City of Fire
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| “City of Fire” | |
|---|---|
| Thunderbirds episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 15 |
| Written by | Alan Fennell |
| Directed by | David Elliott |
| Original airdate | 6 January 1966 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "The Mighty Atom" | "The Imposters" |
| List of Thunderbirds episodes | |
- See also: City on Fire
"City of Fire" is the 15th episode of the first season of the Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds. It was the 3rd episode to be produced. Its original air date on ATV Midlands in the United Kingdom was 6 January 1966. It was written by Alan Fennell and directed by David Elliott.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
A fire traps a family in the basement of a new shopping tower. With the help of Brains's risky new cutting gas, can International Rescue save them before the remnants of the building cause the roof to collapse?
[edit] Plot
On Tracy Island, an experiment goes badly wrong when Scott and Virgil pass out while testing new, fast-working oxyhydnite cutting gas developed by Brains. However, they soon recover, Brains stating that although the gas entered Scott and Virgil’s bodies through the pores, there is now no trace of it left in their bloodstreams.
Meanwhile, Joe, Blanche and Tommy Carter have travelled to the newly-constructed Thompson Tower, a 350-storey self-contained city and shopping complex. However, while they try to locate the monorail that will transport them from the underground car park to the tower, a young woman driver crashes her vehicle in the car park, causing an explosion that is picked up by Thompson Tower Control. Closing bulkhead doors to contain the ensuing fire to the basement, the Controller’s assistant inadvertently traps the Carters in a lower-level corridor, while the fire spreads to the tower through a vent. With the knowledge that the fire department cannot restrain the blaze and that three people are trapped underground, the Controller radios International Rescue for help. Jeff dispatches Scott in Thunderbird 1 and Virgil in Thunderbird 2 to the danger zone.
In the basement, the Carters begin to feel the effects of smoke inhalation. Meanwhile, Scott arrives at Thompson Tower Control to hear that the rest of the building has now been completely evacuated, but the tower collapses shortly before Virgil arrives. Scott and Virgil agree that they will have to risk using Brains’s gas if they are to reach the Carters before the basement roof collapses with the weight of the rubble.
While the roof begins to crack, Virgil drives the Firefly out of Thunderbird 2’s pod to clear an area in the white-hot wreckage. Joining Scott in the Mole, the brothers then bore their way underground and emerge in the nearest possible corridor to the Carters. Cutting their way through the steel bulkhead doors using the gas, Scott and Virgil are surprised to find that they are suffering no ill effects. Finally reaching the family, they find Blanche and Tommy unconscious and Joe on the brink of collapse. Loading them quickly onto their hoverbikes, they make a speedy getaway just as the roof caves in, accomplishing their mission.
Back on Tracy Island, Brains deduces that the heat in the corridors must have dispersed the gas before it could harm Scott and Virgil, and decides to store it in electrically-heated gas cylinders to make it safe for future use. Meanwhile, as Tin-Tin reads aloud a newspaper article praising International Rescue’s bravery, the woman driver who caused the Thompson Tower blaze criticises the dangerous driving of another motorist, much to the feigned empathy of her long-suffering husband.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Regular Voice Cast
- Jeff Tracy — Peter Dyneley
- Scott Tracy — Shane Rimmer
- Virgil Tracy — David Holliday
- Alan Tracy — Matt Zimmerman
- John Tracy — Ray Barrett
- Brains — David Graham
- Tin-Tin Kyrano — Christine Finn
[edit] Guest Voice Cast
- TV Reporter — Matt Zimmerman
- Joe Carter — Ray Barrett
- Blanche Carter — Sylvia Anderson
- Tommy Carter — Sylvia Anderson
- Woman Driver — Christine Finn
- Woman Driver’s Husband — David Graham
- Tower Controller — Matt Zimmerman
- Tower Control Assistant — David Graham
- Fire Chief — Peter Dyneley
[edit] Main Equipment
The vehicles and equipment featured in this episode are:
- Thunderbird 1
- Thunderbird 2 (carrying Pod 5)
- Thunderbird 5
- The Firefly
- The Mole
- Hoverbikes
- Helijet
[edit] Goofs
- Although the Thompson Tower is in the United States, a sign in the control centre features the British spelling centre rather than the American center.
- As he asks for an update on the fire appliances fighting the blaze, the Controller is voiced by someone other than Matt Zimmerman.
[edit] Notes
- "City of Fire" was the first episode to be produced that featured the Firefly (seen again in "Terror in New York City") and the Tracy hoverbikes (also featured in "Vault of Death", "Martian Invasion", "Cry Wolf" and "Attack of the Alligators!").
- The episode was serialised in issues 15-17 of Thunderbirds: The Comic by Alan Fennell and Keith Watson in 1992.
