Gerry Anderson's creations have often prompted intelligent, thoughtful analytical explorations that unravel many aspects of their creative identities. From definitive behind-the-scenes accounts of their making to interpretive thematic deep dives that unbox such elements as storytelling, world-building and characterisation, these explorations are a complimentary reflection of the creative imagination that often went into making Gerry's worlds.

One such person who took a keen analytical interest in exploring Thunderbirds was legendary Doctor Who alumni Sophie Aldred, whose chosen topic for her dissertation whilst studying at university in the early 1980s was Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's classic 1965 Supermarionation TV series. As well as recently appearing on the Gerry Anderson Podcast, Sophie was kind enough to share her dissertation with us so that we can finally see what her long-fabled effort looks like!

Dissertations are go!

Thunderbirds Are Go! A Study of Gerry Anderson and Puppets on Television is a delightfully in-depth critical examination of the Andersons' space-age marionette heroes that blends tangible enthusiasm for the source material with intelligent thematic explanations of their place in the world of children's puppetry. Throughout the 51-page dissertation, Sophie explores the production histories and thematic identities of much of Gerry's creations up to the 1980s.

Sophie's dissertation compares and contrasts Gerry's Supermarionation works with the accepted definitions of what defined television puppetry throughout the 1950s and 1960s - and how the works of AP Films totally rewrote the rulebook on what could and couldn't be achieved with puppetry on the small screen. Sophie frames Thunderbirds as the focal point of her explorations while being careful to appropriately contextualise Thunderbirds as fully as possible, briefing the reader with a potted history of Gerry Anderson's career and AP Films' body of work leading up to Thunderbirds.

Sophie argues the case for Thunderbirds representing a gargantuan evolutionary leap forward in how children perceive puppet-based worlds of fantasy. This is made possible thanks to the technical advancements and financial successes realised from AP Films' previous efforts in producing science-fiction puppetry, and how Thunderbirds comes to represent a crystallisation of all that was learned from the likes of Supercar and Stingray. Following on from early, pre-Supermarionation efforts from others such as Andy Pandy and Bill & Ben, Sophie incorporates children's psychology, media analysis and historical accounts of AP Films in uplifting Thunderbirds as a stand-out example of children's television puppetry.

Exploring Fantastic Futures

Sophie's dissertation is split into five distinct sections - part one examines Gerry's puppetry career; part two contextualises Gerry's career from economic and technical viewpoints; part three looks further at other puppetry television and how they can be perceived by children; part four binds much of Sophie's historical analyses together with a cohesive breakdown of how Thunderbirds represents a technological and creative peak of television puppetry; part 5 investigates the intervening years between Thunderbirds' debut and the time of the dissertation's publication, which saw the Gerry Anderson fandom flourish.

Sophie's research places great emphasis on the evolutionary nature of Supermarionation as an art form. She explains not only how the medium quickly became utilised by AP Films to push the boundaries of what could be achieved with puppetry, but also acknowledges the tensions between how puppetry presents an inherently fantasy-based world within the mostly grounded and realistic universes crafted for the likes of Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet.

The research into the earlier years of children's puppetry acknowledges that while puppetry itself is a universal art form, television puppetry swiftly became the domain for younger audiences, personified by simple moral messages, distinctly unrealistic worlds and an attitude of cheapness to their production values. Sophie convincingly details how the Andersons' retrofuture worlds upset these supposedly unnegotiable trappings of how children should perceive puppet characters.

Interestingly, Sophie extends this idea of puppetry's inherent fantasy nature into Gerry's worlds. Thunderbirds' characters remain immediately identifiable for younger viewers to latch onto, especially the series' depiction of its heroes and villains. However, Sophie argues the case for Thunderbirds' futuristic world as maintaining, and indeed extending, the inescapable fantasy element so inherent in puppetry. Thunderbirds' world is rooted in a believable depiction of how society lives within advanced technology and engineering, but that 100-year thrust is where the fantasy element is derived from. 

Sophie's extensive and engagingly written research also taps into how Thunderbirds' moralistic stance engages its young audience, along with the visual thematic signifiers that children are equipped with to interpret the series with. The all-American Tracy family, the parody of British class stereotypes found in Lady Penelope and Parker, and the villainous menace of the Hood are all presented as surface-level stereotypes which children can easily identify with. Sophie's argument is that Thunderbirds isn't subtle in portraying who are the heroes and who may be the villains, and how such reptation becomes a source of security for viewers. 

Humour is another strong focus for Sophie's examinations of Thunderbirds. Characters in comedic situations is used as a comforting source for young viewers to be eased into viewing the series, something naturally provoked with characters like Parker or Brains. Stretching this further, Sophie taps into the live-saving heroism of International Rescue as another key thematic item that younger audiences identifies Thunderbirds as having; again, wrapped in the context of what came before and after Thunderbirds and how rare this proves to be within the confines of children's television puppetry. No episode of Thunderbirds is permitted to conclude without International Rescue having saved a life. Sophie places heavy emphasis on these pinpoints of identifiableness as vital components for younger audiences' enjoyment of Thunderbirds.

Elevating Puppetry for Young Audiences

Sophie concludes her dissertation by exploring the lasting appeal of Gerry Anderson's creations with the flourishing of fandoms and the then imminent approach of 1983's Terrahawks, which would mark a return to puppetry for Gerry. Sophie's dissertation makes the resoundingly clear case that the puppet works of AP Films pioneered a fantastic evolutionary jump for what puppetry could achieve in terms of entertainment value and technological possibilities. Sophie's dissertation argues for television puppetry being gifted its most advanced and exciting portrayal in the form of Thunderbirds, thanks to the series' sophistication in production values, its science fiction leanings, life-saving optimism, and runaway merchandise success.

Sophie's enthusiasm for the eclectic nature of Gerry's career makes for infectiously enjoyable reading. Thunderbirds is the natural focus of her essay, but she gathers in all of Gerry's works in arguing her various points, constantly comparing and contrasting Thunderbirds with what came before and after. This allows her dissertation to bear a confident, wide-reaching authority that never loses its razor-sharp focus on prizing open what many consider to be Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's greatest creation. 

Her essays concludes with the tantalising speculation that the possible success of Terrahawks may prompt a new slew of Supermacromation programming that would inspire young 1980s kids in much the same manner as Supermarionation did for the 1960s generation. While that future didn't quite come to pass, Thunderbirds Are Go! A Study of Gerry Anderson and Puppets on Television is a superbly researched and written celebration of Thunderbirds and Supermarionation's historical achievements in elevating television puppetry for young audiences.

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