Thunderbirds - Review

Trapped In The Sky

Terror In New York City

****

Written by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson and Alan Fennell

Directed by Alan Pattillo, David Elliott and David Lane

Some 60 years after Thunderbirds was first broadcast, and now immaculately restored, two 50-minute episodes are being screened in cinemas across the UK. For the cognoscenti out there, the episodes being shown are Trapped In The Sky and Terror in New York City.

Created back in the day when computers were the preserve of only the very largest corporations and CGI wasn’t even a twinkle in a director’s eye, these British sci-fi epic episodes were filmed in glorious Supermarionation and Videcolor, with full practical effects deployed.

The puppet characters and their unseen voicing artistes were to become national treasures, inspiring the nations young (and in some cases, not-so-young) with their tales of derring-do as International Rescue, from its tropical hideaway island, launched its vehicles to save the world, week after week, from dastardly infernal treachery.

The brains behind the series were the supertalented Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who assembled some of the country's finest photographers and special effects creatives to film each thrilling tale. Their voiceover artistes were unforgettable too.

The Andersons were shrewd enough to know that if their series was to reach the American market, the Tracy family – who founded, funded and operated International Rescue – needed to be Yanks. Fair enough, but as a British production the series also boasted a glamorous London Agent in the form of the stunning (for a puppet that is) blonde and glamorous Lady Penelope. Lady P’s pink Rolls Royce, registration FAB 1 of course was driven by Parker, her faithful retainer, and where Her Ladyship bore the trappings of aristocracy, Parker was depicted as wonderfully working-class, with an impeccable sense of loyalty. Sylvia Anderson herself voiced Lady Penelope, with the inimitable David Graham voicing Parker. Both were geniuses of vocal expression. Overhead, in the various Thunderbird spacecraft of the Thunderbird fleet, the American (but UK resident) Shane Rimmer was to notably voice Scott Tracy, as well as other members of the Tracy clan.

The cultural markings of the show are iconic. The stories, spectacularly and painstakingly filmed, were all heavy on cliff-hanging melodrama. References to class, and to smoking, that may have a more modern Woke audience clutching their pearls in dismay, abound! 

Who would have thought that not only would Gerry and Sylvia Anderson have shown the world the future of space travel with their range of rocket-powered craft, but that 60 years on, their cinematic brilliance would also offer that same world a 50-minute trip back in time?

FAB!

Screening in cinemas from 20th September

The Code - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London

*****

Written by Michael McKeever

Directed by Christopher Renshaw

Tracie Bennett

Michael McKeever’s The Code opens at the Southwark Playhouse in an evening of stunning drama. In a tight 90-minute one act piece set in the 1950s, the titular code is the puritanical Production Code drawn up by the major film studios and which sought to drive out homosexuality from the movie industry. Lob in a backdrop of McCarthyism and McKeever paints a grim and toxic picture of Hollywood.

The drama’s two protagonists are the actor Billy Haines (played by John Partridge) and the agent Henry Wilson (Nick Blakeley). Haines had famously fallen from the very heights of stardom for his refusal to accept the Code and walk away his long term gay relationship. Willson however defined the very depths of Hollywood’s hypocritical toxicity - hiding his homosexuality and publicly complying with the Code. In an ingeniously and cruelly scripted arc, we see Willson preying on Chad (Solomon Davy), a handsome young wannabe male actor who is deviously and heartbreakingly manipulated by the agent.

McKeever’s masterstroke in this fictional piece is to create a triumvirate of leading voices, drawing Hollywood star Tallulah Bankhead (Tracie Bennett) into the narrative. At times Haines’s sparring partner, other times a Greek chorus, Bankhead’s presence makes the narrative crackle with a riveting intensity. The dialogue throughout is piercingly sharp, with Bennett on her finest form delivering acid drops of perceptive irony that add frequent moments of perfectly formed comedy, and at times where one least expects to laugh. Partridge too brings a compelling authenticity to the nobly principled Haines, while Blakeley’s despicable Willson is chillingly convincing.

Christopher Renshaw’s direction is meticulous – with each of the quartet precisely drilled in the timing and nuance of their performances. Ethan Cheek’s designs for both stage and costume are exquisite. Bennett’s gown is wondrous, while the men’s black patent shoes that complement their tuxedos are to die for!

The Code is as much a history lesson as an evening’s entertainment. Boldly and brilliantly staged, this production deserves a West End transfer.

Runs until 11th October

Photo credit: Danny Kaan

The Producers - Review

Garrick Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Mel Brooks
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

Directed by Patrick Marber

Andy Nyman

The two stars of this Menier Chocolate Factory revival of The Producers are Andy Nyman’s stunning take on Max Bialystock and Mel Brooks’s timeless script and libretto which, no matter how many times one may have seen the show or the movie(s), delivers gags that never grow old.

Bestriding the stage like a (diminutive) Colossus, Nyman looks the part. Capturing the impresario’s scheming slobbery, Nyman's is possibly the finest Bialystock to have played on a London stage. He nails the sharp self-deprecating irony to a tee, and what’s more he can hold a note too. Nyman’s flawless singing leads to a glorious delivery of his 11 o’clock number, Betrayed.

As Leo Bloom, the haplessly inadequate accountant sent to balance the producer’s books, Marc Antolin brings musical theatre expertise to the role but lacks an authenticity. With a performance that’s technically sound (the boy can surely sing and dance), there’s something missing in the chemistry of his improbable pairing with the monstrous Bialystock.

The show’s featured roles are all a blast of sheer theatrical hilarity. Joanna Woodward’s Ulla is every inch the blonde Swedish bombshell, Trevor Ashley’s Roger Debris is a work of camp genius, while Harry Morrison’s Nazi playwright Franz Liebling is gloriously overplayed to perfection.

Lorin Latarro’s choreography is another treat, with an array of styles from pastiche Jewish traditional through to Broadway-infused tap numbers. The economy of the show’s staging however, that may have worked cutely well and garnered the audience's sympathy in the extremely confined Menier space, seems a little understated on its transfer into the West End.

An interesting observation on the show is that both Andy Nyman and Zero Mostel (who created Max Bialystock in the first (1967) movie) have trodden similar paths en route to playing Brooks's outlandish producer. Mostel had created Tevye on Broadway in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof, a role that Nyman was to assume (again at the Menier) nearly 60 years later. Who knows? Perhaps there is an understanding of the very essence of larger than life Jewish characterisation that an acting journey from the shtetl to the Great White Way provides? Either way, it works!

This revival of The Producers, the West End’s first in 20 years, makes for a great evening of irreverent musical comedy. Brooks’s gags are relentless, perfectly pitched, and guaranteed to offend (almost) everyone.

Booking until 21st February 2026

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

The Unfair Advantage - Review

SohoPlace, London

****

Harry Milas

In an intriguing hour-long show and to a crowd of only 35, Harry Milas demonstrates his extraordinary abilities in both magic and, to be frank, cheating at cards.

The audience have all signed NDAs before the show begins – but once it gets going Milas offers a jaw-dropping display of false deals, riffle shuffles, and a card-counting stunt that sees him perfectly memorise the order of a fully shuffled deck of cards. It comes as no surprise to learn that Milas has been hired by casinos to advise them on the security of their gaming tables.

The NDA prevents any spoilers being gven here – except for the one proviso. Milas makes it clear he has no special powers or abilities. Rather, he has dedicated himself for years in honing and sharpening his abilities. His card genius lies in an ingenious combination of sleight of hand, dexterity and most of all, his coolly deployed brain power.

Stunning entertainment!

Runs until 11th October