In Review: Thunderbirds Are Go – Attack Of The Reptiles

Synopsis: Gordon must rescue two TV documentarians from a mysterious valley full of strange creatures.

Review: When they receive a distress call from a guide in Africa that Buddy and Ellie Pendergast have not checked in as arranged. Gordon heads out in Thunderbird 1 to attempt a rescue, but when he gets there he finds that the area of the jungle is occupied by some rather aggressive giant lizards.

Truth be told. I was hoping for a bit more from this story insofar as maybe a few dinosaurs or prehistoric creatures, but instead, we got regular lizards that have been supersized as the result of an old project called orchard. Giant lizards are fine, but the big kid in me wanted to see Gordon and the Pendergast go up against a much bigger and nastier threat, but can see why the writers chose giant lizards. Dinosaurs would perhaps be a little too much for the younger end of the show’s audience.

It was fun to see Buddy and Ellie again. They’re always fun. Especially where Gordon is concerned given that he is such a fan.

The best sequence in this episode by far is during the closing five minutes in which Gordon, Ellie, and Buddy managed to repair a mini hovercraft and speed through the river while evading the lizards. The climax of this sequence ends with Gordon jumping the craft from one side of the river to the next. It was a move that Bo and Luke Duke from ‘The Dukes Of Hazzard’ would have been proud of.

The story is pretty basic, but it is the sequences where the group is being hunted by a bunch of determined lizards that makes it so much fun.

The final moments of the story end with the inevitable jokey scene with the family. And Gordon scared out of his wits by the new gift that the Pendergasts have sent him.

Overall. A lot of fun and some light relief from some of the more dramatic episodes we have had of late.