Ready for some truly FAB news? From next month, BritBox UK will be substantially upping its cult TV offering, with a whole host of classic TV shows joining Doctor Who on the service.

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From 20th August, fans of the legendary Gerry Anderson will be able to stream the original Thunderbirds (1965-66), charting the heroic adventures of International Rescue.

All 32 episodes will be available, alongside Thunderbirds 1965 – three new episodes that premiered in 2016, based on original audiobook recordings from the 1960s and produced using replica puppets.

All 32 episodes of another of Anderson's beloved Supermarionation series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967-78) - which follows mankind's war against aggressors from the planet Mars - will also be available.

BritBox UK will also be streaming complete runs of Anderson's live-action series UFO (1970-73) - starring Ed Bishop and chronicling the battle between an Earth defence organisation and alien invaders – and Space: 1999 (1975-77) – starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain and following the crew of a Moonbase as Earth's satellite is blown out of its lunar orbit.

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ITV

A limited selection of Anderson episodes were previously streaming on the platform, but this will mark the first time that complete series runs have been available.

Accompanying these shows will be three more cult favourites from the 1960s and '70s: The Prisoner (1967-68) starring Patrick McGoohan as a former British agent trapped in a mysterious village, Sapphire & Steel (1979-82) starring Joanna Lumley and David McCallum as mysterious agents tasked with protecting the universe from the malevolent forces of time, and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969-71), about a detective (Mike Pratt) who teams up with his partner's ghost (Kenneth Cope).

The Prisoner
Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner ITV

The final new addition will be a more recent series, 2016's Dirk Gently – a mini-series originally aired on BBC Four and based on the works of Douglas Adams and starring Stephen Mangan as the titular sleth who "uses a holistic approach in his investigations".

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