Instrument of Destruction-Parts 1 & 2

[Skybase Girl]

Thanks. Aegis, I have to admit that some of the technical stuff went over my head.

Did make me realise how difficult it must have been for the team to do. And here we all are picking everthing to bits !

Please get writing, as far as "Endgame" is concerned. I expect all of us budding NCS fanfic writers have lots of ideas as to what happened after "Dominion", but it would certainly be great to get an insiders point of view !

[Father Unwin]

I am a big fan of NCS and felt that Hypermarionation was the natural successor to Supermarionation with CGI models replacing the puppets and motion capture replacing the strings. Maybe one day Michael Grade will give the green light to Gerry for a new CGI Thunderbirds just like Sir Lew Grade did with the puppets back in the 60's.

Revisiting the NCS programme 2 years later, I have to say that one of the most distinctive features of NCS compared with any other tv show is the speed at which the plots move along. The way that seemingly impossible problems and situations are resolved within seconds can be quite breathtaking and disconcerting!

My point is that in other programmes these problems would be intentionally 'spun out' in order to pad out the show. This was certainly not the case with NCS where every episode seemed to have enough content and ideas to fill an hour long show.

Having said that, I feel that the episodes were too short and did not naturally fit into a half hour slot, even allowing for adverts. Maybe 20 episodes of 27 minutes would have been better than 26 episodes of 22 minutes each.

Anyway, here is my initial selection of 'plot accelerators' from IoD 1 and 2:

1. Spectrum (Scarlet and Blue) need to locate Captain Black and so his photo is fed into the Hawk network surveillance system. The FBI guy comes back right away to say that "We have spotted your man!" and away they go on their Skyriders.

2. Spectrum want to find out where the next McGill transporter carrying nuclear devices will be dispatched from (and hence where it is going to) and Lieutenant Green says "I guesstimate the Pyrenees!" The next moment Scarlet and Blue are right behind the transporter in their Rhino!

3. Another more subtle plot accelerator is how often Skybase happens to be in the right place at the right time. After all, it could be flying anywhere in the world.

Early in IoD1 Skybase appears to be over the Grand Canyon (or somewhere similar) but by the time that Scarlet escapes, jumps out of the airlock and skydives to the ground it is obvious that he (and Skybase) must be reasonably near St Saviour's Church (and Black's far-from-final resting place!)

No doubt Skybase would have moved on from the Grand Canyon over the days and weeks that followed Conrad's death but surely it wasn't hanging around Pinewood and St Saviour's on the off chance that he would come back to life!

[shadokp]

I guess there could be an argument that the speed of the plot could be a weakness for the series because you are going to get little characterization (although I still argue I know more about most of the NCS characters than I do most of the OCS). You also miss some of the logical story progression that Father Unwin mentions. I would have loved to see more two parters. Stories such as Rat Trap, Grey Skulls and The Storm at the end of the World would have benefitted from extended time to develop the situation.

KP

[Skybase Girl]

Totally agree with everyone here. Although we've picked the plots to bits and moaned about the infantile dialogue ( in places), you have to give the scriptwriters, as well as everyone else concerned, a lot of admiration for the way some very complicated plots were expedited in 22 minutes.

Some worked better than others, but I think it's fair to say that the show would have been greatly improved by making it 50 minutes or so.

I also thought that about OCS, couldn't understand why G A went back to a half-hour format after the success of Thunderbirds. Maybe it was money......
I can quite see that it might have been the cost for NCS, bearing in mind how much money had been spent as it was. Still, if some of the episodes had been two-parters, it would have have been great. Maybe a longer show would have proved more difficult for ITV to dismiss so easily ?

[MMK]

Totally agree with everyone here. Although we've picked the plots to bits and moaned about the infantile dialogue ( in places), you have to give the scriptwriters, as well as everyone else concerned, a lot of admiration for the way some very complicated plots were expedited in 22 minutes.

Some worked better than others, but I think it's fair to say that the show would have been greatly improved by making it 50 minutes or so.

All the more reasons to make a CS film... nudge, nudge, ,


I think the scriptwriters/editors wanted to get more action So, it's ended up with (a bit) too action and not enough characterisation

[shadokp]

The problem with hour long shows, apart from the fact that it would be alot more expensive for NCS was the danger of the show being too long at times. I think Thunderbirds had a few stories that had a lot of padding and dead air and these days the fast paced tempo of the stories and editing lends itself a bit to a half hour show. A few two parters thrown in and I think it would be fine. Of course, if it was an hour long, how would that have fit into Ministry of Mayhem??
KP

[Marion]

Shadokp said:

Of course, if it was an hour long, how would that have fit into Ministry of Mayhem??

It wouldn't have - and how pleased we'd have been. I admit, I didn't have to watch every MoM programme, because I was at work , but I had to bribe my daughter to watch it every week, just in case there was any CS related news mixed in with the custard pies and slime, and then video the episode. Cost me a fortune

I have to say, I thought the episodes were rushed and the plots - all of which had something to recommend them (from what I can remember) were too complex for the short running time. Maybe (heresy alert!) if they'd kept to the weekly threat format they wouldn't have had to take so long setting the scene and then rushing the denouement?
Just a thought.

[Skybase Girl]

Precisely, KP, MOM would probably never have got their hands on it !

I think most hour long shows are taken a bit more seriously than shorter ones- no matter what they're about, it's assumed they'll be more substantial and therefore more worthwhile.

I don't think there are many stories in NCS that wouldn't have benefited from a bit more time in the telling. Some of the plot loopholes wouldn't have occurred and it would have been an opportunity to develop the characterization. Maybe they thought all action is what appeals to younger kids, but frankly, I think that's selling children short, especially when you look at the quite thought-provoking shows that have been really popular with the younger generation. Let's face it, most kids love programmes that their parents feel are sometimes too old for them !

[MMK]

I had to bribe my daughter to watch it every week, just in case there was any CS related news mixed in with the custard pies and slime, and then video the episode. Cost me a fortune

I guess the bribery worked then...

I have to say, I thought the episodes were rushed and the plots - all of which had something to recommend them (from what I can remember) were too complex for the short running time. Maybe (heresy alert!) if they'd kept to the weekly threat format they wouldn't have had to take so long setting the scene and then rushing the denouement?
Just a thought.

In OCS, the Mysterons announce their threat. This sets the 'scene' and thus, simplifying the plot... I think I'm beginning to see why OCS was - and still is - so popular/well liked... I've never thought about NCS that way... thanks Marion

Whereas in NCS, no threat is announced and we (the viewers) have to work out what is going on... much more complex

[Marion]

MMK said:

In OCS, the Mysterons announce their threat. This sets the 'scene' and thus, simplifying the plot... I think I'm beginning to see why OCS was - and still is - so popular/well liked... I've never thought about NCS that way... thanks Marion
Whereas in NCS, no threat is announced and we (the viewers) have to work out what is going on... much more complex

I don't think it is much more complex in NCS, I just think the emphasis shifted from CS and his pals saving the world - to trying to work out what the heck was going on, and then a rushed bit of derring do being done.
Each to their own, of course, and maybe that's what is needed today in the 3 minute attention span world; but I agree with Skybase Girl and I think it was selling their potential audience short - and possibly alienating a potential older audience? In addition to that, many people have speculated that Thunderbirds was more popular than CS and subsequent Anderson shows, simply because it did have time to indulge in interplay between the characters.

[James. C]

In my opinion Thunderbirds is better for other reasons...