Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide - Revision history

Sue: Undo revision 141968 by Sue (talk)

2018-04-11T12:50:29Z

Undo revision 141968 by Sue (talk)

Sue at 12:49, 11 April 2018

2018-04-11T12:49:15Z

Sue at 12:49, 11 April 2018

2018-04-11T12:49:00Z

Sue at 09:56, 17 September 2015

2015-09-17T09:56:02Z

Sue at 08:44, 29 August 2015

2015-08-29T08:44:03Z

Sue at 16:23, 25 August 2015

2015-08-25T16:23:59Z

Sue at 16:23, 25 August 2015

2015-08-25T16:23:03Z

Sue at 16:22, 25 August 2015

2015-08-25T16:22:51Z

Sue: Created page with "{{infoboxplain |title=Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide |reviewer=John Lloyd |genre=Confident Readers |summary=A quick but easy primer for the new, CG series of the global da..."

2015-08-25T15:31:24Z

Created page with "{{infoboxplain |title=Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide |reviewer=John Lloyd |genre=Confident Readers |summary=A quick but easy primer for the new, CG series of the global da..."

New review

{{infoboxplain
|title=Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide
|reviewer=John Lloyd
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=A quick but easy primer for the new, CG series of the global day-savers' dramas. While no Tracy Island, it might save the day as a quick gift.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=80
|publisher=Simon & Schuster Children's Books
|date=August 2015
|isbn=9781471124990
|website=
|video=6y2hFqgtjLk
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471124991</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1471124991</amazonus>
}}

It's time to admit that I am old. I remember the first series of ''Thunderbirds'' from Saturday morning kids' cinema – an episode of that, then a second-run film, both for a quid. They were only ten years old or so then, but at least that proved the franchise was durable. Nothing did that quite as much, however, as the news a couple of years ago that the Anderson estate was to allow a CG updating, bringing a new generation of people to the massed audience. Amid the usual worries about it losing everything that made it special, it actually did pretty well when it aired in 2015 – even with a breakfast time transmission slot. This small(ish) format hardback is, bar the annual, the very first chance to look at an official book concerning the series, and inasmuch as it inspired me to research the return, and certainly accept it as looking a worthy addition to the canon, it succeeds on all fronts.

It is of course much more attuned to the young reader than the nostalgic middle-ager like myself. It's snappy and quick but serves as background enough – there's a page on The Hood (boo), the Global Defence Force (yay) and of course the Tracy boys (er, much bigger yay). In fact they get several pages each – full profiles of their character, their uniform and its gadgetry, and the craft they use. The visual side to proceedings would be a lot better for a larger book, but the small format still allows for some decent design, and it's nice to see the ships from all angles.

If only there were room for those ageless launch procedures as well, but then several elements of the original series are absent due to the many changes made since. Lady Penelope is younger, there's no patriarch figure, Tin-Tin wasn't allowed to be used as a prominent name and became someone new… Everything flies, including a new jetplane and FAB 1, Parker's pink Rolls. The book also gives some clues as to how the series episodes will still zip along – for each craft we get a 'key mission report' which summarises a programme from the first half of the series, and ranges from location and what the adventure demanded to the lesson everyone learnt.

As regards lessons learnt from this book, like I say it certainly encouraged me to read around and learn more about the reboot, and bar a few of those changes I think I would accept it. This served as a fine advert then, but it does come as an Official Guide for the fan. To them I would say that there is little here that a decent magazine article would not really have covered, but the number of images and the design aesthetic is strong, so pictorially it's right up there. Also, there is not a welter of information for us to be guided about – this is not ''Doctor Who'' after all, but something that has still only existed in all iterations for three series and three cinema efforts. That depth will certainly grow, however, and books like this will be supplanted for the new generation of fans, who given the chance will grow up and alongside the new generation of adventures. While they're perhaps new to the series and while it itself is young, this is certainly a pretty good effort at bringing everything necessary to the reading public.

I must thank the publishers for my review copy.

If you are still focused on the original series, then the much-missed comic strips have been collected in five books, starting [[Thunderbirds Comic: Volume 1 by Gerry Anderson and Frank Bellamy|here]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1471124991}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1471124991}}

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[[Category:Entertainment]]

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 {{competition
 |prize=a copy of ''Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide'' and other goodies
-|text=Five people will win a copy of the book, plis two other Thunderbird books AND an official Thunderbirds bag.  For your chance to win just answer the following question:
+|text=Five people will win a copy of the book, plus two other Thunderbird books AND an official Thunderbirds bag. (You can see a picture below.) For your chance to win just answer the following question:
 What is the surname of the Thunderbirds?
@@ Line 26: / Line 25: @@
 |date=16 September 2015
 }}
 It's time to admit that I am old.  I remember the first series of ''Thunderbirds'' from Saturday morning kids' cinema – an episode of that, then a second-run film, both for a quid.  They were only ten years old or so then, but at least that proved the franchise was durable.  Nothing did that quite as much, however, as the news a couple of years ago that the Anderson estate was to allow a CG updating, bringing a new generation of people to the massed audience.  Amid the usual worries about it losing everything that made it special, it actually did pretty well when it aired in 2015 – even with a breakfast time transmission slot.  This small(ish) format hardback is, bar the annual, the very first chance to look at an official book concerning the series, and inasmuch as it inspired me to research the return, and certainly accept it as looking a worthy addition to the canon, it succeeds on all fronts.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 {{competition
-[[image:Thunderburds.png|left]]
+[[image:Thunderbirds.png|left]]
 |prize=a copy of ''Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide'' and other goodies
 |text=Five people will win a copy of the book, plis two other Thunderbird books AND an official Thunderbirds bag.  For your chance to win just answer the following question:

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infoboxplain
+{{infobox1
 |title=Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide
 |reviewer=John Lloyd
 |genre=Confident Readers

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-{{infoboxplain
+{{infobox1
 |title=Thunderbirds are Go Official Guide
 |reviewer=John Lloyd
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 |date=August 2015
 |isbn=9781471124990
 |video=6y2hFqgtjLk
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471124991</amazonuk>
+|cover=1471124991
-|amazonus=<amazonus>1471124991</amazonus>
+|aznuk=1471124991
-}}
+|aznus=1471124991
 It's time to admit that I am old.  I remember the first series of ''Thunderbirds'' from Saturday morning kids' cinema – an episode of that, then a second-run film, both for a quid.  They were only ten years old or so then, but at least that proved the franchise was durable.  Nothing did that quite as much, however, as the news a couple of years ago that the Anderson estate was to allow a CG updating, bringing a new generation of people to the massed audience.  Amid the usual worries about it losing everything that made it special, it actually did pretty well when it aired in 2015 – even with a breakfast time transmission slot.  This small(ish) format hardback is, bar the annual, the very first chance to look at an official book concerning the series, and inasmuch as it inspired me to research the return, and certainly accept it as looking a worthy addition to the canon, it succeeds on all fronts.