Gerry Anderson's Fab Facts: Behind the Scenes of TV's Famous Adventures in the 21st Century

by Simon Archer, Gerry Anderson (Editor)

The original Thunderbirds revealed - inside this illustrated book are all the secrets of International Rescue and Tracy Island. Back to the future with a detailed behind-the-scenes view of the Supermarionation fantasy world masterminded by puppet genius Gerry Anderson. Featuring exclusive pictures of the characters, sets and models in the making, Fab Facts is the book every fan must have. From Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet to Torchy, Twizzle, Fireball XL5, UFO, Joe 90 and enter the magical, fantastical world of Gerry Anderson.

Genres: Film

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

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Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet to Torchy, Twizzle, Fireball XL5, UFO, Joe 90 and Space:1999 – enter the magical, fantastical world of Gerry Anderson. This book goes back to the future with behind-the-scenes view of the Supermarionation fantasy world, exclusive pictures of the characters, sets and models in the making and 500 facts.
I was a big fan of Captain Scarlet as a kid and loved Thunderbirds and so I’ve always had a soft spot for Gerry Anderson. When I picked this up (from Skoob books on a trip to London with Dude), I mistook it as being a completely behind the scenes study and so I was a little disappointed (it’s not that at all), but the facts were often amusing or interesting and there were some things I wasn’t aware of at all. Unfortunately, almost all the pictures come from the early 90s (when the book was published), where I would have preferred to see more from the actual production but other than that, this is entertaining fun. Better, obviously, if you’re an Anderson fan (a Fanderson?), but well worth a read.

[Tony Calder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent book provides 500 facts about the world of Gerry Anderson's TV shows. Some I already knew - the Tracy brothers in Thunderbirds were named after American astronauts - but most I didn't - like a full day's shooting produced only about 4 1/2 minutes of footage on Thunderbirds. Some of the facts are really just trivia, but many provide a fascinating look into the behind-the-scenes process of creating these revolutionary shows, and the ingenuity shown by the creators,

The book covers all of Anderson's shows - well, up to 1993, when the book was written (so the CGI Captain Scarlet is not included) - but the show with the most coverage is Thunderbirds. Not surprising, as that was the studio's biggest hit on the international market.

Recommended.