Terrahawks

I can't belive that all of Gerry Adersons other series (like Stingray, Thunderbirds, Capt Scarlet, Joe 90 and Space 1999) get repeated every couple of years but Terrahawks has been left unshown since the early 80's. I luckily managed to track down a copy of series 5 though a Blackstar Video hunt and belive it was well worth the wait. What sets Terrahawks apart from the other Anderson shows is that it does'nt take itself too seriously which can be seen in such plot lines as the evil Zelda challenging Kate Kestral to the Intersteller Song Contest! For me the best thing about the series is the army of robotic sphere's known as the Zeroids under the command of Sargent Majoir Zero who I can only describe as Obidia Hakeswell from ITV's Sharpe turned into a goodie and a small robot football type thing! Also the inventiveness of having secret launch exits for ships by creating stately homes that open up and turbines to enable Hawkwing to fly up though a whilepool is more than the equal of anything on Tracy Island. Zelda dispite being an old hag of an android is a truly briliant Villan! "We're ready Earth scum!!!"

I have read the other reviews for this series and was quite pleased to note that there were very few criticisms. I suspect that I may have been one of the few who was an adult when I saw these programmes yet still sat through every episode - and looked forward to each new one beforehand. The great thing for me about these 30-minute gems was the fact that the stories were not deep (it was for young kids after all) yet they still worked on both an adult's and a child's level thereby ensuring that dad could sit down and watch this with the kids and be entertained too. Surprisingly nobody seems to have picked up on the clever casting of Windsor Davies who effectively reprised his role as the Sergeant-Major from the BBC sitcom "It Ain't Half Hot Mum". I reckon that for good all-round entertainment this is one of the best things Gerry Anderson ever did.

Contrary to other user reviews, I find Terrahawks far more enjoyable than Thunderbirds and Stingray, and a little more enjoyable than Captain Scarlett. The plots of Thunderbirds always seemed very one-dimensional, with the good-guys consistently getting on with each other and being good. Terrahawks has a little more depth to the characters, and some splendidly horrible running jokes (Tiger's consistent failure to beat the high-score on his game, the horrific mocking of Hiro's 'accent' ("Exactry!"), and the rivalry between the football Sgt. Zero and the speciesist Tiger).

The plots also get a bit darker, later in the series, which adds further depth, and brings it closer to the more compelling style of Captain Scarlett, without giving up the humour.

For Americans, trained by Hollywood to always expect a fluffy happy original-Star-Trek ending, I recommend Thunderbirds. For anyone who'd prefer a bit more of a Blake's 7 or Babylon 5 puppet show, I recommend Terrahawks.

I have recently bought all the re-released Terrahawks programmes on DVD and I think its great. I never really liked Thunderbirds as it seemed a bit bland, but this has a continuous theme going throughout the shows.

Just a quick thought, what is Gerry Andersons obsession with Mars, I mean first it was the Mysterons and now its Zelda and her rabble.

Strange.

This show is so under-rated, and I'm glad other people here know how to speak through their mouths, as they have praised it (they deserve a wonderful life, full of blessings). I'm not generally a Gerry Anderson fan (the only other show of the genre that I love is Starfleet, the Japanese puppet series from the same era as Terrahawks). Getting Terrahawks back in my life is one of the best things that has happened to me this century. I love the music, the zeroids, Yung-Star (I would marry him if I wasn't so reluctant to have the most ghastly mother-in-law possible!), and Mary. My favourite Kate Kestrel songs are Responsible, and Be My Star Tonight.

I ask you, what other programme has robots as adorable as the zeroids? Not Stink-ray or Chunderbirds, for sure. I'm definitely a hawk-brain, not a bird-brain!