Double Rescue/Missile Alert - Comparison Feature

A Comparison of Double Rescue and Missile Alert:
Thunderbirds Spring Extra 1967, & The Official Thunderbirds Annual ©1992

Magazine cover issue 5 by Gray Morrow

Double Rescue first appeared in the TV Century 21 Thunderbirds Spring Extra in 1967. Having already used numerous reprints of the Thunderbirds strips for the astonishingly successful Fleetway comic launched in October 1991, Alan Fennell was given the task of producing an annual for Grandreams for the autumn of 1992.

Fennell reprinted the recently commissioned strip adaptation of his own television episode 'Sun Probe', which appeared in issues 6, 7 and 8 of the Fleetway title, and adapted two text stories. Flight To Destruction, like Double Rescue, had first been published in the 1960s, for the Thunderbirds Extra in early 1966. Unlike the other story, which had only minimal editorial changes, Double Rescue was almost wholly rewritten while keeping the essense of the plot, to become Missile Alert.

One can only speculate on why this was necessary. Certainly, aspects of Double Rescue suggest the writer was not as au fait with Thunderbirds as might be expected. The use of a mirage, in a move akin to the prismatic action in his later The Meeting Point for the ©1976 Space:1999 annual, suggests the author may have been Angus Allan. Similarly, Tracy Island under threat is a trait John Jennison, under the pseudonym 'John Theydon', used for the novel Thunderbirds - Ring Of Fire. Angus Allan maintains that editor Alan Fennell was very precious about the Thunderbirds strip, and only freelancer Scott Goodall is established to have taken over writing it from 1967 onwards. So the speculation of original authorship continues.

Magazine cover issue 5 by Gray Morrow

Some aspects are easy to understand why changes were necessary. There is the title of course, as Penelope and Parker are not actually rescued in the rewritten Missile Alert. International Rescue seems unusually slow in getting into action, and Virgil somewhat dim-witted or prone to panic. The tranposing of Thunderbirds 1 and 2 for the final passages makes more sense when you think how is it possible to despatch the load, and works conversely in getting Scott to Creighton-Ward Mansion faster.

One can imagine that Thunderbird 5 would have picked up any news transmission relating to the area of Tracy Island, as well as disasters, making a slight mockery of the space station's function. By the early 90s when Missile Alert was written, 24 hour news channels were not unknown, so the idea of Penelope making sure she does not miss the afternoon news seems a badly outdated 'sixties-ism'. And so the information comes via one of Lady Penelope's agents, which is more in line with her strip adventures in TV Century 21 and her own title, than the series. The assumption is 'Agent 997' is not an International Rescue agent, like Jeremiah Tuttle, as he would have reported directly to Jeff Tracy instead. While one can appreciate the need to make a Bereznik-like renegade state secretly breaking a World Treaty the crux of the problem, one has to ponder the wisdom in using a Middle East 'dictator' so soon after the Gulf War of 1990-91, though a contemporary issue would be one a younger reader could relate to.

The explosion of the gas tanker works better dramatically than the rather coincidental severing of the mansion's electrical system, and then a gas pipe. Unsatisfying though, is the fact nothing is done about the Metholeum 90 (bar a cursory mention right at the end) that threatened Lady Penelope, who is referred to as International Rescue's European Agent.

1: Introduction

Double Rescue:
Penelope watches the 4.30pm news on 'Telecast International', broadcasting on European network number six.

Missile Alert:
Penelope is alerted by Agent 997: Mustapha Farrah, in the Middle East.

2: The Test

Double Rescue:
The World Missile Defence Council has selected a target area for the testing of their new interceptor weapon - the Vanta-7 - to be launched from Nevada at an unihabited ring of tropical islands in Zone 6 of the Pacific Ocean, at dawn tomorrow.

Missile Alert:
President Barach, leader of a small Middle East state, is going against all World Council treaties, and testing Vanta-7 nuclear missiles aimed at South Pacific co-ordinates W38-S16, in three hours time.

At this point, events are transposed. In Double Rescue, Penelope rushes to find Parker before making the call but in Missile Alert, the order of sequences is 4, 5, then 3, and 6 onwards.

3: Where is Parker?

Double Rescue:
Parker is busy supervising 'a huge two-tank jet-truck backing into position over the metal cover of an underground storage tank' - a new supply of liquid gas for the central heating system.

Missile Alert:
Penelope finds Parker outside, 'shouting loudly at a group of workmen who had been excavating a trench in order to lay new services to the nearby village of Creighton'. The digger has severed the main electric power cables to her mansion.

4: Emergency Signal

Double Rescue:
Penelope wants Parker to operate security precautions for a 'Red Prioroty plus One' radio signal - a hotline signal to Thunderbird 5 for emergencies.

Missile Alert:
Penelope uses her tea-pot to contact Jeff Tracy.

4: Loss of Signal

Double Rescue:
Penelope attempts to contact Thunderbird 5 from 'a sound-proofed room', but 'the signal is weak, barely readable', caused by 'strong interference over the North Atlantic'.

Missile Alert:
There is a 'blinding blue-white flash', and Penelope's link to Jeff Tracy is broken.

6: Uh Oh...

Double Rescue:
The gas truck explodes - 'Parker caught a glimpse of one of the workmen reeling sideways, a spent match and a packet of cigarettes telling their own tragic story', and 'blinding, poisonous' liquid gas starts to seep into the mansion through broken windows.

Missile Alert:
Penelope decides to use the mobile radio in FAB One but as she does, 'there was the rumble of an explosion' and the Rolls is 'thrown across the driveway' to end up on its roof. She is knocked unconscious.

7: Safety

Double Rescue:
Penelope and Parker take refuge in one of the mansion's steel-lined vaults below ground level.

Missile Alert:
No equivilant passage.

8: International Rescue

Double Rescue:
When John hears the faint signal, he conducts an 'ordinary radar-line sweep to a beam-in' and after four hours, contacts Tracy Island. Jeff sends Virgil and Brains in Thunderbird 2, and they arrive in another six hours!

Missile Alert:
Jeff contacts Scott, who is on the scene of 'a dangerous avalanche in the Swiss Alps' and about to return to base. He should arrive at Lady Penelope's in half an hour.

Bear in mind in Double Rescue, this means the time when Thunderbird 2 eventually arrives is 2.30am - the middle of the night. No hurry, guys...

9: Approaching Danger Zone

Double Rescue:
'One hundred feet below, Penelope's mansion lay shrouded in a blacket of... clinging white fog.' Metholeum 90!

Missile Alert:
'When Scott arrived in Thunderbird 1... the workmen were gathered around the overturned Rolls Royce and an ambulance... was in attendance.'

10: On the Scene

Double Rescue:
Thirty minutes later Virgil and Brains, using 'oxygelene anti-poison masks', reach Penelope and Parker.

Missile Alert:
Scott lands in 'the midst of a copse of trees', changes into civilian clothes and makes his way to the accident, where Penelope and Parker are recovering. Penelope tells the ambulancemen Scott is her personal doctor.

At this point, Missile Alert adds some humour, with Parker not realising that Scott is not a doctor as well, and asks him to look at his big toe. The ploy has to be explained, no doubt for the benefit of younger readers as well.

11: I Suppose You're Wondering Why I Called You Here...

Double Rescue:
'Virgil, the European telecast about the Vanta-7. Did Jeff pick it up?'
'No, not as far as I know, Penny. Why?'

Missile Alert:
Scott dismisses the others, helps Penelope into the house, where she 'quickly told Scott the reason for her attempted calls'.

Perhaps John is taking another fours hours mulling that one over...

12: The Target

Double Rescue:
'Target area Zone 6! In other words... Tracy Island!'

Missile Alert:
Penelope tells Scott the missiles will hit Moratoa Island.

13: Stunned Reaction

Double Rescue:
'For full sixty seconds, Virgil said nothing.'

Missile Alert:
'That's where International Rescue's auxilary stores and fuel are based.' Said Scott. Pretty much immediately we think.

14: Never Give Up...

Double Rescue:
Virgil is all for contacting Nevada and revealing the location of Tracy Island, or destroying the missiles - which would launch an investigation amounting to the same thing.

Missile Alert:
Jeff Tracy realises contacting 'that dictator Barach' is no use, even if he cared what was on Moratoa.

15: Never Surrender

Double Rescue:
Brains has a idea - a slight chance and the biggest gamble of his life. And Thunderbird 2 heads back as the Vanta-7 missiles are launched.

Missile Alert:
Brains has a idea.

Here the tales start to converge, and the explanations of the Vanta-7s are pretty similar:
A normal remote-controlled weapon...

Double Rescue:
...homed in from its base until it reaches visual distance.

Missile Alert:
It homes in on its target, controlled by radio and laser beams linked to a network of orbiting satellites.

Once in sight of the target, a robot camera-eye takes over for the final run-in.

Once again, the description of the plan is similar but with the roles of Thunderbirds 1 and 2 reversed again.

16: Brains' Plan

Double Rescue:
'The store of Silver Nitroglobe Particles used for cooling our fuel supply... how much have we got?'
'Two hundred tons. Maybe more.'
'I want you to load it aboard Thunderbird 1 and scatter the entire supply over the sea in section 12, Zone 6. Chart bearing One-nine-zero-seven.'

Missile Alert:
'...the store of silver nitroglobe particles... what is the p-present strength?'
'Two hundred tonnes, I guess... But the store is not on Moratoa - it's here, on Tracy Island.'
'L-load as much of the SNP as we can spare aboard Thunderbird 2. Then, Virgil, you must scatter the p-particles over the sea in the specific section that I will p-plot. '

Whereas Double Rescue does not feature Scott's mission to scatter the particles, which is more effective dramatically, Missile Alert has Thunderbird 2 launched to Moratoa Island for this. Then...

17: Missile Alert

Double Rescue:
Three hours later, Thunderbird 2 approaches Tracy Island, as the three Vanta-7s are spotted at 20,000 feet.

Missile Alert:
Brains and Virgil wait in Thunderbird 2 as Thunderbird 1 approaches the area, and the Vanta-7s are spotted at 20,000 feet.

Now why does it take Thunderbird 2 six hours one way in Double Rescue... but only three hours to get back!?

As the Vantas dive on their respective islands, the passages are almost identical, although in Double Rescue it is Virgil watching, and in Missile Alert it is Scott:

18: Enjoy The View

Double Rescue:
'There, just two miles ahead, and shimmering on a glass-like sea, was the silhouetted outline of Tracy Island. Every detail, every landmark stood out with stark clarity against the rising disc of the sun.'

Missile Alert:
'Two miles ahead of him, shimmering on a glass-like sea, Scott saw the silhouetted outline of Moratoa Island. Every detail, every rock and boulder stood out with stark clarity against the disc of the rising sun.'

Unfortunately, this highlights errors in both stories. In Missile Alert, it must be around 6pm or 7pm or in the UK, which would make the time in the west Pacific (the film Thunderbirds Are Go actually gives Tracy Island a minus five hour time difference to England, placing it - using current time zones - off the west coast of South America) late morning or early afternoon. In Double Rescue, Brains and Virgil must have left England around 3am... so the sun is more likely to be setting in the Pacific by the time they get back!

19: Are You Crazy?

Double Rescue:
'Are you crazy?' Virgil's voice still held its shrill, almost insane quality (!?). 'Sure they're diving - but straight at the island!'

Missile Alert:
'Are you crazy?' Scott's voice came over the radio link. 'The island and millions of dollars worth of essential supplies will be destroyed!'

Double Rescue is more emotive, and to prove it USES CAPITAL LETTERS:

20: Bad-A-Boom!

Double Rescue:
Horror clawed at his very soul, he watched the missiles fall like arrows towards the gently-waving trees of the island. Then they exploded... the deadly warheads blowing apart ONLY THE CALM, MIRROR-LIKE WAVES OF THE SEA! A bare second before they struck, the island - like magic - had completely disappeared.

Missile Alert:
Next second, the missiles were speeding low over the surface of the sea... and then they exploded in a devestating, eardrum-splitting, eyeball searing flash of destruction.
Scott's jaw fell, his lungs expelled a long gasp of air. The island had disappeared. Not a single trace of it remained.

Brains' explanation of how he created a mirage is pretty much identical, and equally boring, in both versions. As is Brain's desire to have some breakfast. But in light of the mistake regarding time zones, we suggest brunch in Missile Alert, and a midnight snack in Double Rescue.

While the type of missile the Vantas are is never made clear in the original story, the fact they are nuclear in the revised version. We assume that the mirage is not that far away for the real island, so a nuclear explosion - even up to twenty or thrity miles away - is still going to be pretty devestating to Moratoa.

21: Happy Ever After

Double Rescue:
Two hours later, it is Jeff, Virgil, Brains and Scott who listen to a newsflash by the World Missile Defence Council, stating Zone 6 of the Pacific Ocean would no longer be used for missile testing because 'prevailing weather conditions are against it'.

Missile Alert:
Two hours later, Penelope and Parker listen to a newscast where President Barach has decided against launching the missiles 'to comply with the wishes of the World Council', which leads her Ladyship to comment the man is a liar as well as a threat.