Anderson Entertainment has announced a partnership with Tiny Giants to redevelop Terrahawks for a 21st century audience, more than 30 years after its original run ended.
Originally co-created by Gerry Anderson, best known for also co-creating Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Space: 1999, Terrahawks debuted in 1983. The series revolved around the adventures of a task force responsible for protecting Earth against an alien invasion, led by the villainous and quite scary-looking Zelda.
The original Terrahawks centred around Tiger Ninestein, Kate Kestrel, Hiro, Hawkeye and Mary Falconer. Image: Anderson EntertainmentRe-branded as Kate Kestrel and the Terrahawks, the new show will centre around Kate Kestrel as she rises through the ranks of the Terrahawks organisation and defends the Earth from alien invasion, while uncovering secrets about her family’s dark past.
During the show’s original run, which saw a comic strip in Look-In with strips drawn by drawn by the late Jim Baikie, ‘Kate Kestrel’ fronted a release of the a song inspired by the show, “SOS”, sung by actress Moya Ruskin, who performed several songs as the character in the series and portrayed Kate in person, under the stage name of Moya Griffiths.
The character’s voice in the show was provided by Anne Riddler, an actress who also appeared in Doctor Who and in guest roles for the 1970’s BBC drama Moonbase 3.
“Terrahawks has always been one of my favourite Gerry Anderson series, and has an obsessive and dedicated cult following,” notes Jamie Anderson, managing director of Anderson Entertainment, said, “with Zelda being one of the most regularly mentioned 1980s kids TV characters online.
“I’m thrilled to be working with Tiny Giants on reimagining the series to entertain, inspire and excite a whole new generation, as the original series did over three decades ago.”
Tiny Giants projects include the pre-school animated series Swampies, and they are also developing a number of other projects, including The Curious Garden, centring on the discovery of a strange plant that might just save a city; and The Nano Squad starring “The Filthy Five”, an elite commando team of fresh water amoeba in nano-powered robosuits – the means to fight the microscopic menace of Viralmeba and his tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny forces of evil.
Terrahawks Zelda, Queen of the planet Guk. Image: Anderson Entertainment
“When I was a kid, Zelda scared the living daylights out of me,” says Stu Gamble, CEO and founder of Tiny Giants. “We can’t wait to work with the legacy and heritage of the world co-created by Gerry Anderson in bringing Terrahawks to a brand new audience with deep, rich characters and world building that can pull you in and not let you go.”
An episode of “Terrahawks” drawn by Jim Baikie, published in Look-in 1984. Via Shaquile le Vesconte on ComicArt FansAnderson Entertainment has been working on early redevelopment For the project with Star Wars artist and illustrator JAKe, and is now joining forces with Tiny Giants to prepare the show for pitching to broadcasters and SVODs.
JAKe will continue in a senior creative role and the series will also see original Terrahawks designer and FX supervisor Steve Begg returning to reimagine the Terrahawks vehicles.
Kate Kestrel and the Terrahawks is being executively produced by Jamie Anderson and Stu Gamble. The showrunner is Mark Hoffmeier (Spider-Man, Nexo Knights, Marvel Super Heroes – Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat) who is producing with Mike Penketh (Bob’s Burgers, Gravity Falls, Wander Over Yonder and Tron) and Vicky Kjaer Jensen (Ninjago).
The original Terrahawks series was recently remastered in high definition by Network Distributing who manage worldwide distribution, and the series has also been re-imagined for a series of audio adventures produced by Big Finish.
The series licensing is managed by Larkshead Media, whose web site says a style guide is “coming soon”.
WEB LINKS
• More about Terrahawks at www.gerryanderson.co.uk | Official Terrahawks Facebook Page
• Tiny Giants is at www.tinygiants.tv
• JaKe is online at www.jake-art.com | Follow him on Twitter @jakedetonator
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Television
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