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The Best Episodes of Thunderbirds

Every episode of Thunderbirds ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Thunderbirds!

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Thunderbirds is a 1960s British science-fiction television series which was produced using a mixed method of marionette puppetry and scale-model special effects termed "Supermarionation". The series is set in the 21st century and follows the

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 1 - Trapped in the Sky
    8.1/10(364 votes)

    #1 - Trapped in the Sky

    S1:E1

    The Fireflash, on its maiden flight from London to Tokyo, is sabotaged by the Hood, a criminal who has learned of the formation of International Rescue, and is unable to land. The Hood's attack is intended to draw out International Rescue so he can record secrets of its machinery for sale to the highest bidder, an attempt thwarted by the intervention of the organization's London Agent.

    Director:Alan Pattillo
    Writers:Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson

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  2. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 4 - Terror in New York City
    7.9/10(249 votes)

    #2 - Terror in New York City

    S1:E4

    While returning from a mission, Thunderbird 2 is seriously damaged when it comes under attack from a new, high-speed U.S. Navy strike vessel, the U.S.N. Sentinel. After an operation to move the Empire State Building disastrously ends in the tower's complete collapse, Jeff asks that Thunderbird 4 be transported onboard the same ship to the mouth of an underground river to reach a reporter and his cameraman who are trapped beneath the wreckage.

    Directors:David Elliott, David Lane
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  3. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 3 - The Perils of Penelope
    7.7/10(232 votes)

    #3 - The Perils of Penelope

    S1:E3

    Lady Penelope goes on the trail of a kidnapped scientist, only to find herself in mortal danger at the hands of a megalomaniac determined to exploit the expert's work to his advantage.

    Directors:Desmond Saunders, Alan Pattillo
    Writer:Alan Pattillo

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  4. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 11 - Sun Probe
    7.6/10(205 votes)

    #4 - Sun Probe

    S1:E11

    The Sun Probe rocket and its crew are locked in a collision course with the Sun, prompting the launching of Thunderbird 3 – but International Rescue itself requires saving when Thunderbird 3 is unable to escape the Sun's gravitational pull.

    Director:David Lane
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  5. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 23 - Attack of the Alligators!
    7.6/10(185 votes)

    #5 - Attack of the Alligators!

    S1:E23

    When a new growth hormone is accidentally released into a South American river, a house is besieged by alligators – now many times their normal size. International Rescue must subdue the reptiles and save the house's occupants.

    Director:David Lane
    Writer:Alan Pattillo

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  6. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 10 - The Uninvited
    7.5/10(203 votes)

    #6 - The Uninvited

    S1:E10

    While returning to base, Scott is attacked by mysterious fighter aircraft and shot down over the Sahara. He is discovered by two archaeologists, who send him on his way, only to find themselves entombed within the lost Pyramid of Khamandides.

    Director:Desmond Saunders
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Thunderbirds

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  7. Thunderbirds Season 2 Episode 1 - Atlantic Inferno
    7.5/10(151 votes)

    #7 - Atlantic Inferno

    S2:E1

    World Navy tests of a nuclear torpedo inadvertently threaten the offshore rig Seascape. Jeff, having been invited by Lady Penelope to join her on holiday in Australia, places Scott in charge of International Rescue, with Alan substituting for Scott at the helm of Thunderbird 1. Jeff though is angered when Scott launches a rescue effort to the mid-ocean rig.

    Director:Desmond Saunders
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  8. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 12 - Operation Crash-Dive
    7.4/10(178 votes)

    #8 - Operation Crash-Dive

    S1:E12

    A series of unexplained Fireflash airliner disappearances sees Thunderbird 4 being called to rescue a crew stranded on the ocean floor. International Rescue then volunteer its services in helping to diagnose the cause of the mechanical fault.

    Director:Desmond Saunders
    Writer:Martin Crump

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  9. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 13 - Vault of Death
    7.4/10(180 votes)

    #9 - Vault of Death

    S1:E13

    During the installation of a new, airtight security vault at the Bank of England, one of the employees is accidentally locked inside, and International Rescue must come to his rescue before the air is extracted.

    Director:David Elliott
    Writer:Dennis Spooner

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  10. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 17 - The Man from M.I.5
    7.4/10(166 votes)

    #10 - The Man from M.I.5

    S1:E17

    A criminal organisation steals classified plans. Working in conjunction with a British Secret Service agent, Lady Penelope must recover the material to save the world from total destruction.

    Director:David Lane
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  11. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 22 - Brink of Disaster
    7.4/10(160 votes)

    #11 - Brink of Disaster

    S1:E22

    An unscrupulous investor attempts to recruit Lady Penelope into funding his automated, cross-country monorail building project. Jeff volunteers to ride the prototype, but he, Brains, and Tin-Tin find themselves trapped onboard, and with no possibility of escape, when it is discovered that the monorail train is speeding towards a stricken bridge.

    Director:David Lane
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  12. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 2 - Pit of Peril
    7.3/10(268 votes)

    #12 - Pit of Peril

    S1:E2

    A 500-ton U.S. Army walker, Sidewinder, falls into a pit during testing and International Rescue are called to save the crew trapped inside.

    Director:Desmond Saunders
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  13. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 6 - Day of Disaster
    7.3/10(204 votes)

    #13 - Day of Disaster

    S1:E6

    The Allington Bridge collapses while a space rocket is being transported over it, trapping the rocket on the riverbed and inadvertently initiating its automatic countdown. International Rescue is called upon to save the crew before the rocket launches.

    Director:David Elliott
    Writer:Dennis Spooner

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  14. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 7 - 30 Minutes After Noon
    7.3/10(195 votes)

    #14 - 30 Minutes After Noon

    S1:E7

    The Erdman Gang has developed an ingenious technique of having their work carried out – an explosive bracelet that can be removed only at the designated target. A secret agent's attempt to infiltrate the organisation backfires as he is left trapped in a plutonium store. International Rescue face a race against time to prevent a massive nuclear explosion.

    Director:David Elliott
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  15. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 25 - The Cham-Cham
    7.3/10(160 votes)

    #15 - The Cham-Cham

    S1:E25

    When aircraft are shot down during live broadcasts of a hit song, International Rescue suspects foul play. Tin-Tin and Lady Penelope (posing as the singer Wanda Lamour) investigate, but are left in mortal danger when a ski lift is sabotaged and speeds out of control down a mammoth mountain slide in the Alps.

    Director:Alan Pattillo
    Writer:Alan Pattillo

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  16. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 9 - End of the Road
    7.2/10(179 votes)

    #16 - End of the Road

    S1:E9

    International Rescue's security is jeopardised when Tin-Tin's close friend Eddie Houseman, who recently visited Tracy Island, takes drastic action to save his road-construction company's threatened contract by planting explosives to tear open a jungle mountainside, and the ensuing chaos leaves him trapped on a cliffside in a truck with another case of explosives on board.

    Director:David Lane
    Writer:Dennis Spooner

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  17. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 15 - City of Fire
    7.2/10(173 votes)

    #17 - City of Fire

    S1:E15

    The world's tallest tower catches fire following an explosion in the car park and International Rescue are called to rescue a family trapped in the basement, which they can accomplish only with an experimental cutting gas ("Oxyhydnite") that previously rendered Scott and Virgil Tracy unconscious during testing.

    Director:David Elliott
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  18. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 16 - The Imposters
    7.2/10(163 votes)

    #18 - The Imposters

    S1:E16

    A gang of criminals masquerade as International Rescue to conceal their theft of top-secret military plans. The ensuing worldwide manhunt for International Rescue leaves the organisation powerless to operate in a rescue situation until its name is vindicated, just as a member of a manned reconnaissance satellite is suddenly trapped in space while trying to repair the station.

    Director:Desmond Saunders
    Writer:Dennis Spooner

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  19. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 5 - Edge of Impact
    7.1/10(203 votes)

    #19 - Edge of Impact

    S1:E5

    The Hood sabotages the Red Arrow aircraft programme. One of the planes crashes into the TV Tower in England during a brutal rain storm, and International Rescue is summoned to save the engineers inside the tower before it collapses; making their job trickier apart from the driving rain and winds at the site is that the Red Arrow's director, a long time friend of Jeff, is fired from the project and stays at Tracy Island, forcing the Tracys to draw him away and thus remain oblivious to International Rescue's existence.

    Director:Desmond Saunders
    Writers:Donald Robertson, Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson

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  20. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 20 - Move – And You're Dead
    7.1/10(158 votes)

    #20 - Move – And You're Dead

    S1:E20

    After Alan Tracy returns to motor-racing, his rivals decide to remove the competition by rigging a bridge with a movement-sensitive bomb, which will explode the moment that Alan and Grandma Tracy try to escape. (Some of this episode is narrated in flashback.)

    Director:Alan Pattillo
    Writer:Alan Pattillo

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  21. Thunderbirds Season 2 Episode 2 - Path of Destruction
    7.1/10(153 votes)

    #21 - Path of Destruction

    S2:E2

    A new invention – the Crablogger (a nearly fully automated logging machine that converts wood into fuel) — threatens widespread devastation if it collides with an unfinished dam, after its drivers collapse due to food poisoning.

    Director:David Elliott
    Writer:Donald Robertson

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  22. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 14 - The Mighty Atom
    7.0/10(166 votes)

    #22 - The Mighty Atom

    S1:E14

    The Hood plans to corner the Thunderbirds vehicles by drawing them out to an emergency at an atomic irrigation plant in the Sahara, then photographing them with a miniature camera disguised as a mouse.

    Director:David Lane
    Writer:Dennis Spooner

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  23. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 19 - Danger at Ocean Deep
    7.0/10(154 votes)

    #23 - Danger at Ocean Deep

    S1:E19

    When the Ocean Pioneer tanker inexplicably explodes, Brains investigates the cause. With some help from Lady Penelope, he discovers it to be a chemical reaction between the cargo of liquid Alsterene and OD60, which is found in the sea. International Rescue set out to save the crew of the ill-fated Ocean Pioneer II.

    Director:Desmond Saunders
    Writer:Donald Robertson

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  24. Thunderbirds Season 1 Episode 24 - Martian Invasion
    7.0/10(156 votes)

    #24 - Martian Invasion

    S1:E24

    The Hood arranges for a mishap with explosives during a film shoot, leaving two of the actors sealed inside a cave. When International Rescue arrive the ensuing rescue is surreptitiously recorded by the Hood, and when the Tracys realize they've been set up a tense chase through the nearby desert ensues.

    Director:David Elliott
    Writer:Alan Fennell

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  25. Thunderbirds Season 2 Episode 5 - Ricochet
    7.0/10(142 votes)

    #25 - Ricochet

    S2:E5

    A staffed, pirate telecommunications satellite (which broadcasts a music programme of which Tin-Tin is a devoted fan) is disrupted by the detonation of a rogue unmanned space rocket and is set on collision course with a Middle Eastern oil refinery.

    Director:Brian Burgess
    Writer:Tony Barwick

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Best Episodes Summary

"Trapped in the Sky" is the best rated episode of "Thunderbirds". It scored 8.1/10 based on 364 votes. Directed by Alan Pattillo and written by Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson, it aired on 9/30/1965. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Terror in New York City".