Thunderbirds are go...to auction! Huge hidden cache of props, scripts and puppets belonging to creator Gerry Anderson go on sale for £150,000
A huge hidden cache of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson's production puppets, props and scripts have emerged for sale for £150,000.
They had belonged to the late John Bell, a driver and handyman at Bray Studios in Berkshire where the special effects for Anderson's shows were filmed.
He was given hundreds of mementos by a senior director at Anderson's production company as they had no storage facilities for them.
This Captain Ochre puppet head used on screen in the classic 1967 series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons is estimated to sell for £8,000
The archive was uncovered following Mr Bell's death last year and is now going under the hammer with auctioneers Ewbank's, of Woking, Surrey.
The sale is expected to generate worldwide interest as it was feared many of these treasured items had ended up in a skip.
One of the marquee lots is an £8,000 Captain Ochre puppet head which was used on screen in the 1967 series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, the sequel to Thunderbirds.
This 30ins by 40ins British Quad film poster for Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) is worth £500
Also being sold is a 30ins by 40ins British Quad film poster for Thunderbirds Are Go (1966), worth £500 and hand-drawn concept artwork for T-Force, a 1983 planned Thunderbirds remake which never happened, which is being tipped to go for £600.
In it, Lady Penelope can be seen with Parker in front of the FAB 1 six wheeled car.
There are also several puppets up for grabs which were used in Anderson's 1980s science fiction series Terrahawks, including a £6,000 Battlehawk and an Officer Cathy Costello puppet worth £2,500.
This hand-drawn concept artwork for T-Force, a 1983 planned Thunderbirds remake which never happened, is being tipped to go for £600
These puppets were uncovered following Mr Bell's death last year and is now going under the hammer with auctioneers Ewbank's, of Woking, Surrey
Anderson's personal script for an episode of Terrahawks, which is marked with his initials 'GA', contains his handwritten notes and corrections.
Thunderbirds expert David Sisson said: 'For fans it has always been the saddest aspect of the Anderson programmes that Gerry never kept anything.
'As an independent film maker, Anderson would spend money on renting space for productions, so every day he rented it cost him money.
The pictured Gerry Anderson's personal script, marked for Terrahawks Episode 2 'GOLD', complete with handwritten notes and corrections in his handwriting could fetch £150
There are several puppets up for grabs which were used in Anderson's 1980s science fiction series Terrahawks,
'Because he worked with puppets and did the voices later, he didn't need a sound stage, so he rented warehouses.
'But the ceaseless weekly production of new puppets, models, and sets meant that this available space filled up rapidly and disposing of items that could not be reused, or repurposed, became a constant problem.
'Gerry was always ready to move on to the next project and so needed the sets cleared, so he used to give everything away or have it thrown out.
'The one thing he did keep for many years was a Parker puppet from the original Thunderbirds series.'
Mr Bell lived in Windsor, Berks. The archive, thought to number hundreds of items, was acquired from his widow by a collector who is now offloading it.
The miniature Terrahawk which was used in the production of the Terrahawks show was part of the archive found uncovered following Mr Bell's death last year
Ewbank's specialist Alastair McCrea said: 'The fan clubs have been running for 40 years or more in places like Britain and Japan.
'This is the biggest news to break for some time and the buzz around the auction is already growing.
'Having cleared the studios on the instructions of Gerry Anderson and the supervising art Director Bob Bell, Julian Bell carefully stored this huge cache of material for more than 30 years.
'Bearing in mind that much of the Anderson production material was destroyed or ended up in skips to make way for the next project, this is close to being a miraculous survival.
Here is a fibreglass production model of MEV used in the production of Terrahawks. The MEV can be seen in shots on the lunar surface when it faces the Space Cyclops.
These three Zelda's Cubes used in the production of Terrahawks, each approximately 20 x 20cm, could fetch £1,200
'It's been the talk of legend among fans across the decades, but no one really knew what happened and whether anything was rescued.
'This auction finally solves the mystery.'
Thunderbirds, which was created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, ran from 1964 and 1966 with 32 episodes.
It has spawned numerous film remakes and over 3,000 different pieces of merchandise.
Anderson died aged 83 in 2012. The sale takes place on November 30.