The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth'' and its theme of animal
size change.
Another influence was the 1927 film ''
The Cat and the Canary'' and its
1939 re-make,
both of which feature
haunted house
A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...
premises and
stalker characters. Writer
Alan Pattillo
Alan Huchison Pattillo (17 July 1929 – 16 January 2020) was a British writer and director who worked on ''Supercar'', '' Fireball XL5'', ''Stingray'', and '' Thunderbirds'' television series. He won an Emmy in 1979 alongside Bill Blunden for ...
, who according to
special effects
Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...
supervisor
Derek Meddings
Derek Meddings (15 January 1931 – 10 September 1995) was a British film and television special effects designer. He was initially noted for his work on the " Supermarionation" TV puppet series produced by Gerry Anderson, and later for the ...
"had tried to come up with the most nightmarish rescue situation he could",
[Meddings 1993, p. 75.] had wanted to direct the episode as well. Ultimately, however, it was directed by
David Lane.
[La Rivière 2009, p. 127.] The opening scene features an
insert shot Insert may refer to:
* Insert (advertising)
* Insert (composites)
* Insert (effects processing)
* Insert (filmmaking)
* Insert key on a computer keyboard, used to switch between insert mode and overtype mode
*Insert (molecular biology)
*Insert (SQL ...
of a stormy sky that was later used to introduce the opening titles of ''
The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
''.
[Bentley 2005, p. 87.]
"Attack of the Alligators!" was filmed in October and November 1965. The production overran its month-long schedule, forcing the crew to work extra hours, and sometimes long into the night, to complete the filming.
Special effects assistant Ian Wingrove remembered that the episode's complex technical aspects had the crew "
orkingday and night ... through a weekend".
According to Lane, at one stage the shoot ran for 48 hours straight, with two editors processing the footage in shifts. He added: "I think Derek
eddingswent three days, non-stop, just shooting."
The alligators in the episode were portrayed not by actual alligators, as Gerry Anderson had originally intended,
[Bentley 2005, p. 29.] but by juvenile
crocodiles. These were acquired from a private zoo in the north of England to double as the enlarged alligators on the episode's scale sets and water tanks.
[Bentley 2005, p. 30.] The crocodiles that appear in the episode were long; a larger specimen, measuring , was not used as it was too aggressive to be taken out of its box.
The crew kept the water tanks heated to a suitably warm temperature and used
electric shocks to coax movement out of the crocodiles.
The animals were unpredictable and difficult to control, either
basking in the heat of the studio lights or disappearing into the tanks for hours at a time.
To make them more visible to the cameras, the crew attached them to guiding rods and co-ordinated their movements.
The use of live animals in both puppet and
scale model shots required an unusually close collaboration between the puppet and effects crews.
Effects director
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
and several other crew members boycotted the production on
animal welfare grounds.
Camera operator Alan Perry did not remember any of the crocodiles being mistreated; series supervising director
Desmond Saunders, however, claimed that more than one specimen died of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
after being left in an unheated tank overnight.
Director
David Elliott, though filming a different episode at the time, recalled that another dislocated one of its limbs after receiving an electric shock.
Puppet operator
Christine Glanville
Christine Glanville (born Nancy Christine Fletcher; 28 October 1924 – 1 March 1999) was an English puppeteer who spent much of her professional life contributing to television series produced by Gerry Anderson.
Career
Glanville became involv ...
admitted that the filming would not have been pleasant for the crocodiles as the tanks contained "all sorts of dirty paint water, oil and soapy water to make it look swampy."
Saunders commented: "It was scandalous. It was one of the great episodes. Nevertheless there was a price to be paid for it."
Animal cruelty concerns prompted an anonymous telephone call to the
RSPCA
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...
, which sent an inspector to the studios.
After a brief investigation, no action was taken against APF.
This coincided with a decision to increase the voltage of the electric shocks to induce greater movement from the crocodiles.
[La Rivière 2009, p. 126.] According to Gerry Anderson, when the inspector arrived, "Meddings explained that his team were laying the crocodiles down and they weren't doing anything. They were just lying there. The RSPCA man said, well, they would, because of the warmth of the lamps. So Derek said, 'We've been giving them a touch with an
electrode
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials d ...
just to make them move.' The guy asked what voltage they were using and Derek said it was about 20 volts, and the guy said, 'Oh, they've got terribly thick skins, you know. If you want them to move, you'll have to pump it up to 60.'"
The inspector later joined the production to work alongside the crocodiles' handler.
Filming with the crocodiles was often hazardous. During a promotional photography shoot featuring
Lady Penelope
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward is a fictional character introduced in the British 1960s Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'', which was produced by AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. The character also appears in the film seque ...
(who does not appear in the episode), one of the animals attacked the puppet and destroyed one of its legs.
During the filming of a particular scene, Meddings was pulling a crocodile towards him on a rope when the animal slid out of its harness.
In his book ''21st Century Visions'', Meddings wrote of the incident: "My crew never saw me move as fast as I did to get out of the tank when I pulled the rope and realised the creature was free."
Of the largest crocodile, which was kept at the back of the stage when not being used, Wingrove recalled: "You would forget that it was there, then one day someone shouted 'Look out!' and we turned round to see this big crocodile walking across the stage – which cleared of people very quickly!"
Both this episode and "
The Cham-Cham
"The Cham-Cham" is the 25th episode of '' Thunderbirds'', a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films (APF). The penultimate episode of ''Thunderbirds'' Seri ...
", the next episode to enter production, exceeded their budgets. This led the writers to re-script the final episode of ''Thunderbirds'' Series One ("
Security Hazard") as a
clip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicte ...
to reduce costs.
[Bentley 2005, p. 31.]
Broadcast and reception
Originally transmitted on 10 March 1966, "Attack of the Alligators!" had its first UK-wide network broadcast on 20 March 1992 on
BBC2.
During that channel's 2000-2001 ''Thunderbirds'' re-run, the episode became the eleventh to be repeated when it replaced "
Brink of Disaster", which along with "
The Perils of Penelope
"The Perils of Penelope" is an episode of '' Thunderbirds'', a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films (APF, later Century 21 Productions) for ITC Entertainm ...
" had been postponed until the end of the run due to similarities between the story and real-world events (both episodes feature dangerous situations involving trains and 2000 had seen several major railway accidents, most notably the
Hatfield rail crash
The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. It was caused by a metal fatigue-induced derailment, killing four people and injuring more than 70.
The accident exposed major stewardship shortco ...
).
Critical response
"Attack of the Alligators!" is a popular episode of ''Thunderbirds'' and is widely regarded as one of the series' best. It was well received by
Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In a ...
, who described it as her favourite episode.
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...
, head of distributor
ITC, expressed great satisfaction with the filming during a visit to APF Studios in 1965.
Stephen La Rivière considers the story one of the most unusual of the series,
[La Rivière 2009, p. 125.] while Peter Webber of ''
DVD Monthly'' magazine calls the episode "just insane".
In 2004, "Attack of the Alligators!" was re-issued on DVD in North America as part of
A&E Video's ''The Best of Thunderbirds: The Favorite Episodes''.
Reviewing the release for the website
DVD Verdict, David Gutierrez awarded "Attack of the Alligators!" a perfect score of 100, declaring it the best episode in the collection and praising its production values: "It's like a beautifully directed short film".
He elaborated: "'Attack of the Alligators!' serves as a terrific example of how strong ''Thunderbirds'' can look. It's not ''
Howdy Doody
''Howdy Doody'' is an American Children's television series, children's television program (with circus and Western (genre), Western frontier themes) that was created and produced by Victor F Campbell '' sporting a jetpack – it's an hour-long programme that feels like a motion picture."
Susanna Lazarus of ''
Radio Times'' suggests that the episode is memorable specifically for its crocodile footage.
The techniques used to produce the footage have caused the episode to be described as "controversial" by some sources.
Mark Pickavance of the website
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...
criticises the footage from a visual standpoint, arguing that the use of scale sets with young crocodiles, "shot in super close-up to make them seem huge", does not produce a convincing illusion of giant alligators.
Author
Dave Thompson compares the giant reptiles to
Swamp Thing
The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or monster incarnations in v ...
, a superorganism featured in the
DC Comics Universe.
In 1976, ''Thunderbirds'' writer
Dennis Spooner
Dennis Spooner (1 December 1932 – 20 September 1986) was an English television writer and script editor, known primarily for his programmes about fictional spies and his work in children's television in the 1960s. He had long-lasting profess ...
adapted the premise of "Attack of the Alligators!" while writing "Gnaws", an episode of ''
The New Avengers'' featuring an enlarged rat.
References
Works cited
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External links
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{{Good article
1966 British television episodes
Fiction about size change
Fictional crocodilians
Thunderbirds (TV series) episodes