Thunderbirds unseen episode discovered after almost 60 years

The footage has been passed on to Stephen La Rivière from Century 21 Films who said the cans mostly contain 1960s footage from Thunderbirds, including an alternative version of an episode that was never broadcast and has never seen the light of day.

La Rivière told the BBC that the cans were hard to identify due to their condition, but "clearly the majority of it was Thunderbirds".

After the "very, very slow" process of digitally scanning the footage, it became clear that much of it was the same as what had been broadcast - but one alternative edit stood out.

"Eventually, listening one night... this one played out and it was not the same as broadcast," La Rivière said.

While there is some restoration work to be done, La Rivière hopes that the footage can be shown to the public next year, when the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson creation celebrates its 60th anniversary.

The first episode of Thunderbirds aired on 30th September 1965 and followed the adventures of the life-saving organisation International Rescue.

The team used a range of high-tech equipment to carry out their rescues, including the Thunderbirds – advanced craft for travelling across land, sea, air and space.

The iconic series was filmed between 1964 and 1966 using electronic marionette puppetry. Other iconic Anderson productions included Stingray, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Joe 90.

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