The One With… the solar reflector.
An experimental solar power generator is badly damaged in a storm and the reflector is trapped in a position where it will blaze a beam of focused solar heat across the small Italian town of Montebianco, where Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward has taken her holiday. While International Rescue try to move the dish, Parker dons a fancy outfit and claims that he is "Lord Parker", who insists that the guests play bingo to distract and prevent them from leaving the hotel, should a fire break out.
- Artistic License – Physics: The reflector dish has a very short focal length, to focus sunlight onto a crystal at the end of an attached arm a few metres long. Beyond that focal point, the sunlight beam would diverge again and be completely harmless within another few metres. It is not a magical sunlight multiplier capable of creating a Beam of Death to destroy a town.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The solar power station has a cool design and can store enough energy during the day to continuously power the world's first solar town. Unfortunately, the tower it is on is so high as to attract every lightning strike within miles, which proves to be its undoing.
- Big Storm Episode: An interesting case as the storm itself poses no immediate danger to the townspeople. However, the reflector dish knocked down by the storm will destroy the town when the sun rises the next morning.
- Busman's Holiday: When Lady Penelope and Parker go for some well-deserved time off in an Italian town, of course a disaster would strike.
- The Cameo: Cass Carnaby, the piano player from Series 1 episode "The Cham-Cham", briefly appears during the dinner scene.
- Catchphrase:Bruno: It will be a great disaster.
- Contrived Coincidence: The solar reflector dish which was knocked down the side of a mountain by the storm just happens to land intact and pointing directly at the town, and on the night when Lady Penelope just happened to be staying in the local hotel.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Bruno, an employee of the hotel, is very superstitious and keeps claiming that the sun will have its revenge for the fact that people try to harness its power. His predictions almost become true when the damaged reflector threatens to burn down the town.
- A Day in the Limelight: This episode sees Brains actually go into the danger zone and perform the rescue operation himself, rather than just advising the Tracy brothers.
- Deadpan Snarker:Bruno: (to a clearly rain-soaked Parker) You'd better change, signor, before you flood the hotel!
- Disney Death: Brains apparently falls down in the avalance that also brings down the dish. Turns out it was just the isolation suit, which Brains complained was too uncomfortable.
- King Incognito: Played with; Parker pretends to be a British Lord traveling incognito since he fears the guests won't listen to an ordinary butler.
- The Power of the Sun
- Pink Elephants: Discussed by a clearly drunk man on a yacht when he sees FAB 1 zoom by on hydrofoils.
- Solar-Powered Magnifying Glass: Lampshaded: the reflector becomes a large version of this after falling halfway down the mountain.
- Smoke Out: Thunderbird 1 creates a smoke screen to block out the sun and buy Brains a little more time.
- Tempting Fate: Lady Penelope insists it's always sunny in the town they will visit, so she and Parker dress accordingly. When they arrive however, it's raining.
- Took a Level in Badass: Brains. Where in previous episodes his role was limited to just giving advice from the sideline, in this episode he actually goes into the dangerzone and performs the rescue operation himself.
- We Need a Distraction: Parker has to keep the guests in the hotel busy to prevent them from realising the danger and to keep them around, in case a fire needs to be fought. He does so by introducing the game bingo to them.
