Thunderbirds Are Go! - 5 Things It Got Right (And 5 It Didn't)

10. Ring Of Fire

Whilst it may be the most important, in theory the job of a pilot episode is rather simple. As an example of what the series will be like, it is used by TV companies to decide whether or not investing their money will be worthwhile, and by audiences deciding whether or not to invest their time. Although it's not unusual for most pilots to start their respective shows with more bang for their buck than a regular episode, none do so quite to the level of Thunderbirds Are Go.

First broadcast in a family oriented time slot, the hour long episode Ring Of Fire looked as though ITV had finally found something to rival Doctor Who in the battle for Saturday Night supremacy. It was an action packed adventure filed with comedy and tension that, in short, was the perfect blend between the old and the new. The only problem (and it is rather a large one) is that it promises a fantastic new series that just never gets delivered.

Of all the changes from the original the biggest has to be that of Tin-Tin who, alongside a name change inspired by a copyright dispute, has joined Lady Penelope in turning International Rescue into more of an equal opportunities organisation. Although Kayo may have appeared throughout the full series more frequently than Gordon, becoming the recipient of the brand new Thunderbird Shadow, only for it to be grounded for pretty much the entire first season is something of an underhanded gesture. The fact it almost appears to crash while launching is rather ironic given that it's not seen until just three episodes from the end of the series, and when you also consider that she's had to join the queue behind Black Widow in waiting for her own action figure, you can completely empathise with Kayo's disillusionment in Touch And Go.

But this is just the start of where Ring Of Fire effectively decieves the audience at home. It's hard enough when regular episodes of any series don't live up to a pilot, but if it was more in line with the rest of the series by design, then surely the more dissapointed members of the audience might at least have been a bit more understanding.