Trapped in the Sky

"Trapped in the Sky" is the first episode of Thunderbirds, a British 1960s Supermarionation television series co-created by Gerry Anderson, which originally aired on ATV Midlands on 30 September 1965. The plot revolves around master criminal the Hood, who sabotages the brand-new Fireflash prior to its maiden flight. In its first operation, International Rescue must save the crew and passengers on board when it is found that the airliner is unable to land.

While scripting the episode, the Andersons drew inspiration from Gerry's experiences as a conscript in the Royal Air Force during the 1940s. The pilot received such a positive response at its preview screening that the production team complied with instructions of Lew Grade of distributor ITC Entertainment to increase the running time of all Thunderbirds episodes from 25 to 50 minutes.

Plot

Using his telepathic powers to communicate with his half-brother, Kyrano, from his hideout in Malaysia, criminal mastermind the Hood learns that International Rescue is set to start operations. Travelling to London International Airport, he places a bomb on board Air Terrainean's Fireflash, a new, hypersonic, atomic-powered airliner about to depart on its maiden flight to Tokyo. In a videophone...
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