Operation Crash-Dive
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"Operation Crash-Dive" is an episode of '' Thunderbirds'', a British
Supermarionation Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", " marionette" and "animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet T ...
television series created by
Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pres ...
and
Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In ...
and filmed by their production company
AP Films AP Films or APF (renamed Century 21 Productions in 1966) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette t ...
(APF) for
ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...
. Written by Martin Crump and directed by
Desmond Saunders Desmond "Des"''Full Boost Vertical - The Supercar Story'' Saunders (24 June 1926 – 21 April 2018) was a British people, British television director and Film editing, film editor. He had a long association with producer Gerry Anderson, having ...
, it was first broadcast on 16 December 1965 on
ATV Midlands ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to ...
as the 12th episode of Series One. It is the eighth episode in the official running order.Bentley 2005, p. 71. Set in the 2060s, ''Thunderbirds'' follows the missions of International Rescue, a secret organisation which uses technologicallyadvanced rescue vehicles to save human life. The lead characters are exastronaut
Jeff Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South ...
, founder of International Rescue, and his five adult sons, who pilot the organisation's primary vehicles: the ''Thunderbird'' machines. In "Operation Crash-Dive", International Rescue investigate a campaign of sabotage against the Fireflashes, a fleet of hypersonic airliners. In 1980, ITC's New York branch paired the episode with "
Trapped in the Sky "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 Anders ...
" to create the ''Thunderbirds''
compilation film A compilation film, or compilation movie is a film composed of scenes and shots taken from two or more prior films or television programs and edited together so as to make a new film, whether on the same or a different subject. The most common e ...
''Thunderbirds to the Rescue''. "Operation Crash-Dive" had its first UKwide network broadcast on 8 November 1991 on
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
.


Plot

While flying from London International Airport to
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, ''Fireflash 3'' is crippled by a technical fault and disappears over the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. Rescue teams find no trace of the airliner, which was carrying 600 passengers and crew. On '' Thunderbird 5'',
Alan Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South ...
determines that the Fireflash's last radioed position was out by . By order of the International Air Minister, all Fireflashes are grounded pending a full safety review. No design flaws are uncovered, so Commander Norman orders a transatlantic test flight to identify the fault. During the flight, the
elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
power unit, locator and radio fail, and the Fireflash loses altitude and belly-flops into the ocean. The emergency exit jams, trapping the crew, and the aircraft sinks. An unidentified man, who parachuted from the undercarriage, is picked up in a helijet. Alan alerts
Tracy Island Tracy Island is the secret headquarters of the International Rescue organisation in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations. In the original series, the heavily camouflaged island is located in ...
, reporting that the Fireflash went down from its last radioed position.
Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...
orders an undersea search-and-rescue mission, dispatching
Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...
in '' Thunderbird 1'' followed by
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
with
Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heuck ...
and Brains in '' Thunderbird 2'' carrying Pod 4. Brains believes that the Fireflash sank intact and that the crew may still be alive, trapped on the seabed and running out of air. Landing at a farm in Ireland, Scott performs an electromagnetic sweep and plots the Fireflash's position. Gordon launches in '' Thunderbird 4'' and locates the airliner. Using ''Thunderbird 4''s laser beam, he cuts off the Fireflash's heavy
engine nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a pylon or strut and the engine is know ...
s to enable it to float to the surface. As the cockpit instruments short-circuit and burst into flames, Gordon mounts the fuselage with a handheld laser and cuts a hole in the windshield, freeing the crew. Virgil airlifts the crew to safety, and Gordon escapes in ''Thunderbird 4'', moments before the Fireflash is destroyed in a series of explosions. Air chiefs agree that the source of the Fireflashes' trouble lies in their wing hydraulics. Realising that another test flight is needed, Jeff contacts Commander Norman and recommends that ''Thunderbird 2'' accompany the aircraft so that if the fault re-occurs, International Rescue can respond. The Fireflash takes off, piloted by Captain Hanson and Scott and flanked by ''Thunderbird 2''. Within minutes, the elevator power unit and other systems fail and the airliner begins to plunge towards the ocean. Hanson and Scott open a service hatch and Virgil steers ''Thunderbird 2'' underneath the Fireflash, allowing Gordon to winch himself aboard. He finds that the elevator power unit cables have been cut, at which point the saboteur seen parachuting into the ocean comes out of hiding armed with a handgun. After a brief firefight, the saboteur tries to escape but is gunned down and falls out of the hatch. Moments before impact, Gordon presses the severed cables together, restoring power and enabling Scott and Hanson to pull the Fireflash out of its nose-dive. Within days, all Fireflashes are back in the air and the authorities have shut down the criminal organisation behind the sabotages. On Tracy Island,
Grandma Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maxi ...
complains of a blown fuse, leading to Gordon's skills in fixing broken electronics being called on once again.


Regular voice cast

*
Peter Dyneley Peter Dyneley (13 April 1921 – 19 August 1977) was an English actor. Although he appeared in many smaller roles in both film and television, he is best remembered for supplying the voice of Jeff Tracy for the 1960s "Supermarionation" televis ...
as
Jeff Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South ...
* Christine Finn as
Tin-Tin Kyrano Tin-Tin Kyrano is a fictional character introduced in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds''. In the original TV series and its film sequels, Tin-Tin is voiced by Christine Finn, while in the 2004 live-action f ...
and Grandma Tracy * David Graham as
Gordon Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South P ...
and Brains *
David Holliday David Holliday (August 4, 1937March 26, 1999) was an American Broadway actor and television voice actor. He is best known as the voice of Virgil Tracy, pilot of '' Thunderbird 2'', in the first series (26 episodes) of '' Thunderbirds'' (1965&n ...
as
Virgil Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South P ...
*
Shane Rimmer Shane Lance Deacon (May 28, 1929 – March 29, 2019), known professionally as Shane Rimmer, was a Canadian actor and screenwriter who spent the majority of his career in the United Kingdom. The self-proclaimed "Rent-A- Yank" of the British ente ...
as
Scott Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South P ...
* Matt Zimmerman as
Alan Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South ...


Production

The episode's working title was "The Test Crew". Intended as a direct follow-up to the first episode, "
Trapped in the Sky "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 Anders ...
", it sees the return of Fireflash as well as two of the earlier episode's guest characters, ''Fireflash'' pilot Captain Hanson and Commander Norman of London
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
.Bentley 2005, p. 27. The premise of aerial sabotage, with International Rescue having to fix a malfunctioning airliner before it crashes into the ocean, is similar to the plot of the feature film '' Thunderbirds Are Go'' (1966). In the film, the Mars-bound spacecraft ''
Zero-X ''Zero-X'' is a fictional Earth spacecraft that first appeared in two of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation productions, the film '' Thunderbirds Are Go'' (1966) and the television series ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons''. Althou ...
'' is threatened by a saboteur prior to launch and suffers a power failure during re-entry; the second incident requires
Alan Tracy The Tracy family are the main characters in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'' and its adaptations, set in the 21st century. Originating from the United States, the family live on Tracy Island in the South ...
to winch up to ''Zero-X'' and repair its electronics so that the astronauts can launch their
escape pod ''Escape Pod'' is a science fiction podcast magazine produced by Escape Artists, Inc. It proclaims itself "the world's leading science fiction podcast". The present co-editors are Mur Lafferty and Valerie Valdes. While episodes are free, the ...
before the spacecraft crashes into an evacuated town. "Operation Crash-Dive" is one of several early episodes that were extended from 25 to 50 minutes after
Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production ...
– APF's owner, who had been greatly impressed with the 25-minute pilot version of "Trapped in the Sky" – ordered the runtime doubled so that ''Thunderbirds'' would fill an hour-long TV timeslot. Most of the second half, in which International Rescue confront the saboteur, is extending material; the original shorter episode had no sabotage plot (the Fireflash disasters instead being caused by mechanical failures) and ended with Scott's return to base from the farm in Ireland. The additional material for "Trapped in the Sky" was filmed in tandem with this episode.


Broadcast

A two-part version, broadcast in some UK regions, included linking narration revealing that the Fireflash which sinks to the ocean bed is ''Fireflash 4'' – a designation not spoken in the episode itself. Some of the dialogue in the London Airport scenes was cut, as was certain material from the episode's half-way point, including the launching of ''Thunderbirds 1'' and ''2'', Scott's landing in Ireland and a scene in which Brains calculates the sunken Fireflash's position.


Reception

Rating "Operation Crash-Dive" three out of five, Tom Fox of ''
Starburst MicroPro International Corporation was an American software company founded in 1978 in San Rafael, California. They are best known as the publisher of WordStar, a popular early word processor for personal computers. History Founding and early su ...
'' magazine writes that the episode is slowed down by some of its technical dialogue and underwater scenes. Although he considers it "not the most gripping of episodes", he praises the
scale model A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...
work and special effects. Noting the reported 600 deaths aboard ''Fireflash 3'', Marcus Hearn describes such heavy loss of life as shocking for an episode of ''Thunderbirds''. Though conceding that the re-appearance of Fireflash potentially makes the story feel "mundane and repetitive", Hearn argues that "Operation Crash-Dive" was highly topical for the 1960s: he compares Fireflash to the accident-prone
de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet is the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It features an aerodynamically clean design with four ...
(the first commercial
jet airliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have twinjet, two or quadjet, four jet engines; trijet, three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Air ...
, which had several fatal crashes during the 1950s) and suggests that the resulting loss of confidence in British plane-making inspired the episode's sabotage premise. Hearn adds that the characterisation of the International Air Minister as a Frenchman (voiced with appropriate accent by Peter Dyneley) heralds the optimistic new era of
Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...
, a Franco-British collaboration which first flew in 1969.Hearn 2015, pp. 84; 86.


References


Works cited

* *


External links

* {{Thunderbirds 1965 British television episodes Fictional works set in the Atlantic Ocean Television episodes set in Ireland Television episodes set in London Thunderbirds (TV series) episodes Works set on airplanes