Sun Probe

Identity Crisis: The markings of the Sun Probe are a bit strange - no USA (they're launching it from Cape Kennedy, so I assume it's American), no specific name for the craft, just 'Sun Probe'. I don't believe they could have only built the one, and even then, shouldn't it be 'Sun Probe 1'?

Solarnauts: Love their little silk jumpsuits. You've gotta feel sorry for Camp, though. Not only is he called Camp, not only is he heading into almost certain death, but someone's half-inched his headset...

Pumpin': The fuel pumps retracting strike me as unnecessarily Freudian. And the fact that they're smoking is even more disturbing...

"Commencing final countdown...": All together now... It's the final countdown... dah-dah-dah daaaah, da-da-da-da-da...

Family Time: Once again, they're all gathered around the teeny little telly in Jeff's study. Surely they could afford a big screen? Jeff doesn't run one of those irritating 'two hours of TV a day' households, does he? Cos if that's true, I don't wanna work for IR any more...

Braman: Great name, shame it's not pronounced the more amusing way. Poor thing, he deserves a better inventor. Honestly, who needs to be reminded to eat supper? And a better voice synthesiser. He sounds like he should go evil at any moment.

Whoooooosh...: It didn't take long for the Sun Probe to reach the sun... Must have some pretty spectacular engines.

Continuity, Shmontinuity...: The chess board in the close-ups doesn't match the one in the wide-shots.

GodCam: Who the hell's taking those pictures of the probe detaching from the main ship?

Cross My Palm With Circuitry: Brains seems to developed precognition. That could come in handy...

Awww...: Tin Tin and Alan are being all snuggly on the sofa.

Don't Panic: There's no way in hell NASA (insert future equivalent here) would ever admit to completely buggering it up to that extent. And as for screaming for help over a public broadcast medium? I think not. They'd call a press conference to tell everyone that all's under control, then call IR over the radio.

Groovy: "Gee whiz, he sits there playing chess while those three guys in that spaceship are heading for disaster. I just don't dig him." Awww... wickle dated show.

Awww... 2: Alan and Tin Tin sharing a chair. Is this an attempt to make us more sorry they might die? They aren't usually this cuddly when the others are around.

R/C: I find it very difficult to believe that TB2 has such an enormous broadcasting range. TB3 is the one that would need it, as it's the only one that might conceivably need to broadcast over interplanetary distances. Also, why don't they use TB5? It's only the bloody communications satellite after all. But they don't even use it for the initial contact. Was everyone not talking to John that week?

Yada Yada Yada: Tin Tin says it's been three hours. What the hell have they been doing? It doesn't take much discussion, and if they'd have set off right away, maybe the transmission range thing wouldn't have even been an issue.

Dude!: Gordon got a line! "Let's face it, both Thunderbird craft have an equal chance of success or failure. Why do we gamble on one or other of them paying off?" Not only does he get a sizeable lump of dialogue, but in this scene he seems to be the only one who's actually thinking.

No Time Wasters, Please: Why couldn't Brains have gone and altered the radio equipment on TB3 while the others were engaged in their pointless discussion? It's pretty obvious they're gonna use it.

"Get Grandma to organise some auxilliary clothing.": Knit, woman, knit!

Dressed for Success: Love Tin Tin's little uniform. But if she has one, shouldn't Brains have one, too? I'm sure he goes out on rescues more often than she does. Also, why is she the only one who's allowed to wear the uniform in the base? Or don't we want to know?

Pretty: Full launch sequence for TB3. Virgil must get hours of fun out of watching that sofa go up and down, bless 'im.

Pretty 2: Nice shot of earth.

Shelf Stacking: The scene where Virg and Brains are loading TB2 reminds me of that bit in Red Dwarf (I think it was in Balance of Power) when Rimmer's making Lister go through the supply manifold. ("I'm fineing you half a cigarette for saying 'check' in a variety of silly voices...")

Camp: "International Rescue! Of course!" How does he know? He hasn't got a headset.

The Plot Thickens: And he hasn't got a headset, because Tin Tin nicked it! Doesn't hers look exactly like the solarnauts'?

Monkey business: I'm not convinced that Tin Tin is entirely essential to this mission. Surely one of the boys could have been spared for a couple of minutes to go down to the lounge (!) and pull a lever. I don't think Scott so much as pushes a single button... Or Brains could have put the controls in the control room.

Safety Beam: What exactly is it? They're within communications range of the Sun Probe (even with TB3's apparently pitiful sending apparatus) about four hours before they can reach them with the safety beam.

Tin Tin: It's a bit late to worry about her now, isn't it? If you're not prepared to let her take the same risks as the other IR operatives, a) why give her the uniform, and b) why send her on this mission?
Oh, and personally, I wouldn't trust my father to provide the closing argument when people are deciding whether I want to live or die.

Pretty 3: TB2 all covered with snow. Also, that's a much more convincing snowstorm than you get in most TV shows today.

"Now, the ledge should be immediately beneath us...": Virgil lands TB2 in the North Sea...

Huh? What's with the transmitter truck? I thought it was TB2 that had the awesome communications capabilities? Are they just using the truck to direct the beam, or what? They'd better be, because if they're just using the truck, TB3 could have taken it up above the atmosphere.

Auxilliary Clothing: There was once a large community of wild lynx living on Tracy Island. Then someone told Grandma to organise some auxilliary clothing...

Cuppa Char: "Okay, while you're doing that, I'll fix us some hot coffee." Yes, Virg, Don't you worry your pretty little head with the science stuff...

I Got Sssssteam Heat...: Guys, if you're so damn hot, take some clothes off. Please.

Rebels Without a Cause: There must be a special hat clause for when the boys are in space, because neither Scott or Alan are wearing theirs. I wonder if Tin Tin even has one?

Well, Duh...: Why didn't they have the safety beam on high power in the first place?

Dude! 2: Gordon gets another line! "Father, the retros must have failed!" He must really love having all the others out of the way.

Awww... 3: Kyrano crying... more than Jeff seems capable of, and he sent two of his kids into almost certain death.

Boxes: How did they manage to bring the wrong box, anyway? I can understand how you can get mixed up, but all the boxes look identical, so they must have been using the serial numbers to tell the difference, otherwise they wouldn't have brought anything they wanted...

Man Fall Down. Funny: It's nice how Alan's heroic effort is entirely useless.

"He's our only hope..." Unless you radio the base and ask them to work it out. They've refered to 'the computer room' in the past, so I'm sure they're got the equipment... And I like the way Braman is switched on by poking him in the eye.

Dude! 3: Gordon got a line! Again! "They probably used all their power on the safety beam."

Welcome Back: Jeff: 'We're gonna give a real hero's welcome to Tin Tin, Scott and Alan.' Tin Tin, Scott and Alan: 'Oooo, cake!'