- "As long as we're in one piece, the show goes on."
— Rick O'Shea
"Ricochet" is the fifth episode of Thunderbirds season 2, first broadcast on 6th November 1966.
Plot
A two-man pirate-television satellite - KLA - is knocked out of orbit when a faulty rocket explodes in its vicinity. Alan rescues one of the crew, but the presenter, Rick O'Shea, refuses to perform a space walk to Thunderbird 3. Virgil and Brains, in Thunderbird 2, must destroy the KLA satellite before it crashes into a Middle-Eastern oil refinery - whether or not O'Shea is still aboard.
Storyline
- Main article: Ricochet/Storyline
Transcript
- Main article: Ricochet/Transcript
Cast
Regular Characters
.png "Jeff (Ricochet).png (130 KB)")
.png "Scott (Ricochet).png (131 KB)")
.png "Virgil (Ricochet).png (134 KB)")
.png "Alan (Ricochet).png (122 KB)")
.png "Brains (Ricochet).png (124 KB)")
.png "Tin-Tin (Ricochet).png (139 KB)")
.png "Gordon (Uninvited).png (139 KB)")
Gordon Tracy
(David Graham)
(David Graham)
.png "Grandma (Ricochet).png (136 KB)")
Grandma Tracy
(Christine Finn)
(Christine Finn)
Guest Characters
.png "Tom(2).png (109 KB)")
Crowd Scenes
International Space Control
personnel
personnel
International Rescue Equipment Used
Thunderbird 2
(Pod 3)
(Pod 3)
Non-International Rescue Equipment Used
Locations
Trivia
- This is the only episode where Virgil pilots Thunderbird 3 and Gordon goes to Thunderbird 5.
- The Rick O'Shea puppet was created by sculptor Terry Curtis, who loosely based the character's features on those of Sean Connery.
- This is the only episode of Season 2 not to feature either Lady Penelope or Parker.
- Ricochet marks the third and final episode to feature the interior and exterior sets of the Tracking Station; they were first seen as the Satellite HQ in Cry Wolf, and later as the Central Office of the General Staff Command in The Impostors.
- The episode closes with an extract from "Flying High", a song originally composed to serve as the closing Thunderbirds theme (albeit with different lyrics).
- For subsequent half-hour "cliffhanger" broadcasts, the first instalment concluded with Jeff ordering to "get those Thunderbirds flying!", and Alan's subsequent "yes sir!" line. Instead of cutting back to KLA, the screen suddenly goes black for about a second, before swiftly fading into the closing credits.
- The Main Control Room of Thunderbird 3 is completely different from how it appeared in the previous season.
- This is the only time that the full landing sequence for Thunderbird 3 is shown. As a result, it is the only time that Thunderbird 3 is shown flying in Earth's atmosphere.
Goofs
- The Professor says "Detonate" without moving her lips.
- John can be seen saying Gordon's one and only line instead of Gordon himself.
- For some strange reason, Alan's Season 1 head is used.
- Just before Telsat 4 launches, Marshall and Power appear in a shot that has been inexpliccably reversed (mirrored). Half a minute later, the same scene appears again, but as normal.
Ricochet
Lord Parker's Holiday
The skin tone and hair colours are different
The skin tone and hair colours are different
Atlantic Inferno
Reversed
Normal
- As Thunderbird 2 leaves its hangar it has small "Thunderbird 2", but when it's in the air the "2" has changed to a larger font.
Small font
Large font
Foreign Titles
- French: Le satellite pirate
- German: Piratensender ausser Kurs
- Spanish: El satélite pirata
- Italian: Rimbalzo
- Dutch: Ruimteredding (TV 1967); Ricochet (VHS, DVD)
- Japanese: 宇宙放送局の危機