Line #22 Recap/ThunderbirdsS1E1TrappedInTheSky


1	[[quoteright:188:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thunderbirds_trapped_in_the_sky_vhs_coverart.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:188:THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO.]]
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4	JustForFun/TheOneWith the plane that can't land. And also the Thunderbirds' first mission.
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6	The nuclear-powered hypersonic jetliner ''Fireflash'' has been sabotaged by the villainous Hood. Trapped aboard are hundreds of passengers, including Tin-Tin Kyrano, a member of a new organisation, International Rescue. With just hours before their radiation shields fail and the passengers and crew die of radiation poisoning, the fledgling organisation must race to UsefulNotes/{{London}} Airport in their Thunderbirds and find a way for ''Fireflash'' to land without detonating the bomb.
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8	Unbeknownst to International Rescue, the Hood planted the bomb with the intention of drawing them out, in order to take pictures of the Thunderbird craft. While he succeeds in taking the pictures, International Rescue's London agent, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and her chauffeur Parker, are able to intercept and destroy his car (and the film, at the same time) with their heavily-armed and bright pink Rolls-Royce.
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10	!!Thundertropes Are Go!:
11	* AnonymousPublicPhoneCall: The Hood uses a public call box to inform the airport control tower that a bomb has been planted in the landing gear of the ''Fireflash'' aircraft. He wears a mask to disguise his face while he makes this call.
12	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Mostly averted, with the bland name "London Airport" actually being accurate, since this was actually the name of Heathrow Airport back in the day. The dispatcher stating that the villain (the Hood) was now driving up the M1 towards Birmingham is a slight error -- though that motorway does head towards that city, you have to turn off onto the M6 before people would suspect you'd be heading that way for sure. He's also said to be heading in Lady Penelope's direction, although other behind the scenes literature claims that her stately home is in Kent (i.e., on the other side of London).
13	* AstronomicZoom: A shot of the Earth as seen from ''Thunderbird 5'' zooms in on England until we reach ''Fireflash'''s tail fin.
14	* AtomPunk: The dangers of nuclear power on ''Fireflash'' are recognised, but everyone seems to consider it an acceptable risk under normal circumstances.
15	* AwesomeButImpractical: ''Fireflash'' is an incredible piece of machinery even by modern standards, capable of transporting up to 600 passengers at a speed of Mach 6. However, a form of transportation that can potentially poison passengers via nuclear radiation if the shielding is not serviced every few hours -- to say nothing of what would happen if the plane should crash or be targeted in a terrorist attack -- would never be approved for public use.
16	* BattleButler: Parker guns down the Hood whilst driving FAB 1.
17	* BeigeProse: While out on their first ever rescue, Scott adopts a very militaristic style of communicating, dropping all unnecessary words from his sentences. Thankfully, he uses much more natural speech in all future episodes.
18	* BusFullOfInnocents: The Hood has mounted a bomb on the landing gear of the ''Fireflash'' airliner, knowing that International Rescue will come and save its occupants.
19	* ClimacticMusic: The sequence of ''Fireflash'' finally landing safely is accompanied by a score so tense and yet bombastic that it was used in every episode's introductory montage.
20	* ComingInHot: An interesting example as ''Fireflash'' makes a completely controlled landing approach with functioning landing gear... which it cannot use due to the bomb in its undercarriage.
21	* ContrivedCoincidence: Downplayed example. Tin-Tin (a member of International Rescue) just happens to be on the plane that the Hood (her uncle) sets a bomb on. Nothing comes of it, though, as once Tin-Tin's presence on the plane is established she is not even mentioned again.
22	* CoolPlane: ''Fireflash'', as described on the [[Series/{{Thunderbirds}} main page]].
23	** The TX-204 target carrying aircraft is an interesting design and plays a key role in the initial (and almost successful) rescue attempt.
24	* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: Virgil ends the episode with an adaptation of the theme on his piano.
25	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: There's plenty of it, though not necessarily to the episode's detriment:
26	** The arrangement to the opening theme is slightly different.
27	** This is the only episode where audio accompanies the preview clips.
28	** The Hood's clothes are different, being dressed more casually while in his hideout than in later episodes.
29	** Alan's voice sounds completely different in his one line of dialogue from how it would sound for the rest of the series. This is because it is spoken by Creator/RayBarrett as Matt Zimmerman had yet to be cast.
30	** International Rescue is portrayed as being more militaristic and formal than in future episodes.
31	** Lady Penelope's voice is a bit more hushed.
32	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: The Hood's psionic powers are introduced through these.
33	* HollywoodSkydiving: When Lieutenant Meddings falls out of the Fireflash at less than 6,000 feet, he has time to activate his reserve parachute and land safely.
34	* IncrediblyObviousBomb: The bomb was meant to be out of sight, buried in the wing, but still sufficiently obvious to be instantly detectable by the control tower's x-ray camera.
35	* MillionToOneChance: The odds everyone describes an officer's daring plan to board the Fireflash in midair to remove the bomb. As such, no one is particularly confident in it, and indeed it doesn't work.
36	* MissionControl: Scott takes on this role upon arrival at London Tower, relaying information to Virgil on the runway.
37	* TheMole: The first instance of the unwilling Kyrano filling this position.
38	* PoliceAreUseless: Against the Hood yes who would have gotten away with his snaps if not for FAB 1 blasting him off the road after the Police lost him. Notably averted with the London airport authorities who are shown as highly competent and doing everything possible to deal with the situation, they just lack the equipment to be successful.
39	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: When Virgil says "Mobile Control", David Holliday's natural British accent slips in, but he immediately corrects it when he says "F.A.B."
40	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The chief flight controller who listens to other peoples ideas and tries everything to save Fireflash (even if they seem ridiculous) and when a mysterious organization shows up out of the blue to help is quickly talked into at least letting them try and does everything he can to co-operate with IR. He also quite sensibly prioritizes the Fireflash passengers over mere property and tells the airport fire brigade to let the unattended aircraft burn so they're not out of position when Fireflash touches down.
41	* StuffBlowingUp: Elevator Car No. 3 spirals out of control and crashes into a parked airliner which instantly bursts into flames.
42	* TheTag: In the last scene, the doctor visits Tracy Island, and says he wishes he knew who International Rescue are, because he would like to shake them by the hand. Jeff then shakes the doctor's hand, and after the doctor leaves, turns to the others, and says that they're now in business. Virgil then [[TitleThemeDrop plays a few bars of the theme music]] on the piano.
43	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We see Tin-Tin board the ''Fireflash'', her figuring out that something is wrong, and Jeff's reaction to finding out she is on the plane that needs rescuing. She then disappears for the rest of the episode before being seen safe and sound on Tracy Island just before the credits roll.
44	* XRayVision: London Tower has a huge x-ray camera, apparently for confirming bomb threats. It's sufficiently advanced to get a nice, big, high-resolution shot, even though Fireflash is supposedly traveling at ''hundreds of miles per hour''.

Context Recap / ThunderbirdsS1E1TrappedInTheSky