‘LORD PARKER’S ‘OLIDAY’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
I have vague memories of watching this episode on VHS when I was a kid in the 1990s. It’s intriguing to view this episode in a different light compared to when I first saw it as a kid with vague memories.
I recall Lady Penelope driving FAB 1 out on the seas and this was before the ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ film happened. I also recall Brains being in a hazard suit on a dangerous mission with Thunderbird 2.
Having seen it lately, I find this to be a great ‘Thunderbirds’ episode where Lady Penelope and Parker have a sunny holiday in Monte Bianco. I’m not sure if Monte Bianco is actually a real place though. 😐
Apparently, Monte Bianco is meant to be the world’s first solar-powered town. This is especially when the solar station gets power from the sun using the generator’s reflector dish in the episode. 🙂
The solar station is manned by Professor Lundgren (voiced by Peter Dyneley) and Mitchell (voiced by Charles Tingwell). Unfortunately, a huge storm knocks the generator’s reflector down the mountain.
The reflector dish lands in a position where the sun’s rays will be reflected towards the town and destroy it when the sun rises. Lady Penelope becomes aware of this and calls International Rescue. 🙂
Incidentally, the solar collector’s control panel in the solar station looks almost identical to the TARDIS console used in ‘Doctor Who’! My parents noticed it as we were watching the episode lately.
I like how Lady Penelope and Parker attend the hotel in Monte Bianco. Lady Penelope dresses up as Marie Antoinette, I believe, and…I’m not sure how Parker’s dressed up. Some kind of lord, I think. 😀
The hotel’s staff members include the manager Faccini (voiced by Jeremy Wilkin) and Bruno (voiced by Charles Tingwell). Bruno is the voice of doom and gloom when Lady P and Parker are at the hotel.
There’s also…Cass Carnaby from ‘The Cham Cham’ appearing in this episode?! Hmm! I wonder how he’s here and looking like stock footage from that episode. How come Lady P did not chat up to him?
After Lady Penelope makes contact with International Rescue by going out to sea in FAB 1, she goes to the solar system to see how Professor Lundgren and Mitchell are. Thankfully they are both alright.
Parker meanwhile distracts the hotel guests with Faccini and Bruno’s help by posing as a lord and putting on a bingo game for everyone. Hopefully this keeps everyone occupied from everything else.
Once International Rescue receives the call for help from Lady Penelope, Jeff sends Scott out in Thunderbird 1 and Virgil, Alan and Brains out in Thunderbird 2. Jeff is very worried over this mission.
He shares his concerns with Grandma since he thinks that this rescue mission might not be easy as someone else might think. Jeff is right to be concerned as our heroes’ lives could be in real danger. 😐
There are shots of Scott and Virgil boarding Thunderbirds 1 and 2 reused from Season 1 which doesn’t match to the changes of design in Season 2. I wonder why they didn’t update those shots. 😐
The Thunderbirds arrive at the danger zone, but it gets tense when Brains tries to move the reflector to a safe orientation. It’s trial and error and Virgil becomes concerned about Brains’ well-being here.
There is a good moment when Scott in Thunderbird 1 uses a smokescreen tactic to block out the sun by releasing an exhaust of black smoke to protect the town. That seems to work out well in the end.
Thankfully, International Rescue are successful in their mission, although there is a moment of panic when Brains ditched his hazard suit and everybody else including Alan thought that he’d fallen over.
But he turned out to be alright. Virgil gave him a telling off though. 😀 The International Rescue team are looking forward to having breakfast, whilst on Tracy Island, Jeff is about to go the bed that night.
It was amusing how Parker justified himself to Lady Penelope about being an English lord in order to calm the hotel guests. The two are soon about to go to the beach and Parker reveals his bathing suit.
‘Lord Parker’s ‘Oliday’ is a very entertaining ‘Thunderbirds’ episode indeed. I’m glad I’ve seen it and reviewed it in a proper light compared to when I was a kid in the 1990s having vague memories of it.
‘Lord Parker’s ‘Oliday’ rating – 8/10
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