Running Order of shows
Moderators: chrisbishop, Spectrum Strike Force
Obviously in the classic show - some episodes ought not to be shown before others, for example:
They can't be seen using the Mysteron Detector before it's been developed.
The episodes set in the Lunar bases and the Crystal power-source they discover there, have to follow an order.
But there are incidences where that seems to break down. Take the remarkable case of Symphony's hair.
In the opening credits it is long.
In Manhunt, it is long and bouffant.
White as Snow - long and plaited.
The Trap - a short bob.
Spectrum Strikes back - long again!
And that sequence of epsiodes is based on the information I have (from Chris Blake and Graeme Bassett's book ) about the original transmission order. I'm sure I remember seeing her with a long plait in another episode which was supposedly set after the cut.... (I think it is 'The Launching' )
So - was there ever an official running order that allowed a 'series' narrative to develop over the whole 32 episodes? And if so, was it an important part of the way the series was made? So that we lose something by seeing them out of order?
This is even more relevant to the new CGI series - which has yet to deliver all the surprises they have in store for us... If there is a series narrative, I think ITV should stick to showing the episodes in the order they were intended to be seen.
Maybe they will be presented in that order on the DVDs?
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Marion
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Winged Assassin was postponed, its original showing date being 11th September 2001. (!)
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Lenzar
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Scarlet Lady
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Lenzar
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Scarlet Lady
Lenzar wrote:Didn't the mysterons succeed in the end? I remember the guy (Director General of something?) getting into a plane which clipped the mysteron plane's overturned undercarriage, and crashing. Or was that still his decoy?
"Director General of The United Asian Republic".
Yes, it was the real Director General's plane that crashed. Ergo, the Mysterons succeeded, because of a freak accident.
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DartBrat701
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But has Melody Angel's magically changing skin colour ever been explained?
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The Secretive Bus
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The Secretive Bus wrote:
But has Melody Angel's magically changing skin colour ever been explained?
Your guess would be as good as mine!
My best guess would be, because of how the way the lighting on the various sets shines on Melody....for lack of a better explanation.
Case in point, she looks lighter-skinned in "The Trap" and then darker, in "Seek And Destroy".
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DartBrat701
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The Secretive Bus wrote:I'd imagine there is an order to most of the episodes, as even as late as some of those on volume 4 of the DVDs there's episodes in which Spectrum learns something new about the Mysteron.
Let's see if I've got this round the right way...the DVD order is original transmission order. The production order is different - Inferno was the final episode made, and (I think) Crater 101 was made after Dangerous Rendezvous..
Paul Maxwell (Grey) and Charles Tingwell (Fawn) leave after Shadow of Fear - presumably that explains their major roles in that episode. The DVDs put this episode later, and so Grey suddenly finds his voice again.
Another thing - the two end theme tunes. I think Fire at Rig 15 was the first episode to use it...
Here's the production order:
1. The Mysterons
2. Winged Assassin
3. Big Ben Strikes Again
4. Point 783
5. Manhunt
6. Operation Time
7. Renegade Rocket
8. White As Snow
9. Seek And Destroy
10. Spectrum Strikes Back
11. Avalanche
12. Shadow Of Fear
13. The Heart Of New York
14. Fire At Rig 15
15. The Launching
16. Lunarville 7
17. The Trap
18. Model Spy
19. Dangerous Rendezvous
20. Special Assignment
21. Place Of Angels
22. Crater 101
23. Expo 2068
24. Traitor
25. Flight 104
26. Noose Of Ice
27. Codename Europa
28. Flight To Atlantica
29. Treble Cross
30. Attack On Cloudbase
31. The Inquisition
32. Inferno
There's also ITC's recommended order, which I can't remember.
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Kinggodzillak
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I'm thinking specifically of the shots of a gutted Cloudbase rocking back and forth with black smoke swirling about.
Slightly off topic:
I also like - what I assume is - the sneaky shots of the back of the production set that they use for Captain Blue's 'escape' from the false Cloudbase in 'Inquisition'
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Marion
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Now Fireball XL5...they blew up their sets. And models. And everything.
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Kinggodzillak
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Paul Maxwell (Grey) and Charles Tingwell (Fawn) leave after Shadow of Fear -
Ah, so that would be why Captain Grey doesn't really appear in the second half of the series despite doing quite a lot in the first run of episodes? But surely Dr Fawn turns up in Attack on Cloudbase? Does he not have any lines?
One thing that's always bugged me: how come the episode order of "Thunderbirds" on the UK DVDs seems to be different to episode guides I've seen elsewhere? Like most lists seem to have "City of Fire" as episode 3 and state that Thunderbird 4 is first used in "The Mighty Atom" but both of those episodes are on our volume 4.
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The Secretive Bus
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The Secretive Bus wrote:One thing that's always bugged me: how come the episode order of "Thunderbirds" on the UK DVDs seems to be different to episode guides I've seen elsewhere? Like most lists seem to have "City of Fire" as episode 3 and state that Thunderbird 4 is first used in "The Mighty Atom" but both of those episodes are on our volume 4.
All the Anderson series appear to have three orders: the production order, the 'recommended ITC' order, and the original UK transmission order. Most releases adopted the ITC order as this was the most officially recognised order, used for episode guides and the such, and this was the order used in the first VHS releases of OCS (bar those episodes used in compilations). Fans took the trouble to search out the original transmission orders, which contradicted the ITC quite a bit for some series, and more recently, have been able to determine the production order with increasing accuracy.
Question is: which one of these three is considered the most valid?
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shaqui
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The Secretive Bus wrote: But surely Dr Fawn turns up in Attack on Cloudbase? Does he not have any lines?
Attack on Cloudbase, Fire at Rig 15, Flight to Atlantica, and Place of Angels. He made more appearances after losing his voice than he did when he had it...
But no, no lines. In fact, the only time he needed to be able to speak (Place of Angels) they gave his lines to Green, and just had Fawn leaning suggestively on the back of Green's chair. Ooh er.
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Kinggodzillak
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I remember that Marion and I tried to work quite some time back on a 'logic' episode order to put in the Archives, eventually. We took into consideration various discoveries made by Spectrum concerning the Mysterons, the development of weapons and use thereafter - or lack of use - uses of dates (which was the MOST difficult part), we pretty much came up with an interesting order thus far...
Other things having come up, I don't remember if we actually finished that listing... I must search for it (I certainly have it somewhere), and post it for your suggestions.
Chris
P.S.: I don't remember if we took into consideration Symphony's hair length!
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chrisbishop
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