Falling Skies

Falling SkiesSeason 1, Episode 14
Air date	31 October, 2015 (ITV) 01 November, 2015 (AUS) 17 April, 2016 (NL)
Written by	Rob Hoegee
Directed by	Theo Baynton
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"Falling Skies" is the fourteenth episode of Thunderbirds Are Go!. It was first broadcast on October 31st, 2015.

Plot

It’s the grand opening of the Estrella Grand Space Hotel, a luxury hotel built using advances in micro technology and construction. Lady Penelope and Parker are attending the event when they are pounced upon by a news reporter asking them if the claims that the building is unsafe and that the technology is untested are true. Penelope tries to dispel the doubts that have arisen, saying that she knows the inventor behind the hotel’s design personally (the hotel's technology was designed and engineered by Brains) and that there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

Unfortunately for Penelope and the hotel guests, the hotel seems to have sprung a leak in the hull and begins hurtling around in space, out of control. Scott, Alan and Kayo fly up to the hotel in Thunderbird 3 to investigate, the result becoming a rescue of the hotel guests, Kayo meanwhile has her own mission to do which results in the discovery that the hotel’s integral structure has been compromised and is disassembling itself in space.

To make matters worse, Kayo stumbles upon the man responsible - her uncle - The Hood. After confronting him and learning the reasons behind his deception and sabotage of the hotel, Kayo, with the help from Brains, manages to make the hotel fall apart safely before it impacts with the ground below, Kayo herself using the helipod to escape.

The Hood, however, is not so lucky, getting into an escape capsule that blasts off in a random direction with no control and no way of coming back down to earth. For now.

Cast

Book cover

Regular Cast

• Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward: Rosamund Pike
• Parker: David Graham
• Brains: Kayvan Novak
• Grandma Tracy: Sandra Dickinson
• John: Thomas Brodie-Sangster
• Scott and Alan: Rasmus Hardiker
• Kayo: Angel Coulby
• Virgil and Gordon: David Menkin
• The Hood: Andres Williams

Guest Cast

• Kat Cavanaugh: Teresa Gallagher

Quotes

• Lady Penelope: "Oh wow Parker, isn't it amazing?"
  Parker: "I'm stunned, m'lady. In all my years, I've never seen anything quite like it. All this luggage for a single night's stay. You've really out done yourself."
  Lady Penelope: "Thank you. You know it's all just for show though, don't you? It's what they expect."
  Parker: "Maybe they could give me a hand with it."
• Gordon: "Fancy meeting you here, m'lady."
  Lady Penelope: "Gordon, what a surprise. Oh, glad you freshened up for the occasion?"
  Gordon: "I put on a clean uniform!"
  Parker: "Thrilled for you, sir. A momentous occasion for us all."
  Gordon: "Parker, don't you have some bags to carry?"
  Parker: "Oh, I knew I'd forgot something."
• Kayo: "Are you sure this would work?"
  Brains: "My gut says yes."
  Kayo: "Has your gut ever been wrong?"
  Brains: "So far, no. But I've only started going with it today."
• Virgil: "That's more like it."
  Gordon: "Oh there will be payback."

Equipment Used

International Rescue Equipment Used

• Thunderbird 2 (Module 4)
• Thunderbird 3
• Thunderbird 4
• Thunderbird 5
• MAX
• Helipod

Non-International Rescue Equipment Used

• Estrella Grand Space Hotel
• Space Hotel Escape Pod

Gallery

The Estrella Grand Space Hotel

The main lobby of the Estrella Grand Hotel

"All this luggage for a single night's stay"

All of Penelope's luggage

"You know it's all just for show, it's what they expect"

"Maybe they could give me a hand with it"

Penelope checks in with the Tracys to say she has arrived at the hotel

She and Parker are pounced upon by a reporter

The reporter plays a recording of a man protesting against the technology of the hotel

The molecular structure of the hotel has been compromised

Tthe gravity inside the hotel begins to leave

The hotel speeding through space out of control

Brains is troubled by what's happening to the hotel, begins to think it's his fault

Grandma Tracy is trying to tell Brains that it wasn't his fault

Scott in the pod going into investigate the damage more closely

Brains discovers that the structure of the hotel is unbonding itself

"Gordon, you smell"

"At least now smells like hard work"

TB3 getting ready to dock with the hotel

Kayo discovers a device that's causing the hotel to come apart

Kayo sends Brains a scan of the device

Kayo's removal of the device has made a hole in the hull of the hotel

Kayo pulling herself to safety

Kayo confronts the saboteur

The Hood reveals himself

TB2 getting ready for a high altitude hand over of passengers from TB3

Penelope is looking up at TB2

Gordon gives her a little salute

"Fancy seeing you here, m'lady"

"Glad to see you freshened up for the occasion"

"But I put on a clean uniform!"

"Thrilled for you sir."
"Parker, don't you have some bags to carry?"

The Hood reveals his intentions

John informs Kayo of the incoming impact of the hotel into earth

The Hood escapes on the malfunctioned escape pod

Brains tells Kayo about his plans to 'unbuild' the hotel before it crashes

TB3 flies along side the crashing space hotel

Hotel explodes and disintegrates

Kayo escapes in the pod

Trivia

• The existence of Falling Skies was first revealed on the official Thunderbirds website. If registered users were successful in completing each level of The Hood Challenge, a clip from the episode was unlocked.
• This episode is an homage to Ricochet, with a manned orbiting satellite falling to Earth.
• This is the first time Penelope and Parker are seen onboard any Thunderbird; in this instance it's Thunderbirds 2 and 3.
• The Space Hotel is stated to disintegrate over Florida. This marks the first and so far only time that a location in the United States of America is directly referenced in the series.

Goofs

• As Kayo leaves Thunderbird 3, her eyes are briefly blue.

Foreign titles

• Dutch: Uit de lucht (From the Sky)
• French: Le ciel nous tombe sur la tête (The Sky is Falling on Our Heads)
• Spanish: Caída desde el Cielo (The Fall from Heaven)
• Japanese: 狙われたスペースホテル (The Targeted Space Hotel)
• Arabic: الفندق المتطور