2025 marks many anniversary milestones of several classic Gerry Anderson productions: 60 years of Thunderbirds, 50 years of Space: 1999, 30 years of Space Precinct, 60 years of TV Century 21, and 20 years of New Captain Scarlet. However, another significant yet lesser-seen Anderson series also celebrates a noteworthy milestone - Four Feather Falls, which turned 65 back in February of this year!

2025 is also proving to be the year in which I'm finding myself reappraising many earlier Gerry Anderson series that I'd previously struggled to enjoy. We've previously explored my evolving relationship with Supercar, and how I'm finding plenty to love in its winning characters and low-key setting. By comparison, I'm still learning to appreciate the outer space escapism of Fireball XL5, a series I've often struggled to appreciate in comparison to the more sophisticated sci-fi adventure of Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet.

Now, I'm finding myself stepping back in time further still, specifically into a town where anything can happen - anything at all! In recognition of Four Feather Fall's 65th anniversary, let's explore how I'm finding myself being absolutely endeared by this infinitely charming series.

Another Exciting Adventure!

Four Feather Falls occupies a curious space within Gerry's filmography. Accepted logic tells us that his classic period didn't begin until 1962's Supercar, the first TV series produced by A.P. Films to be of the science fiction variety, while his pre-Supercar efforts are rather shunted off into their own genre. The children's fantasy of The Adventures of Twizzle and Torchy the Battery Boy are regarded as vital yet insubstantial and often badly surreal efforts that have their place in the history books, but are best forgotten.

Four Feather Falls then is a series that sits at a crossroads in-between the Roberta Leigh days and the later sci-fi/spy-fi heroes. Its status as a fantasy Western makes it quite distinct from what came before and what would come after. At the same time, the series' mild fantasy leanings and reassuringly heroic protagonist ensures that it serves as a connective link between the two key eras of Anderson's journey into puppetry. 

Four Feather Falls marks many huge leap forwards in the style of advanced puppetry that would make Gerry Anderson a household name in TV entertainment. Although the phrase 'filmed in Supermarionation' wouldn't appear onscreen until Supercar's second series, the series was the first Anderson production to employ the Supermarionation techniques of enlarged puppet heads housing electronic components that allowed their mouths to move perfectly in sync with their dialogue. It was also the first original puppet TV series from A.P. Films, now embracing their own creative concepts, based on an idea from series' composer Barry Gray.

All of this behind-the-scenes significance heaped upon the series makes it worth recognising as a vital precursor to the likes of Stingray and Thunderbirds. However, Four Feather Falls also remains a joyously watchable series in its own right, blending delightful characterisations straight from the townsfolk stereotypes of any classic Western without downplaying its darker, more moralistic and action-driven elements to its young audience.

Characters & Stories

The Western town of Four Feather Falls, set in the 19th century, is a mostly harmonious place to live, but it's often beset by trigger-happy cowboys, bandits, cattle rustlers, and other outlaws. However, the town is defended by its sheriff; the Tex Tucker. His four magic feathers atop his hat allow his guns to fire without him even touching them, as well as his dog and horse, Rusty and Dusty, to speak!

Where Thunderbirds would stretch A.P. Films' storytelling qualities by episodes being enlarged from 25 minutes to 50 minutes each, Four Feather Falls doesn't feel particularly lacking for its own episodes running a mere 12 to 13 minutes each. If anything, this stripped, compact window of storytelling ensures the episodes boast a lean consistency throughout the series. Stories often depict the comically inept duo of villains Pedro and Fernando cooking up some amusingly diabolical scheme to outwit the residents of Four Feather Falls, but Tucker's reliable heroism always saves the day.

Episodes such as Gunfight on Main Street or A Bad Name twist young viewers' expectations with a focus on grey morality of the series' guest villains, or even one-off characters who aren't bad guys at all, but simply through unfortunate circumstance must be taken into the arms of the law by Tex. Indeed, some of Four Feather Falls' more compelling episodes come from these one-off villains, who threaten more dastardly and intelligent schemes against the good people of the town than Pedro or Fernando could ever muster.

Western Effects

Four Feather Falls' ensemble cast and rogues gallery of passing-through outlaws capture the breadth of the series' ambitions to be an excitingly unique puppet Western. Indeed, it's striking to see quite a hefty cast in action in a pre-Thunderbirds series such as this, when the likes of Supercar and Fireball XL5 would employ a more intimate-sized cast, despite being double the length with their episode. Each and every character in Four Feather Falls is undeniably rooted in the tropes of Wild West storytelling, which enhances the appeal of witnessing this classically constructed Western scaled down in miniature form. 

Adding to that sense of excitement is the series' inventive special effects. Tex may be lacking in owning his own star vehicle ala Supercar or Thunderbird 1, but the series finds novel ways to enliven its Wild West adventure. A variety of hazardous locations, from unstable mines to raging waterfalls, harsh thunderstorms and unforgiving deserts, provide a thrilling backdrop for adventures to take place, as well as capture a grounded sense of location. Quickfire directorial and editing tricks are heavily utilised for gunfight sequences, coupled with convincing puppetry performances. It all adds up to a wonderfully well-thought out style of production that speaks to how committed A.P. Films was to producing quality children's entertainment.

The more I watch Four Feather Falls, the more I find myself being won over by its many charms in much the same way that Supercar continues to endear itself to me. Four Feather Falls is easy enough to appreciate strictly for its embryonic features that future Supermarionation productions would improve upon. However, with its unique premise and droll humour, it's hard to look down upon the series as a lesser production just because it comes before Stingray, Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet. Boasting sharp-witted scripts, delightful characters, inventive special effects, and authentic Wild West attitude, Four Feather Falls truly is the Western with a difference!

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