History Series / Thunderbirds

** The team's engineer/scientist "Brains" is never called by any other name, excepting the episode ''[[Recap/ThunderbirdsS1E1TrappedInTheSky Alias: Mr Hackenbacker]]''. Given the episode's title, there is no guarantee that "Hiram Hackenbacker" is even his real name, and Brains may be layering codenames upon codenames.

* CigaretteOfAnxiety: During times of anxious waiting, characters are often seen with a cigarette between their fingers. Even the heroic members of International Rescue do this when their family members are in danger. [[Values Dissonance This was filmed in the 60s, after all.]]

* ClipShow: "Security Hazard" -- a surprisingly good one at that centering around a boy who snuck onboard ''Thunderbird 2'' after a rescue. Done well because the clips are cut and edited to put spins on the previous episodes so the IR team can impress the boy. For example, the "Sun Probe" episode clip is edited to suggest ''Thunderbird 3'' never got into a bit of a pickle after rescuing the probe. These cuts also give the viewers a hint as to how the episodes may have originally played out before the show was extended to an hour. This also averts one of the cliché standbys of Anderson series -- [[spoiler:many of them are prone to "it was all a dream" episodes (especially ''Stingray'', which had '''three'''), but here it's averted by the boy himself, after they've returned him home and he's gone to sleep, waking up and ''thinking'' that it was all a dream.]]

* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: This is how gunfights are usually ended in this series. It's an odd example: while the showrunners had no problem with the heroes shooting the villains to death in their vehicles, they would never let anyone take a bullet in face-to-face combat.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome
** International Rescue will never turn down a call for help, even if they put themselves at risk of being unmasked.

** International Rescue will never turn down a call for help, even if they put themselves at risk of being unmasked like in "The Imposters" and "End of the Road".
** Lady Penelope suffers from this in "Path of Destruction". She has to find the one person who knows the complex shut down procedure of the Crablogger, an atomic-powered logging machine that has gone out of control and now threatens to destroy a dam and explode, putting thousands of lifes at risks, before it's too late. But despite this, she still can't help but stop along the way to help the victim of a car crash.

* ChristmasEpisode: "Give or Take A Million". Which doubles as the last episode of the series.

** Another notable insert is during the ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' episode "Vault of Death", involving a close-up of Lady Penelope's black-gloved hand clicking fingers to pass the time, and distracting Parker from his stethoscopic safe-cracking.

* ChekovsGun: Is there a cool, unique vehicle in the first few minutes of the episode? Is everyone taking about what an amazing work of engineering it is? It's going wrong within a few minutes, and everyone is going to need rescuing from it.

* CharacterTitle: A common misconception is that the characters are known as the Thunderbirds. This carried over to the [[Film/{{Thunderbirds}} live action movie]] in which a teenaged Alan dreams of the day he will become "a Thunderbird".
** That said, the ''Thunderbird'' machines are just as much characters in the show as the puppets themselves.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The show is fueled with this

* CharacterTitle: A common misconception is that the characters are known as the Thunderbirds. This carried over to the [[Film/Thunderbirds live action movie]] in which a teenaged Alan dreams of the day he will become "a Thunderbird".

* VehiclePorn: The series is a celebration of futuristic technology. As such, the ''Thunderbird'' machines are as much main characters as the Tracy family. Each episode treats us to loving, slow shots of them -- at minimum -- taking off and landing. The Vehicles Of The Week get similar treatment, although only to start the excitement for them to explode spectacularly by the end of the episode.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: International Rescue have no official authority; indeed, they strive for total independence and anonymity. In the first few episodes, they have to work hard to persuade the authorities to let them help and are only permitted because all other options have been exhausted. But once they have established a name for themselves by saving every life entrusted to them, they are generally granted total control of a danger zone the minute they arrive.

* ChainedToARailway: Lady Penelope, in the appropriately titled episode, "The Perils of Penelope."

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: The Tracys. Penny, too.

* CatchPhrase: "F.A.B.", International Rescue's codeword for "yes". Fan theory is that it stands for '''F'''ully '''A'''dvised and '''B'''riefed. However, when asked what it meant, Creator/GerryAnderson replied, in an isn't-it-obvious sort of way, "Fab..."

* CatchPhrase: "F.A.B.", International Rescue's codeword for "yes". Fan theory is that it stands for ''''F''''ully ''''A''''dvised and ''''B''''riefed. However, when asked what it meant, Creator/GerryAnderson replied, in an isn't-it-obvious sort of way, "Fab..."

* CatchPhrase
** "Thunderbirds are GO!"
** "F.A.B."
** And to a lesser extent, Parker's "Yus, M'Lady".
** Brains' "Of course! Why didn't I think of it before?"