Fortune sides with him who dares

'Little John' BlogDoll not to scale

Virgil Tracy, probably the most complex¹ of Jeff Tracy's five sons, is (or will be²) the pilot of Thunderbird 2. TB2 is the huge³ freighter that carries International Rescue's ingenious heavy engineering equipment⁴ in any one of the six interchangeable pods housed in its underbelly. I mention this because for Father's Day this year James gave me a beautiful Corgi diecast model of Thunderbird 2 (c/w the pod housing Thunderbird 4). And I absolutely love it.

Virgil (who was named after Virgil 'Gus' Grissom - one of  Project Mercury's Mercury 7 astronauts) arrived on our (still black & white) screens in 1965 as a fully formed 24 year old and is the second eldest, after Scott - TB1's handler. He was originally voiced by American actor David Holliday who himself was a rather talented individual - his CV comprises stints on Broadway including West Side Story & Don Quixote Man of La Mancha, and, closer to home, on British telly, Coronation Street (he played Tom Schofield, a great nephew of Ena Sharples!). It's not documented if Holliday also tinkled the ivories.

Virgil Tracy - Dangerous Game⁵

 

¹ A very physical character but also a gifted artist and musician (and as you can see above, a none too shabby lounge pianist).

² Thunderbirds was set in 2065, 100 years in the future.

³ TB2 is 250 feet long, stands 60 feet high and has a wingspan of 180 feet. It's fucking massive.

⁴ Including various magnetic grabbers and, every young boy's favourite, the Mole. 

⁵ Played, obviously, by the one and only Barry Gray.

 ★

Virgil (70BC-19BC)

Virgil Grissom (1926-1967)

David Holliday (1937-1999)

Virgil Tracy (2041-)

Second city?

Birmingham is one of those places; I want to love it, really I do. Maybe when they've finished building it I'll get to like it a bit more. Who knows, I can't see any sign of them getting anywhere near to completion; not in my lifetime anyway. I was over in the West Midlands purely for pleasure you'll be pleased to know. Standby for Action 2 - the music of Barry Gray - was at the Syphony Hall. Here's what went down at Stand by for Action 1 in 2022. Also, Baz & I did When Barry Met Johnny 2. This is what happened at When Barry Met Johnny 1. also in 2022.

I also took a few snaps, you won't be surprised to learn...

My Life in 10 Objects (#1)

I've been listening to recent reruns of the excellent Radio 4 series A History of the World in 100 Objects. It's a history of humanity through a myriad of man made objects of ancient art, industry, technology, and arms dating back to 9000BC. This amazing programme is presented by Neil McGregor from the British Museum who curates an incredible collection, and pulls in priceless artefacts as diverse as Hoa Hakananai's Easer Island Statue, relics from the Byzantine Empire, Moche warrior pots and a Japanese bronze mirror from the 12th century. A truly epic series broken down into one hundred 15 minute nuggets. Absolutely riveting. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I only wish I could say the same for this new mini series of my own. My Life in 10 Objects is, I've got to be honest with you, far from riveting. Seriously; I don't even know how I have the temerity to even mention the Director of the British Museum in the same sentence as this cheapskate version of Mr. McGregor's award winning series that took four years to research. But, hey, what are you gonna do?

My life on this planet, such that it is, has seen men walk on the moon, the Beatles, punk rock and more internet porn than you can shake a shitty stick at. So how does a child of the 60s condense nearly six decades of love, life and happiness (mostly) into a clutch of objects that probably wouldn't even fill an average size suitcase? Good question. The items I have chosen are a hotchpotch of the everyday mingled with stuff that I turn to only occasionally but are every bit as poignant/important to me. And no, I haven't got anything in there as mundane as my car (or even my car keys) or my phone or my favourite winter coat; though my list of also rans at the end of the series that didn't quite make the cut will include, I'm sure, all sorts of flotsam and jetsam that help make up my dodgy DNA.

Today's inaugural offering is an item that despite me knowing exactly where in the house it resides, I tend to only seek it out when I allow my mind to wander; specifically when it wanders back to one of my earliest exposures to television. So between Watch with Mother (when I'd be around five) and Doctor Who (I was all of seven when I first encountered Patrick Troughton) came Captain Scarlet. Quite how the colours of all the characters who worked for Spectrum were ever conveyed through the medium of a black and white telly is something of a mystery, but as a very impressionable six year old I'm convinced I could see that Captain Scarlet was indeed wearing a shiny red uniform and that Captain Blue's was, er, blue. It must have had something to do with all the merchandise around at the time - TV21 comics, action figures and the like.

Pride of place in my 1967 bedroom, however, was given over to a Spectrum wallet. Pictured here you can see it came in a striking scarlet livery and, most importantly, contained a driving licence (a full ten years before I got behind the wheel of my Vauxhall Viva), permitting me to drive both a Spectrum Patrol Car (the sporty red one) and a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (SPV - the one you drove whilst facing backwards). I probably wasn't cognisant of the fact that opportunities to drive such vehicles in Kingston-upon-Hull in the mid-1960s were few and far between; but that didn't shake the notion in my mind that I could walk into a back street petrol station, show my licence to the owner who would then point me in the direction of a dilapidated out building wherein would be parked one of the above mentioned vehicles. Equally important information was contained within this magical document too: a short Bio of each spectrum member beneath a passport style photo. Scarlet, for instance, was actually Paul Metcalfe in real life; not surprisingly he hasn't even been born yet - his date of birth is given as December 17, 2036 in Winchester, England.

Funnily enough I've dug this wallet out more times during the last three months than I have my 'real' wallet; it still contains the same tenner in there and trusty pieces of plastic that I went into lockdown with.
The woman in the spine must have finished that book by now.

Full Speed Ahead

Gordon Tracy; pilot of T4 (2043-)

Despite assurances from many Beatles scholars to the contrary, I can't shake the notion that - even if only in a subliminal way - the idea for Yellow Submarine came from Thunderbirds. Thunderbird 4 - first seen on UK television screens* in 1964 - is yellow, and is a submarine. Step forward Gerry Anderson and take your rightful place in Beatles history. 

However, since Anderson passed away in 2012, it will probably be simpler for Macca to 'come out' and be ingratiated into the extended Tracy family. Full speed ahead.

* I am aware that TV in this country at the time was black and white, but Thunderbird merchandising, though in its infancy, (comics, toys etc.) was still a thing.

Captain Scarlett*

*Two Ts on the Scarlett

My great niece Scarlett, 4, is something of a TV star. She's currently the face of Channel 4's 'Old People's Home for Four Year Olds'. Scarlett lost her mother last year to cancer and is currently finding new friends in all sorts of places - Old People's Homes, ITV studios - even Eamonn Holmes wants to be her friend.

Her father Tim, who also doubles up as Nottingham's Robin Hood, is doing a fabulous job of bringing her up on his own. And through the sadness, as well as keeping the memory of Scarlett's mum, Sally, alive, Tim is keen for her to appreciate just how special Gerry Anderson was, not least his 1967 creation, and Scarlett's namesake. 

Can you pull a few strings?

Could this seat be any bigger?

He doesn't walk like a Thunderbird puppet

Yesterday was kind of special: I'd got tickets for Thunderbirds Are Go at Broadway Cinema including a pre-screening Q&A with the late Gerry Anderson's son, Jamie.

There's something about sitting on the front row at the pictures - if it's good enough for Jamie Anderson and Scott Tracy, then it's certainly good enough for me. Scott was very quiet all afternoon, however Jamie was more articulate; he told me afterwards it was the first time he'd ever seen the film on the big screen.

Knee high

I also asked him how cool it must have been as a kid to have Gerry Anderson as your dad. "Kind of," he said, "But, between the ages of 11 and 16, never a day went by without someone at school asking me why I didn't walk like a Thunderbird puppet." A small price to pay, I'd have said.

Pulling rank

Someone else is pulling his strings

                       
                        * Penchant for lead piping: 2%

                        * Fear of Mysterons: 100%

                        * Mistaken for Nick Lowe: 77%

                        * Getting jiggy in the Drawing Room: 4%

                        * Eponymous pub in Leeds: 0%

                        * Scoring Lady Penelope's phone number: 99%

His head sits atop a pawn

 * Penchant for lead piping: 98%

 * Fear of Mysterons: 1%

 * Mistaken for Nick Lowe: 0%

 * Getting jiggy in the Drawing Room: 100%

 * Eponymous pub in Leeds: 99%

 * Scoring Lady Penelope's phone number: 3%

Ahead of his time

 Lieutenant Green: minus 29 today

Lt. Green. Born January 18th., 2041, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Unmarried - real name Seymour Griffiths. British Subject.

The severely underrated Barry Gray and his deft scores complimented Gerry Anderson's world of Supermarionation perfectly. This piece is no exception; I'd be very surprised if funkmeisters such as Craig Charles, those fine people at Blow Up or Mondo haven't played this to death at sometime or other. 

Barry Gray: White As Snow
 

Time shifting

Doing anything for Christmas? I'm time shifting. Trawling through the Radio Times double ish is never easy at the best of times, but, once I've established what's on BBC Radio 4, 4X, 3, 6, 2, Ulster (Gerry Anderson) and Wales (Rhod Gilbert), I'll be able to sort out my holiday podcast listening. I shan't be bothering with the telly - too many box sets to wade through.

If I don't see you before, have a good one.

Spun Off

Parker and Light Fingered Fred discuss going it alone

TV spin-offs generally fall into two camps. They're either runaway successes that leave the mothership without a backward glance. Or they fall flat on their arse with ensuing death threats to the writers and actors, even The Radio Times. We all know the good guys - Frasier (from Cheers), Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (The Day Today) Parsley (The Herbs) to name but three. And the baddies - Going Straight (Porridge - what were Clement and Le Frenais thinking?), Charles Endell Esq. (Budgie - probably the only time Keith Waterhouse took his eye off the ball), The Pebbles And Bam Bam Show (The Flinstones), Joey (Friends) and so the list goes on.

But I think the filing cabinet should have two more drawers; the writers (sometimes) give us a brief glimpse of what could have been: Matt Groening knew that Chief Wiggum could have gone the distance - we all remember The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase and the all too brief Wiggum PI. And then there's the bottom drawer. Spin-offs that were only ever made in our heads. My candidates for this treatment would include the identically dressed Howard and Hilda from Ever Decreasing Circles who would often leave dinner parties early to listen to The Shipping Forecast. I'd also pluck the two hapless Detectives from The Beiderbecke Trilogy who, with the help of Alan Plater, were given some fabulous lines. But, if push came to shove, my first choice would be Light Fingered Fred - Parker's jailbird buddy from Thunderbirds. Gerry Anderson gave the blundering con enough pathos to guarantee ratings week in week out, if he'd have so wished. In fact I'd have put the pair on at The National in Waiting For Godot. Well they gave it to Rick and Vivian, didn't they? Sorry, Mayall and Edmondson; who were, in turn, spin offs themselves.

Mark Saber

I'd never heard of Mark Saber until very recently. Saber was a one armed private eye who spoke in that clipped English accent you always heard on the BBC during the post-war years and beyond. He was actually played by a South African actor by the name of Donald Gray (who had lost an arm during WW2) and Saber (later Saber of London) ran for 155 episodes in the UK from 1955-1961.



But it is for Captain Scarlet that Gray is probably best known - he was the voice of both Colonel White and Captain Black and The Mysterons. Like fellow actors Francis Matthews, Ed Bishop and Cy Grant (Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green respectively) two weeks of instantly forgettable voice-over work in 1967 for Gerry Anderson would live with them for the rest of their lives. Although Gray died in 1978, according to my Spectrum passport, Colonel White hasn't even been born yet! Charles Gray (coincidentally the name Donald Gray would adopt later in his acting career) will be born July 14 2017 in London!

Stick around.