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Thunderbirds is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It was their fifth series to be made using Supermarionation (a form of electronic marionette puppetry) combined with scale model effects sequences. Two series were made, totalling 32 episodes. Thunderbirds follows the exploits of International Rescue, a lifesaving organisation led by ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy. Its missions are carried out using the Thunderbird machines (one pictured), a fleet of five vehicles piloted by Jeff's sons. Thunderbirds premiered on the ITV network on 30 September 1965 and has aired in at least 66 countries. Widely considered the Andersons' most popular and commercially successful series, it has been praised for its effects, music and title sequence. A real-life search and rescue service, the International Rescue Corps, took its name from the series. Thunderbirds was followed by two feature films in the 1960s, a live-action film in 2004 and a remake, Thunderbirds Are Go, in 2015. (Full article...)