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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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But perhaps we'd better begin
at the best place for stories:

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at the beginning.

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'Five!'

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He was responsible
for aliens attacking the world.

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'Four!'

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He blew the moon
out of the Earth's orbit.

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'Three!'

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And he turned a bunch of puppets
into superstars.

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'Two!'

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He was a wonderful chap.

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One of the most honest chaps
I've ever met in my whole life.

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'One!'

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He's a very evil...
a very evil man.

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Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome Gerry Anderson.

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APPLAUSE

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One has to bear in mind

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that I was always intensely
interested in space travel.

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I mean, I've always...

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..looked at the starry sky
and just wondered,

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what is out there?

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I remember, in fact, my brother,

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who was a Mosquito pilot
during the war,

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and I couldn't have been very old,
but he came back on leave once,

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and I remember very specifically
that he said to me once,

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"Assuming it were possible
to fly in a straight line

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"across the universe,

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"you must eventually come
to the end of the universe.

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"Or the edge of the universe.

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"And if so, what is beyond?"

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Well, of course,
that kind of mind-boggling question

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really set me thinking,

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and it's kept me going until today.

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My father, Gerry Anderson,

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produced 18 series
and four feature films,

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owned six Rolls-Royce motor cars,

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had four children,
across three marriages,

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and made and lost his fortune
twice over.

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But beyond these headlines,

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I actually know very little
about the man that I call Dad.

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What inspired him?

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Why was he never satisfied
with his work?

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Why were his relationships
so fractious?

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I've been loaned my very own FAB 1
to make a journey of discovery,

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visiting some of the key locations

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and speaking to some of his closest
family, friends, and colleagues,

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with the hope that I will finally be
able to understand what made the man

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who, for many,
made their childhoods.

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OK, Venus?
OK, Steve.

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Right, let's go.

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Very few people know
anything about my background.

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I don't once remember him telling me
about a happy childhood experience.

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I was in a house, an old house,
living right at the top,

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in one room, with my family.

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He spent a lot of time
drumming into me

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how poor his family were
when they grew up.

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Down below, we had a woman,
a very old lady,

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who used to bang on the ceiling
with her stick.

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It was Neasden, it was bleak.

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Opposite, we had a man -
I can't remember his name now -

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but he was just fresh out of jail.

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And on the bottom floor,
we had a mad artist

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and a prostitute.

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I think that Dad's climb
from the poverty of childhood

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was the most important endeavour
in his life.

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It's only right
that a bloke should have ambition.

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But that constant drive for success
was probably quite damaging for him,

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because in his mind,
he never reached it.

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I always feel that I have failed.

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You know that failure
cannot be tolerated.

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I think Dad's drive to succeed

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was probably due to the way
he was brought up by his parents.

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And, I suppose,
the way that they were raised, too.

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First of all, dealing with my
grandparents on my father's side,

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they were Jewish.

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They came as immigrants
to this country.

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And when they arrived here,

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the immigration people said
to my grandfather, "Name?"

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And he said, "Bieloglovski."

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And the immigration officer said,

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"I can't possibly spell that.
Your name's Abrahams."

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And so that was his name.

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Now, on my mother's side,

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my grandmother lived in Hackney,

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and the family, that's on her side,

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all grew up to be very,
very Christian.

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Now, when I say Christian,
I don't mean they went to church,

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but I mean very English.

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It was...

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a tough place to be, as a child,

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between two parents
locked in battle.

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They had a lot of arguments,
and it wasn't a happy marriage.

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They should never have been married
in the first place,

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but there we are, they were.

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I loved Grandpa Joe,
he was a lovely man.

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But he wasn't for Grandma Debbie.
And she...

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She was very unhappy her whole life.

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My mother was kind of always
saying how she hated him,

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hated the marriage.

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But the mixture was explosive.

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Sometimes my father,
there would be a row going on,

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and she would say,
"I'm going to bed",

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and he would say, "No, you're not",
and he would lock the door.

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And I'd have to sit in a locked room
for maybe three hours

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while these two were going
hammer and tongs at each other.

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And consequently, I had just about

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the most miserable childhood
it's possible to imagine.

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I think it's inevitable
that Gerry's upbringing,

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and the struggles he had,
would feed into his work.

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Because, you know,
that's what all good creatives do.

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They take what they know
and put it into their work.

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Do you remember how it all started?

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I guess none of us
will ever forget that day.

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I was brought up, really,

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by a mother
who didn't want to be Jewish,

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didn't want to have anything
to do with the Jewish religion,

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and by my father, who was Jewish,

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and did want to have
a lot to do with religion.

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I think her...

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..her non-Jewish beliefs
actually extend far beyond that.

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Gerry's mother
was unbelievably anti-Semitic.

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One day,
this was just before the war,

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a laundry boy came
to collect the laundry,

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which was in a sheet tied up
with a list on it,

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and he took the laundry, very
cheerfully, "Thank you very much",

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and she walked back,

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perhaps to get the money for the
last week's laundry, I don't know,

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and he said, "Hold on a minute."

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He had seen the name Abrahams.

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And as she was returning,
he shouted out,

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"We don't take laundry from Jews."

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And he threw the laundry,
which hit her fair and square,

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and slammed the door.

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He was teased...
for having a Jewish surname.

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I also remember at Neasden,
going to school,

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and kids dancing in a circle
around me, saying "Jew boy".

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So I think he very quickly
developed feelings, as a kid,

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that religion was a thing
that only brought negativity.

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I don't really think
you'll find much, if any religion

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in any of the shows
because of that.

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So, with the aid of my mother,
I totally rebelled.

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So she,
after a considerable argument,

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forced my father to change
the family name by deed poll.

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I remember her saying,
"I always liked the name Anderson."

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I know that name.

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From everything I can tell,
from what he said,

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as a child,
he was very close to his mum,

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and actually, with hindsight,

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he can see that
she was quite a manipulator.

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And she never had a kind word
to say for anybody.

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I grew up, rightly or wrongly,
very, very much on my mother's side.

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So my father was the enemy,
and I was an ally to my mother.

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Therefore, I inherited all her ways,
and I hated his ways.

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He became a mummy's boy not because
Debbie was a wonderful mother,

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but because she set the stage

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for Joe being a useless,
ugly, lazy, slovenly man.

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My mother used to humiliate him.

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And, er...

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When I was a kid,
she used to say to me, jokingly,

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"Come on, you ugly devil,

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"you look more like your dad
every day of the week."

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It used to break my heart, you know.

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Because I was brought up to think
that my father was ugly.

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So when she would say that to me,
I used to get very upset about it.

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Gerry's relationship
with his father,

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I think only began to heal

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only a short time
before Joe's death.

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But it was almost too late,
because he was taken ill,

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he went into hospital,

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and I believe up until the day
he had his final heart attack,

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he was still waiting on Debbie
hand and foot.

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When I arrived,

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my mother was actually
talking to a neighbour

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about the pain she'd been having
in her stomach,

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and how she felt sick,
and all the rest of it.

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And my father came in
with a tray of tea.

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Tea, m'lady?

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Tea on the lawn.

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And he had just had a heart attack.

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And an ambulance arrived,
and he was taken to hospital.

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And it was just about when
Thunderbirds was due to premiere.

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And he was in hospital,
I think in Maidenhead,

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and Gerry was so proud,

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cos he managed to get
a television set into the ward.

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And he was semiconscious when
they wheeled over a television set

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for one of the first showings
of Thunderbirds.

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We're not really sure if he could
hear it, or see it properly,

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but we've got notes
that suggest how proud Joe was

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of what his son had achieved.

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It was very important to Gerry

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that Joe had seen him
hit the heights, as it were.

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Get some rest now, Dad.
I'll see you tomorrow.

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When he died, he said something
to me which was incomprehensible,

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and I said, "I can't understand."

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And he said it again, and I said,
"I can't understand."

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And he said, "Can I have a pencil?"

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And he...

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He wrote...

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"It all happened

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"because..."

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And he lapsed into unconsciousness.

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And I, to this day, never know
what it was he was going to write.

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He must have had a terrible life.

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Yeah, course, if I could live
my time over again,

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I would have been much closer
to my father than I was.

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Why did I wait so long?

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Oh, John, you didn't know.

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I just feel very sad now
at the way I treated him.

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And in fact,
that's a very interesting point.

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You will see few, if any,
"mother" figures

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in any of the work that Gerry did.

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Right, Father.
OK, Father.

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Sure thing, Dad.
Yeah, Father.

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00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:03,680
What's happened, Father?

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00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:05,960
My father is an honourable man.

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00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:10,080
When my mother died, I had to try
to be a mother and a father to him.

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It's not as if you had a mother
to look after you,

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so don't let me down.

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I think the only happiness
he found in his childhood

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was with his brother.

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This older brother was
the only thing he looked up to,

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was the only thing that almost
made life worth living, I suppose.

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Lionel Anderson
was Gerry's older brother,

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older by, I think, seven years.

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Good-looking guy.

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Gerry absolutely idolised him.

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I think Lionel
was almost godlike to him.

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When the war broke out, I was 11,
and he was joining up,

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so I guess he was probably 18.

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It wasn't really until the war
that I used to see very much of him.

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I just have very strong
recollections

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from the things he did.

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I mean, during the Blitz, he was
Light Rescue, and so he was a hero.

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Lionel was a classic boy
growing up in the '30s,

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late '30s, early '40s.

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Loved everything to do with
aeroplanes,

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loved everything to do with speed,
transport.

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The opportunity
to join the Royal Air Force

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would have been something
that was massively exciting to him.

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00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,200
Debbie doted on Lionel,

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clearly was much fonder of him
than she was of Gerry.

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You almost feel like
Gerry was an afterthought.

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So all of her focus and love,
you feel,

245
00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,720
is directed towards one person.

246
00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:41,640
Gerry mentioned his brother
numerous times.

247
00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:43,040
He was very proud of his brother

248
00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,000
and his contribution
to the Second World War.

249
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,480
What happened was he was sent
to Arizona for his training.

250
00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:51,280
Cos you couldn't train over England,

251
00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,160
you'd be shot down
by German aircraft.

252
00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,400
So he was sent to Arizona,
to an airfield called Falcon Field.

253
00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,200
He was an inveterate letter writer.

254
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,880
I'm sure Debbie read
and re-read and re-read them,

255
00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,400
and read them out loud to Gerry.

256
00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,440
And judging from his letters,

257
00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,800
he seems to have maintained

258
00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:13,920
a much more healthy relationship
with my parents than I did.

259
00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,600
Nothing I can see in the letters

260
00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,680
that suggests a close relationship
with his father.

261
00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,400
His mother, on the other hand,
is a totally different relationship.

262
00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,600
A very intense relationship.

263
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,720
It probably wasn't
a healthy relationship.

264
00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:31,360
I think as a role model,

265
00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,960
Lionel would have been something

266
00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,920
that was almost impossible
for Gerry to live up to.

267
00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,600
I mean, if you've got a brother
who's flying an aircraft

268
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,640
over Nazi-occupied Europe
every night,

269
00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,880
obviously one naturally
thought of him as a hero.

270
00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,200
Let's face it, he was a hero.
Like all of them.

271
00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,240
He's quite a guy.
Yeah.

272
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:50,360
And that is a thing

273
00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,520
which I would hear him repeat
over and over and over.

274
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,080
And he painted quite the picture
of this hero pilot.

275
00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:58,240
It felt very much

276
00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,000
like he was the most positive
influence in Dad's life.

277
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,560
I think it was from Lionel that
he got the idea for Thunderbirds,

278
00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,080
or certainly the name
for Thunderbirds.

279
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,560
Obviously Lionel's having
an opportunity to do things

280
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:17,200
that Gerry could only dream about,
and yet his brother is achieving.

281
00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,000
I mean, Hollywood came to Lionel.

282
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,200
He was at Falcon Field

283
00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,080
when an American film crew,
producer, turned up

284
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:27,640
to shoot a film,

285
00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:31,000
and it involved some of
the big actors at the time.

286
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,880
He danced with Gene Tierney
when they had a party there.

287
00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,960
And there was another Hollywood star
called Preston Foster

288
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:38,040
that he wrote about.

289
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:42,000
All of the cadets are actually
brought into the film

290
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,840
to parade, to march past, to be
in group scenes, what have you,

291
00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,600
and they can clearly see that
they're actually in this film.

292
00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,080
And the name of that film will be
very familiar to everyone,

293
00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,320
because the film was called
Thunder Birds.

294
00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,760
Cor, so that explains it!

295
00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:07,360
It must have been a huge blow to him
when Lionel, you know,

296
00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:09,000
died.

297
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,760
After his squadron
converted to flying the Mosquito,

298
00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:14,560
they also changed roles,

299
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,840
and his role now
was as an Intruder pilot.

300
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:23,280
And what that meant was that they
flew ahead of the bomber stream

301
00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,080
to shoot up German night fighter
stations.

302
00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:28,840
Every morning when the postman came,

303
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,160
it was just the dread of receiving
the telegram. Which finally came.

304
00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,680
And it was while
on one of those Intruder sorties

305
00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,160
that, sadly, Lionel was shot down.

306
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,080
"The Air Ministry regret to report

307
00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,880
"that your son,
Lionel David Anderson,

308
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,560
"failed to return from an operation
over enemy territory

309
00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:53,920
"and has been posted as missing."

310
00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,880
It would have been
absolutely catastrophic.

311
00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,920
Because although there would have
been an element of hope,

312
00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:03,000
the reality is, though,
that word "missing"

313
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,200
invariably meant "dead."

314
00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:08,200
He didn't make it.

315
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:10,920
He just didn't make it.

316
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:13,920
My mother was
a very emotional person,

317
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:15,960
and, er...

318
00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,720
she tended to wear her heart
on her sleeve.

319
00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:21,560
I'm aware, anecdotally,

320
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,840
that Debbie is purported
to have said...

321
00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:26,240
"It should have been you.

322
00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:28,640
"Why was it Lionel?
It should have been you."

323
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,640
And I think if we add that
to the fact

324
00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,480
that she created nigh on a shrine
for Lionel,

325
00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:37,920
with this portrait
that used to hang,

326
00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,600
and she would show everyone
who came around,

327
00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:43,360
I think there's a lot of credibility
to that story.

328
00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:47,640
You wouldn't forget something that
a parent had said to you like that.

329
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,760
Well, my brother - and I'm quite
serious when I say this -

330
00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:53,000
he really should have lived,

331
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:54,960
and I should have been the one
that was killed.

332
00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,560
And I just feel that, really,
he was more suited

333
00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,360
to go through this life than I was.

334
00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:02,920
And I would happily
have swapped places with him.

335
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,320
I think if you look back
on the episodes of his shows,

336
00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:13,560
you'll find that there are always
strong characters who are pilots.

337
00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,000
I think the action figures,
with Mike Mercury,

338
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,960
with Scott, and with Virgil,
to a degree,

339
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,840
I think these
are all hero characters

340
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:27,680
who probably embody certain elements
of Lionel in them.

341
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,120
You saved our lives.
I'm glad we could help.

342
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:31,640
All I know is somewhere out there,

343
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:33,440
there's a living creature
in distress.

344
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,120
I can't let that call go unanswered.

345
00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:37,680
Before his death,
Lionel wrote a letter home

346
00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:39,000
in which he joked with Dad

347
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,120
about wanting him to do well
in school and make lots of money,

348
00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:44,880
so he could look after Lionel
when he returned.

349
00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,520
But for various reasons, that
wasn't really an option for Dad.

350
00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,760
I was never gonna become anything
at secondary school.

351
00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,280
I'd like to think I had flair,
and certainly common sense,

352
00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,680
but in terms
of academic qualifications,

353
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,040
I was just, you know,
like a barrow boy.

354
00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:06,520
He was not a fan of school at all.

355
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,920
I don't think he took
his education seriously.

356
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,080
I think his schooling
had been pretty poor,

357
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,680
had been pretty broken up, because
he was evacuated in the war.

358
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,800
Dragged off with Debbie with,
you know, "I'm leaving Joe again"

359
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:20,240
and all the rest of it.

360
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,880
He had trouble reading and writing,
which he later claimed was dyslexia,

361
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,520
although I think
it's probably just poor education.

362
00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,640
His handwriting was... not great.

363
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,640
But he always tried his best
to cover for it.

364
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,680
He didn't want people to know
that he was ill-educated,

365
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,320
or, you know, had trouble
with reading and writing.

366
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:45,120
He had wanted to be
a fibrous plasterer.

367
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:47,920
When I say plastering,
this was ornamental plastering,

368
00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:49,120
not plastering walls.

369
00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:52,720
And I really excelled,
and I was top of the class.

370
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,640
And so, obviously,
I was going to become a plasterer.

371
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,680
And who uses plasterers?

372
00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:00,840
The answer is, film studios.

373
00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:02,400
Oh, films?

374
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,360
Oh, that must be
a very exciting life.

375
00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:08,400
Very soon after he started
this training in plastering,

376
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:12,720
he was having terrible rashes
and skin peeling up his forearms.

377
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,040
And it turned out
it gave him dermatitis.

378
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,360
It was really horrible,
and the doctor said,

379
00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:20,480
"Well, it's obviously the lime
and the plaster that's causing this,

380
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,120
"and there's no way
that you can become a plasterer."

381
00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,400
Well, I had already set my heart
on studios, films.

382
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,560
I really knew nothing about it.

383
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,520
And I spent a very, very long time

384
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:32,920
walking around
from studio to studio,

385
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,320
saying to the gate men,
"Are there any jobs going?"

386
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,920
And this was obviously
the start of everything.

387
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:46,040
My father, through a relative
of a relative of a relative,

388
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:51,680
knew Sidney Bernstein,
who was chairman of Granada.

389
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,400
And he managed to get me
an interview with the great man.

390
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,360
And I went along, and he said,
"What do you want to be?"

391
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:00,600
And I said, "A cameraman."

392
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,480
And he said, "Well, look,
everybody wants to be a cameraman.

393
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,560
"I'm going to put a date
in my diary.

394
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:08,480
"If you come back
in six months' time

395
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,160
"and tell me that you still
want to become a cameraman,

396
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,960
"I will give you a job
on a camera crew."

397
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,120
Dad was never hugely patient.

398
00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:19,480
What I remember very clearly
is when he said "six months' time",

399
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,120
he might as well have said
"45 years' time".

400
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:26,800
It seemed such a huge amount of time
to wait.

401
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:32,000
So I came out and just dismissed
him and the interview from my mind,

402
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,800
and I thought,
"If I'm gonna be a cameraman,

403
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,160
"I might as well do
something to do with photography."

404
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,240
So I walked into Regent Studios,
on Regent Street,

405
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,720
which is a little passport studio,

406
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,240
and I was a developist.

407
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,720
He then managed to get a job

408
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:54,000
with the Ministry of Information's
Colonial Film Unit.

409
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,480
And I did, as a trainee, projection,

410
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,040
and camera crew, and editing,
and so on.

411
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:06,120
And so I decided that I would work
in the cutting room.

412
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,520
And from there, I heard that
there was a vacancy going

413
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,320
in Gainsborough Pictures.

414
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,880
FANFARE

415
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,880
And so that's how
I really came to be

416
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,320
a member
of the British film business.

417
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,560
In the late 1940s, I think 1947,

418
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,520
he was called up to the RAF.

419
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,000
The joining up of the RAF

420
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,320
was something which
he had been dreading,

421
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,920
because he was such a mummy's boy.

422
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,720
When I finished my initial training,

423
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,960
we took a so-called
intelligence test,

424
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:46,320
and I was then interviewed
by the education officer,

425
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,160
and he said,

426
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,800
"Well, you have very,
very low marks.

427
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,520
"In fact, so low,
that we can only offer you

428
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,240
"either general duties
in the cookhouse..."

429
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,920
If I cooked like you,
I wouldn't shout about it neither.

430
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,840
"..or military police."

431
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,880
Which says something
for the military police.

432
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,920
He said, "What did you do
on civvy street?"

433
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,800
And I told him I was
an assistant film editor,

434
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,680
and I could see he was
quite startled by that.

435
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,560
And then he offered me
a so-called C-trade,

436
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,440
which allowed me to become
a radiotelephone operator,

437
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,600
which I did.

438
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:28,520
Dad exited the RAF in 1949.

439
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,560
With good grades across the board.

440
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,280
So he must have been proud of that.

441
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:33,920
We were very fortunate, really,

442
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,680
because people who were called up
for National Service

443
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,600
had to be reinstated in the job
they held when they left.

444
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:47,120
And so when I came out,
I was sent to Pinewood Studios.

445
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:49,800
And he very quickly
rose through the ranks,

446
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,240
from sound editor, to assistant
film editor, to film editor.

447
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,880
He also met Betty Wrightman,
who he soon married.

448
00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:01,520
And they quite quickly had Linda,
first daughter,

449
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,480
and then quite soon after that,
Joy, second daughter.

450
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,480
After being jettisoned from the RAF,

451
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,520
his personal life and his career
seemed to be taking off.

452
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,560
After a couple of years, he found
himself working for a company

453
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,320
called Polytechnic Films,
where he was appointed director

454
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,360
on a series called
You've Never Seen This,

455
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,400
which, ironically, was never seen.

456
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,480
And it was whilst
working on that series

457
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,800
that he met his future
business partner, Arthur Provis.

458
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,840
And that's how we got together,
and we became very friendly.

459
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,400
And so when that ill-fated series
came to an end,

460
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,880
we said, "Why don't we start
our own production company?"

461
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,280
Which we did.

462
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,280
Hence AP Films,
Anderson and Provis.

463
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,080
We got on very, very, well,

464
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,000
and we took with us
some friends that we had met.

465
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:46,640
Reg Hill, brilliant man.

466
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,360
And John Read.

467
00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:53,360
We started the company,
and we needed a secretary.

468
00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:55,880
And there's a very interesting thing
here,

469
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,240
because we advertised
for a part-time secretary.

470
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,000
When you were growing up,

471
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,640
what did you want to be
when you grew up?

472
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,520
Er... I could say "famous."

473
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,720
So we put an advert
in the local paper

474
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,880
for a secretary for two days a week.

475
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,080
I didn't know how to get into
the film business at all,

476
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,880
and then one day, I saw an ad,
you know, in a newspaper,

477
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,760
a small film company
looking for a Girl Friday.

478
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:26,840
I thought, "Oh, I can do that."

479
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,760
And I received a call,
in response to that advert,

480
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,040
from a very jolly lady,

481
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,360
who said,
"Yes, I can keep you all in order,

482
00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,280
"it sounds very interesting,
and I'd love to do it."

483
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,160
And a couple of hours later,
my partner, Arthur Provis,

484
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,160
received a call from Sylvia Thamm.

485
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,960
And then I got a call from them,
really desperate.

486
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,000
And, er...

487
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,680
So, at the end of the day, I said,

488
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,680
"I think the lady who called me
would be ideal."

489
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,960
And he said, "The lady who called me
was wonderful,

490
00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:02,040
"I'm sure she'd be right."

491
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,680
And we got on very well, so we said,
"Let's not argue about it,"

492
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,560
so we flipped a coin,
and Sylvia got the job.

493
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:14,000
Right from the word go,
she meant to have Gerry.

494
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,240
And I mean, I liked her.
I was very intrigued by her,

495
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:17,960
because she had been divorced twice,

496
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,480
and I'd never met anybody
who'd been divorced even once.

497
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:21,640
And I was very naive.

498
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,240
And I have wondered,
on many occasions,

499
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,560
had that coin
landed the other way up,

500
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,960
things would be very different
today.

501
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:32,800
You feeling regret?

502
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,640
No, no. Just curious.

503
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,720
The company really just sat dormant,

504
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:44,520
with its telephones and notepaper
and filing cabinet,

505
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,680
empty filing cabinet,
waiting for the phone to ring.

506
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,600
I thought, naively,
that people would ring and say,

507
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,280
"Good morning,
I'd like to order some films.

508
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,120
"So, we'd like one feature film,
three commercials

509
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:57,440
"and two documentaries."

510
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,520
Before you know it, Dr Beaker,
you'll be filming in Hollywood.

511
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,280
Of course, that didn't happen.

512
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,760
I think we made a commercial
for Little Noddy.

513
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,880
For one of the Ricicles.

514
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,320
Hello, children.
It's me, Little Noddy.

515
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:11,960
We were sort of scratching around,

516
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,240
thinking,
"My God, the phone's not ringing."

517
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,960
But finally, and just as we were
about to close the company,

518
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,680
a woman by the name of Roberta Leigh
turned up on the doorstep.

519
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,000
Who was driving a Rolls-Royce,
and she had the chauffeur,

520
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,000
and she sort of swanned in

521
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,720
and announced herself,
that she was a children's author.

522
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,640
And said she'd heard
we'd made some puppet commercials,

523
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:35,920
and she'd got this idea
called Twizzle,

524
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:37,720
and were we interested?

525
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:39,560
So that's basically how we met.

526
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,280
He was desperate to get a job
when he came to me.

527
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,320
He'd made a Noddy commercial.

528
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:49,040
She was a rich lady,
and a bit out of our league, really.

529
00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,840
And they couldn't get started.

530
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:53,880
Roberta was quite difficult
to deal with.

531
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:54,960
And we found later

532
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,040
that she was going around
to all the different companies

533
00:27:58,040 --> 00:27:59,880
and getting the cheapest quote.

534
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:03,120
And that's how we were introduced
into the world of puppetry.

535
00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:06,280
I mean, I can't tell you
how upset I was,

536
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,640
you know,
to be making bloody puppet films.

537
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,600
Hey, manners, manners!

538
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,400
But they turned out
to be his fortune.

539
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,040
And it was actually at that point
that he started to make...

540
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,920
real technical advances,

541
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,720
because he was so embarrassed
by puppets.

542
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,760
And then he got offered
another puppet series.

543
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,520
Gerry Anderson,
him and I were like brothers.

544
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:34,240
We even shared a car at one stage,
when we couldn't afford two.

545
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,280
And, er...

546
00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,320
He was a wonderful chap.

547
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,000
One of the most honest chaps
I've ever met in my life.

548
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,360
I don't know if there was
any specific moment

549
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,680
that the relationship ended.

550
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:52,800
But as time went on,
that started to fray a little.

551
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:55,560
Not because of any fallings out.

552
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,320
Gerry says it was because he wanted
to buy the place we were in

553
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:01,800
for some amazing amount of money,
and I didn't agree with it.

554
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,840
He's convinced that was the reason.

555
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,800
I don't think
that was entirely the reason.

556
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:10,080
Dad wanted to push forward
and do bigger and better things,

557
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,280
and make more technical advances.

558
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,520
And there was a lot of risk
involved in that.

559
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,640
They were two different people.

560
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:20,720
I was rather more careful
than Gerry. Gerry would have a go.

561
00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:22,320
And I tended to be careful.

562
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,320
And it gradually made me
more and more nervous.

563
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,960
Not a bit like Gerry.
He didn't want to do anything,

564
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,520
and Gerry wanted to go all in.

565
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,840
I thought we'd get ourselves
into a lot of trouble.

566
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,680
When we made Four Feather Falls,

567
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:40,040
this is where my relationship
with Sylvia developed

568
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,080
and my marriage broke up.

569
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,960
Arthur was horrified by the way
Gerry was carrying on with Sylvia

570
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:47,560
when he had a wife and two babies.

571
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,280
And I decided to go.

572
00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:01,240
Now, I was really ill-equipped
to have a serious relationship.

573
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,320
She was, and is,
a very, very nice person.

574
00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,960
I personally don't think
that we were really suited.

575
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,840
I think when he married Mum,
he hadn't matured emotionally.

576
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,520
He hadn't left home, he hadn't had
girlfriends before my mum.

577
00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:19,800
They were kind of pushed into it,

578
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:24,160
and it wouldn't have
run a long term,

579
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,600
whatever had happened,
whether he had met Sylvia or not.

580
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,800
It was doomed from the start.

581
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:34,760
I certainly, today, I look back,
and think, "What an awful thing."

582
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:35,920
If I could replay it,

583
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,200
I certainly would never have
allowed it to happen again.

584
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:40,720
It's too late now.

585
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:42,720
Yeah.

586
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:44,800
Too late.

587
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,240
Joy and Linda had a tough time,

588
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,600
because their parents separated
when they were both quite young.

589
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,000
I never told anybody
who my father was.

590
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,520
Sylvia was the new partner.

591
00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:00,960
She was not particularly sensitive
to our needs.

592
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,560
Me and my sister
lived at home with Mum.

593
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,080
And we used to go and see Daddy
once a fortnight.

594
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:08,680
He came and picked us up.

595
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,240
There's pictures of us
all together as a family,

596
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,440
and it really is very constructed.

597
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,880
When Gerry's first marriage failed,
he was quite young.

598
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:23,880
And I think probably
he didn't realise

599
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,920
how badly affected
the girls would be.

600
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,160
We were sitting at the tea table
in the kitchen,

601
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,880
and of course, by then,
we were used to him not being there.

602
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,880
And Mum said, "There's something
I need to tell you.

603
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,960
"Daddy and I
are going to get divorced."

604
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,240
And I said, "Why?"

605
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,040
Although it's bonkers, because
he hadn't been there for ages.

606
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,000
So, Mummy said, "Well, Daddy
doesn't love Mummy any more."

607
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,280
And I said, "Well, if he doesn't
love Mummy, then I don't love him."

608
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,440
When we were kids, and we went
to spend the weekend with Daddy,

609
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,040
I mean, the contrast was incredible.

610
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:09,520
Because Mum was struggling.
She did three jobs.

611
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:14,360
She was a secretary, she was a
seamstress, and she worked in a pub.

612
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:18,000
He was picking us up in his Roller,
and she was doing three jobs.

613
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:19,440
And then we'd go

614
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,400
and have a completely different
lifestyle for two days.

615
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,440
And, er...

616
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,040
As the years went by,
we drifted apart.

617
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,000
Erm...

618
00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:40,800
We just bec...
We just became estranged, I think.

619
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:42,880
The great sadness is...

620
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:44,920
that Dad...

621
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:50,000
I don't think ever really conveyed
to any of them how he truly felt.

622
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,160
He talked about it in private,
to very, very few people,

623
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,080
that it was a great source
of regret to him

624
00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,960
that he was not able
to bring those kids up.

625
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:07,120
I don't think Daddy had a very good
model for happy marriages.

626
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,120
That's not what
he'd experienced growing up.

627
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,200
I mean, they came back on the scene
later, which was nice.

628
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,400
I was living in London
and a friend of mine came over,

629
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:18,680
and she said to me,

630
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:21,480
"Did you know your dad's on
at the Barbican tonight?"

631
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,280
"Why don't I take you?
He's doing a book signing."

632
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:29,240
And I said, "Oh, I don't know.
I haven't seen him for ages."

633
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,000
And she said, "Oh, go on.

634
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,320
"It's about time you two got
together", blah, blah, blah.

635
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:39,720
So we went, and he did a talk,
and it was really interesting.

636
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,280
Good evening.
Thank you for coming along tonight.

637
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,320
And I was sitting
right in the front row,

638
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,840
but I hadn't seen him for so long,
he didn't know what I looked like.

639
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:49,960
So when we came out,

640
00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,560
everyone was queueing up
to get their books signed,

641
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,320
and when I got to
the front of the queue,

642
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,040
I gave him my book, and he said,

643
00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,640
"What would you like me
to write in your book?"

644
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,000
And I said, "You could write,
'To Joy, love Dad.'"

645
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:08,640
And, erm...
Which he nearly had a heart attack.

646
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,920
Dad's failure to maintain
personal relationships

647
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,120
began to impact
his professional life

648
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,040
almost as soon as it had started.

649
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,320
I didn't get along very well
with Roberta Leigh,

650
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:19,760
and I didn't...

651
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,280
You know, in fairness,
maybe she didn't like me either.

652
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,360
He's a very evil... A very evil man.

653
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:29,600
But I decided that we should
really do our own series now.

654
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,000
Our position was precarious

655
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,000
right up until the time
I met Lew Grade.

656
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,560
We were going under.

657
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,840
And we had made Four Feather Falls.

658
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:43,600
And I remember,

659
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:49,240
we sent the last completed film
to Granada by post.

660
00:34:49,240 --> 00:34:52,880
And back came a cheque,
the final payment.

661
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,520
And we waited for somebody
from Granada to say,

662
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:57,600
"Well, what are you going
to do next?"

663
00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,920
And I haven't heard from Granada
to this day!

664
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:06,000
And Gerry and Reg had come up with
an idea, I think with Barry Gray,

665
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,240
about a car
that could do everything.

666
00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:09,600
Which was Supercar.

667
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:11,760
I was hoping that
somebody would say,

668
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,120
"This is wonderful,
how much money do you want?"

669
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:16,160
And of course, that didn't happen,

670
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:20,520
and we, again,
were about to close our studio

671
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,640
when a man by the name
of Connery Chappell came to see us

672
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:29,080
and said, "I know a man
whose name is Lew Grade,

673
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,000
"I'm sure he would be interested."

674
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:32,640
And he made an appointment.

675
00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:36,080
So Gerry went up
and met with Lew Grade.

676
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,800
And I showed him the brochure,
and I remember him looking at it,

677
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:45,440
and he said, "Yeah, looks good.
How much is it going to cost?"

678
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,640
Let's say it was something
like £3,000 an episode.

679
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:52,640
I remember Lew slammed the desk
with his fist -

680
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:55,080
I mean, it frightened
the living daylights out of me -

681
00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:57,640
and he said, "I can't possibly
afford that sort of money

682
00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:59,600
"for a children's show."

683
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,600
And then I think he must have seen
that I looked very frightened,

684
00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,000
and so he then became very kind
and said,

685
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,040
"Look, Gerry,
I tell you what you do.

686
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,080
"Let me see, the time now
is five o'clock.

687
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:10,800
"Go back to the studio,

688
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:13,880
"come back tomorrow and tell me
you've cut that price in half,

689
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,000
"and I'll give you a contract
for 26 shows."

690
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:21,280
Well, I was in my car,
going back to Lew.

691
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:25,360
I had failed.
We had cut a third off the budget.

692
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:29,000
And I went up,
and I was nearly in tears.

693
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,120
I'm sure I was smelling like
a polecat.

694
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:34,000
I hadn't shaved, been up all night.

695
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,320
And I said...

696
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,720
I said, "I'm terribly sorry,

697
00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:42,400
"but there's no way
we can cut it in half.

698
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,640
"But we've managed
to cut off a third."

699
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:50,400
And Lew said,
"OK, you've got a deal."

700
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,960
And on the strength of that,
we went into production.

701
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:55,160
So, what are we waiting for?

702
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,760
This is just the start of
a long, friendly relationship.

703
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:03,320
We were probably the dot-com company
of the '60s.

704
00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:05,160
That's what we were there.

705
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:09,760
Looking back, I think Gerry
was the king of hardware,

706
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:13,400
and Sylvia
was the queen of software.

707
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,120
At first, I lived with her.

708
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,280
She owned a little, tiny cottage
in Bourne End,

709
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,320
and I moved in with her there.

710
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:24,480
And I think here, again,

711
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,200
all that would be fitting
for me to say

712
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:31,680
is that you can't marry somebody
unless there is something there.

713
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:33,240
I mean, you don't meet somebody

714
00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:35,480
and say, "God, I hate you,
will you marry me?"

715
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,200
There obviously was a time
where we got on very well,

716
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,480
and I was very attracted to her.

717
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,520
The marriage...

718
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:48,400
started to get bumpy
shortly afterwards.

719
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,720
It became progressively more bumpy.

720
00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:55,480
It became stormy.

721
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:57,240
In the extreme.

722
00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:58,960
The storm's getting worse.

723
00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:04,560
It has to be stressed that
she has her story. This is mine.

724
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:11,680
Sylvia wanted to get married
in Caxton Hall.

725
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:13,480
Which was the grand venue

726
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:17,480
for people who wanted to have
big, grand, flashy weddings.

727
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,880
And I suppose it was the first time
I had realised

728
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,320
that she was very keen on publicity.

729
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:26,400
Certainly, all the photographs
you see of the two of them,

730
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,480
she's kind of centre stage,

731
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:32,800
and Gerry's looking maybe
slightly embarrassed,

732
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:34,840
or rather that he'd
be somewhere else.

733
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:41,040
Gerry was quite happy not receiving
the same sort of publicity.

734
00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:44,400
He really didn't want
to be in the public eye.

735
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:47,320
And obviously that caused tension.

736
00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:52,360
She was, and could have been,
an incredible help to me.

737
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:54,600
She helped me by reading scripts.

738
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,120
I used to dictate the scripts
to her.

739
00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,840
On Thunderbirds, I dictated
the whole script straight off.

740
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:01,920
From the time I can remember,

741
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:06,640
he had a... either an Amstrad
or a Peacock computer,

742
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,200
which had a 25 MB hard drive.

743
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:13,080
And he would sit at it and type.

744
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,080
Gerry was a one-finger typer.

745
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,760
A slow and painful process.

746
00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,640
When he was writing a script, he
would quite often either dictate it

747
00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:23,560
and I would take it down on paper,

748
00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:26,280
or I would type it straight
as he was dictating it.

749
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:30,640
I was just the mechanism
to get it onto the paper.

750
00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:32,520
He'd always dictated his scripts,
I think.

751
00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:35,560
And I remember to this day,
we were sitting on the balcony

752
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:37,920
of our apartment in Albufeira,

753
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,640
and I said,
"There is one more thing,

754
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,400
"right on the front,
'by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.'"

755
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:44,240
A thing I've always regretted.

756
00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,600
Because it wasn't
by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.

757
00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:49,400
When it came to the nitty-gritty

758
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,440
and the sweat of scripting
until the early hours,

759
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:53,920
you know, when things were wrong,

760
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,000
no, she wasn't there.

761
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,520
The way we worked,
Gerry had the ideas,

762
00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:01,040
the adventure, the Boys' Own
adventure, if you like,

763
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:02,560
and the idea for the...

764
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:05,960
And later on,
obviously we met with our team,

765
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,800
and they came up with ideas.

766
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:10,880
A husband-and-wife team,
that was invented by the media.

767
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:12,360
There were four directors.

768
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:16,800
Myself, Reg Hill, Sylvia
and John Read.

769
00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:18,920
The team was four people.

770
00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,840
But he was the creative force.

771
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:24,520
He was the one with the vision,
is what we all thought.

772
00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:28,520
I think that I've always had
a sort of a storehouse

773
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:30,400
of unconnected ideas,

774
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:32,240
and if somebody says,

775
00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:36,760
"Look, I want a script
for a new series a week from now,"

776
00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:39,960
it's a question of getting
all these latent ideas out

777
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,920
and putting them together
and making a new show.

778
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:46,560
The idea for Thunderbirds
really came to me

779
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,760
as a result
of a German mine disaster

780
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:52,720
which happened in 1963.

781
00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:57,440
What happened was
that the mine was flooded.

782
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,560
A lake over the top suddenly
went straight down into the mine.

783
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:05,080
And there were many miners
trapped in air pockets,

784
00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:08,440
some 1,000 feet below ground.

785
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:12,920
And I avidly listened to
the news bulletins every day

786
00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:14,680
to hear the progress,

787
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:16,520
and they were finally rescued.

788
00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:21,880
And so I started to think a rescue
story would be really great.

789
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,400
Look, there are 600 people up there
with about 40 minutes to live.

790
00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:28,080
Now, you can't help them,
but I believe we can.

791
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:31,240
If it were to be a rescue story
in a science fiction setting,

792
00:41:31,240 --> 00:41:35,520
then of course we had to have
some very modern aircraft.

793
00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:38,880
And so the series, you know,
was gradually formed.

794
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,280
But who should take credit
for the shows

795
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,680
became increasingly unclear
as time went on.

796
00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,720
Dad and Sylvia's memories of
the creative process seem to differ,

797
00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:48,280
and remain contentious to this day.

798
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:49,440
Thunderbirds are go.

799
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,360
I was at a press conference...

800
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:53,160
Looks like the action's gonna start.

801
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,920
..and everybody was
yattering away, and what a noise,

802
00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:57,440
and drinking,
and all the rest of it,

803
00:41:57,440 --> 00:41:59,080
and I'm talking to a guy
from the press,

804
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:00,760
and she has a very piercing voice.

805
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:02,800
You can hear it
from a long way away.

806
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:04,480
And I heard her say,

807
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:08,080
"Well, the way it works is
I sort of do all the creative work,

808
00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,120
"the characters, the scripting,
all the ideas,

809
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:13,640
"and Gerry looks after the cameras,
that sort of thing."

810
00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:15,720
Well, I could have turned around
and...

811
00:42:15,720 --> 00:42:18,040
Can you imagine?
Can you just imagine?

812
00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:21,160
And I can see how that would have
been absolutely infuriating for him,

813
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:23,200
because, as far as I can tell,

814
00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:24,560
almost every show idea

815
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:27,760
was inspired by something
he had seen or experienced,

816
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,320
or a particular technical
fascination that he had.

817
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,920
I mean, obviously any show
is a huge collaborative effort,

818
00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:37,080
and some of those contributors will
have more influence than others,

819
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:39,120
but it's all got to start somewhere.

820
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:44,720
One of his great strengths
was seeing the value of people

821
00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:48,920
and being able to promote them,
or give them opportunities,

822
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:51,520
which then fed into
the Gerry Anderson ethos

823
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:53,920
of making the best possible
production.

824
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:56,520
He was always keen on collaboration,
and he thrived on it,

825
00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:59,080
but I think if someone were to try
and take credit for his work,

826
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:01,280
it would have just been too much
for him to bear.

827
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:03,640
I think that most people
who are knowledgeable,

828
00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:05,400
and who are aware of the product,

829
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,600
are aware of Sylvia's contribution.

830
00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:10,240
I do the characterisation.

831
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:12,120
Gerry was an expert at what he did,

832
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:14,160
and she was an expert
at what she did.

833
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:19,200
She provided many human touches,
in costume and characterisation,

834
00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:21,240
in little touches of humour

835
00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:23,680
which might not have been
there otherwise.

836
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,960
Her contribution
was pretty terrific.

837
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:31,800
And the two of them combined was
a double whammy you couldn't stop.

838
00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,960
But unfortunately, life,
as it sometimes tends to do,

839
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:39,120
gets in the way,
and gets up to its tricks.

840
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,560
And it didn't work out.

841
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:43,600
She was very talented,

842
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:48,920
but she was very determined
about what she wanted.

843
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:51,240
She was very media savvy.

844
00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:54,360
She was a very,
very attractive woman.

845
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:57,720
And she could be very, very nice.

846
00:43:57,720 --> 00:44:01,280
When they had the premiere
for Thunderbirds,

847
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:06,520
she had a dress made for me,
and it was absolutely beautiful.

848
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:09,080
I feel that I was really
playing dressing up, really.

849
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:12,200
It was playing with my dolls,
really.

850
00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:15,400
She had a way of getting round me,
if she wanted to.

851
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,480
And she came into my room one day
and said, very sweet about it,

852
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:22,680
"Gerry, can I please, please, please
play Lady Penelope?"

853
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:25,640
I may not get another chance.
Please.

854
00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,320
And I said, "Well, no",
because I wanted...

855
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,400
Fenella Fielding, was it?
I wanted her to play the part.

856
00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:35,360
And very often,
when I disagreed with her,

857
00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:38,400
life became very miserable
as a result.

858
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,160
And when we had
these sort of terrible rows,

859
00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:46,200
she then had the capacity
to maybe hold a hand out,

860
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:49,400
and we'd go to bed,
and it would all be marvellous.

861
00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:51,840
Eventually, I said OK.

862
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:52,960
OK, Penny.

863
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:55,560
He felt like,
"I've already made one mistake.

864
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:57,600
"I don't want to make another one."

865
00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:01,640
So I think his relationship
with Sylvia

866
00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:05,080
became one of constantly doing
whatever was necessary

867
00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:07,040
to keep her happy.

868
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,000
To keep her smiling.

869
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:11,520
To help her further her career.

870
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:16,120
And that was to his, I think,
personal detriment,

871
00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:19,880
and, eventually,
his professional detriment as well.

872
00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:22,120
But she was a tough cookie.

873
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:26,760
She was so good as the character,
I forgive her everything.

874
00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:28,800
With the marriage falling apart,

875
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,480
certainly from Dad's point of view,
anyway, in the mid-'60s,

876
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:36,840
Sylvia broke the news to Dad
that she was pregnant.

877
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:40,720
My immediate reaction was one of,
"Oh, God, I'm trapped."

878
00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:44,480
As I already was feeling that
"I've had enough of this."

879
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:46,600
It's a boy!

880
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:48,520
But once Gerry Jr arrived,

881
00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:50,560
I think he suddenly
found a connection.

882
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:53,920
He was desperate to make up for
any failures he'd made as a father

883
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:55,640
during his previous marriage.

884
00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:59,160
In terms of his parenting,
Dad was, of course, a workaholic,

885
00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:01,200
so he wasn't around that much.

886
00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:03,600
But it would be unfair to say
that he didn't care.

887
00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:05,120
He just showed it in unusual ways.

888
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:08,080
Like constantly worrying about
his kids coming to physical harm.

889
00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:09,360
I think maybe it's a throwback

890
00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:11,360
to Lionel's death
while he was away from home,

891
00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:13,400
and the pain it inflicted
on his parents.

892
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:15,680
And I think it meant
that he was always concerned

893
00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:18,680
that some harm may come to his
children if they were away from him.

894
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:21,360
I went to him and I said,

895
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:22,880
"We're going to France."

896
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:25,080
And he just put the boot in

897
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:27,320
and started coming out
with all this,

898
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:30,240
"Well, what if the plane door
comes open?"

899
00:46:30,240 --> 00:46:33,080
I said, "Well,
we'll be sucked out, won't we?"

900
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:37,360
And those fears and anxieties
were often manifested on screen,

901
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:39,040
like in UFO.

902
00:46:39,040 --> 00:46:40,960
Dad!

903
00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:43,760
HORN BLARES, TYRES SCREECH

904
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:45,800
Johnny!

905
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,200
And the lead character, Ed Straker,

906
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:50,760
is the head of a studio
with his marriage collapsing.

907
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:53,880
It's Dad's art imitating Dad's life.

908
00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:03,000
It was fine
when we were all struggling,

909
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:05,040
but once we got there, erm,

910
00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:09,840
there seemed to be nothing keeping
us together, really. No glue.

911
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:11,520
And finally,

912
00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:14,840
you know,
there was total enmity between them.

913
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:19,120
But the enmity at the end
between Gerry and Sylvia

914
00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:23,200
was vituperative or intense.

915
00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:25,400
The whole crew knew
that it was going rotten,

916
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:28,320
and it was an unhappy time
for everybody.

917
00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:32,600
At the end of every feature film
or television series,

918
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:35,080
there is an end-of-shooting party.

919
00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:38,600
And things were so bad
with Sylvia and myself

920
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:41,360
that when we got home, I said,

921
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,720
"Look, if you want to go
to the party, that's fine,

922
00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:45,640
"but if you're gonna go, I'm not."

923
00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:48,280
And she said, "No, I'm not going,
I don't want to go.

924
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:50,200
"I'm not gonna spoil your evening."

925
00:47:50,200 --> 00:47:53,000
And I said, "OK, fine."
And I went to the party.

926
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:54,840
It was all very nice,
and everyone was jolly,

927
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:56,480
and we were all drinking and happy,

928
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,440
and then she made her appearance.
She came in.

929
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:03,280
And I went over and said,
"I thought you weren't coming?"

930
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:05,320
And she said, "Why, is there a law

931
00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:07,640
"that I can't come
to Pinewood Studios?"

932
00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:12,240
And I got very, very steamed up.
You know, very hurt.

933
00:48:12,240 --> 00:48:14,400
And when the party was over,

934
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:18,000
there was somebody who I knew very,
very well, David Withers -

935
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,720
he was a fairly important
member of ITC -

936
00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:24,360
and Sylvia said, "We're going home.
Dave, do you wanna come with us?"

937
00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:26,320
I was seething.
Last thing I wanted to do

938
00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:28,320
was have to pretend
in front of people.

939
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,880
Cos I knew as soon as we got home,
there'd be a blazing row.

940
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:33,680
So he said, "Oh, lovely."
So he came back.

941
00:48:33,680 --> 00:48:36,160
So there's Dave, Sylvia and myself.

942
00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:37,600
And we were bickering.

943
00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:39,800
And the argument
became quite intense.

944
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:42,600
You know, a really nasty,
nasty scene.

945
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:45,160
And Dave, who I'd known for years,

946
00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:47,040
and I never knew
that he played the piano.

947
00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:49,360
And he went over
and he lifted the piano,

948
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:52,240
and he started to play scales.
Wonderful.

949
00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:53,920
OK, Gerry. Keep it going.

950
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:57,360
PIANO PLAYING, GUNFIRE

951
00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:00,320
And at the end of the argument,
I said,

952
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:02,280
"That's it, I've had enough,

953
00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:04,800
"I'm not having any more.
I'm leaving."

954
00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:06,560
That's when it was over.

955
00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:09,000
Dad wanted to proceed
with a divorce.

956
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:13,320
The divorce case, and then
the custody case for Gerry Jr,

957
00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:18,520
went on for, I think,
six or seven years from that point.

958
00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:22,440
The break-up of the marriage
was costing dearly,

959
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:26,320
and I think the understanding was,
I got from Gerry,

960
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:28,840
that he virtually
used all of his savings

961
00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:31,160
to try and get access to Gerry Jr.

962
00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:34,280
But when I left Sylvia, I said,

963
00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:38,000
"Look, we divide everything
exactly in half." Which we did.

964
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:40,400
She did her thing,
and I did my thing.

965
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:42,400
I bought my flat outright.

966
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,880
I did it up beautifully,
cos I know I'm gonna be a bachelor.

967
00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:48,280
And then the trouble started
with Gerry.

968
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:50,680
A legal battle
to try and see my son.

969
00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:52,880
From being a very successful person,

970
00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:56,760
his life, I think,
took a very serious downturn,

971
00:49:56,760 --> 00:50:00,280
and he really financially struggled,

972
00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:03,920
and lost a lot of the wealth
that he had gained.

973
00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:07,720
What happened was,
for however many years,

974
00:50:07,720 --> 00:50:09,480
I was in and out of court,

975
00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:12,560
barristers, affidavits,
God knows what,

976
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:16,560
and she used every trick in
the trade to prevent me seeing him.

977
00:50:16,560 --> 00:50:18,600
Cos I remember him once saying,

978
00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:22,960
"David, if she came into this room,
I'd hit her."

979
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:25,040
He was distraught,

980
00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:27,080
because he'd sort of lost touch

981
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:30,280
with his two daughters
from his first marriage,

982
00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:32,960
and he couldn't bear the thought
of losing a third child,

983
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:34,480
especially a son,

984
00:50:34,480 --> 00:50:39,280
but Gerry was the apple of his eye,
so...

985
00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:43,280
He told me that
they were going to court

986
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:45,720
in the discussion
of the divorce proceedings,

987
00:50:45,720 --> 00:50:48,480
and Gerry had turned up there
with his lawyer,

988
00:50:48,480 --> 00:50:51,680
and he obviously had money still
to be able to afford his lawyer,

989
00:50:51,680 --> 00:50:54,920
and was there in a suit,
and very presentable.

990
00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:57,560
And Sylvia turned up in rags.

991
00:50:57,560 --> 00:51:00,680
I don't ever remember seeing Sylvia
in old clothes.

992
00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:02,800
She was always immaculate.

993
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:04,920
She was, erm,

994
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,920
dishevelled, I think
is the word that Gerry used.

995
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:09,960
Appealing on the court

996
00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:15,120
so that they would award her
whatever the final award was.

997
00:51:15,120 --> 00:51:20,600
He was outwitted by a smarter brain
when it came to that sort of thing.

998
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:26,080
I think the one thing that
I wasn't able to forgive her for

999
00:51:26,080 --> 00:51:31,960
was that she made sure that he
didn't see his other son again.

1000
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:35,280
This has been a long and tiring case
for all concerned.

1001
00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:40,080
Finally, I got a letter from
the court, I had won the case.

1002
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:43,240
Lay it out,
I would see him every other weekend,

1003
00:51:43,240 --> 00:51:45,880
two weeks' holiday a year.

1004
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:47,840
So I then phoned Sylvia and said,

1005
00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:50,280
"I would like to see Gerry
this weekend."

1006
00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:51,560
"Of course."

1007
00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:53,920
I said, "Oh, good,
I'll come and pick him up."

1008
00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:56,000
"No, no, no,
I'll deliver him to you."

1009
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:57,040
"Thank you."

1010
00:51:57,040 --> 00:52:00,280
I woke up Saturday morning, because
there was a noise on the letterbox,

1011
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,000
and I thought it was the postman.

1012
00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:05,800
When I went to the front door,
there was a letter.

1013
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:08,160
Let's hope it's good news.

1014
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:10,960
And it was from Gerry,
basically saying,

1015
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:15,360
"Dear Dad, I don't want to see you.
I don't ever want to see you again."

1016
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:19,320
When I met him for the first time,
after all these years,

1017
00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:22,120
he phoned me out of the blue,
and we met in a hotel,

1018
00:52:22,120 --> 00:52:23,960
like on neutral ground,

1019
00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:27,440
and he came in and said,
"Oh, hello", and he sat down,

1020
00:52:27,440 --> 00:52:30,040
and almost the first thing he said
was,

1021
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:32,160
"You realise
I didn't write that letter?

1022
00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:33,680
"I was made to write it."

1023
00:52:33,680 --> 00:52:35,240
It was almost the first thing
he said.

1024
00:52:35,240 --> 00:52:37,840
Sadly,
after their brief reconciliation,

1025
00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:39,880
the relationship broke down,

1026
00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:42,440
and Dad didn't see Gerry Jr again.

1027
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:46,160
People go out of their way to say,
"Of course I'm not bitter.

1028
00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:49,360
"This man came in and blew my
mother's head off with a shotgun,

1029
00:52:49,360 --> 00:52:51,160
"but I'm not bitter." You know?

1030
00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:52,960
I'm bloody bitter!

1031
00:52:52,960 --> 00:52:54,400
Yes, I am bitter.

1032
00:52:54,400 --> 00:52:57,560
And I don't try to cover it.
You know, I think it was terrible.

1033
00:52:57,560 --> 00:53:01,160
And I think the truth is, I hate her
more every day that goes by.

1034
00:53:01,160 --> 00:53:03,720
Nothing gets better.
Nothing heals.

1035
00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:09,360
He was very vulnerable.
Very gullible.

1036
00:53:09,360 --> 00:53:12,160
And totally lost.

1037
00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:16,600
Yeah, he was pretty well drained
of money.

1038
00:53:16,600 --> 00:53:19,800
From the point when Lew
had agreed to fund Supercar,

1039
00:53:19,800 --> 00:53:23,840
Lew had always backed Dad,
for every project.

1040
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:27,000
In fact, he famously got cross
with Dad

1041
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:29,760
when Dad wasn't certain that
Lew would like an upcoming idea.

1042
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:32,240
Which turned out to be,
I think, Thunderbirds.

1043
00:53:32,240 --> 00:53:33,560
And Lew said to Dad...

1044
00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:36,000
"Gerry, if you want to make a series
about that light bulb,

1045
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:37,080
"I'll back it."

1046
00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:39,800
By the mid-late 1970s,

1047
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:43,480
ATV, which had then become ITC,

1048
00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:47,240
was a lot more corporate.
It had got bigger,

1049
00:53:47,240 --> 00:53:49,640
America was involved,

1050
00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:54,760
and Lew was beginning
to lose his grip of ATV.

1051
00:53:54,760 --> 00:53:57,640
He was no longer the man
who could just say,

1052
00:53:57,640 --> 00:53:59,680
"Yeah, let's make it,
I'll find the money."

1053
00:53:59,680 --> 00:54:03,080
Suddenly, he was under scrutiny
from other people within ATV.

1054
00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:06,920
Well, the president of Lew's
company in New York phoned and said,

1055
00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:08,760
"Lew, cancel the renewal."

1056
00:54:08,760 --> 00:54:11,280
And I think that meant that Lew

1057
00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:15,840
could no longer be the yes-man
that he always had been.

1058
00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:19,200
I think he could see disaster
coming down the tracks.

1059
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:23,640
And then that left Dad
without a solid backer.

1060
00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:25,200
Looks like I'm on my own.

1061
00:54:25,200 --> 00:54:29,920
Once Space: 1999 finished,
there was no work.

1062
00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:35,200
If this is the end of one life,
we have to start to build a new one.

1063
00:54:36,240 --> 00:54:39,760
In my biography,
the dedication reads,

1064
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:42,040
"To Mary, who saved my life."

1065
00:54:42,040 --> 00:54:44,080
And that's absolutely true.

1066
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:46,600
She was a gentle soul.

1067
00:54:46,600 --> 00:54:48,200
She was nice.

1068
00:54:48,200 --> 00:54:51,320
She wasn't assertive, or aggressive,

1069
00:54:51,320 --> 00:54:54,720
or someone who's always got to win.

1070
00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:57,120
She didn't get caught up
in his drama.

1071
00:54:57,120 --> 00:54:59,480
It's not uncommon for people
to refer to their wives

1072
00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:01,560
as their better halves,
and Gerry, I think,

1073
00:55:01,560 --> 00:55:03,120
lucked out with Mary.

1074
00:55:03,120 --> 00:55:04,960
She was his better half,
in many respects.

1075
00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:07,520
We used to go to a pub in Cookham.

1076
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:10,840
It was a pub where Arthur,
the waiter,

1077
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:13,320
contributed his voice to Parker.

1078
00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:16,880
And there was a very sophisticated
girl standing there,

1079
00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:20,520
and I suppose, if the truth
were to be known,

1080
00:55:20,520 --> 00:55:22,240
I used to look at her

1081
00:55:22,240 --> 00:55:25,120
and have thoughts
that I can't repeat on camera.

1082
00:55:25,120 --> 00:55:27,160
But some years later,
I was sitting there,

1083
00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:29,400
I'd left Sylvia now,

1084
00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:31,560
and I was very lonely,

1085
00:55:31,560 --> 00:55:34,800
and a very attractive girl
came around

1086
00:55:34,800 --> 00:55:37,600
with a big silver tray of drinks.

1087
00:55:37,600 --> 00:55:40,480
And then I said to somebody,
"Who is the girl?"

1088
00:55:40,480 --> 00:55:42,400
And they said, "Don't be daft,

1089
00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:45,680
"she's the girl who used to work
at The King's Arms."

1090
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:50,120
I think he was just finishing
the first series of Space: 1999,

1091
00:55:50,120 --> 00:55:53,200
And I was working at Bray
for Brian Johnson

1092
00:55:53,200 --> 00:55:55,360
on the special effects unit.

1093
00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:57,160
I've never been very good
with women,

1094
00:55:57,160 --> 00:56:01,880
so I kind of went home and rehearsed
how I was going to ring her,

1095
00:56:01,880 --> 00:56:05,040
and I made up some cock and bull
story and invited her over,

1096
00:56:05,040 --> 00:56:06,840
and that's how it all began.

1097
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:10,160
He had got into a position, I think,
where he thought, after Sylvia,

1098
00:56:10,160 --> 00:56:11,760
he would never get married again.

1099
00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:14,000
You don't marry the person
you want to live with.

1100
00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:16,160
You marry the person
you can't live without.

1101
00:56:16,160 --> 00:56:20,720
But Mum appears to have been
the right person to change his mind.

1102
00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:24,520
When he learned that
I was expecting, he was surprised.

1103
00:56:24,520 --> 00:56:28,240
A baby! Ooh!

1104
00:56:28,240 --> 00:56:29,800
I was horrified.

1105
00:56:29,800 --> 00:56:34,360
I mean, you know, "I'll be dead
before the child's grown up."

1106
00:56:34,360 --> 00:56:37,520
And she was very philosophical
about it, and she talked me into it.

1107
00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:39,560
And suddenly I had a family again.

1108
00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:44,200
And everything returned to normal,
everything was repaired,

1109
00:56:44,200 --> 00:56:46,720
and life is great once more.

1110
00:56:46,720 --> 00:56:50,680
That was when Gerry
was really happy, I think.

1111
00:56:53,960 --> 00:56:56,280
'Turn around.'

1112
00:56:56,280 --> 00:56:58,680
'Don't come any closer.'

1113
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:07,720
I think Mary grounded him.

1114
00:57:07,720 --> 00:57:09,640
And one thing for sure I can say

1115
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:12,240
is that Mary didn't marry me
for my money.

1116
00:57:12,240 --> 00:57:16,520
As a matter of fact, she used to
go out to work and earn money

1117
00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:19,200
while I was at home
wearing an overcoat

1118
00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:20,400
because the flat was so cold

1119
00:57:20,400 --> 00:57:23,120
and we couldn't afford to put
the heating on, writing a script,

1120
00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:24,920
and then she would spend
the whole evening

1121
00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:27,000
typing it out and putting it
into good English.

1122
00:57:27,000 --> 00:57:30,240
And I think that was around the time
the bailiffs had been in

1123
00:57:30,240 --> 00:57:32,600
and confiscated some paintings.

1124
00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:35,440
It really shows
you've hit rock bottom

1125
00:57:35,440 --> 00:57:37,400
when the bailiffs come in.

1126
00:57:37,400 --> 00:57:40,400
And it wasn't until, I think,
we met Christopher Burr

1127
00:57:40,400 --> 00:57:43,240
that life started to look
a little bit better.

1128
00:57:43,240 --> 00:57:46,320
Christopher Burr was a very,
very complex character.

1129
00:57:46,320 --> 00:57:47,960
Very, very complicated.

1130
00:57:47,960 --> 00:57:50,320
An utterly brilliant businessman.

1131
00:57:50,320 --> 00:57:52,840
He, after several trips to Japan,

1132
00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:54,880
got the money together
for Terrahawks.

1133
00:57:54,880 --> 00:57:57,320
He's a miracle man.
An absolute miracle man.

1134
00:57:57,320 --> 00:58:01,320
So he raised the money for the show.
But it wasn't nearly enough.

1135
00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:03,560
And I was desperate to make it.

1136
00:58:03,560 --> 00:58:06,880
And it was the first stepping stone
to my recovery.

1137
00:58:06,880 --> 00:58:09,240
They weren't besties,

1138
00:58:09,240 --> 00:58:12,120
but they worked well together.

1139
00:58:12,120 --> 00:58:14,040
And then, as people do,

1140
00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:15,680
Christopher suddenly, I think,

1141
00:58:15,680 --> 00:58:19,320
got a bit bored
with the film business.

1142
00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:20,960
I think what brought it to an end

1143
00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:23,960
was that Christopher bought himself
a lovely house in Portugal,

1144
00:58:23,960 --> 00:58:25,560
and he fell in love with Portugal.

1145
00:58:25,560 --> 00:58:27,600
And he started to play golf.

1146
00:58:27,600 --> 00:58:31,160
And finally, I said to him,
"I don't think we can go on."

1147
00:58:31,160 --> 00:58:33,720
And we decided to part company
amicably.

1148
00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:37,080
They didn't really talk again,
because Gerry had this thing

1149
00:58:37,080 --> 00:58:40,960
of once people were out of his life,
they were out.

1150
00:58:40,960 --> 00:58:45,040
Relationships
don't come about easily.

1151
00:58:45,040 --> 00:58:47,560
Gerry wasn't above demonising people
in his shows.

1152
00:58:47,560 --> 00:58:50,280
I was aware of Roger Lefkon,

1153
00:58:50,280 --> 00:58:56,320
who was part of the funding package
for Space Precinct.

1154
00:58:56,320 --> 00:59:00,240
I heard that there were funding
problems on Space Precinct.

1155
00:59:00,240 --> 00:59:04,240
I heard Roger's name was associated
with those funding problems.

1156
00:59:04,240 --> 00:59:05,800
And so Dad was adamant

1157
00:59:05,800 --> 00:59:09,960
that when they made
new Captain Scarlet in 2005,

1158
00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:14,200
that the baddie, Captain Black,
be given the surname Lefkon.

1159
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:18,680
The only thing we're both certain
of is Conrad Lefkon died on Mars.

1160
00:59:18,680 --> 00:59:20,000
The Mysterons killed him.

1161
00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:22,920
And then, of course,
there is Zelda in Terrahawks.

1162
00:59:22,920 --> 00:59:25,880
Be quiet, you snivelling wretch!

1163
00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:31,040
Richard Gregory had told me that
he was given loose instruction

1164
00:59:31,040 --> 00:59:33,440
to push the character
in a particular direction,

1165
00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:36,960
which made it look
not unlike Sylvia.

1166
00:59:36,960 --> 00:59:40,520
And being the evil character,
evil demon in the show,

1167
00:59:40,520 --> 00:59:43,520
it was obviously a loaded sculpt.

1168
00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:46,000
I can leave it up to
viewers of Terrahawks

1169
00:59:46,000 --> 00:59:48,920
to decide whether they think
that's true or not.

1170
00:59:50,520 --> 00:59:54,200
I think that had Gerry

1171
00:59:54,200 --> 00:59:57,440
kept all his contacts and friends

1172
00:59:57,440 --> 01:00:03,000
as he moved up through
his various series,

1173
01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:08,040
he would have probably done
a lot better in later years.

1174
01:00:08,040 --> 01:00:11,400
To me, a relationship
is the only thing that counts.

1175
01:00:11,400 --> 01:00:13,120
And I remember he said to me,

1176
01:00:13,120 --> 01:00:18,240
"Oh, John,
I wish I'd seen more of you.

1177
01:00:18,240 --> 01:00:23,520
"When I was busy,
I was asked to lunch and everything.

1178
01:00:23,520 --> 01:00:27,480
"Soon as I haven't any work,
nobody wants to know."

1179
01:00:30,120 --> 01:00:34,000
Everybody who had a friendship
with Gerry formerly

1180
01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:36,160
was somebody who was useful to him,
I think.

1181
01:00:36,160 --> 01:00:39,520
He found it very hard
to make friends,

1182
01:00:39,520 --> 01:00:44,320
and I think he just,
maybe in the earlier days,

1183
01:00:44,320 --> 01:00:49,440
didn't see the value of maintaining
good relationships with people.

1184
01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:51,520
If you look at Gerry's history
with producers,

1185
01:00:51,520 --> 01:00:53,800
there's a long list of producers
who worked with him.

1186
01:00:53,800 --> 01:00:56,160
You have failed,
and must pay the price.

1187
01:00:56,160 --> 01:00:59,040
He had a thin skin, I think, Gerry.

1188
01:00:59,040 --> 01:01:01,400
As with Oscar Wilde,

1189
01:01:01,400 --> 01:01:04,680
there was a thing called
The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies.

1190
01:01:04,680 --> 01:01:07,960
My temperament is like
riding a roller-coaster.

1191
01:01:07,960 --> 01:01:10,280
I don't think I'm the only one
who'll say

1192
01:01:10,280 --> 01:01:12,240
that if he took against somebody,

1193
01:01:12,240 --> 01:01:15,800
then there'd be fireworks.
He wouldn't work with them again.

1194
01:01:15,800 --> 01:01:19,840
I remember when we were making
a commercial for Toilet Duck.

1195
01:01:19,840 --> 01:01:23,400
It was always difficult
working with clients from abroad,

1196
01:01:23,400 --> 01:01:25,880
and certainly, our clients
didn't have very good English.

1197
01:01:25,880 --> 01:01:29,520
And Gerry would always
check with them and say,

1198
01:01:29,520 --> 01:01:33,160
"This is the set up, have a look
through the camera, are you happy?"

1199
01:01:33,160 --> 01:01:34,920
"Yeah, yeah, everybody's happy."

1200
01:01:34,920 --> 01:01:38,600
And so we probably spent
two or three hours doing the setup.

1201
01:01:38,600 --> 01:01:42,160
We were running behind because it
was such a complicated shot to get.

1202
01:01:42,160 --> 01:01:46,120
And eventually, we did get the shot,
and Gerry was happy,

1203
01:01:46,120 --> 01:01:49,400
and he turned around to the
advertising agency representatives

1204
01:01:49,400 --> 01:01:51,080
and said, "Are you happy?"

1205
01:01:51,080 --> 01:01:52,960
And they went,
"Yeah, yeah, we're happy."

1206
01:01:52,960 --> 01:01:54,960
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah."

1207
01:01:54,960 --> 01:01:56,800
And so we started to strike the set,

1208
01:01:56,800 --> 01:01:59,960
and then one of them turned around
and said, "Oh, could we just...?"

1209
01:01:59,960 --> 01:02:02,680
And Gerry just went
absolutely ballistic,

1210
01:02:02,680 --> 01:02:05,760
and screamed and shouted
and whatever.

1211
01:02:05,760 --> 01:02:07,440
No bad language, but...

1212
01:02:07,440 --> 01:02:09,360
I'm not afraid to say what I think.

1213
01:02:09,360 --> 01:02:11,400
I'm not afraid of
going into a blazing row.

1214
01:02:11,400 --> 01:02:14,000
If that's what it takes
to get the bitter out, I'll do it.

1215
01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:18,360
I think if Gerry thought he was
being creatively trodden upon,

1216
01:02:18,360 --> 01:02:20,600
then that would be enough,
on occasion, to,

1217
01:02:20,600 --> 01:02:23,480
if he didn't like you,
to put you on the back burner.

1218
01:02:23,480 --> 01:02:25,240
I think we all know

1219
01:02:25,240 --> 01:02:27,560
when a relationship
starts to come to an end.

1220
01:02:27,560 --> 01:02:30,600
As Captain Scarlet finished,
Gerry and I's working relationship

1221
01:02:30,600 --> 01:02:32,120
wasn't as good as it had been.

1222
01:02:32,120 --> 01:02:35,280
I actually called Gerry
and said to him,

1223
01:02:35,280 --> 01:02:39,120
"Listen, Gerry, I think this is
a really disappointing situation.

1224
01:02:39,120 --> 01:02:41,160
"I don't want it to end like this,

1225
01:02:41,160 --> 01:02:44,280
"and I'd just like
if we could maintain a friendship."

1226
01:02:44,280 --> 01:02:47,240
And Gerry very kindly said,
"Come up for lunch."

1227
01:02:47,240 --> 01:02:50,240
But he was a different Gerry.

1228
01:02:50,240 --> 01:02:51,960
He'd made his decision,

1229
01:02:51,960 --> 01:02:55,000
and I wasn't gonna be a part
of any future productions.

1230
01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:58,400
It didn't matter to him
that I wasn't a friend any more.

1231
01:02:58,400 --> 01:03:01,000
Towards the end of his life,
I think that was more likely

1232
01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:02,680
because of his dementia kicking in.

1233
01:03:02,680 --> 01:03:05,400
It's beyond my comprehension,
the thought of retiring,

1234
01:03:05,400 --> 01:03:09,120
not unless some ill health
forces it.

1235
01:03:09,120 --> 01:03:11,520
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

1236
01:03:11,520 --> 01:03:14,760
None of us on the production
knew that he wasn't very well.

1237
01:03:14,760 --> 01:03:18,280
Looking back on it,
there were clear and obvious signs.

1238
01:03:18,280 --> 01:03:21,960
I recall around 2003,

1239
01:03:21,960 --> 01:03:23,960
so long before
there was any diagnosis,

1240
01:03:23,960 --> 01:03:26,440
or any real sign
that there was something wrong.

1241
01:03:26,440 --> 01:03:30,240
He would forget appointments,

1242
01:03:30,240 --> 01:03:34,880
or get them muddled,
he'd get them on the wrong day.

1243
01:03:34,880 --> 01:03:38,560
His driving became erratic.

1244
01:03:38,560 --> 01:03:42,600
Dad had come into London to
pick me and a friend up from Fulham

1245
01:03:42,600 --> 01:03:44,280
and drive us back home.

1246
01:03:44,280 --> 01:03:46,760
And we were driving out on the M4,

1247
01:03:46,760 --> 01:03:51,360
and my friend Jack
nudged me in the ribs

1248
01:03:51,360 --> 01:03:53,840
and looked down
at the side of the car,

1249
01:03:53,840 --> 01:03:55,800
and I looked down,

1250
01:03:55,800 --> 01:03:58,400
and his lane placement
was really weird,

1251
01:03:58,400 --> 01:03:59,920
he was sort of...

1252
01:03:59,920 --> 01:04:01,840
Not even drifting, but just the car

1253
01:04:01,840 --> 01:04:05,080
was placed slightly over
the white lines, out of the lane.

1254
01:04:05,080 --> 01:04:06,760
He was a really good driver.

1255
01:04:06,760 --> 01:04:09,680
He was a fast driver,
but he had really good reflexes.

1256
01:04:09,680 --> 01:04:12,200
I mean,
I think he really enjoyed driving.

1257
01:04:12,200 --> 01:04:15,560
And at the time, I just thought,
"Oh, he's distracted", or whatever.

1258
01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:19,520
Looking at his GPS monitor, or
thinking about something else, or...

1259
01:04:19,520 --> 01:04:26,320
But that was the start of us seeing
changes in his driving ability,

1260
01:04:26,320 --> 01:04:28,840
changes in his spatial awareness.

1261
01:04:28,840 --> 01:04:32,120
By early 2004,

1262
01:04:32,120 --> 01:04:36,120
I was seeing more strange moments
in his driving.

1263
01:04:36,120 --> 01:04:38,440
Entering roundabouts
in the wrong lane,

1264
01:04:38,440 --> 01:04:42,200
having little, tiny accidents,
moments,

1265
01:04:42,200 --> 01:04:44,600
just where he would
sort of scrape his car,

1266
01:04:44,600 --> 01:04:47,680
little things that, at the time,
you think, "Oh, he's being clumsy",

1267
01:04:47,680 --> 01:04:51,440
but it all added up to
starting to look a bit strange.

1268
01:04:51,440 --> 01:04:52,640
And within a year of that,

1269
01:04:52,640 --> 01:04:54,800
he was starting to have
real problems driving.

1270
01:04:54,800 --> 01:04:56,080
Again, which, at the time...

1271
01:04:56,080 --> 01:04:58,680
It seems ridiculous now,
but you brush them off,

1272
01:04:58,680 --> 01:05:01,920
and you say, "Oh, he's stressed",
or, "He's tired."

1273
01:05:01,920 --> 01:05:07,760
He would get lost on a simple
journey between home and Pinewood.

1274
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:10,520
Which, you know,
was his second home.

1275
01:05:10,520 --> 01:05:15,720
He'd been coming to Pinewood
for probably 50 years by that point.

1276
01:05:15,720 --> 01:05:17,960
So, one time he came to Pinewood
to have lunch with me,

1277
01:05:17,960 --> 01:05:21,800
and he'd got back into his car
and taken four hours to get home.

1278
01:05:21,800 --> 01:05:24,560
I was about to call the police
to report him missing.

1279
01:05:24,560 --> 01:05:28,200
And you would think, at that point,
that your natural response would be,

1280
01:05:28,200 --> 01:05:32,560
"OK, we've got to get this
checked out", but even then...

1281
01:05:32,560 --> 01:05:35,920
Because he was so insistent
that he was absolutely fine,

1282
01:05:35,920 --> 01:05:37,480
and there was no problem,

1283
01:05:37,480 --> 01:05:43,120
you would just sort of go, "Oh, OK,
we'll agree with you, in that case."

1284
01:05:43,120 --> 01:05:48,960
I can't remember the exact incident
that catalysed me into action.

1285
01:05:50,200 --> 01:05:56,000
But I think I remember watching
a documentary about Terry Pratchett,

1286
01:05:56,000 --> 01:05:58,320
who had recently been diagnosed

1287
01:05:58,320 --> 01:06:01,800
with a very specific
form of dementia called PCA.

1288
01:06:01,800 --> 01:06:04,080
And in that documentary,

1289
01:06:04,080 --> 01:06:09,920
I think Terry talked about confusing
the phone for the TV remote.

1290
01:06:11,040 --> 01:06:14,800
And I thought,
"I've seen Dad do that."

1291
01:06:14,800 --> 01:06:16,880
I rung him,
and every time I rung him,

1292
01:06:16,880 --> 01:06:19,360
he picked up the phone
and he said, "Hello,"

1293
01:06:19,360 --> 01:06:21,480
and I said,
"Hello, Daddy, it's Joy."

1294
01:06:21,480 --> 01:06:23,360
And he put the phone down.

1295
01:06:23,360 --> 01:06:25,240
And I thought,
"That's really strange,

1296
01:06:25,240 --> 01:06:27,640
"I don't think we've had
an argument or anything."

1297
01:06:27,640 --> 01:06:30,880
So I tried again and again,
and every time, it was the same.

1298
01:06:30,880 --> 01:06:33,200
So I just stopped ringing.

1299
01:06:33,200 --> 01:06:36,040
I just thought, "I think we've
got to do something about this."

1300
01:06:36,040 --> 01:06:41,480
And so I suggested
that I go and speak to Dad's GP,

1301
01:06:41,480 --> 01:06:45,920
and I would explain to her that
I was worried about his behaviour

1302
01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:49,040
and I thought there was something
going on, maybe dementia-related,

1303
01:06:49,040 --> 01:06:51,520
and that could she approach this
very delicately?

1304
01:06:51,520 --> 01:06:54,480
She couldn't possibly tell him
that I'd been in to see her,

1305
01:06:54,480 --> 01:06:57,360
because he'd be really upset
by that, and she assured me

1306
01:06:57,360 --> 01:07:00,720
she would handle it
professionally and carefully.

1307
01:07:00,720 --> 01:07:02,880
I explained this all
very, very carefully,

1308
01:07:02,880 --> 01:07:04,600
and she agreed a course of action.

1309
01:07:04,600 --> 01:07:07,720
Dad was due in
for a diabetes screening,

1310
01:07:07,720 --> 01:07:11,320
because he lived with diabetes
for a long time,

1311
01:07:11,320 --> 01:07:15,560
and he went in to see her
for his appointment, sat down,

1312
01:07:15,560 --> 01:07:17,360
and the first thing she said was,

1313
01:07:17,360 --> 01:07:19,240
"Mr Anderson,
your son's been to see me,

1314
01:07:19,240 --> 01:07:22,040
"and he thinks there's
something wrong with your brain."

1315
01:07:22,040 --> 01:07:24,880
He just hit the roof.

1316
01:07:24,880 --> 01:07:27,400
I mean, to him,

1317
01:07:27,400 --> 01:07:33,400
this was the ultimate act
of disloyalty against him.

1318
01:07:33,400 --> 01:07:37,880
He said, in a moment, "I understand
why you did what you did,

1319
01:07:37,880 --> 01:07:41,960
"but what you've done is
the kiss of death for my career."

1320
01:07:41,960 --> 01:07:44,240
I don't think he would speak to me
for about two weeks.

1321
01:07:44,240 --> 01:07:47,720
Anyway, he eventually agreed
to having a few more tests,

1322
01:07:47,720 --> 01:07:51,600
and a dementia diagnosis
was confirmed.

1323
01:07:51,600 --> 01:07:54,120
There is a particular drawing
that one does

1324
01:07:54,120 --> 01:07:57,160
as part of a neuropsychological
battery of testing,

1325
01:07:57,160 --> 01:07:59,120
which is to draw a clock face.

1326
01:07:59,120 --> 01:08:01,960
And to draw a particular time on it.

1327
01:08:01,960 --> 01:08:05,360
And I think that was the thing
that made him realise

1328
01:08:05,360 --> 01:08:09,560
that he was actually
living with Alzheimer's disease.

1329
01:08:10,720 --> 01:08:15,200
It's deeply unpleasant for
the person living with dementia,

1330
01:08:15,200 --> 01:08:18,720
but one could argue it's even worse
for those around them.

1331
01:08:18,720 --> 01:08:20,760
Sometimes I had to phone Jamie
and say,

1332
01:08:20,760 --> 01:08:24,680
"If you don't come home
and have your father for half a day,

1333
01:08:24,680 --> 01:08:27,480
"I'm gonna knife him."
I mean, it was that bad.

1334
01:08:27,480 --> 01:08:30,240
And anybody who's lived with
somebody with dementia

1335
01:08:30,240 --> 01:08:32,400
will tell you the same thing.

1336
01:08:32,400 --> 01:08:34,040
It changes the way you think.

1337
01:08:34,040 --> 01:08:37,360
It changes the way you act
towards people you know and love.

1338
01:08:37,360 --> 01:08:39,360
And Dad would often lash out

1339
01:08:39,360 --> 01:08:43,040
and say extremely hurtful
and unpleasant things.

1340
01:08:43,040 --> 01:08:47,360
It was very tough.
I mean, any carer will tell you,

1341
01:08:47,360 --> 01:08:49,880
because you do slip
into the role of carer,

1342
01:08:49,880 --> 01:08:53,840
and you become, at best, grey,
at worst, invisible.

1343
01:08:53,840 --> 01:08:55,720
There's little assistance.

1344
01:08:55,720 --> 01:08:58,360
I tried several times
to get somebody to come in

1345
01:08:58,360 --> 01:09:00,400
to sit with him,
or maybe take him out,

1346
01:09:00,400 --> 01:09:02,520
and he didn't like them,
didn't want them.

1347
01:09:02,520 --> 01:09:04,680
I mean, she did an incredible job.

1348
01:09:04,680 --> 01:09:08,600
She was his 24/7 carer
for over two years.

1349
01:09:08,600 --> 01:09:12,960
There was a point at which
he had accepted the diagnosis,

1350
01:09:12,960 --> 01:09:14,800
and...

1351
01:09:14,800 --> 01:09:19,320
we were sat chatting,
and he said, "Well, I don't know,

1352
01:09:19,320 --> 01:09:21,520
"I don't see what the point
of having a diagnosis is,

1353
01:09:21,520 --> 01:09:23,560
"because what are they gonna do?"

1354
01:09:23,560 --> 01:09:25,760
And I... I just chanced it and said,

1355
01:09:25,760 --> 01:09:28,720
"The other thing you could do
now that you've got a diagnosis

1356
01:09:28,720 --> 01:09:32,200
"is you could try
and maybe raise awareness about it.

1357
01:09:32,200 --> 01:09:36,760
"You could talk publicly about it,
and it might do some good."

1358
01:09:36,760 --> 01:09:38,920
And I thought,
"There's no way he's gonna do this,

1359
01:09:38,920 --> 01:09:41,480
"because he's already complaining
about the fact

1360
01:09:41,480 --> 01:09:42,920
"that it's ended his career",

1361
01:09:42,920 --> 01:09:46,160
and coming out about
having Alzheimer's disease

1362
01:09:46,160 --> 01:09:50,240
was absolutely the last nail
in the coffin for his career.

1363
01:09:50,240 --> 01:09:52,680
But he, remarkably, said,

1364
01:09:52,680 --> 01:09:57,480
"Hmm, I think I'd like to have
a chat with somebody about that."

1365
01:09:57,480 --> 01:10:02,480
One day, I got a call, I think it
was about spring, 2012, from Jamie,

1366
01:10:02,480 --> 01:10:07,720
introducing himself, and saying
who he was, and who his father was.

1367
01:10:07,720 --> 01:10:10,000
Gerry himself was very aware

1368
01:10:10,000 --> 01:10:12,760
that, being a figure
in the public realm,

1369
01:10:12,760 --> 01:10:16,800
that once he'd made a formal
announcement about his dementia,

1370
01:10:16,800 --> 01:10:19,280
that could be
a positive force for good.

1371
01:10:19,280 --> 01:10:21,760
It was fairly unusual
to get a call like that,

1372
01:10:21,760 --> 01:10:24,680
of someone of that calibre,
and that worldwide recognition,

1373
01:10:24,680 --> 01:10:27,600
to want to do something for others.

1374
01:10:27,600 --> 01:10:31,720
And I particularly found it very
heart-warming, and very humbling.

1375
01:10:31,720 --> 01:10:34,440
After having chats with Jamie
and the family,

1376
01:10:34,440 --> 01:10:37,680
we decided that Gerry
could really support us

1377
01:10:37,680 --> 01:10:39,840
in promoting one of our campaigns,

1378
01:10:39,840 --> 01:10:43,040
which is an ongoing campaign
called Memory Walk.

1379
01:10:43,040 --> 01:10:48,800
He agreed to start
the Alzheimer's Society Memory Walk

1380
01:10:48,800 --> 01:10:53,000
at Battersea, in London.
It's their flagship event.

1381
01:10:53,000 --> 01:10:56,520
And he was starting it
alongside Carey Mulligan

1382
01:10:56,520 --> 01:10:58,680
and Mat Whitecross, the director.

1383
01:10:58,680 --> 01:11:02,720
And the morning of,
I was staying at home,

1384
01:11:02,720 --> 01:11:06,680
and it was supposed to be me driving
him up to London for this event,

1385
01:11:06,680 --> 01:11:09,640
and I think it was
the last public event that he did,

1386
01:11:09,640 --> 01:11:11,920
because he was deteriorating
so fast.

1387
01:11:11,920 --> 01:11:14,240
And I went upstairs,
and I opened the door,

1388
01:11:14,240 --> 01:11:18,000
and he was still in bed,
and he stared at me and said,

1389
01:11:18,000 --> 01:11:21,880
"What are you doing in here...
after what you've done?!"

1390
01:11:21,880 --> 01:11:24,840
And I said, "What have I done, Dad?
What's happened?"

1391
01:11:24,840 --> 01:11:27,080
And he said, "You've moved the door.

1392
01:11:27,080 --> 01:11:30,160
"I could have fallen down the stairs
because you've moved the door."

1393
01:11:30,160 --> 01:11:33,440
And then he said,
"And who sent those children up?"

1394
01:11:33,440 --> 01:11:35,600
"What children?"

1395
01:11:35,600 --> 01:11:38,680
"There were children
dancing around my bed, singing."

1396
01:11:38,680 --> 01:11:40,440
And it's only been quite recently,

1397
01:11:40,440 --> 01:11:42,600
when we've been looking back
at his life,

1398
01:11:42,600 --> 01:11:46,880
that it suddenly occurred to me
that that was a relived memory

1399
01:11:46,880 --> 01:11:50,400
of one of the strongest
recollections he had

1400
01:11:50,400 --> 01:11:53,360
of his experience of anti-Semitism.

1401
01:11:53,360 --> 01:11:56,560
Which was a bunch of kids
dancing around him,

1402
01:11:56,560 --> 01:12:00,480
taunting him at school,
calling him "Jew boy."

1403
01:12:00,480 --> 01:12:02,920
And knowing how bad he'd been,
I thought,

1404
01:12:02,920 --> 01:12:07,080
"There's no way he's gonna be
able to do this start."

1405
01:12:07,080 --> 01:12:09,080
Because he's got to make a speech.

1406
01:12:09,080 --> 01:12:13,400
When he arrived,
he was actually on great form.

1407
01:12:13,400 --> 01:12:16,320
He had a lot of... There was
a lot of love in the crowd.

1408
01:12:16,320 --> 01:12:21,200
There was over 1,000 people there.
I think 2,000 people there.

1409
01:12:21,200 --> 01:12:24,560
And loads of them, of course,
were Thunderbirds fans,

1410
01:12:24,560 --> 01:12:28,120
so they were delighted
to see Gerry there.

1411
01:12:28,120 --> 01:12:30,880
And he responded so well to that.

1412
01:12:30,880 --> 01:12:35,480
He kind of shone in the spotlight.

1413
01:12:35,480 --> 01:12:40,520
He gave a five-minute
hilarious speech.

1414
01:12:40,520 --> 01:12:43,880
The public perception of dementia
changed hugely

1415
01:12:43,880 --> 01:12:46,200
thanks to Gerry Anderson's
involvement.

1416
01:12:46,200 --> 01:12:48,960
I think that Memory Walk,
or that year's Memory Walk,

1417
01:12:48,960 --> 01:12:51,800
raised over £1 million
for Alzheimer's Society.

1418
01:12:51,800 --> 01:12:55,200
Which they have directly attributed
to him.

1419
01:12:55,200 --> 01:12:58,360
It made me really proud, actually,

1420
01:12:58,360 --> 01:13:03,080
because he was such a private man,
who got so easily embarrassed,

1421
01:13:03,080 --> 01:13:05,760
I felt very forgiving, actually.

1422
01:13:05,760 --> 01:13:08,160
I just thought,
"Well, good on you, Dad,

1423
01:13:08,160 --> 01:13:10,320
"that you've been prepared
to do this."

1424
01:13:10,320 --> 01:13:13,120
Because, in a sense,
for somebody like him,

1425
01:13:13,120 --> 01:13:16,600
losing control was like
the ultimate humiliation.

1426
01:13:16,600 --> 01:13:20,960
When he was in quite late stages
of Alzheimer's disease,

1427
01:13:20,960 --> 01:13:24,400
I realised
he was forgetting my name.

1428
01:13:24,400 --> 01:13:27,520
And I would say,
"Hello, Dad, it's Jamie."

1429
01:13:27,520 --> 01:13:32,400
And the recognition of that,
and the meaning of that was fading.

1430
01:13:32,400 --> 01:13:34,160
And then, one day, I was...

1431
01:13:34,160 --> 01:13:36,480
I think, actually,
we were doing an interview

1432
01:13:36,480 --> 01:13:41,440
for a morning programme,
about Alzheimer's disease,

1433
01:13:41,440 --> 01:13:43,880
and he said to the crew,

1434
01:13:43,880 --> 01:13:47,600
"Well, if you need anything,
my big brother's over there."

1435
01:13:47,600 --> 01:13:49,480
And he pointed at me.

1436
01:13:51,040 --> 01:13:53,440
And... At the time, I just thought,

1437
01:13:53,440 --> 01:13:58,040
"Oh, this is a moment of confusion,
and he'll get over it."

1438
01:13:58,040 --> 01:14:00,120
But from that moment forward,

1439
01:14:00,120 --> 01:14:03,000
he only referred to me
as his big brother.

1440
01:14:03,000 --> 01:14:04,920
I actually felt quite touched
by that.

1441
01:14:04,920 --> 01:14:09,120
I said to Jamie,
"That's a real compliment,

1442
01:14:09,120 --> 01:14:12,360
"because, you know,
if he's mixing you up with Lionel,

1443
01:14:12,360 --> 01:14:14,640
"Lionel was very, very special,

1444
01:14:14,640 --> 01:14:16,800
"so he knows you're very special,

1445
01:14:16,800 --> 01:14:19,360
"even if he can't
get your name right."

1446
01:14:19,360 --> 01:14:23,200
From the time that Dad
got his diagnosis, he always said,

1447
01:14:23,200 --> 01:14:27,960
"The moment I am not safe at home,
I want to go into care."

1448
01:14:27,960 --> 01:14:31,520
He had more and more hallucinations
about the space he was living in,

1449
01:14:31,520 --> 01:14:34,120
and he got more and more confused
about where he could go.

1450
01:14:34,120 --> 01:14:38,960
And it was getting to the point
when we thought, "He is days away

1451
01:14:38,960 --> 01:14:41,480
"from potentially stepping out
across the top step

1452
01:14:41,480 --> 01:14:43,000
"and falling down the stairs."

1453
01:14:43,000 --> 01:14:47,440
So Mum and I agreed that it was time
that he needed to go into care.

1454
01:14:47,440 --> 01:14:49,760
Because, you know, she and I
were both at home full time,

1455
01:14:49,760 --> 01:14:52,440
and we couldn't cope
and give him everything he needed

1456
01:14:52,440 --> 01:14:53,760
to keep him safe and well.

1457
01:14:53,760 --> 01:14:57,640
It was horrendous, because he didn't
really understand what was going on.

1458
01:14:57,640 --> 01:14:58,840
So we took him up to the room,

1459
01:14:58,840 --> 01:15:00,880
took all of his stuff up there,
got him settled,

1460
01:15:00,880 --> 01:15:04,080
and he just kept saying,
"Well, I'm not staying here, am I?"

1461
01:15:04,080 --> 01:15:06,680
There was a real sense
of separation anxiety.

1462
01:15:06,680 --> 01:15:10,840
And, er...
He came to the door of the room,

1463
01:15:10,840 --> 01:15:12,840
and the nurse was outside,

1464
01:15:12,840 --> 01:15:15,760
and she said, "Hello, Mr Anderson,
how are you settling in?"

1465
01:15:15,760 --> 01:15:17,120
And he sort of looked at her

1466
01:15:17,120 --> 01:15:19,560
and said, "I'm not settling in,
I'm not staying."

1467
01:15:19,560 --> 01:15:23,000
And she said, "Well, would
you like to meet your neighbour?"

1468
01:15:23,000 --> 01:15:25,920
I said, "That'll be nice, Dad,
let's meet your neighbour."

1469
01:15:25,920 --> 01:15:28,520
An elderly lady came to the door,
and the nurse said,

1470
01:15:28,520 --> 01:15:30,680
"Mr Anderson,
this is your neighbour.

1471
01:15:30,680 --> 01:15:33,080
"Her name's Sylvia."

1472
01:15:33,080 --> 01:15:34,880
And even now, saying it,

1473
01:15:34,880 --> 01:15:37,880
I can feel my heart leaping into
my mouth, because I just thought,

1474
01:15:37,880 --> 01:15:41,200
"This is terrible, this could not be
worse. How is he gonna react?"

1475
01:15:41,200 --> 01:15:43,760
And sort of everything
went in slow motion,

1476
01:15:43,760 --> 01:15:47,440
and after a couple of seconds,
he reached out and said,

1477
01:15:47,440 --> 01:15:51,480
"Oh, hello, nice to meet you,"
and shook her hand.

1478
01:15:53,200 --> 01:15:56,120
And it was in that moment
that I knew for sure

1479
01:15:56,120 --> 01:15:59,760
that he was no longer Dad, really.

1480
01:15:59,760 --> 01:16:03,520
And they say to you,
"Don't come and visit for ten days.

1481
01:16:03,520 --> 01:16:06,160
"Let the...
Let the person settle in."

1482
01:16:06,160 --> 01:16:07,720
You go back after ten days,

1483
01:16:07,720 --> 01:16:09,760
and the person
doesn't know you any more.

1484
01:16:13,360 --> 01:16:16,680
It wasn't just Mum
that he'd forgotten by that stage.

1485
01:16:16,680 --> 01:16:20,320
He couldn't remember
any of the shows that he'd made.

1486
01:16:20,320 --> 01:16:21,800
Not one.

1487
01:16:21,800 --> 01:16:24,520
And he'd been given
a Parker puppet by a fan

1488
01:16:24,520 --> 01:16:27,880
that I took to the care home
to try and comfort him, but...

1489
01:16:27,880 --> 01:16:30,600
Even that meant nothing to him.

1490
01:16:30,600 --> 01:16:34,360
We had a, er...
We had Christmas Day at Mum's.

1491
01:16:35,880 --> 01:16:39,240
And he had really declined
very, very quickly

1492
01:16:39,240 --> 01:16:41,480
once he'd gone into the home,
I mean...

1493
01:16:41,480 --> 01:16:44,960
You know, memories of
where was home and who was Mary.

1494
01:16:44,960 --> 01:16:46,600
All these things had gone.

1495
01:16:46,600 --> 01:16:51,400
Erm, they thought that we had
maybe four or five days to go.

1496
01:16:51,400 --> 01:16:54,280
Because I knew
that the end was coming,

1497
01:16:54,280 --> 01:16:57,520
I decided that on Boxing Day morning
that I would drive home,

1498
01:16:57,520 --> 01:16:59,160
get a load of overnight stuff

1499
01:16:59,160 --> 01:17:01,240
and then come back
and live at Mum's, because...

1500
01:17:01,240 --> 01:17:04,000
I wanted to be around.

1501
01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:06,320
So, we were driving...

1502
01:17:06,320 --> 01:17:07,400
Erm...

1503
01:17:07,400 --> 01:17:11,040
And my phone rang.
And I thought, "Oh, no."

1504
01:17:12,800 --> 01:17:14,320
So I pulled over and answered it.

1505
01:17:14,320 --> 01:17:16,360
And that was the home,
to say that he'd passed away.

1506
01:17:16,360 --> 01:17:17,720
Erm...

1507
01:17:24,000 --> 01:17:26,840
It was about two hours
before I would've gone back.

1508
01:17:33,680 --> 01:17:37,320
When we knew what he knew,
that he didn't have that long to go,

1509
01:17:37,320 --> 01:17:40,760
I said, "Now,
we need to talk about funeral."

1510
01:17:40,760 --> 01:17:43,920
"We'll do something nice and small,
and..."

1511
01:17:43,920 --> 01:17:46,320
"I don't want a small funeral!

1512
01:17:46,320 --> 01:17:48,520
"I want a huge funeral!"

1513
01:17:48,520 --> 01:17:51,720
So that's what he had.
SHE CHUCKLES

1514
01:17:51,720 --> 01:17:53,960
Dying on Boxing Day...

1515
01:17:53,960 --> 01:17:56,880
er, was, was great for that.

1516
01:17:56,880 --> 01:17:58,720
So, he got a huge amount
of news coverage,

1517
01:17:58,720 --> 01:18:00,560
and all the way through,
I was just thinking,

1518
01:18:00,560 --> 01:18:01,960
"God, he really timed this well,

1519
01:18:01,960 --> 01:18:04,320
"because this is exactly
what he would've wanted."

1520
01:18:04,320 --> 01:18:07,040
And so much positivity.
You know, people...

1521
01:18:07,040 --> 01:18:10,120
People tweeting me
and tweeting stuff about him,

1522
01:18:10,120 --> 01:18:12,720
and, you know,
I think somebody tweeted

1523
01:18:12,720 --> 01:18:15,040
that a light had gone out
in the universe.

1524
01:18:15,040 --> 01:18:16,880
People saying, erm...

1525
01:18:18,240 --> 01:18:21,280
"You made my childhood
very special."

1526
01:18:21,280 --> 01:18:24,280
Which was very gratifying.

1527
01:18:24,280 --> 01:18:27,560
What else do you do
for Gerry Anderson's funeral,

1528
01:18:27,560 --> 01:18:31,360
other than get
a life-size FAB 1 pink Rolls-Royce

1529
01:18:31,360 --> 01:18:33,280
to pull up at the funeral?

1530
01:18:33,280 --> 01:18:35,680
His funeral was amazing.

1531
01:18:35,680 --> 01:18:38,360
People came from all over the place.
Came from all over the world.

1532
01:18:38,360 --> 01:18:41,440
We managed to get all the kids
together in the same place.

1533
01:18:41,440 --> 01:18:44,600
They all came to the funeral.
It brought us all together.

1534
01:18:44,600 --> 01:18:47,640
And, er, I was really chuffed

1535
01:18:47,640 --> 01:18:50,280
that Gerry Jr
agreed to be a pallbearer.

1536
01:18:50,280 --> 01:18:52,680
And then we had
a sort of get-together,

1537
01:18:52,680 --> 01:18:55,520
and actually, it was quite strange,
especially reflecting on it now,

1538
01:18:55,520 --> 01:18:57,920
just how many people there were.

1539
01:18:57,920 --> 01:19:01,800
As we've discovered,
he did not necessarily maintain

1540
01:19:01,800 --> 01:19:04,320
personal professional relationships
that well,

1541
01:19:04,320 --> 01:19:07,400
and yet, hundreds and hundreds
of people turned up.

1542
01:19:09,040 --> 01:19:14,000
As part of his ongoing relationship
with Alzheimer's Society

1543
01:19:14,000 --> 01:19:18,760
and Alzheimer's Research,
he had pre-donated his brain.

1544
01:19:18,760 --> 01:19:23,120
We were ardently campaigning
to a particular project

1545
01:19:23,120 --> 01:19:26,120
to forward research into dementia,
and it was called,

1546
01:19:26,120 --> 01:19:28,680
and it is called
Brains for Dementia Research.

1547
01:19:28,680 --> 01:19:30,960
I got a call from the family, erm,

1548
01:19:30,960 --> 01:19:34,520
and I was told
that he would be very happy

1549
01:19:34,520 --> 01:19:37,200
to have his brain
left in a bucket for research.

1550
01:19:37,200 --> 01:19:38,560
It shows the man's humour.

1551
01:19:38,560 --> 01:19:41,080
I think Mum and I held onto
his ashes for nearly a year

1552
01:19:41,080 --> 01:19:43,360
before really deciding what to do.

1553
01:19:43,360 --> 01:19:46,440
And then, one day,
we just chatted and said...

1554
01:19:46,440 --> 01:19:48,640
"Do you know,
these should really go to Pinewood.

1555
01:19:48,640 --> 01:19:50,560
"That's where he belongs."

1556
01:19:50,560 --> 01:19:54,480
So, Mum and I
and Joy and Linda came down.

1557
01:19:54,480 --> 01:20:00,200
I think, er, Gerry Jr had gone back
to his home by then in Tasmania,

1558
01:20:00,200 --> 01:20:04,080
and we just had
a nice, private 15 minutes.

1559
01:20:04,080 --> 01:20:08,280
We were gonna pour the ashes
into the lake from the bridge,

1560
01:20:08,280 --> 01:20:10,480
but it was a bit windy
and that wasn't going to work,

1561
01:20:10,480 --> 01:20:12,600
so I just went down by the lakeside

1562
01:20:12,600 --> 01:20:15,520
while Mum and my two sisters
stood on the bridge, while I...

1563
01:20:16,720 --> 01:20:19,080
..poured his ashes into the lake.

1564
01:20:19,080 --> 01:20:22,640
It's a beautiful place, and it's
nice to have somewhere that is...

1565
01:20:22,640 --> 01:20:26,840
despite its surroundings,
it's sort of unique to him.

1566
01:20:26,840 --> 01:20:29,000
So there's...
Yeah, there was nowhere better.

1567
01:20:31,000 --> 01:20:33,920
People like that
don't come along very often,

1568
01:20:33,920 --> 01:20:38,440
who established a whole new genre
in entertainment

1569
01:20:38,440 --> 01:20:42,200
which is loved, universally,

1570
01:20:42,200 --> 01:20:44,360
by everybody.

1571
01:20:46,400 --> 01:20:49,400
You know, whenever I'm asked
about Thunderbirds,

1572
01:20:49,400 --> 01:20:51,200
people's eyes light up.

1573
01:20:52,360 --> 01:20:55,280
He didn't deserve
to have such a terrible end.

1574
01:21:03,120 --> 01:21:05,280
When I left Mum's house,

1575
01:21:05,280 --> 01:21:09,560
I set off on a journey
of several hundred miles

1576
01:21:09,560 --> 01:21:13,520
to come to a place that...

1577
01:21:13,520 --> 01:21:16,160
has become more and more apparent

1578
01:21:16,160 --> 01:21:20,560
that is the site
of so much of Dad's inspiration.

1579
01:21:20,560 --> 01:21:25,800
It's the place
where one incident happened

1580
01:21:25,800 --> 01:21:28,320
that changed his life forever

1581
01:21:28,320 --> 01:21:31,840
and set him on a path of creation,

1582
01:21:31,840 --> 01:21:33,480
trying to become a success,

1583
01:21:33,480 --> 01:21:36,360
trying to make something
of his life.

1584
01:21:36,360 --> 01:21:41,560
And after many, many hundreds
of miles, and many hours of driving,

1585
01:21:41,560 --> 01:21:44,440
we are about to arrive...

1586
01:21:44,440 --> 01:21:47,760
at that place,
in Arnhem, in the Netherlands.

1587
01:22:19,120 --> 01:22:21,280
"The Queen and I offer you
our heartfelt sympathy

1588
01:22:21,280 --> 01:22:23,560
"in your great sorrow.

1589
01:22:23,560 --> 01:22:27,560
"We pray that your country's
gratitude for a life so nobly given

1590
01:22:27,560 --> 01:22:30,480
"in its service may bring you
some measure of consolation."

1591
01:22:33,400 --> 01:22:35,720
But I suspect that was
of little comfort to them.

1592
01:22:38,440 --> 01:22:43,360
I started this journey not really
fully understanding Dad. Erm...

1593
01:22:43,360 --> 01:22:45,240
Understanding some things about him

1594
01:22:45,240 --> 01:22:48,920
and feeling like I had an inkling
of what motivated him

1595
01:22:48,920 --> 01:22:51,360
and why he did what he did
and why he behaved the way he did.

1596
01:22:51,360 --> 01:22:54,160
If it wasn't for Lionel
first asking that question

1597
01:22:54,160 --> 01:22:56,720
about what's at
the edge of the universe,

1598
01:22:56,720 --> 01:22:59,280
and it wasn't for
his time in Light Rescue,

1599
01:22:59,280 --> 01:23:01,560
his time as a hero pilot,

1600
01:23:01,560 --> 01:23:04,720
a template for nearly every
leading character in Dad's shows,

1601
01:23:04,720 --> 01:23:07,520
and without Lionel's
brush with Hollywood,

1602
01:23:07,520 --> 01:23:10,560
then Dad's life might've
taken a very different path.

1603
01:23:11,880 --> 01:23:16,160
But really, I think nothing
affected him more in Lionel's life

1604
01:23:16,160 --> 01:23:17,960
than Lionel's death.

1605
01:23:19,200 --> 01:23:20,880
Not only did his death inspire him

1606
01:23:20,880 --> 01:23:26,120
to create utopian worlds that
were devoid of religion and war,

1607
01:23:26,120 --> 01:23:29,320
Lionel was an idol
that he tried to live up to,

1608
01:23:29,320 --> 01:23:31,520
but he never felt that he succeeded.

1609
01:23:31,520 --> 01:23:36,560
But I think it instilled in him
the need to be successful

1610
01:23:36,560 --> 01:23:39,080
and to try and make his parents
proud of him.

1611
01:23:40,520 --> 01:23:42,520
That's in spite of Debbie
telling him

1612
01:23:42,520 --> 01:23:45,040
that he should've been killed
instead of his brother.

1613
01:23:46,320 --> 01:23:49,200
Dad would've done anything
to make his parents proud,

1614
01:23:49,200 --> 01:23:52,240
even though it was most likely
their dysfunctional marriage

1615
01:23:52,240 --> 01:23:55,280
that led him to being
unable to deal with conflicts,

1616
01:23:55,280 --> 01:23:57,360
be they professional or personal.

1617
01:23:59,120 --> 01:24:01,680
His parents' failings would see Dad

1618
01:24:01,680 --> 01:24:04,520
try to create
his perfect childhood on screen,

1619
01:24:04,520 --> 01:24:09,560
filled with money
and toys and gadgets.

1620
01:24:09,560 --> 01:24:12,560
But no mothers
and only strong fathers.

1621
01:24:13,920 --> 01:24:17,120
Without all these
hidden childhood influences,

1622
01:24:17,120 --> 01:24:20,760
his creations would
likely never have existed.

1623
01:24:21,880 --> 01:24:25,000
So having started this journey
not really...

1624
01:24:25,000 --> 01:24:26,840
knowing Dad at all...

1625
01:24:28,360 --> 01:24:31,760
..I feel like I can now say
that I, I do know him.

1626
01:24:33,560 --> 01:24:35,840
Possibly better
than he knew himself.

1627
01:24:54,880 --> 01:24:56,720
So, here...

1628
01:24:56,720 --> 01:25:00,640
at the final resting place
of the most influential figure

1629
01:25:00,640 --> 01:25:02,920
in Dad's life...

1630
01:25:02,920 --> 01:25:05,840
is the best place
for my journey of discovery

1631
01:25:05,840 --> 01:25:07,840
to come to an end.

1632
01:25:10,240 --> 01:25:11,920
I don't think
I've got the kind of mind

1633
01:25:11,920 --> 01:25:13,680
that worries about being remembered.

1634
01:25:13,680 --> 01:25:17,680
But I suppose I'd like to think
people said that he was a nice guy,

1635
01:25:17,680 --> 01:25:20,720
and I think I would like
people to say that

1636
01:25:20,720 --> 01:25:24,360
he was a very responsible person
with the films that he made.

1637
01:25:24,360 --> 01:25:28,360
That he did not encourage people
to shoot Grandma through the head,

1638
01:25:28,360 --> 01:25:30,760
and didn't encourage drug-taking,

1639
01:25:30,760 --> 01:25:33,280
and hopefully brought
a lot of good quality,

1640
01:25:33,280 --> 01:25:35,360
wholesome entertainment for kids.

1641
01:25:35,360 --> 01:25:37,480
I had a friend
who would describe somebody

1642
01:25:37,480 --> 01:25:39,560
and say,
"He was a very human being."

1643
01:25:39,560 --> 01:25:40,720
I think it's nice,

1644
01:25:40,720 --> 01:25:43,200
and perhaps that's something
I'd like to be described as.

1645
01:25:59,920 --> 01:26:03,000
If you could say anything
to Gerry today,

1646
01:26:03,000 --> 01:26:04,480
what would you say?

1647
01:26:08,120 --> 01:26:09,640
HE SNIFFLES

1648
01:26:13,640 --> 01:26:15,560
I just...

1649
01:26:15,560 --> 01:26:17,240
HE SNIFFLES

1650
01:26:18,720 --> 01:26:21,280
Erm...

1651
01:26:21,280 --> 01:26:22,840
Gosh.

1652
01:26:24,560 --> 01:26:26,560
What would I say?

1653
01:26:26,560 --> 01:26:29,080
I'd have just wanted to say
"Thank you" to him.

1654
01:26:29,080 --> 01:26:30,640
"Thank you for the excitement."

1655
01:26:30,640 --> 01:26:34,200
I think simply
that he was appreciated.

1656
01:26:35,320 --> 01:26:37,960
I'm really glad
that you met somebody

1657
01:26:37,960 --> 01:26:41,240
that you were able to be happy with
for the rest of your life.

1658
01:26:41,240 --> 01:26:43,640
I'd want him to know that...

1659
01:26:43,640 --> 01:26:44,920
Oh, God. Stop it.

1660
01:26:54,400 --> 01:26:57,160
I want him to know that
I forgive him for everything.

1661
01:26:57,160 --> 01:27:01,040
And I think just that he should've
been beyond satisfied

1662
01:27:01,040 --> 01:27:02,800
with his success.

1663
01:27:02,800 --> 01:27:06,200
A big, loud, roaring "thank you".

1664
01:27:10,160 --> 01:27:13,440
Er, I'm not the only one that cried
on the day he died, I'm sure.

1665
01:27:15,520 --> 01:27:19,440
Well, we did nearly,
just over 30 years married,

1666
01:27:19,440 --> 01:27:21,760
and they said it would never last.

1667
01:27:21,760 --> 01:27:24,240
There we are, proved them wrong.
SHE CHUCKLES

1668
01:27:31,080 --> 01:27:34,120
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