Season 1 2007

'Stand By For Action' takes an in depth look at the career of the legendary Gerry Anderson, creator of Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO, Space 1999 and many many more. Features interviews with the people who brought his ideas to life as well as Anderson himself.

This programme looking at the work of the legendary Gerry Anderson, is the second in a two part series especially commissioned by Pinewood Studios based cable and satellite channel Film 24.

Gerry Anderson is known to generations of both children and adults alike throughout the world, as the producer, director and writer, famous for his many futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes.

He entered the British film industry as a trainee with the Colonial Film Unit, later directing several television series. However he is probably best known for the great success he achieved with adventure series that combined a range of popular puppet characters with technologically advanced hardware and special effects.

Among the best known are Fireball XL–5 (1961), Thunderbirds (1964–6), Captain Scarlett and the Mysterons (1967), and Terrahawks (1983–4).

Importantly he also branched out into live action series with human actors, such as UFO (1970-1), The Protectors (1971), Space 1999 (1973–6), and Space Precinct (1993–5).

In this programme Gerry talks about his move into live action starting with UFO, which was Anderson's first totally live-action TV series. It moves on through his live action work in the 70's, including an interview with Catherine Schell who played Maya in Space 1999.

After a low point in the late 1970's, both personally and financially the programme then looks at his 1980's resurgence with Terrahawks, which marked Anderson's return to working with puppets, albeit highly sophisticated glove puppets. This includes interviews with the actor/actresses who provided the original voices of some of the characters in the series.

The 1980's culminated for Anderson with his co-production of the cult stop-motion animated series Dick Spanner, which enjoyed many showings on Britain's Channel 4 in the late eighties and early nineties.

In the 1990's the cult appeal of Thunderbirds found a new audien