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

4. Gerry Anderson References

More than just the succsesor to the original series, Thunderbirds Are Go comes after a whole host of other series Gerry Anderson created over six decades. While this might be enough material to reference until the actual year 2060, Thunderbirds Are Go has managed to tread that fine line between paying homage to what has come before, but without spoiling the effect by over doing it.

Right from the start of the series we see John watching Stingray, which he describes as his favourite show, but the others are rather more subtle. Something which only the more dedicated Anderson fans would pick up on, not only is the lunar base Shadow Alpha One named after elements of both UFO and Space: 1999, but Professor Moffat's Centurium 21 could only have been named after Century 21, Anderson's own production company.

References might not seem like much on their own, but it is small details such as these which show that regardless of whatever restraints were placed on them in regards to episode length or intended audience, those who made the actual series itself did so with the knowledge, respect, and love for what came before.

Specific Thunderbirds references throughout the season also range in scale from remaking the pilot episode Trapped In The Sky as Fireflash, to the seemingly insignificant detail of adding a lemon squeezer to the back wall of Thunderbird 1's launch bay. Something which features in another area the show proved to excel at.