Anderson Entertainment has announced its timeline to celebrate 60 years of Thunderbirds, including new adventures – the show considered the most popular of the Supermarionation puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
As well as Blu-rays, models, anthologies and manuals, the company founded by Gerry Anderson himself will be celebrating Thunderbirds 60th anniversary by creating brand new official adventures.
Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers will be a multi-platform saga telling all new stories from the world of Thunderbirds. These adventures will take place before, during or after classic Thunderbirds stories, weaving thrilling new narratives into much-loved established stories.
Produced in a similar fashion to the Stingray saga, Deadly Uprising, Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers will consist of stories told across novels, comic strips, audio releases and more.
Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers is scheduled for blast off from September of this year and will continue into 2026.
The Thunderbirds Story
First broadcast in the UK from September 1965, syndicated internationally, Thunderbirds set in the 2060s, followed on earlier Supermarionation productions – Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray. The show centres on the adventures of International Rescue, run by ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, and his five adult sons: a life-saving organisation with a secret base on an island in the Pacific Ocean, utilising the Thunderbird machines to save lives across the globe – and beyond.
32 episodes of the original series, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, were made, filmed by their production company AP Films and distributed by ITC Entertainment. Production ended with the sixth episode of the second series after Lew Grade, APF’s financial backer, failed in his efforts to sell the programme to US network television.
The series, first broadcast on 30th September 1965 on the ATV Midlands, Westward and Channel franchises of the ITV network, others soon following, captured the hearts and minds of millions, spinning off into two feature films in the 1960s, massive merchandising that included books, comics, toys, models and more, a live action film directed by Star Trek’s Jonathan Frakes, and the TV reboots, Thunderbirds 2086 and Thunderbirds are Go.
Coming Soon: Thunderbirds Super Space Theatre Collectors Edition
Celebrations to mark the 60th Anniversary have already begun with the launch of a brand new range of Blu-ray releases of the cult classic Super Space Theatre compilation movies of several Gerry Anderson productions, with the release of the Thunderbirds Super Space Theatre Collectors Edition Blu-ray. This first volume collects all three of Thunderbirds‘ 1980s compilation movies – Thunderbirds to the Rescue, Thunderbirds in Outer Space and Countdown to Disaster.
This definitive collectors edition, available to pre-order now, offers you the chance of experiencing these movies either in stunningly restored HD or original VHS quality for that ultimate nostalgic viewing.
Thunderbirds on Blu-ray
As we previously reported, the original Thunderbirds series is coming to Blu-ray soon, restored in high definition and 4:3 aspect ratio. The Thunderbirds Collectors Edition Blu-ray promises to be the definitive release of the adventures of International Rescue. Jam-packed with an extensive array of new and pre-existing bonus material, the Blu-ray will also feature the three anniversary episodes produced by Century 21 Films in 2015.
During the recent Gerry Anderson Day livestream, fans were told each episode of Thunderbirds is currently undergoing a rigorous quality control process to fix a variety of mistakes that were left in previous home media releases.
New Comic Anthologies
Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume 1 will be the latest release in Anderson Entertainment’s hugely popular range of classic Gerry Anderson comic anthologies. As part of Thunderbirds‘ 60th anniversary celebrations, they will be releasing two Thunderbirds anthologies, which collect the entirety of Thunderbirds‘ stunning comic strip adventures from the pages of TV Century 21, and beyond, illustrated by artists including Eric Eden, Frank Bellamy, Don Harley and Keith Page.
Compiled by Fred McNamara and Rob Hammond, all 242 issues of Thunderbirds‘ adventures from TV Century 21 will be collected between these two volumes, with volume 1 collecting the first half of this spectacular era from early 1965 to early 1967, all painstakingly restored to breath-taking levels of visual detail. Both anthologies also include numerous features, including publication histories, creator profiles and more.
Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers tie-in stories will also feature, making these unique collections, despite numerous past reprints of many of the TV Century 21 strips.
Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume 1 will be available to pre-order from June.
Thunderbirds International Rescue Technical Operations Manual
2025 will also see the release of the Thunderbirds International Rescue Technical Operations Manual, featuring schematic details about the world of Thunderbirds that you’ve always wanted to know, available to pre-order later in September in both standard and special editions.
Thunderbirds in miniature, from Corgi!
Corgi‘s range of 60th anniversary Thunderbirds collectable models will continue with a new tooling of Thunderbird 4. That and their upcoming Thunderbird 5 model will be available in the coming months. Thunderbirds 1 and 3, Thunderbirds 2 and 4, and FAB 1 are already available.
A miniature Thunderbirds collectables range is also in the works, comprising fantastically detailed models of all five core Thunderbirds vehicles in a handy compact size. These Thunderbirds models are more accessible in size and price compared to Corgi’s other models range, and will be available to pre-order from July, beginning with Thunderbirds 1 and 2.
• Be sure to sign up to the official Gerry Anderson Thunderbirds 60th anniversary mailing list to be the first to hear of further announcements
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
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