TV SERIES · 2015– · UK
Thunderbirds Are Go
29 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (29)
- #001
The "5-4-3-2-1 - Thunderbirds are GO!" countdown voice comes from the late Peter Dyneley, who was the voice of Jeff Tracy in the original Thunderbirds (1965) TV series.
- #002
As a tribute to the original series, an orange juicer can be seen on the wall in Thunderbird 1's launch bay.
- #003
David Graham reprised the role of Parker from Thunderbirds (1965).
- #004
The five Tracy brothers take their names from five NASA astronauts of the early 1960s "Mercury Seven" space program: Scott Tracy comes from Scott Carpenter; Virgil Tracy is named after Gus Grissom, whose real first name was Virgil; Alan Tracy after Alan Shepard; Gordon Tracy after Gordon Cooper; and John Tracy after John Glenn.
- #005
Facts about the Tracy family: Scott is the eldest and most experienced of the Tracy brothers and is brave and fearless in action; he is also the team's leader. Virgil is calm and level-headed and serves as the family's mediator; he is the eldest and strongest of the Tracy brothers and is skilled in engineering mechanics. John is known for being extremely patient, gentle and compassionate, possessing both great intelligence and, inherited from his talented mother, a talent for keeping cool. Of the whole family, Gordon is the funny one, which gives him a tendency to get into trouble. Alan is the youngest brother but the most naturally gifted pilot; he also enjoys playing video games, watching old Kung Fu films and doing research in Brains's laboratory.
- #006
When the first launch scene of Thunderbird One was filmed, two crew members had to get under the set and slide the swimming pool backwards. They needed three attempts to do it without splashing water everywhere.
- #007
During the credits at the end of each episode, one of the images shows an artist's sketch of the Tracy Island lounge, but on the wall there are five portraits from the original 1960s series rather than new portraits.
- #008
The series premiered 11 years after the 2004 feature film and 50 years after the original series, which aired in 1965.
- #009
Facts about the Thunderbirds machines: Thunderbird 1 travels at a maximum altitude of 150,000 feet and is one of the fastest rockets in existence, meaning it can reach anywhere in the world within an hour. Thunderbird 2, created by Brains to carry auxiliary equipment, can travel at a maximum speed of 5,000 miles per hour and a maximum altitude of 75,000 feet. Thunderbird 3 is a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) rocket designed to reach radical air speeds of up to 18,000 mph. Thunderbird 4 is a small but technologically advanced submarine; built by Brains for underwater rescue missions, the vehicle can travel at 160 knots. Thunderbird 5 is a stationary orbital space station located 22,400 miles above Tracy Island; Thunderbird 5 is International Rescue's communications and logistics hub and scans for potential threats and emergencies.
- #010
The water around the island was coloured with ten litres of blue food dye.
- #011
The Tracy Island model has 3,000 trees.
- #012
An average episode of Thunderbirds Are Go takes a year and a half to go from the script draft stage to being ready for broadcast.
- #013
Lady Penelope lives at Creighton-Ward Manor in Foxley Heath. In Lady Penelope's manor there is a Sherbert statue whose nose lights up blue when Lady Penelope is called.
- #014
Parker's full name is Aloysius Parker and he is 52 years old.
- #015
Unlike the original 1965 series, International Rescue does not use weapons in this remake, because their purpose is to save lives, not to take them.
- #016
The famous palm trees on Tracy Island are made from screws and palm leaves.
- #017
Behind the piano there is a hatch that can be opened to let the lipstick camera pass through for a different shooting angle.
- #018
Gerry Anderson, creator of the original series, had long planned to remake Thunderbirds (1965) himself but could not obtain the rights from ITV Studios. Instead he managed to remake Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967) as New Captain Scarlet (2005). In 2011 Gerry announced that he would try to remake Thunderbirds, but he then died in 2012. Thunderbirds Are Go was later announced in 2014 by ITV - Independent Television and has no connection to Anderson Entertainment, which made New Captain Scarlet.
- #019
It takes 110 people to prepare an episode of Thunderbirds Are Go. Pukeko Pictures manages roughly 12 miniature crew, 9 shooting crew and 65 production crew.
- #020
The model set of Tracy Villa was built in movable sections to make filming the scenes easier.
- #021
Season 1 of Thunderbirds Are Go featured 7 main vehicles and 43 secondary vehicles.
- #022
The series is dubbed in 17 languages: Arabic, Hebrew, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Turkish, Japanese, Russian, Standard Chinese (Putonghua/Mandarin) and Korean.
- #023
Brains's real name is Hiram K Hackenbacker.
- #024
200 3D environments were created for the series.
- #025
Kayo's full name is Tanusha Kryano. She earned the nickname Kayo while younger, during defence training, by knocking out (K. O.) her sparring partners. Source: "Thunderbirds are go IR official guide".
- #026
In the model of Thunderbirds Three and One's hangars, an extractor fan pipe was used for Thunderbird Three's launch tube, and "Kinder Surprise" egg cartons were used at the base of Thunderbird One's platform because they looked well painted.
- #027
A smoke machine is used to create the smoke during launch.
- #028
At the base of Thunderbird One and Two's launch platforms are round fire extinguishers. These were made in part from animatronic eyeballs as a nod to the original show.
- #029
Brains's favourite subjects are Trigonometry and Thermodynamics.
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