT / AUTHOR: MARCUS HEARN / PUBLISHER: VIRGIN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 10TH. Marcus Hearn. Marcus Hearn (born June 21st, 1970) is a writer, film historian, and perhaps most notably Gerry Anderson's second biographer following the death of Simon Archer in 1993. He is the writer of Thunderbirds: The Vault , and What Made Thunderbirds Go! - Anderson's second biography. Additionally he worked on Thunderbirds – A Complete Guide to the Classic Series as its editor, as well as contributing 'film guides' for the two feature films and Thunderbird 6 , and also supplying several interviews he conducted with the following: Gerry Anderson, Peter Briggs, David Lane, and Keith Shackleton. Furthermore Simon Archer, who conducted a interview with Paddy Seale that was recorded on tape, had this featured in the aforementioned book, with Hearn writing the interview up so it could be published. Thunderbirds: The Vault by Marcus Hearn. The puppet series created by Gerry Anderson and his wife Sylvia is one of the most iconic series of the 1960’s, up there with Doctor Who, the Daleks and . The story of the Tracy family and their fantastic machines dealing with rescues around the world were a staple of many a childhood of that time. Despite only being 32 50-minute episodes, transmitted in 1965-66, their delights have often been repeated through the generations. Their repeated showing on the BBC (rather than the traditional ITV television network) in the 1990’s created a new media frenzy, with shops in 1991 selling out of most Thunderbirds merchandise just before Christmas. (And as a parent, at this stage, I well remember the frantic searching, pre-online shopping, in desperation to get the sold out toys for my children who dreadfully wanted a Tracy Island and the respective vehicles for Christmas.) My reason for mentioning all of this is that we are now, as of September 2015, at a point where it has been 50 years since that first transmission. (The first episode was shown on the 30 th September 1965.) And with that date there is a whole new raft of material to illustrate, celebrate and remind us of those halcyon days. Thunderbirds the Vault is the big coffee-table-book sized tome designed to remind all those fans of whatever generation realise the cultural impact of such a television series. I must admit that I was a little disappointed initially with this book, as most of the other similar books I have with the word ‘Vault’ in their title have had faux copies of tickets, production plans, artwork, letters, concert programmes and other merchandise that fold out, pop-up and detach. This is instead like the Doctor Who: The Vault book in that there’s nothing so overtly fancy here, alas, but there is a wealth of photographs of rare ephemera from the 1960’s and 90’s. Though the book is mainly of the Thunderbirds era, the first section of the book is about how Thunderbirds came into being built upon the success of other earlier Gerry Anderson productions – Torchy the Battery Boy , Fireball XL5 and Stingray . When we get to the Thunderbirds era properly, each episode is précised in order of transmission and there are comments about each about their relative merits and failures. A lot of the photographs are of the production of the programme and show what a difficult programme it was to make – at the time of its manufacture in the 1960’s it was the most expensive programme on the ITV television network, with each 50 minute episode costing the equivalent of £600 000, a figure unheard of at that time for a children’s television programme. Marcus Hearn, writer of the Hammer Vault and the Doctor Who Vault, does a serviceable job of incorporating a historical narrative with observations and interviews with many of the remaining production crew about how the series were made, mishaps and triumphs all. My overriding impression from this is that it was a very tough and demanding job to work on, not least because of Gerry Anderson, but one in which those who were involved are very proud of, even today. Rather surprisingly, there is no real mention of the rather good new animated version of the TV series, though perhaps the dreadfully awful live action movie of 2004 is mercifully forgotten. But it is quite clear that this is a book that concentrates on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s original vision. With Anderson’s involvement in the subsequent series less, due to the selling of his rights, it is understandable that such things are not covered, though perhaps a little annoying for the completist. The book ends with the rest of Gerry’s ‘uneven’ career briefly summarised and photographs of tributes at Gerry’s funeral, who died in 2012. Endpapers of the book showing some of the merchandise available. In summary, this is a worthwhile wallow in nostalgia that fans of the original will appreciate. It was one of the most merchandised programmes of its time, with over 3000 products of related merchandise recognised today. Looking at the many pictures of the multifarious merchandise (books, magazines, figures, toys, and records, amongst many others) will bring both a rush of nostalgia and perhaps also a pining for things once owned and now lost, whilst the story of its production will leave you with admiration for those involved. Most of all though, this is a worthy celebration of an iconic moment of 1960