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"Bugs in the flowers, Peeping Thomases at the window, pens that send messages. Oh, I need reviving."
— François Lemaire

"Alias Mr. Hackenbacker" is the third episode of Thunderbirds season 2, first broadcast on 16th October 1966.

Plot[]

On its maiden flight, a new airliner called Skythrust becomes the host of a fashion show for a world-renowned designer. Halfway through the trip, the plane is hijacked by rival designers who want to steal the revolutionary new fabric, so Brains reveals some unexpected features of the aircraft that bring the hijackers' plans to a halt.

Storyline[]

Main article: Alias Mr. Hackenbacker/Storyline

Transcript[]

Main article: Alias Mr. Hackenbacker/Transcript

Cast[]

Regular Characters[]

Guest Characters[]

Crowd Scenes[]

International Rescue Equipment Used[]

Non-International Rescue Equipment Used[]

Locations[]

Credits[]

Trivia[]

  • This episode features the biggest number of characters (in speaking roles) in any of the episodes and feature films.
  • Brains's security pass was signed by prop-maker Tony Dunsterville.
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  • For subsequent half-hour 'cliffhanger' broadcasts, part one concluded with the white car boarding Skythrust's loading bay.
  • Brains uses the alias Hiram Hackenbacker in this episode; later incarnations of the franchise would use this as Brains' real name.
  • Final appearance of Commander Norman
  • This is the first episode to feature Paul Maxwell, as the voice of Captain Ashton and the 2nd Reporter. Maxwell would later voice Paul Travers in the first feature film Thunderbirds Are Go. He previously voiced Steve Zodiac in Fireball XL5.
  • Music from Supercar episodes Calling Charlie Queen and Transatlantic Cable as heard in this episode.
  • This story would go on to heavily inspire Lady Penelope Versus the Fox, a comic stripped published in the 1968 Lady Penelope annual. It also features some sort of criminal posing as a model, in order to steal a fabric with technologically advanced properties that's named after Lady Penelope.

Goofs[]

  • When discussing champagne, Lady Penelope states how 1993 was the best year for the bubbly drink. However, given the passage of time on our side, it wasn't necessarily a good year at all.
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    • That being said, 1993 was a very good year for the Thunderbirds franchise, as it (and other Anderson-related programs) underwent a vigorous resurgence in popularity around the world.
  • When the 1st reporter asks Saville "Have you found an answer with Skythrust?", he is voiced by Jeremy Wilkin. But when he says "Yeah, captain, make a statement." he is voiced by Paul Maxwell.
  • The fire trucks and ambulances that are initially shown to be dispatched to aid the crashed D103 airliner at the start of the episode and again for Skythrust at the end are completely different from the ones that actually arrive at the aircraft.
  • The map used to find the disused airfield in the Sahara Desert, was very old, it still had "French West Africa" on it, a territory that was abolished in 1960.
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Foreign Titles[]

  • French: Un drôle de nom
  • German: Ein gewisser Mr. Hackenbacker
  • Spanish: Alias Sr. Hackenbacker
  • Italian: La sfilata di moda
  • Dutch: Alias Mr. Hackenbacker
  • Portuguese: Podem me Chamar de Mr. Hackenbacker
  • Japanese: 恐怖の空中ファッションショー
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