The Man From MI.5
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| “The Man From MI.5” | |
|---|---|
| Thunderbirds episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 17 |
| Written by | Alan Fennell |
| Directed by | David Lane |
| Original airdate | 20 January 1966 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "The Imposters" | "Cry Wolf" |
| List of Thunderbirds episodes | |
"The Man from MI.5" is the 17th episode of the first series of the Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds. It was the 20th episode to be produced. Its original air date on ATV Midlands in the United Kingdom was 20 January 1966. It was written by Alan Fennell and directed by David Lane.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
When top-secret plans for a nuclear device are stolen, the British Secret Service asks for International Rescue’s help in tracking down the criminal organisation responsible. Lady Penelope tries to lure the perpetrators out into the open - but then finds herself trapped on top of a bomb which will send shockwaves down the French Riviera.
[edit] Plot
At night, a diver, Carl, surfaces just offshore of a small harbour town on the French Riviera. Covertly boarding a pleasure yacht, he shoots the captain, Blacker, and then ransacks the cabin drawers. Extracting a can containing mysterious papers, he dives back into the water, attaches an explosive charge to the hull of the boat and quickly swims away.
Two MI5 agents, Bondson and Tidman, are approaching in another boat when the charge goes off and the yacht sinks in front of them. Diving down to the wreck of the ship, Bondson finds only Blacker’s body and no sign of the secret papers.
Later, Bondson contacts International Rescue. Jeff Tracy dispatches Lady Penelope to help him hunt down the men responsible for theft and murder. Having flown out to France in the Fireflash, Penelope meets Bondson at midnight in a clearing in the Forest of Digne. Holding him at gunpoint so that he cannot see her face, she probes him for information. Bondson explains that he was due to the collect the papers - top-secret plans for a nuclear device - the previous night, and that in the wrong hands the safety of the whole world is in jeopardy. With Parker training FAB1’s machine-gun on Bondson, Penelope leaves without confirming whether International Rescue will help or not.
The next morning, Penelope has taken the pseudonym of Gayle Williams and is based onboard her FAB2 yacht. She instructs Parker to tell the local press that "Miss Williams", a model, is determined to trace the culprits of the atrocity. This is later discovered by Carl as he reads a newspaper article. Cruising in a small boat to a boathouse, he puts on his diving equipment and swims to a submarine hidden on the seabed, where he informs his underlings, Ritter and an unnamed man, that he will kill Williams.
That evening, Penelope grants Parker the night off. After he has gone ashore to visit the Monte Carlo casinos, Carl boards FAB2 from his boat and holds Penelope at gunpoint. Irritated by her flippancy, he forces her to leave with him and together they sail to the boathouse. Once inside, Carl explains that he will trap her onboard the boat with a bomb. At 10 p.m., when it is remote-detonated from their submarine, the police patrol boat will be too preoccupied to notice them on sonar getting away with the plans. Carl allows Penelope to reapply her makeup while he enjoys a cigarette. Unbeknownst to him, she begins to use her mirror video-transmitter to sign to the International Rescue team on Tracy Island, but Carl impatiently knocks the device out of her hand before she can give Jeff much information. He then ties Penelope up in a chair and leaves. Penelope is eventually able to rock the chair over onto its side, within the reception range of the transmitter, and gives Jeff the full details of Carl’s plot. Jeff sends out Scott in Thunderbird 1 and Virgil and Gordon in Thunderbird 2 to the French Riviera.
With less than an hour before detonation, Scott uses Thunderbird 1’s sonar scan to locate the crooks’ submarine. Gordon launches Thunderbird 4 from Thunderbird 2’s pod and dives down to its vicinity. With just seconds left, Gordon drills through the hull of the submarine and knocks out Carl and his minions with tranquilliser gas before they can activate the bomb. While the patrol boat calmly speeds past, Scott makes his way to the boathouse to release Penelope. Meanwhile, Gordon accesses the submarine via the airlock and finds the missing plans intact in their can.
The next night, Penelope leaves the plans in a tree branch in the forest clearing for Bondson to collect. While driving away in FAB1, Parker sheepishly confesses that he got carried away at the casino and gambled away Penelope’s yacht.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Regular Voice Cast
- Jeff Tracy — Peter Dyneley
- Scott Tracy — Shane Rimmer
- Virgil Tracy — David Holliday
- Alan Tracy — Matt Zimmerman
- Gordon Tracy — David Graham
- John Tracy — Ray Barrett
- Grandma Tracy (no dialogue) — Christine Finn
- Brains — David Graham
- Tin-Tin Kyrano — Christine Finn
- Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward — Sylvia Anderson
- Aloysius "Nosey" Parker — David Graham
[edit] Guest Voice Cast
- Carl — David Graham
- Bondson — Ray Barrett
- Tidman — David Graham
- Fireflash Stewardess — Sylvia Anderson
- Ritter — Ray Barrett
- Second Crony — Matt Zimmerman
[edit] Main Equipment
The vehicles and equipment featured in this episode are:
- Thunderbird 1
- Thunderbird 2 (carrying Pod 4)
- Thunderbird 4
- Thunderbird 5
- FAB1
- FAB2
- Fireflash
[edit] Goofs
- Bondson tells Tidman and Lady Penelope that Blacker was shot five times. In fact, Carl fires six shots from his gun at the start of the episode.
- It is curious why Bondson is an MI5 agent when MI6 is more responsible for the United Kingdom's espionage activities overseas.
[edit] Notes
- Penelope wears the large orange hat that she sports in the opening titles of every episode.
- Brains tests a model submarine in the Tracy Island swimming pool which appears to be a miniature of the Hood’s 3E submarine featured in "Desperate Intruder".
- For the first and only time in the series, Thunderbird 2 descends to sea level to release Pod 4 - in all other occasions the pod is dropped onto the water.
- "The Man from MI.5" features the first launch sequence of Thunderbird 4 shown from inside Pod 4 - previously, it is only seen sliding down the launch ramp from the outside.
- The episode, especially the character of MI5 agent Bondson, was an attempt by the production team to emulate the popular James Bond film series. The episode was produced in late 1965, shortly before the release of Thunderball - the fourth official James Bond film - in December.
- Bondson made a guest appearance in issue 44 of Lady Penelope Comic in 1966.
- "The Man from MI.5" was serialised by Alan Fennell and Jon Haward in issues 24-26 of Thunderbirds: The Comic in 1992.
