Trapped in the Sky

rdf:langString Trapped in the Sky

rdf:langString A blue, futuristic airliner rests on top of three orange support vehicles as it speeds out of control down an airport runway, the sky bright with clouds.

rdf:langString The Elevator Cars intercept Fireflash. These shots used looping rolls of canvas to simulate movement of ground and sky. An error involving a snapped control wire was kept in the episode.

rdf:langString David Lane and Len Walter

rdf:langString List of Thunderbirds episodes

rdf:langString Paddy Seale

rdf:langString I remember seeing an aircraft coming into land with its wheels still up. Luckily it was warned off just as it was about to touch down. I will also never forget seeing a Mosquito aircraft that was giving an aerobatics display crashing and blowing up. Years later, when we were working on pre-production for Thunderbirds, I recalled those two incidents and together they helped me form the basic idea for the first episode.

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString — Gerry Anderson on his inspiration for the episode

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rdf:langString Gerry and Sylvia Anderson

rdf:langString "Trapped in the Sky" is the first episode of Thunderbirds, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. Written by the Andersons, it was first broadcast on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965. 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 fleet: the Thunderbird machines. In "Trapped in the Sky", master criminal the Hood plants a bomb on board the new atomic-powered airliner Fireflash before it departs on its maiden flight. Unable to land for fear of setting off the bomb, the crew and passengers' only hope of survival lies with International Rescue. While planning the episode, the Andersons drew inspiration from Gerry's memories of his National Service in the RAF, during which he witnessed the fatal crash of a Mosquito aircraft and the emergency landing of a damaged Spitfire. To save studio space, special effects director Derek Meddings filmed the rescue of Fireflash on a static set using a system of looping canvasses instead of a miniature runway. "Trapped in the Sky" was originally filmed as a 25-minute pilot in late 1964. Lew Grade, the Andersons' financial backer, was so impressed by the production that he ordered APF to re-write and extend every Thunderbirds episode from 25 to 50 minutes so that the series would fill a one-hour TV timeslot. Well received on its first broadcast, "Trapped in the Sky" is widely regarded as one of the best episodes of Thunderbirds. It was adapted into an audio play in 1966 and had its first UK-wide showing in 1991 on BBC 2. It was later re-made as "Fireflash", the fifth episode of the remake series Thunderbirds Are Go.

rdf:langString Guest character voices