User reviews

This is a great documentary showing the work of the talented people at AP films. It covers just about all the series the teams created from twizzle, supercar, and Thunderbirds. I Bought this on Blu-ray for a chance to see behind the camera at the various ways the episodes, models and effects were produced. It doesn't disappoint and goes into quite a bit of detail in most aspects of production. A surprise for me was four feathers fall which I was unaware of, it looks great but being black and white didn't get the repeats it probably deserved. Overall its a great story of a wonderful time in TV production and will probably leave a tear in the eye of most fans. With Thunderbirds getting a CGI reboot in 2015, all I can think is long live supermarionation.

Thunderbirds - now if like me you've never seen a single episode - well do not be discouraged. Actually it might even be better - well at least it won't be worse. Wait that doesn't make any sense. All kidding aside and while I can't say what is better - I can tell you that watching this documentary will make you want to watch the Thunderbirds. And if a documentary achieves something like that - well what more can you ask for? That would be a rhetorical question of course.

I had the pleasure of meeting one of the voices of the cast a couple of years ago. And in the UK where this was produced, people are still quite fond of the show. And as far as I can tell, rightfully so. So many looks behind the scenes, honest reactions to things that went south or why certain things probably worked (by accident or on purpose) ... really well done and edited. You can tell whoever did this was a fan of the show and also a good filmmaker.

For anyone who remembers the work of Gerry Anderson (and even if you don't) this is a wonderful documentary. It covers from the earliest work on The Adventures of Twizzle to his real-life series Space 1999, so more than covering just the 'supermarionation' years.

However, he undoubtedly peaked with Thunderbirds and it is fitting that Parker and Lady Penelope host the show. There is a rich vein of tongue-in cheek humour in the documentary, paralleling the humour in Anderson's work.

The best thing to ever have come out of Slough.

I viewed this film at its premiere at the British Film Institute at the Southbank, in London.

When it was announced that the film would be two hours long my heart sort of slumped as even in a James Bond film with all the action and effects entailed, you lose enthusiasm after about 75 minutes even if Bond is going to save the world. You just want the film to end and go home! Not so with Filmed in Supermarionation. It was two hours of pure joy! The amount of laughs raised was fantastic and one scene from The Secret Service nearly brought the auditorium down with laughter. There is plenty of humour in this film.

There were many delightful revelations about the Anderson productions that I did not know and one thing that really struck me was the wonderful dry humour of Gerry Anderson.

It was wonderful to see the people behind the productions of these iconic Supermarionation classics being interviewed and especially Sylvia Anderson, Lady Penelope herself - an amazing woman.

So, marks out ten? I would love to give it a ten but I can't! I'd rather give it a twelve, instead! Definitely see this film at the selected cinemas or buy the DVD. You will be entertained, enthralled and most of all be amazed how an unglamorous setting in Slough with cramped conditions brought about the most amazing shows for children's television. It is now nearly 50 years since Thunderbirds was shown and this film in tribute to it and the other classic Anderson puppet films was made so perfectly.

Lady Penelope and Parker narrate this film and they are a wonderful double act and haven't changed at all!

This is a nice little film about how Gerry Anderson and his team changed the landscape for children's televsion through his Supermationation puppet shows.

I liked the fact that this wasn't all about the mega hit that was 'Thunderbirds', and that all the other shows got a mention too.

How it all came to be was well covered, but how it ended was a bit rushed.

The inclusion of Lady Penelope and Parker (Scott Tracy and Brains do pop up though) as guides to the documentary through linking material was a nice touch too, and it was good to see them being done in the 'old' way. I'm not sure Sylvia Anderson quite managed the voice of Lady P again, but that's splitting hairs.

A nice tribute.

I'm too young to have any connection to these shows, but the story of their creation entertaining. It perhaps would have been interesting to hear more about their legacy, films like Team America: World Police were clearly very inspired by Thunderbirds in particular.

Growing up in the 1960s we thrived on Thunderbirds Stingray and the other TV series produced by Sylvia & Gerry Anderson. This super documentary tells the whole story in detail and very engagingly, nostalgically, and with great humour. Fantastic and often surprising stories abound from everyone involved, and of course there are lots of great clips. A wonderful way to spend a couple of hours.