Tom Thumb Tempest

"Tom Thumb Tempest"
Stingray episode
Episode no.Episode 22
Directed byAlan Pattillo
Written byAlan Fennell
Cinematography byPaddy Seale
Editing byHarry MacDonald
Production code21[1]
Original air date28 February 1965 (1965-02-28)
Guest character voices
David Graham as Aquaphibian Butler & TV Newsreader
Episode chronology
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"Tom Thumb Tempest" is the 22nd episode of Stingray, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. Written by Alan Fennell and directed by Alan Pattillo, it was first broadcast on 28 February 1965 on the Anglia, ATV London, Grampian and Southern franchises of the ITV network.[1][2] It subsequently aired on ATV Midlands on 3 March 1965.[2]

The series follows the missions of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP), an organisation responsible for policing the Earth's oceans in the 2060s. Headquartered at the self-contained city of Marineville on the West Coast of North America, the WASP operates a fleet of vessels led by Stingray: a combat submarine crewed by Captain Troy Tempest, Lieutenant "Phones" and Marina, a mute young woman from under the sea. Stingray's adventures bring it into contact with undersea civilisations – some friendly, others hostile – as well as mysterious natural phenomena. The WASP's most powerful enemy is King Titan, ruler of the ocean floor city of Titanica.

In "Tom Thumb Tempest", Troy has a nightmare in which Stingray and its crew are miniaturised. The use of life-sized sets to convey the shrinking of the puppet characters has drawn a mixed response from commentators.[3][4] Fennell later authored a picture book based on the episode titled Stingray: Terror of the Giants (1993, Boxtree Ltd).[5]

  1. ^ a b Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4th ed.). London, UK: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.
  2. ^ a b Pixley 2022, p. 273.
  3. ^ Archer, Simon; Hearn, Marcus (2002). What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson. London, UK: BBC Books. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-563-53481-5.
  4. ^ Payne, Stephen, ed. (Summer 2004). "The Anderson Files". TV Zone Special. No. 57. London, UK: Visual Imagination. p. 35. ISSN 0960-8230. OCLC 438949600.
  5. ^ Pixley 2022, p. 275.