This is the big one. Not just the finale of The Secret Service but the end of an amazing decade for the crew of Century 21 Films in Slough perfecting the techniques of Supermarionation filmmaking. Once this episode was in the can, the puppet stages on Stirling Road closed for good on January 24th 1969 … until Thunderbirds returned to the trading estate in 2015 for the production of three episodes to celebrate its 50th anniversary, but that’s another story.
Tag Archives: The Secret Service Episode Reviews
The Secret Service – 12. May-Day, May-Day!
There’s a quite a bit to like about May-Day, May-Day!, and yet this is always the episode of The Secret Service I have the hardest time remembering anything about. That could be because it’s sandwiched between what are arguably two of the series’ standout episodes, School For Spies and More Haste, Less Speed. Or, it could be because the story is quite a run-of-the-mill assassination plot. Or, it could be that I’m getting forgetful in my old age.
The Secret Service – 11. School For Spies
On paper, School For Spies is an episode with no downsides. Father Unwin is up against a gang of crooks who also happen to be using the priesthood as their cover for sabotaging military equipment. One man of the cloth fighting many. It’s an intriguing dynamic. A version of BISHOP that works for the forces of evil. What could be juicier than that?! The head honcho is known as the Archdeacon for goodness sake! Talk about drama. So why was I left with a slight feeling of disappointment when the credits rolled on School For Spies? More precisely, why did I finish the episode feeling like I didn’t quite get it?
The Secret Service – 10. The Cure
When I was a youngster at the age of about 10, and I saw The Secret Service for the first time, The Cure was my favourite episode. I couldn’t get enough of it. I thought it was the funniest thing since sliced carrots.
The Secret Service – 8. Hole In One
Combining the naffness of golf with spaceships and espionage… that’s so Secret Service. I’ve always had a soft spot for this particular episode. I think Hole In One just does a lot of things brilliantly as far as hitting the right tone and doing something genuinely intriguing. I’ve mentioned previously how the writers were likely struggling to get the show’s lead, Father Unwin, into the heart of any heavy sci-fi or spy thriller plots. Well I think that now we’re past the halfway point of the series, it’s clear that they’ve worked out the types of stories they need to tell in order to balance all the bizarre elements of the series’ format nicely… and top security plans getting leaked via a golf course is a pretty perfect setup for The Secret Service if you ask me.
The Secret Service – 7. The Deadly Whisper
Some of you are probably looking at your episode guides for The Secret Service and scratching your heads in bewilderment right now. Only some of you though. Y’see, we have a bit of a problem. There are two different accounts for the so-called “production order” of episodes for The Secret Service. Some sources such as Chris Bentley’s The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide puts Recall To Service as episode seven, School For Spies as episode nine, and The Deadly Whisper as episode eleven. Others, such as the Filmed In Supermarionation website or Fanderson’s most recent episode guide put The Deadly Whisper as episode seven, Recall To Service as episode nine, and School For Spies as episode eleven. But which order is correct?
The Secret Service – 6. Errand of Mercy
Picture an episode of Supercar about Mike Mercury and the team at Black Rock flying medical supplies to the heart of Africa, traversing mountains, desert, jungles, and hostile enemy airspace in the process. Doesn’t sound that out of the ordinary does it? It’s a textbook action-adventure plot for Supercar. Would it be a storyline particularly out of place in a later Supermarionation show such as Thunderbirds or Joe 90? Maybe its a little pedestrian for those shows and would need further development, but its not out of the question. Now, to get to the rather laboured point, what about The Secret Service?
The Secret Service – 5. Last Train To Bufflers Halt
In my humble opinion, episodic television is at its best when each story can be easily summarised with the simple phrase, “the one with…” and immediately let us know which specific episode we’re all talking about. The sitcom Friends capitalised on this to the extreme by choosing “the one with” as the structure for its actual episode titles, but it’s a formula that can be applied to any good series. Thunderbirds has “the one with the Empire State Building”, or “the one with the alligators” and not a soul on the planet who’s seen the series would struggle to remember which episode is being talked about. It emphasises the success of the overall format that each episode can be unique, surprising, and easily distinguished, and it also demonstrates the strength and clarity of individual stories.
The Secret Service – 4. To Catch A Spy
To be completely honest, To Catch A Spy has always struck me as a pretty standard-issue episode of The Secret Service. Not outstanding, not poor, just okay. I can sense that there was great ambition behind some of the ideas it brought forward, but for one reason or another they weren’t delivered to the screen with much flare. The action-packed opening is vastly more interesting than the somewhat aimless and unsatisfying climax. For this week’s review, Pat Dunlop’s original script for the episode really will prove to be an invaluable asset towards unpacking how the episode was supposed to turn out, compared with what we actually got.
The Secret Service – 3. The Feathered Spies
Now then, this is where things start to get interesting. In my opinion, The Feathered Spies is The Secret Service starting to find its own voice. The blend of humour, quaintness, action, and intrigue all starts to balance out nicely with this episode.
Security Hazard 