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"My, this is a deserted area. One just wouldn't know where one was, would one?"
— "Gayle Williams"

"The Man From MI.5" is the seventeenth episode of Thunderbirds season 1, first broadcast on the 20th of January 1966.

Plot[]

Main article: The Man From MI.5/Storyline

The British Secret Service ask for International Rescue's help in locating the missing blueprints for an atomic weapon. Whilst tracking the culprits, IR agent Lady Penelope (posing as model Gayle Williams) is kidnapped and held aboard a bomb-rigged boat. Scott and Gordon have very little time to locate and rescue her, and steal back the plans... before the bomb explodes, and the villains escape...

Transcript[]

Main article: The Man From MI.5/Transcript

Cast[]

Regular Characters[]

Guest Characters[]

Cameo Roles[]

Crowd Scenes[]

International Rescue Equipment Used[]

Non-International Rescue Equipment Used[]

Locations[]

Trivia[]

  • First Appearance: Lady Penelope's yacht, FAB 2.
Model-sub

Brains' model submarine

  • The model submarine Brains used for his experiment in the Tracy Villa pool was also used as the Hood's 3E Submarine in Desperate Intruder. (It even still has 3E written on the sides!)
  • This episode features the first full Thunderbird 4 launch sequence, shown from inside Pod 4. (Prior to this, TB4 had only been seen emerging down the ramp outside the pod door.)
  • It's also the only occasion where Thunderbird 2 gently rests Pod 4 upon the surface of the water (rather than dropping it in), and then rises clear with its lifting jets.
Captain-Scarlet-Monte-Carlo

Monte Carlo harbour in "Captain Scarlet"

  • The backdrop used for the harbour scenes also appears in the opening scene of The Duchess Assignment, in the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode Model Spy, and in the Joe 90 episode The Race.
  • When broadcast in the half-hour "cliffhanger" format, part one concluded with Carl taking off in his boat, with Penelope as his prisoner, from FAB 2.

Goofs[]

  • In a rare shot of Thunderbird 2 taking off at night, daylight can been seen through cockpit window.

Alternate Versions[]

Thunderbirds The Comic[]

Main article: The Man From MI.5 (comic)

In 1992, several episodes of Thunderbirds were adapted into comic book format for Fleetway's Thunderbirds The Comic publication. The Man From MI.5 was the seventh story to undergo this treatment. Illustrated by Jon Haward, the adaptation began in issue #21 and ran for 12 pages spread accross three issues.

Turbocharged Thunderbirds[]

As part of the second attempt to modernise Thunderbirds for a 1990s American audience, The Man From MI.5 would be part of the 13 episodes selected to undergo the Turbocharged Thunderbirds treatment, coming out the other side as a story called Codename: Revenge. The story was reworked to revolve around the 'Aqua Institute' rather than the British Secret Service, with Lady Penelope going undercover to investigate the Institute after a government dignitary is murdered under Tripp's watch.

Redan Photo-Stories[]

A feature of Redan's Thunderbirds magazine were abridged 'photo story' versions of the classic television episodes. These photo-stories used frames from the original episode to emulate a comic book story, usually with added narration by one of the main characters.

The Man From MI.5 would appear in issue #24 and was narrated by Lady Penelope, retelling the story of how she temporarily became a British Secret Service agent. The story would, a few years later, appear again in issue #54, recreated with a different selection of photos and updated narration.

Foreign Titles[]

  • French: L'homme du M I5
  • German: Der Mann vom M.I.5
  • Spanish: El Hombre del MI.5; El agente MI5 (DVD)
  • Italian: S.O.S. Servizi Segreti Britannici
  • Dutch: De geheime agent (TV); De man van MI. 5 (VHS, DVD)
  • Portuguese: O Homem do M.I.5
  • Japanese: 情報員MI. 5
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