Touch And Go

Touch And GoSeason 1, Episode 24
Air date	09 January, 2016 (ITV) 10 January, 2016 (AUS) 26 June, 2016 (NL)
Written by	Jim Krieg
Directed by	David Scott
Episode Guide
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"But it's too late. There's nothing you can do about it."
— Goon

"Touch And Go" is the 24th episode of Thunderbirds Are Go!, and was broadcast on Saturday January 9th 2016.

Plot

The episode opens with Kayo in Thunderbird Shadow chasing an unknown thug in possession of an Echelon Decoding device, but manages to capture him. Back at Tracy Island, Scott is disappointed about Kayo’s recklessness, regarding International Rescue’s mission to save lives and not catch criminals but Kayo said that if she hadn’t captured the thug, he could have used the device to access the computers of every government in the world. John contacts them, saying that CATCH (Central Air Traffic Control Hub) has gone offline. Brains gives Kayo a remote access chip so he can reboot CATCH before Scott explains that when Kayo spots trouble, John will alert the GDF before they take off. Up in Thunderbird 5, John with the help of EOS, plays air traffic controller until CATCH is rebooted.

Above America, Terrrainian Cargo 822 flies above a storm but nearly collides with another plane before an electric shock knocks the pilot, Jane Carter, out cold. Virgil stabilizes the plane with Thunderbird 2’s cables while Scott boards the plane and takes the controls. The plane crash lands after separating from the cables but Virgil manages to re-grapple before the plane nearly plummets into a gorge.

Meanwhile, Kayo reaches CATCH and finds out the Hood is behind the sabotage. Inside the control room, she confronts and interrogates one of the Hood’s henchmen who confesses that the Hood’s plan to sabotage CATCH was a diversion so he can steal a bulkload of Alsterene. After explaining the situation to Brains, she reboots the main computer and takes off after the Hood. Back at the gorge, Virgil uses his power suit to latch a tow rope onto the plane. The rope snaps but Scott saves himself and Jane by shooting his grapple onto the cliff face. John contacts Scott that CATCH was rebooted but Kayo went missing.

On the Hood’s ship, Kayo encounters her uncle who encourages her to work for him but she refuses. The Hood explains that Alsterene is the cleanest combustible fuel source and it will run his operation for years. Kayo detaches the Alsterene tank from the ship before escaping with it in Thunderbird S. One of the Hood’s goons fires a laser at the jet, disabling its systems and separating it from the tanks. As Scott rushes to the scene in Thunderbird 1, the Hood latches onto Thunderbird S before the tank hits the ground exploding on impact, before he departs. As Scott lands, he asks why the Hood saved Kayo but she refuses the question and says that International Rescue would change its ways. When they check the damages to Thunderbird S, Kayo says that Brains would have nothing to do with it before Brains says “I heard that!” over the comms.

Cast

Regular Cast

• Scott Tracy - Rasmus Hardiker
• Virgil Tracy - David Menkin
• John Tracy - Thomas Brodie-Sangster
• Kayo - Angel Coulby
• The Hood - Andres Williams
• EOS - Teresa Gallagher

Guest Cast

• Hood Henchman - David Menkin
• Goon - Nigel Heath
• Jane Carter - Teresa Gallagher

Quotes

• John: "You engaged with the subject. Kayo, you were just supposed to shadow him."
  Kayo: "We did a little shadowboxing."
  
• Virgil: "Yeah! Dead-eye Virgil strikes again."
  Scott: "Oh, so now you're suddenly a good shot?"
  Virgil: "Hey, I have to take every small victory I can get."
  
• Scott: "Thunderbird 5, this is Thunderbird 1. I'm at the emergency door. Can you remotely access the plane's onboard computer and unlock it?"
  EOS: "Hacking the onboard computer of the plane in flight is a violation-"
  John: "Consider it done."
  
• Scott: "It's crumbling like one of Grandma's cakes. We need to get out of here fast."
  Jane Carter: "Any ideas?"
  Scott: "I'm open to suggestions."
  
• Kayo: (On Thunderbird Shadow's damage) "It's for the best, we wouldn't want Brains to have nothing to do."
  Brains: (Over comms) "I heard that!"

International Rescue Equipment Used

• Thunderbird 1
• Thunderbird 2 (Module 2)
• Thunderbird 5
• Thunderbird Shadow
• EOS
• Power Suit

Non-International Rescue Equipment Used

• Air Terrainean Cargo Plane

Transcript

Main article: Touch And Go/Transcript

Gallery

"We did a little 'shadow boxing'"

TB1, 2 and Shadow is go!

The plane clears the clouds only to be in the flight path of another plane

The pilot in the cargo plane

The cargo plane becomes clipped and starts to dive

"I'm picking up a distress signal near your location. I'm sending the coordinates now"

"Until we get CATCH back online, looks like you and I are gonna be playing air traffic controller."

Lightning strikes the cockpit and knocks the pilot out

"I'm not asking for much, just a little altitude"

"Hold still for Virgil"

Scott double checks his magnetic boots

"Virgil, you have control of Thunderbird 1, just keep her flying straight"

"And I'd like her waxed and detailed when I get back, too"

"Phew! Thank you for magnetic boots, Brains."

Scott walks along the wing of the plane

"I'm at the emergency door. Can you remotely access the plane's computer and unlock it?"

"Consider it done"

"Virgil, the pilot's out cold but stable"

"I'll have to land this thing"

The CATCH facility

Thunderbird S flies around the facility

Kayo lands and sneaks into CATCH

"I see a strip of land where I can put her down"

The grapples for TB2 begin to tear the wings off

TB2 re-grapples the plane

The grapples tear the rear of the plane

The plane halts just before it could tip over the edge

Scott shifts the cargo to the end of the plane to prevent tipping

The pilot comes to

Scott catches the pilot before she falls forward tipping the plane

"The Hood shut down CATCH to divert attention from a massive theft of Alsterene. I've taken out the hostiles and plugged in the device you gave me."

"It's up to you now, Brains"

"Kayo! Please respond!"
"I know how you feel"

Virgil gets a cable on the plane before the plane topples over the edge

"Scott, you OK?"

"I guess 'OK' is a relative term"

"Brains, I have a few thousand aircrafts that can't find their way home"

"John, the main frame should now be routing planes to land"

"Affirmative, Brains"

"Hold on!"

"Good news, CATCH is back online"

"Nice of you to join us, Kayo" "You really need to invest in a better class of baddies Uncle"

"Why do you let them treat you like a minion, Kayo? You have the skills and spirit to lead, Like me"

"Oh, I'm sure that your motives are nothing but noble"

"You and I are the same. We are bold. We see an opportunity and we take it"

TBS dangles from the sky holding onto the Alsterene after the first explosion on the Hood's ship

The fuel tank is too heavy for TBS to carry

TB1 rushes to her aid

"You fool!"

A grapple stops TBS blowing up along with the fuel tank

The Hood saved Kayo's life

"The Hood could just have easily saved those tanks, but he saved you. Why?"

"Maybe it's time to change the way things are done."

"Well, I'm just glad you're OK"

Trivia

• This episode appears to be a homage to Edge Of Impact.
• This is the first episode to feature the Hood's Henchmen in fully black masks with green eye pieces. Previously they had worn a black mask with a silver bar in the middle.
• This episode is the first to feature Thunderbird Shadow on a mission.
• This episode features the second appearance of Air Terrainean in the new series, after Fireflash.
• Air Terrainean's cargo planes are shown to feature a different colour scheme to their passanger craft; the red and blue livery resembles the bus seen in the 1969 film The Italian Job, which also ended up balancing over the edge of a cliff.
• The presence of a chemical fuel named Alsterene is a reference to Danger At Ocean Deep.
• This episode borrows some plot elements from Operation Crash-Dive with a plane losing altitude, Thunderbird 2 chasing it, and Scott as a co-pilot.
• The episode features a new incidental theme music for the launch sequence, presumably for the introduction of Thunderbirds Shadow's launch sequence.
• Two Steven Spielberg films are referenced.
  • When Kayo passes the motorcyclist she is pursuing inside a tunnel and they glance at each other, similar to a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in which Indy and his father pass two German pilots in a tunnel.
  • The rescue of Scott and Pilot Carter by a wire hanging from a vehicle as it slips over a cliff is based on a scene from The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Goofs

• In the opening sequence, the shadow cast by Thunderbird S is inconsistent from shot to shot. As it first looms over the rider, it has very defined edges, which would require it to be essentially on the ground, and the rider ends up square within the shadow of the jet's body. In a subsequent shot of the front wheel and handlebars, there's no sign of the shadow at all. In the next shot of the jet approach, the bike is positioned within the shadow of the nosecone.

Foreign titles

• Dutch: Op het nippertje
• French: Panique dans les airs (Panic in the Air)
• Spanish: Toca y corre
• Japanese: サンダーバードS 発進！ (Thunderbird S Start!)
• Arabic: تشجع وانطلق