You are in the Special Features section - Sylvia Anderson, Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Fireball XL5, Space 1999, UFO

Digger spoke to Sylvia Anderson who created many memorable characters and shows such as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and UFO.

 

Sylvia Anderson with Lady Penelope

 

Sylvia with technicians

Some of the characters that Sylva helped to make famous -
 'Father Stanley Unwin', Captain Scarlet, Lady Penelope, Marina and Joe 90

 

Some images courtesy of and © copyright www.rexfeatures.com

 

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Digger: Can you briefly tell us about your early days and background and how you got into film and TV production?

 

Sylvia: My early days and how I got into film and TV production are covered very extensively in my recent book MY FAB YEARS, and also on my website www.sylviaanderson.org.uk.  However, briefly, I got into film and TV production by joining a small production company making commercials and documentaries. Although always interested in film, I had previously studied Political Science and Sociology at the London School of Economics. After joining the small company as a ‘Girl Friday’, I became involved in the day-to-day workings of film and TV and later joined the breakaway company as a company director with Gerry Anderson and other members of the team.

 
Digger: How was it that a small Slough-based production company was able to create series which, visually and technically, surpassed anything that the big studios in the UK or Hollywood could produce?

 

Sylvia: Our small Slough-based production company was now housed in a riverside mansion – our shooting stage the unused ballroom, an office with a typewriter and phone, and very little else. Unfortunately, the phone didn’t ring, and no one came knocking at the door to make movies. We did a couple of post-synching jobs until one day we were approached by a woman writer of children’s books. Because we gave a ridiculously low quote, we got the job and thus began our introduction to puppetry.  We quickly realised that we could improve on the stories and the production values.  So you could say that making puppet films happened almost by accident and by virtue of the fact that we were very broke!

 
Digger: There were some strong and influential women in TV in the sixties - Verity Lambert with Dr Who and Adam Adamant, Vicki Wickham with Ready Steady Go and yourself. How do you think this had an impact on how things are for women in TV today?

 

Sylvia: With regard to the influence of woman producers in the sixties, there was no doubt that it was the beginning of a new wave of feminine influence.  The sixties opened the way for many opportunities, both for filmmakers and actors who had regional accents. People like Albert Finney, Michael Caine, etc. I was fortunate enough to be part of that era, although, at first it was very hard to make any headway as a woman in a film industry mostly dominated by men.  It is a question of being at the right place at the right time. We probably all paved the way for the feminine influence that exists today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: How does it feel to be jointly responsible for such iconic shows?

 

Sylvia: As I have often explained (one of reasons that I have written my books) filmmaking is very much teamwork and the “iconic” shows that you quote came about by the background of hard work, and very much a team spirit.  It was our early shows that paved the way for shows like THUNDERBIRDS, CAPTAIN SCARLET, etc.  We were all learning as we went along, although we were qualified technicians, but we were part of a big adventure of creating an exciting new type of filmmaking, creating our mini-stars in our Disney-type studio.

 
Digger: If you had to choose a favourite character from your series, which would it be and why? And which series gave you most pleasure to work on?

 

Sylvia: I think the question about choosing a favourite character from our various shows would be Lady Penelope, who gave me the opportunity to create a female heroine, way ahead of her time. Working with Mary Turner, the sculptress, to create the visual and giving her my voice was great fun.  For the first time, I was able to write a character who didn’t just walk three paces behind the hero and became a female James Bond.

 
Digger: What did the sixties mean to you and what do you think is the legacy of that period?

 

Sylvia: The sixties meant a great deal to me as it opened many doors that had hitherto been closed. It meant that anything was possible and dreams really could come true.

Digger: Star Trek was supposed to have inspired a lot of real technology and propelled youngsters into the sciences. Do you think your series did the same and are there any examples where your science fiction became science fact?

 

 

 

 

 

The Shadows meet themselves in puppet form

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sylvia: Star Trek inspired a lot of real technology and did propel youngsters into the sciences. Because we had a talented team making our shows, who were way ahead of their time with their technology and I am constantly being made aware of the influence on our young viewers. Derek Meddings, our multi-talented creator of the hardware, treated our shows with all the respect of a big Hollywood Studio. Science fiction became an art form for our team.

 
Digger: What do you think are the main factors that make your series so watchable and popular to this day and strangely timeless given that they were very much of their time in some ways?

 

Sylvia: I think the main factors that have made our series watchable and popular even to this day, are because we were ahead of our time, in both the design of the various craft and the storylines that took us into the future.

 
Digger: Can you tell us any funny secrets about the production tricks that went into making your series?

 

Sylvia: There were always production tricks used because we were filming everything for a third life-size cast.  The Special Effects team became very adept in being inventive. For example, I used to save all Gerry’s empty cigar tubes for them to use in the making of the various rockets.

 
Digger: What was some of your biggest input on the shows and characters?

 

Sylvia: My input in the shows and characters started with the written page. I co-wrote the pilot scripts with Gerry where the cast of characters and the basic premise of our shows were established. Simply, I worked on the characters and dialogue and Gerry worked on the effects visuals. In other words, the action sequences and I created the characters.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

   

 

 

Four shots of shows in production

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: How would you have dealt with being in a real-life situation of danger like Lady Penelope and which of your characteristics did she inherit?

 

Sylvia: Of course, when you write a character you invariably automatically give the character some of your own traits. I like to think that I was able to give the feminine trait of determination and feminine guile.

 
Digger: What has been your biggest achievement and what would you still like to achieve?

 

Sylvia: Apart from helping to create our shows, I was able to pay homage to our wonderful team who helped to make it all possible.  Writing was always my first love and I have been able to have published three books.  LOVE & HISSES, a woman’s life told in diary form (written before Bridget Jones), YES M’LADY, and MY FAB YEARS, which described in detail the early days and then bringing everything up to date.  I’m now working on my fourth book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe 90

 

 

Captain Scarlet

 

UFO (Ed Bishop)

 
Digger: Would you prefer to work with real actors or puppets and what are the merits and drawbacks of both?

 

Sylvia: After several years working with puppets, we were all delighted to be working with actors, whose strings did not break and were able to walk and enter a room with very little effort! However, there were some drawbacks working with actors that weren’t a problem with puppets – inflated egos, not knowing lines and often temperamental, the actors certainly were often more of a problem than the dramas with puppets.

 
Digger: Please tell us about your current and future projects.

 

Sylvia: Having just released my latest book, I’m now working on the audio version and a new writing project to be published later in the year.