ALL SCI-FI

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Format: In 2017 the Earth suffers a devastating attack by aliens. In 2020 N.A.S.A.'s Mars base is destroyed and the red planet is now occupied by androids from the planet Guk.

In 2014 the United Nations High Command authorized the creation of the Terrahawks Earth Defense Squadron. The Terrahawks are an elite international fighting force operating from their Hawknest, a secret base located in South America. There they maintain highly sophisticated weaponry and a fleet of vehicles to combat the alien invaders.

Vehicles.

Battlehawk is a heavy-duty carrier aircraft. Terrahawk is the flying command center which is capable of detaching from the main body of the Battlehawk.

Hawkwing: A interceptor fighter aircraft with a separate over wing which can be released as a flying impact bomb. It is armed with fireflash particle accelerators, stingwing missiles and a high energy laser cannon.

Treehawk: A single-stage to orbit spaceship.

Spacehawk: An advanced early warning and first line defense space station positioned in geostationary orbit. It doubles as an interplanetary spacecraft.

Terrahawks was a Gerry Anderson production.

[Bud Brewster]

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I'll bet the kids really enjoyed this. And the documentary is well done, too.

Terrahawks: Season 1 Episode 1: Expect The Unexpected: Part 1 | Full Episode


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_________ The Terrahawks Story | Documentary


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

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Wikipedia and The Complete Gerry Anderson book.

Terrahawks ran from 1983 to 1986 for a total of 39 episodes and was filmed at Bray Studios, England with 65 crew members.

Instead of utilizing Supermarionation as was done on the previous Anderson television series with marionettes, Supermacromation was used. The characters for the show were sophisticated hand puppets which stood just under three feet tall and featured latex faces, remote-controlled eyes and underneath control systems.

These hand puppets were cheaper to produce than the sculpted wooden marionettes. It also eliminated the need for wires to animate the characters and allowed for them to move in a smoother manner.

Bray Studios was smaller and less costly to rent than Pinewood Studios which had been the home for many Gerry & Sylvia Anderson TV productions.

A hatch was located in the floor of the studio which had once held a water tank. It was large enough to hold five crew members who would operate the puppets.

The opening and closing credits sequence was created via hand drawn cel animation in order to imitate computer graphics.

Sidebar: Terrahawks was also a departure from the atmosphere of the Andersons marionette shows. Where the earlier series were played relatively as serious and straightforward dramas, Terrahawks was aimed at the youngsters and played for humor. There is some marvelous model work and special effects on Terrahawks. The puppets come off somewhat more realistic than the marionettes, but they're still puppets to be sure. A decently produced series but one that has no appeal to me.