Terror in New York City

"Terror in New York City" is the 13th episode of the first series of Thunderbirds, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company AP Films (APF). Written by Alan Fennell and directed by David Elliott and David Lane, it was first broadcast on ATV Midlands on 21 October 1965.

Not to be confused with the September 11 attacks.

"Terror in New York City"
Thunderbirds episode
Episode no.Series 1
Episode 13
Directed byDavid Elliott and
David Lane
Written byAlan Fennell
Story byGerry Anderson
Cinematography byJulien Lugrin
Editing byPeter Elliott
Production code13
Original air date21 October 1965
Guest character voices
USS Sentinel Commander
TV Newsreader
1st NYPD Officer
Ned Cook's Announcer
Joe
USS Sentinel First Officer Clayton
NYPD Officer Garner
2nd NYPD Officer
USS Sentinel Radar Operator
Washington, D.C. Voice
Ned Cook

Set in the 2060s, the series follows the exploits of International Rescue, an organisation that uses technologically-advanced rescue vehicles to save human life. The main characters are ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, founder of International Rescue, and his five adult sons, who pilot the organisation's main vehicles: the Thunderbird machines.

In "Terror in New York City", Thunderbird 2 is crippled by a United States Navy missile attack while returning from a rescue mission. When the Empire State Building collapses during a failed re-location, trapping a news reporter and his cameraman in an underground river, International Rescue must find alternative means of transporting Thunderbird 4 to New York City to save the men.

Plot

After extinguishing an oil well fire in the desert, Scott (voiced by Shane Rimmer) and Virgil Tracy (voiced by David Holliday) prepare to return to base. As Virgil departs in Thunderbird 2, Scott discovers a TV news crew, comprising reporter Ned Cook and his cameraman Joe, filming Thunderbird 1 and orders them to desist. Refusing to do so in the belief that he has the makings of an award-winning scoop, Ned drives away with Joe, forcing Scott to chase them and use an electromagnetic pulse to erase the footage.

During its flight home, Thunderbird 2 is mistaken for a hostile aircraft by the USS Sentinel, the United States Navy's new high-speed strike vessel, and targeted with surface-to-air missiles. Although Jeff (voiced by Peter Dyneley) immediately contacts Washington, D.C. to call off the attack, Thunderbird 2 is left badly damaged and Virgil is barely able to pilot the craft back to Tracy Island. Thunderbird 2 is grounded for several weeks while extensive repairs are made. Meanwhile, Virgil recovers from his ordeal.

Some time later, the Tracy family are watching a live TV broadcast of an operation to re-locate the Empire State Building to make way for the re-development of Midtown Manhattan. Disaster strikes when a land subsidence causes the skyscraper to break free of its scaffold. Ned and Joe, who are covering the event, fall into a crevice shortly before the Empire State Building collapses above them. Successfully making radio contact with their studio, Ned reports that they are trapped in a cavern that is filling with water. On Tracy Island, Brains (voiced by David Graham) theorises that the subsidence was caused by a subterranean river running underneath Manhattan, and that the cavern is open to the river.

Though aware that Ned and Joe will drown unless Gordon (voiced by David Graham) rescues them in Thunderbird 4, the Tracys realise that without Thunderbird 2 to airlift it to New York the submarine cannot reach the danger zone in time. However, Virgil suggests that Thunderbird 4 could instead be transported by sea on board the Sentinel. Jeff dispatches Gordon to rendezvous with the Navy for the 24-hour journey to New York. Meanwhile, Scott flies out to the disaster zone in Thunderbird 1 to help the local authorities monitor Ned and Joe. A small bore hole is drilled into the rapidly-flooding cavern to supply the men with emergency underwater breathing equipment.

The Sentinel arrives in New York. By this time, the cavern is completely flooded and Ned and Joe have been forced to put on their equipment, which gives them enough air for no more than two hours. Launching Thunderbird 4, Gordon locates the entrance to the subterranean river and proceeds towards Ned and Joe's position. At ground level, Scott learns that the subsidence has expanded and is now threatening to bring down the Fulmer Finance Building. Knowing that Ned and Joe will not survive the impact of a second skyscraper collapse, Scott urges them to swim along the river to meet Thunderbird 4. Despite their air supply being virtually exhausted, the men are rescued and removed from the area just as the Fulmer Finance Building collapses, triggering an underwater shockwave.

Some time later, a wheelchair-bound Ned introduces his regular TV show in front of a live studio audience by publicly thanking International Rescue for saving his life, unaware that most of the organisation are sitting in the back row.

Production

Inspiration for the plot of "Terror in New York City" was provided by Gerry Anderson, who had read a newspaper article concerning the physical relocation of a Japanese department store as part of a highway redevelopment scheme: "Because of its huge value as a going concern, it was not demolished but jacked up and moved inch by inch to a new site."[1]

The episode's working title was "Terror of New York".[1] Alan Fennell's original script was submitted before Lew Grade, the Andersons' financial backer at ITC, ordered that the length of all Thunderbirds episodes be doubled from 25 to 50 minutes. This increase necessitated the scripting of "filler" scenes – in the case of "Terror of New York", the oil well fire and reporter Ned Cook's unsuccessful attempt to film Thunderbird 1.[2][3] In a 1992 interview, actor Matt Zimmerman, who voiced Cook, described the character as having a "really thick accent – it was great fun to do."[4]

For the effects shots of the burning Thunderbird 2 crash-landing on Tracy Island, the crew tried to prevent damage to the Thunderbird 2 model by covering it with foil coated in rubber gel and igniting the foil rather than the model itself.[5] Nevertheless, the model was seriously burnt.[6] To allow filming to continue, effects assistants Mike Trim and Roger Dicken hurriedly repaired the model by applying green Plasticine to the damaged portions, in so doing greatly increasing the model's weight.[6][7] Trim has since commented that this was unnecessary because on screen "there was so much smoke, you couldn't really have told whether the far side was completely missing, let alone burnt."[7] Later, a new model was built.[6][8][9]

Composer Barry Gray devised three incidental tracks for the episode: "World Exclusive Foiled!", "Moving the Empire State Building" and "The Rescue of Ned Cook".[10] The music was recorded on 5 April 1965 in a four-hour studio session with an orchestra of 25 instrumentalists.[11]

Broadcast and reception

"Terror in New York City" had its first network broadcast on 22 November 1991 on BBC 2.[12]

Critical response

"Terror in New York City" was given a positive contemporary review by Punch critic Patrick Skene Catling, who praised the episode's visual spectacle and sound effects as well as the "magnificent absurdity" of the plot.[13] He commented: "The suspense is nugatory, but the fun is immense".[13] In 2015, Phelim O'Neill of The Guardian described the episode as "a perfect example of how overloaded with disasters [Thunderbirds] could be."[14]

The episode was well received by series co-creator Sylvia Anderson, who summed it up as an "exciting drama with an ingenious plot and stunning visual effects".[15] She believed that it exemplifies the best of Alan Fennell's writing[15] and also praises the effects crew's "life-like" model work, recalling that the 18-inch-tall (46 cm) model of the Empire State Building was "perfect in every detail, a work of art".[16]

"Terror in New York City" is considered the best episode of Thunderbirds by TV Zone magazine, which sums it up as a "dramatic, tense story".[17] It praises the realism of the "tightly-plotted" script – from the decision to make the Empire State Building the focus of the disaster, to the method used to transport Thunderbird 4 to New York ("no deus ex machina cop-out is employed here").[17] On the damage taken by Thunderbird 2, it notes that the idea that IR's machines are not invincible arrives as "something of a revelation ... we realise that the Tracy boys can actually be hurt".[17] Among its few criticisms of the episode are the appearance of the Empire State model (which it describes as "a little insubstantial") and the fact that only two people are endangered by the building's collapse (which it considers to be the "most implausible" aspect of the plot).[17]

Tom Fox of Starburst magazine is less positive in his assessment, awarding the episode three stars out of five.[18] Describing "Terror in New York City" as "the 'disaster movie' special that was bound to come along", he criticises the "silly" building collapse and a perceived lack of realism in the underwater puppet scenes; however, he expresses satisfaction with the crash-landing of Thunderbird 2.[18]

Magazine editor Alan Barnes draws parallels between "Terror in New York City" and the Wunder von Lengede ("Miracle of Lengede"): a West German mining disaster that was cited by Gerry Anderson as his inspiration for Thunderbirds. He notes that while the real-life accident involved miners trapped in a flooded pit and their rescue delayed due to the time needed to transport a drill by rail, "Terror in New York City" concerns two men, trapped in a cavern, whose rescue depends on a submarine that cannot be airlifted to them. Barnes considers Thunderbird 2's crash-landing to be a highlight of the episode.[19]

Marcus Hearn, author of Thunderbirds: The Vault, considers the reference to "atomic" engines during the attempted re-location of the Empire State Building to be an example of Thunderbirds' "pre-occupation with nuclear power", which he argues "betrays the era of its production."[20] He regards the episode overall as a satire of American TV networks in its characterisation of Ned Cook. Hearn also argues that unlike other episodes whose scripts were re-written to satisfy the longer running time, "Terror in New York City" balances its "two major plot strands" effectively. He describes the final act as "quintessential Thunderbirds, with one jeopardy piled on another, a last-minute rescue and the sentimental redemption of the wheelchair-bound Ned".[21]

The destruction of the Empire State Building is considered by TV Zone to be "uncannily prescient" of the September 11 attacks.[17] Stuart Galbraith IV of the review website DVD Talk offers a similar view, describing the similarities between fiction and real life as "eerie";[22] Fox, meanwhile, comments that the plot contains "some uncomfortable overtones" in the light of "modern events".[18]

Adaptations

The episode was later adapted into an audio play by Jim Watson, which was released as the Century 21 mini-album Thunderbird 4 (code MA 113) in November 1966.[23] In 1982, "Terror in New York City" was paired with the Series Two episode "Atlantic Inferno" (which was also written by Alan Fennell) to create the Thunderbirds feature-length compilation film Countdown To Disaster. "Terror in New York City" was subsequently serialised by Fennell and Keith Page in issues nine to eleven of Thunderbirds: The Comic, published in 1992; the comic strip was reprinted for the graphic album Thunderbirds in Action later that year.[12]

References
  1. Bentley, p. 24.
  2. La Rivière, p. 122.
  3. Archer, Simon; Hearn, Marcus (2002). What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson. London, UK: BBC Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-563-53481-5.
  4. Richardson, David (January 1992). Vincent-Rudzki, Jan (ed.). "Matt Zimmerman: The Voice of Alan Tracy". TV Zone. No. 26. London, UK: Visual Imagination. p. 44. ISSN 0957-3844.
  5. Johnson, Brian (16 June 2001). "Eagles, Aliens and Oscars: A Conversation with SFX Director Brian Johnson" (Interview). Interviewed by Gainsford, Martin; Sisson, David. Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, UK. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  6. Fryer, Ian (2016). The Worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson: The Story Behind International Rescue. Fonthill Media. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-781555-04-0.
  7. La Rivière, p. 124.
  8. Archer, Simon (2004) [1993]. Gerry Anderson's FAB Facts: Behind the Scenes of TV's Famous Adventures in the 21st Century. London, UK: HarperCollins. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-00-638247-8.
  9. La Rivière, Stephen. "The Genius of Gerry Anderson". SFX Collection/Special Edition. No. 49. Bath, UK: Future Publishing. p. 64. ISSN 1749-6969. OCLC 225980008.
  10. Eder, Bruce. "Thunderbirds: Volume 2 AllMusic Entry". AllMusic. San Francisco, California: All Media Network. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  11. de Klerk, Theo (25 December 2003). "Complete Studio-Recording List of Barry Gray". tvcentury21.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  12. Bentley, p. 76.
  13. Catling, Patrick Skene (3 November 1965). "Television". Punch. Vol. 249. Punch Publications. pp. 662–3. ISSN 0033-4278. OCLC 781612324.
  14. O'Neill, Phelim (12 March 2015). "Supermarionation Box Set Review – The Biggest, Best, Most Spectacular Puppet Shows of All". The Guardian. London, UK: Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. Anderson, Sylvia (1991). Yes, M'Lady. London, UK: Smith Gryphon. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-856850-11-7.
  16. Anderson, Sylvia (2007). Sylvia Anderson: My Fab Years!. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: Hermes Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-932563-91-7.
  17. Payne, Stephen, ed. (Summer 2004). "The Anderson Files". TV Zone Special. No. 57. London, UK: Visual Imagination. p. 39. ISSN 0960-8230. OCLC 438949600.
  18. Fox, Tom (August 2004). "TV View". Starburst Special. No. 65. London, UK: Visual Imagination. p. 43. ISSN 0958-7128. OCLC 79615651.
  19. Barnes, Alan (September 2015). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Thunderbirds – A Complete Guide to the Classic Series. Tunbridge Wells, UK: Panini UK. ISBN 978-1-84653-212-2.
  20. Hearn, p. 84.
  21. Hearn, p. 114.
  22. Galbraith IV, Stuart (28 June 2004). "The Best of Thunderbirds: The Favorite Episodes DVD Review". DVD Talk. El Segundo, California: Internet Brands. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  23. Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 349. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.

Works cited
  • Bentley, Chris (2005) [2000]. The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2nd ed.). London, UK: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84442-454-2.
  • Hearn, Marcus (2015). Thunderbirds: The Vault. London, UK: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-753-55635-1.
  • La Rivière, Stephen (2009). Filmed in Supermarionation: A History of the Future. Neshannock, Pennsylvania: Hermes Press. ISBN 978-1-932563-23-8.
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