Earlier this week, we looked back on the recently departed David Graham’s incredibly versatile line-up of classic characters who he contributed to the worlds of Gerry Anderson. Each series he performed in, from Four Feather Falls to Thunderbirds, gave him ample room to showcase his vocal talents, but the cinematic level of Thunderbirds resulted in David being given the largest platform yet to perform as a far-reaching selection of wonderfully distinct characters.
This Thunderbirds Thursday, we’re celebrating David’s Thunderbirds characters!
“You Rang, M’Lady?”
David’s two most famous roles in Thunderbirds, and indeed his entire acting career, were Lady Penelope’s faithful butler and reformed cockney criminal Parker and International Rescue’s chief engineer Brains. Alongside these popular roles, David also voiced Thunderbird 4 aquanaut Gordon Tracy and the Tracy family’s loyal manservant Kyrano. All four of these characters boast quite different personalities and roles in the series and thus demanded distinctly separate vocal performances from David. Undeterred, David regularly rose to the challenge of making each of these main heroes sound uniquely separate from each other.
As we’ve previously explored, Parker imbued Thunderbirds with a welcome sense of humour, from his personality to his physical appearance. It’s little wonder that he and Lady Penelope eventually take dominant roles in many of Thunderbirds‘ later episodes – Vault of Death, The Duchess Assignment, The Cham-Cham, and Lord Parker’s ‘Oliday are just a handful of noteworthy highlights. David portrays Parker with a robust yet amusing slyness which gives the character the constant impression of treading the line between reformed spy-fi hero and slipping back into his safecracking ways.
Elsewhere, David plays Gordon with a bright, infectious enthusiasm that goes the extra mile in capturing his personality as the joker of the Tracy brothers. Even if we may not see that side of Gordon’s character too often throughout the series, we certainly hear it, thanks to David’s believable vocal characterisation. Kyrano is another of the lesser-seen members of Thunderbirds‘ core cast, but still carries an identifiable stamp within the series’ ensemble cast. David portrays him with a disarming modesty that gives way to a palpable vulnerability whenever the poor servant is overtaken by the violently hypnotic powers of his enemy half-brother, the Hood.
Brains proved to be another technically demanding challenge to bring to life as a convincing personality. The man responsible for designing the incredible Thunderbirds machines fulfils the standard role of being the series’ scientific brainbox, echoing past characters Professor Beaker from Supercar and Professor Matic from Fireball XL5 – two roles also performed by David. In Brains, however, David tones down the comical exaggeration that defined those two earlier boffin stereotypes and plays a far more introverted character. His trademark stammer serves as a giveaway to his insecurities rather than a carryover of the humorous quirks of Beaker or Matic. Intriguingly, Brains’ stutter would lessen over the course of Thunderbirds‘ run.
A key episode for Brains’ development is Day of Disaster, in which Brains feels compelled to act when the Martian Space Probe rocket collapses into a river as it’s being transported across the poorly maintained Allington Suspension Bridge. In a remarkable leap forward for Brains, he attempts to take command of the rescue operation whilst maintaining his secrecy of being a member of International Rescue. Brains being so obviously out of his depth here is effectively played out through David’s performance, effortlessly capturing Brains’ stumbling attempts to muster the confidence that comes so naturally to the Tracy brothers. It’s a heartfelt performance that draws out some welcome empathy towards the otherwise reserved Brains.
Villains, Spies & Inventors
Aside from his regular characters, David portrayed an eclectic line-up of other heroes, villains, spies, rescue victims and more minor players that highlight his impressive vocal range. Nearly every episode of Thunderbirds sees David slip into a fleshed-out guest character, either alongside any one of his regular roles or in place of them. These include the steadfast Fireflash pilot Captain Hanson (Trapped in the Sky), the menacing leader of the Zombites (The Uninvited), the stuffy-minded Lambert (Vault of Death), the dangerous Gomez (Move – And You’re Dead), the scheming Warren Grafton (Brink of Disaster), long-suffering cameraman Joe (Terror in New York City), the villainous General Bron (Edge of Impact), deadly criminal mastermind Carl (The Man from MI.5), the treacherous Culp (Attack of the Alligators), the deceitful Olsen (The Cham-Cham), and the amusingly perplexed Crablogger inventor Jim Lucas (Path of Destruction).
Clearly then, David could be called upon to breathe life into an unpredictable assortment of characters. Whatever personality or characteristics would be required, David could regularly be relied upon to deliver a memorable and committed performance. Not forgetting the other talent cast members of Thunderbirds, the equally multi-talented Ray Barret could conjure a range spanning the friendly, reassuring style of John Tracy to the utterly evil tones of the Hood, whilst Jeff Tracy’s own Peter Dyneley could whip up a convincing assortment of British accents.
It’s usually a disservice to pinpoint the impact of a hit TV series on any one individual, since television demands a small army of people to create a successful production. But in the case of Thunderbirds, so much of the series’ personality and enthusiasm for creating likeable heroes and brilliantly dastardly villains comes down to the series’ exceptional cast, which includes David Graham. His talents for creating such a wide variety of brilliant roles, from the comically absurd to the dramatically compelling, remain just one but still vital component of Thunderbirds‘ long-lasting popularity.
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